British Journal of Photography - June 2016

SFMOMA reopens with America’s largest museum space devoted to photography

Four of the best flash guns Meyer-Optik’s ‘soap-bubble’ lens

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Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

Editor’s Introduction The Talent Issue

Contrast the magic realism of Diego Moreno’s panzudos mercedarios with Elske Verdoorn’s collaborations with the residents of a Dutch refuge for the homeless. Put Sebastián Bruno’s quixotic take on the desolate plains of La Mancha against Jean-Vincent Simonet’s visual assault of acid colours and multilayered assemblage. We’ve done this and more for this year’s Ones To Watch, our annual survey of emerging global talents and their myriad approaches.

History has a habit of filtering, and one day we may read that photographic practice in the second decade of the century was largely concerned with constructed imagery and ‘interrogating the medium’. We have evidence to the contrary. But one thing’s for sure – while most photographers today start out like their predecessors, documenting the world around them, they quickly progress towards intervention; disrupting their subjects to fit their own ideas and realities, and putting themselves firmly into their pictures.

And while photographers in the West enjoy huge opportunities compared with those in the developing world, ideas can now easily travel, and are adapted in the most intriguing ways. Not all of the emerging talents featured here are young, but those who are have grown up digital natives, and that made the transmission of ideas much easier. “The democratisation of the internet, social networks and mobile devices has gradually invaded everyday life everywhere,” says Ana Casas Broda, one of more than 60 experts who nominated for this issue. “This vortex of contemporary photography has allowed individuals even in remote communities to appropriate the medium and articulate a discourse concerning their own reality.”

Simon Bainbridge, editor

Cover Image © Marton Perlaki.

Introduction: June 2016

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Featured

40 – 45 Marton Perlaki The Hungarian’s latest photobook, Elemer, is based around a male protagonist – a teacher named Elemer – whose “sculptural, enigmatic and fragile” figure, when taken out of context, shifts to form a beautiful and surreal series of portraits and still lifes.

46 – 51 Sebastián Bruno He returned to La Mancha in Spain – where his family fled after the 2002 economic crisis at home in Argentina – eight times over three years, retracing the steps of Don Quixote and drawing

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Featured: June 2016

inspiration from the places where he himself had felt most uncomfortable.

56 – 59 Do-yeon Gwon By returning discarded objects to their “pre-linguistic” state, the Korean photographer attempts to open these reimagined images to ideas that extend beyond their original function.

60 – 66 Diego Moreno In the backdrop of a culture steeped in Catholic ritual and symbology, the Mexican photographer explores familial mythology and intergenerational kinship.

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Index

Agenda 11 Viva Photo España!

14 Any Answers: Arianna Rinaldo 16 Free Range/Breakthrough – Graduates: Class of 2016 Ones To Watch 20 Marijke Groeneveld’s frank portraits question the notion of ideal beauty 26 Jean-Vincent Simonet creates multilayered, visually frenetic installations and assemblages 32 Drago (aka Victor Dragonetti) captures the violence and energy of São Paulo at street level 36 Francesco Merlini holds a mirror to himself in his visceral black-and-white photographs 40 Marton Perlaki experiments with the transformative power of images 46 Sebastián Bruno takes a quixotic journey through the desolate plains of La Mancha 52 Wenxin Zhang’s expressions of herself in photography 56 Do-yeon Gwon takes discarded objects and gives them new meaning in his stark, monochrome still lifes 6

Index: June 2016

60 Diego Moreno examines kinship through Catholic symbology and ritual 68 Elske Verdoorn gives voice to those on society’s fringes 74 Jiaxi Yang’s repurposed household objects attempt to break the repetitive strain of the day to day 78 Tasneem Alsultan questions social mores to bridge the gap between East and West 83 Shadman Shahid finds an ancient Siamese proverb provides a perfect parable for modern-day China 86 José Luis Cuevas paints an apocalyptic picture of the ephemeral nature of man 92 Bastiaan Woudt’s unique artistic vision lies at the centre of his portraiture 96 Hicham Gardaf breathes life

and love into a liminal place 100 Previously selected: our Ones To Watch from 2011 to 2015

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Intelligence 103 Meet Sandra Phillips of SFMOMA, and get a sneak preview of North America’s largest museum space devoted to photography 109 Dispatches from SXSW Interactive, where the smart talk revolved around new media and visual storytelling 112 Creative Brief: Rebecca McClelland on who she commissions and why Technology 115 Hasselblad’s latest – the H6D 117 Our verdict on Meyer-Optik’s revival of the much-revered ‘soap-bubble’ lens 120 Four of the best flash guns from independent makers 123 Tech Notes: Tristan Shu on his high-speed pursuit of the perfect wingsuit portrait

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Archive 130 A look at past editions of our hotly anticipated Talent issue 11

The cat, 2001 © Alberto Garcia-Alix, featuring in Photo España’s post-1990 portrait show.

103 Aaron Siskind, Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation, c. 1954.

Gift of Van Deren Coke © Aaron Siskind Foundation.

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calling students & Judges graduates win a london exhibition & global exposure Our search for the world’s best student and graduate photographers

Karen McQuaid

Bruno Bayley

Simon Bainbridge

Jamie McIntyre

Dean Chalkley

Liv Siddall

Curator The Photographers’ Gallery

Editorial Director British Journal of Photography

Editor VICE UK

Award-winning photographer & filmmaker

Deadline for entries: Sunday 1 May Deadline 2016

Sponsored Sponsoredby: by:

Art Director It’s Nice That

Editor Rough Trade

extended: Sunday 8 May 2016 Media MediaPartner: Partner:

bjpbreakthrough.com bjpbreakthrough.com Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

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FIFTEEN EMER�IN� TALENT� FROM AROUND THE WORLD, �ELECTED BY A GLOBAL PANEL OF EXPERT�: EDITOR�, CURATOR�, EDUCATOR�, �ALLERYOWNER�, FE�TIVAL DIRECTOR�, WRITER�, PHOTO�RAPHER� AND FORMER ONE� TO WATCH

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Ones to Watch

THE NOMINATOR� Rob Alderson WeTransfer, Peggy

Africa, Diana Markosian OTW 2015, Katherine

Sue Amison East Wing, Regina Maria

Matthews GUP, Álvaro Matías La Fábrica,

AnzenbergerAnzenberger Gallery, Elizabeth

Chris McGuigan Mini Title, Robin Maddock

Avedon designer/curator, Simon Bainbridge

photographer, Sofia Vollmer de Maduro

British Journal of Photography, Kürsat Bayhan

curator, Michiko Kasahara Tokyo Metropolitan

OTW 2015, Julija Berkovica ISSP, Ann-Christin

Museum of Photography, Azu Nwagbogu Lagos

Bertrand C/O Berlin, Lisa Blackmore educator/

Photo, Thyago Nogueira Zum, Gemma Padley

curator, Enrico Bossan Fabrica, Emma Bowkett

writer, Colin Pantall photographer/writer,

FT Weekend Magazine, Susan Bright curator,

Martin Parr photographer/curator, Sarker

Christian Cajolle Phnom Penh Photo, MaryAnn

ProtickOTW 2014, Fiona Rogers Magnum

Camilleri Magenta Foundation, Alessandra

Photos/Firecracker, Jana RomanovaOTW 2014,

Capodacqua photographer/curator, Claudi

Mariela SancariOTW 2015, Kirill Savchenkov

Carreras curator, Alejandro Cartagena

OTW 2015, Laura Serani Rencontres de Bamako,

photographer, Ana Casas Broda photographer/

Tom Seymour British Journal of Photography,

Hydra, Bruno Ceschel Self Publish, Be Happy,

Mahesh Shantaram OTW 2015, Diane Smyth

Yves Chatap Vus d'Afrique, Federico Clavarino

British Journal of Photography, Sujong Song

OTW 2015, Jörg Colberg Conscientious, Michael

Seoul Lunar Photo, Mariko Takeuchi curator,

Dooney Jarvis Dooney/Galerie Pavlova,

Taro Amano Yokohama Civic Art Gallery

Inés Dümig OTW 2015, George Georgiou

Azamino, Danila Tkachenko OTW 2015,

photographer, Vincent Godeau Afrique in

Miguel Ángel Tornero OTW 2015, Fosi Vegue

Visu, Brian Griffin photographer, Sebastian

photographer/Blank Paper, Eirini Vourloumis

Hau Polycopies/Cosmos, Tanya Habjouqa

OTW 2015, Erik Vroons GUP, Vanessa Winship

photographer/educator, Candice Jansen

photographer, Stanley Wolukau­Wanambwa

Wits Institute, Hester Keijser Stead Bureau,

The Great Leap Sideways, Munem Wasif

Milo Keller ECAL, Erik Kessels art director/

photographer/curator, Zhuang Wubin Last

publisher/curator, Missla Libsekal Another

Harbour, Yuting Duan Lianzhou Photo Festival Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

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Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

Originally trained in cinematography and photojournalism, New York-based Marton Perlaki has developed an experimental approach in his photography whilst maintaining a keen eye for filmic arrangements.

The Hungarian's new photobook Elemer, published by Loose Joints, is a beautiful, surreal journey based around a male protagonist and told through portraits, landscapes and still lifes.

The project was inspired by Perlaki's collection of cigarette cards featuring an image on one side and a household tip on the other: artefacts that seem incomprehensible at first glance but which, when you flip them over and read the text, suddenly make sense. His model and muse – a Hungarian teacher whom Perlaki describes as “simultaneously sculptural, enigmatic and fragile” – becomes yet another prop in the photographer’s process. Picture games are the foundation for Elemer [pages 40-43], where birds, bubbles, bricks, potatoes

and the shifting shape of Elemer himself are taken out of their contexts and composed into a visual rhyme. This playful process is at the heart of Perlaki’s practice. “I like the transformative aspect of photography,” he says. “You can turn something purely illustrative into something suggestive just by disjointing content from context through the medium of photography.” Inspired by a range of visual sources, particularly instructional and educational material with no aesthetic intent, his compositions are ambiguous yet evocative.

“My interest in lighting, composition and their key roles in visual storytelling come from these studies,” Perlaki says.

It was this uncanny approach to narrative that first struck nominator Emma Bowkett, director of photography at FT Weekend Magazine. “He is not interested in linear storytelling. His seductive imagery, bringing together still life and portraiture, is both unsettling and playful,” she says. “Pictures of everyday objects and scenarios are meticulously staged for viewers to enter a world beyond reality and create their own narratives.”

Perlaki's distinct artistic vision has been recognised across the board: last year he was selected as a Foam Talent, shortlisted for the Paul Huf Award and signed to photographic agency Webber Represents, where he has begun to explore fashion and editorial, while working on a new personal series [pages 4445] of abstracts, titled Basic Angels. martonperlaki.com

MARTON PERLAKI HUN�ARY

Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

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Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

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Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

All images Š Marton Perlaki.

Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

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Ones to Watch: Bastiaan Marton Perlaki Woudt

All images © Bastiaan Woudt.

Despite being interested in photography from an early age, it was only when Bastiaan Woudt had his first child in 2009 that he picked up a camera and took the first steps towards forging what is now his signature style. Initially capturing close friends and family, Woudt’s practice has evolved into an experimental meditation on the genres of portraiture, still life and landscape that has propelled him into a successful career consisting of self-initiated personal projects pursued alongside editorial and fashion commissions.

Although he is drawn by the relationship between subject and photographer, the Dutchman’s approach is founded on the belief that you cannot truly represent the person in front of the lens. Instead, it is his own artistic vision that lies at the centre of each portrait he takes, moving this encounter into a more abstract realm. “I want to show how I see the people in front of my lens,” he comments.

“Besides documenting a person’s face or body I want to make every portrait into something more, with an extra dimension to it.”

In pursuit of this aim, the photographer has developed an interest in technical processes, progressing from the pictorial style he investigated at the beginning of his career into a more experimental zone. Balancing a polished classicism with a more contemporary exploration of post-production techniques, the fruits of his labour transform the human form

into highly stylised abstractions. His images are precise, rendered with a high contrast and meticulous focus on detail, accentuated by his exclusive use of monochrome. “My palette only consists of black, grey and white. With the perfect combination of those three I feel I can tell more in a photograph than with all the colours in the world,” he says.

Woudt’s signature style has become his calling card, recently attracting the interest of the Amsterdam-based Kahmann Gallery, which now represents him, and of curator and writer Erik Vroons, editor at large at GUP magazine, who nominated the young photographer for this issue. It was the adept interplay between 'classic' and 'idiosyncratic' aesthetic elements that first drew Vroons to Woudt’s work.

“His artistic interference can be defined as 'pictorial' but Bastiaan presents a very mature balance in his [post-]production techniques, which means that his work might lean towards the outskirts of what we can recognise as 'photographic' but never crosses the line,” Vroons explains.

In addition to organising shoots all year round, Woudt is currently working on a long-term personal work called Project 87.

Fascinated by his childhood expectations of feeling like a grown-up by the age of 29, he has set out to photograph 87 people who, like him, were born in 1987. bastiaanwoudt.com

BA�TIAAN WOUDT NETHERLAND�

Ones to Watch: Bastiaan Woudt

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Ones to Watch: Marton Perlaki

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Next issue July 2016 Photography grew out of the Industrial Revolution and contemporary images are a product of the Information Age, yet many photographers continue to draw inspiration from ancient traditions and myths. The July issue of BJP looks at five such projects including Vasantha Yogananthan’s series A Myth of Two Souls, inspired by the Indian tale of Ramayana; Subscribe for just £39 for the next by Direct Debit; thereafter paying £65.95 annually (still saving 31%). You’ll also receive Sabine Mirlesse’s Song of Fruit & Contention, which references a free Tote Bag worth £10 with UK orders only, upon renewal (your second payment). Promoted offer is redeemable by UK Biblical creation subscribers only. Price and savings may stories; vary depending onand Chuntas, a colourful series on the the country, payment method, subscription term and product cross-dressed men of the Fiesta Grande in Mexico’s Chiapa de type; ie, Print, Digital or Pack. Images used are for illustrative purposes only. Offer ends 06 January 2016.

Corzo, captured by Roberto Tondopó.

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Image © Vasantha Yogananthan.

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