Issue 23
mARCH 2019 Editors GenĂŠa Bailey // @genniyah Daisy Ware-Jarrett // @daisywarejarrett Design Daisy Ware-Jarrett // @daisywarejarrett Writers Lisa Gillies // @lisaroseannephoto Tia Bryant // @tiabryantphoto Kelly Bryan // @kellybryanphotography Cover Artist Vasilina Popova // @popovavasilina
photo features
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Emmanuel Monzon
Connor Daly Kathleen Meier
Ers Sarioz
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94
Mich Naro
Thierry Bansront
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102
issue 23 // wh written features
map 6
Vasilina Popova
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76
interview
on the cover
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Philipp Zechner
sen zkan
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122
hal ozny
2
Ronni Campana
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Dean Pearson
Lucie Blissett 74
Daria Amaranth 132
hat’s inside... Mikayla Whitmore
Shouldn’t Throw Stones
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140
interview
photobook review
index 146
Connor Daly Spatial Visions
I am a responsive artist, in that I make work in response to my current sense of self-awareness and general being. I am a freelance fine art photographer based in London. I studied at the Arts University Bournemouth through 2014-17 and shortly after began to create new works, which have led to the creation of new channels of images, specifically portraiture, still life and architecture. Melancholy, nostalgia, the inevitably of time and memory are explored through visions of spatial spaces. This project originally started as a responsive story of living on a lonely island, depicted through visions of abstract architecture. It has since evolved into a broader range of work, which will eventually take me to Modena, Barcelona and Marseille to capture the emotional atmosphere of specific spaces.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH...
MAP6
...WRITTEN BY Lisa Gillies
The 21st centaury has become saturated with images. We are bombarded with them daily, increasingly through social media and you can’t be blamed if you feel overwhelmed with it. It can often be hard to navigate as a photographer and to have your voice heard and you work seen due to this however it isn’t all negative. Because of this we have seen an increase in the idea of photography collectives. A collective is made up of photographers, each a photographer in their own right, coming together to form a hybrid of photographers. Whether it is making work together, exhibiting together, or simply conversing about others work, a collective is something to be part of. Collectives have always been around, but it seems like the growth in recent years of collectives has something to say about a somewhat isolating industry coming together to create, explore and invent new ways of working. We caught up with MAP6, a collective made up of 6 photographers, each working in their own fields of photography, who get together once a year to travel to new destinations and create a body of work. We discuss how, as a collective they share responsibilities, choose destinations and how being in the collective has influenced
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Phil LeGal
David Sterry
You’ve recently produced a project around the Shetlands. What made you choose this as your destination? With each destination we take a number of things into consideration, have any of us been there before, is it going to be a challenge, can we actually make interesting work there, is there something that appeals to each of our photographic sensibilities, can we take the finished work back there to exhibit? None of us had ever been to Shetland, so for us it was a fascinating place which we knew very little about. Scotland has also been very topical over the past few years so and this was an opportunity for us to
tap into that, although from what we thought was a different perspective, ie not mainland Scotland but the Shetland Islands. One of the most exciting reasons for choosing Shetland was the fact that it’s an island destination, that’s both geographically remote and wild. These qualities of place would be exciting to explore photographically and with it being an archipelago we began to imagine each of us covering a different part of the area.
Could you explain your collaboration process to us? We have been together for 6 years now and have completed 5 collaborative projects. With each new endeavour we try to take the notion of collaboration
a step further. Initially we each think of places to go and reasons to go there. Then over a series of meetings we eventually decide between us where we are going, what the project outlines will be, when we will go and how we will approach the project once we get there. Often, we work in pairs whilst making work, we also stay together so we can share our images at the end of each day to help develop both the work and our individual project ideas. Collaboration also works well logistically, we can drive each other around, share costs, delegate tasks and each of us have individual strengths that complement one another. Whilst one member maybe good at marketing our work, another may be good at web design or writing. For the Shetland project we recently exhibited the work for the first time at the Brighton Photography Fringe. For the exhibition we hung the work collaboratively, with us each making decisions about the work went onto the wall. We also presented the work as a single collaborative piece, refraining from individually authoring each photograph.
Why does the idea of people and place interest you all? It all comes down to being fascinated by the world around us. Photography is a great way of exploring, scrutinising, understanding and ultimately trying to find some kind of meaning in the places that surround us. We take so much for granted as we pass through the world, photography is an opportunity to stop and look and try to make sense of it all. This also helps us as photographers to understand our own place in the world. Photography is also an exceptional excuse to get out into the world and meet people, as well as to get into all kinds of mischief, its so exciting being in a new place and meeting those that live there.
Is the short time period you stay in these places a help or a hindrance to the way you work? For us it is definitely a help, the brevity of time we have really pushes us to work hard and make the most of our time there. Because there is a number of us, we can cover more ground and feed off each other’s ideas. We have experimented with individual projects with a much longer amount of time, but it wasn’t as effective, as something always got in the way of us making the work. If we can set aside an intense window of time in the year for making work, once we arrive fully prepared, we can dive straight in and get the work made. It’s a very tiring and intense few days but is always incredibly productive.
Is working on the same brief challenging to avoid making similar work? Because we meet before we travel to a place, to flesh out individual projects to photograph, this hasn’t really been a problem. The places we choose to work generally have enough space for us to coexist and find our own way, whilst not treading on each other’s toes.
What would you say is a benefit of being a collective
What pulls, or pushes you to travel to new destinations? A starting point is to think about what places are relevant at that time, where is the world currently talking about, and can we make work there. In a globalised world, where pretty much everywhere has been photographed, it’s also important that we are aware of whom has made work there recently and if we have something different to say. The weather and how this will translate photographically is important, not all of us appreciate a nice beach with cloudless, blue skies. Also, the logistics of a place, do we have enough time to cover a significant area, how far away is it, and how difficult will it be to make work there in a short space of time.
Paul Walsh
Heather Shuker
Mitch Karunaratne made up of photographers with similar interests but separate visions? We can constantly learn from one another. Each trip is like an experiment, where we can try new ways of approaching photography. Perhaps we make work in black and white, use film or video, use different cameras, work in pairs, try photographing at night etc. We each bring new ways of approaching our photographic practice to the table, you can’t help but be influenced by the ideas and technical approaches of the other photographers within the collective.
Have any of you found that you work better as a collective than independently or is it a different type of working? For putting on shows and generally getting things organised we can work very well as a collective, there is simply more of us so we can delegate tasks to get things done. From the point of view of actually making photographs its very different from working alone. Working by yourself is much more introspective and focused, whilst when working collaboratively you have to be very open to change and trying new things.
Has working as a collective improved the way you work
as individuals? Absolutely, working together really forces you out of your comfort zone which is a great for progressing the way you think and approach photography. We don’t really speak about it but we are also competitive with one another, its natural. Individually we want to make strong work that gets the approval of the others and adds a worthy addition to the group project. Having that strong motivation pushes us as individuals, it’s really important to constantly strive to better yourself.
What are some of your favourite, or more challenging places you’ve encountered? Moscow was a cultural challenge, due to the language barrier and just being in a place that was both totally fascinating yet unnerving at the same time. But you can find challenge anywhere. Milton Keynes was a big challenge, not in the same was as Moscow, but because to some degree it looked very familiar to the places where we each live. We were posed with the challenge of how to make the familiar look different. On the other hand Shetland was so beautiful that it posed another set of problems, how do you make work that isn’t just about photographing beautiful landscapes and the cliché things we expect
from a place.
Have you found your interests in certain types of photography has shifted due to the other photographers around you or have your personal styles become more solidified? This is probably different for each of us. Some of us experiment with different cameras and ways of making photographs, whilst others continue to develop their own unique way of working. It’s fascinating to see how different photographs get made and how we each approach a project, we are all influenced and impressed by that in one way or another.
Is it a challenge to create a body of work that flows together, or does it come naturally now after so many years together? The editing stages of each project is one of the most challenging. Again, it is very much a collaborative process where we edit each other’s work. The final
Richard Chivers
group edit needs to have a careful balance of portraits, landscapes, still life’s etc. whilst retaining a similar number of images from each photographer. We also need every image in the final group edit to be relevant, and not be saying the same thing as other images within the edit. It is different for each project, but we feel we constantly improve the way we select and let go of the right photographs. New members often join the collective, which always adds something new to the group dynamic.
Have you decided your next destination yet? Although we have narrowed the options down, we will not conclusively decide until our next meeting in early January. We are still pushing the Shetland work out into the world and exhibiting it somewhere in the Shetland Islands is really important to us. The next project will definitely add a new perspective to the way we work. It’s import that we are always striving for a new challenge and not repeating ourselves. Follow @map6collective on Instagram
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Emmanuel
Monzon
URBAN SPRAWL EMPTINESS
Through my urban sprawl series, I want to photograph the in-between state found in the American landscape. So I capture places of transition, borders, passages from one world to another: am I leaving a city or entering a new environment? In my artwork there is no judgment, no denunciation, only the picture itself. If I could sum up the common theme of my photos, it would be about emptiness, about silence. My pictures try to extract from the mundane urban landscape a form of estheticism. Where most people only pass through, I stop and look for some form of poetic beauty. I like repetition, I like series, and I like driving around. I’m a photographer and visual artist based in Seattle, WA. I graduated from the Academy of Beaux-Arts in Paris, France with honors. My work has been featured throughout the US, Europe and Asia (through exhibitions, selections and various awards). Through my work, I explore and question the signs of urban sprawl in our visual field. My photographic process is being influenced by my background as a plastic artist.
I’m a Belgian street photographer. Through my travels, I tend to witness my time. I’d rather choose long-term projects in which man and society are questioned. I like elaborating my pictures with a constant pictorial concern. The complexity of my arrangements is what really strikes peoples eye. Aesthetics are therefore less important in my view than the perception and the history of the place. Cuba is a country with an ageless face. Like a scene rolling on a loop whose actors are parading and offering me a show that I strive to understand. Mingling with the crowd, staring at the fleeting gleams, I freeze the atmospheres which seem to me to transcribe at best the effervescence reigning overthere. Through the forms, the tones and the contrasts, this decor is unfolding like a film. 32
Ersen Sariozkan Gracias Fidel!
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Philipp Zechner
Nights
For more than ten years, I have been exploring our modern world in my pictures of city spaces and urban objects. Always aiming beneath the surface, I strive to sharpen our eyes for the man-made second nature surrounding us, in order to make us look past the seemingly obvious and rediscover our world. I was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany in 1977. After years in France and in Japan, I am currently based out of Germany.
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This ongoing photographic series explores the streets, squares and views of various international cities. The alienation effect reached by nocturnal illumination is used to give seemingly ordinary scenes a second life, allowing us to re-conquer our daily living environment. In the colour of the night, the city turns into something mysterious, losing all its supposed ordinariness. Apartment houses and landmarks, shops and monuments - everything becomes equally interesting and important here, even things that we would not deem worthy looking at in broad daylight.
Dean Pearson NIGHTCRAWLER
I’m a Filmmaker, Cinematographer and Photographer based in Scotland. I aim to blur the lines between fiction and reality. Weaving a narrative into each image that is as different as it is personal to every viewer. With a cinematic undertone I am drawn to the dark, looking deeper into the shadows trying to evoke a feeling, an emotion, or perhaps a memory that takes the viewer much further beyond the subject matter itself. With each image in my series Nightcrawler, I aim to create the feeling of a dark, mysterious, dystopian world mostly void of any human presence.
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Lucie Blissett Self Portraits of My Gendered Objects
I am a Northern based Fine Art and Commercial Photographer. My work tackles female issues by developing concepts using colour, light and deep conceptual meaning. I am independent, creative and determined to create unique and inspiring imagery.
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ON THE COVER
an interview with...
Vasilina Popova 76
WRITTEN BY kelly bryan
Over recent years, Vasilina Popova has gained well-deserved recognition for both her conceptual and beauty photography, with her involvement in group exhibitions located at Parsons School of Design, Getty Images Gallery and Anaid Art Gallery. Vasilina directs her photographic attention towards people, capturing unconventional aesthetics to provoke surprising contrasts and uncomfortable reactions from her audience. This is particularly witnessed in her neon series, whereby she combined the vast outdoors and calm water, with dramatic electric wires tangled around the bodies of her subjects. #PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine is featuring this aesthetically captivating series, and were therefore very excited to have a more indepth chat about the project with Vasilina herself.
Could you explain your background in photography and what encouraged you to pursue a career in the medium? I’ve never dreamt to become a photographer. I started to take portraits of my friends from uni just for fun. But soon after I realised photography was a great tool to express my ideas, fantasies and all those visuals my brain created. From the very beginning of my career I had a clear understanding that I’m not into documental photography. I wasn’t interested much in observing reality, I wanted to create my own one instead. I didn’t paint or draw well (ok, I’m actually awful in it), but I had a strong wish to create something in visual field. Luckily, there’re photo cameras for such people like me!
Did you study photography or are you a self-taught photographer? Would you consider a further education in the medium beneficial; despite the rising tuition fees?
I’m a self-taught photographer. But I took a few courses, lectures and workshops, portfolio reviews… It’s very beneficial to learn something new. Photography is quite a changeable medium, there are many different techniques and approaches. It’s important to develop a personal style but it’s also important not to get stuck in it and be open to something new. Personally I think a good photo or art education would help me to achieve some of my goals faster.
tual and/or aesthetic ideas for the project change as the project progressed?
Would you be able to describe your influences; what or who inspires you to make the type of photography you do?
I already mentioned the artist Javier Martin. As for the photographers… Synchrodogs, probably. It’s not always easy to find a particular source of inspirations. When you watch a lot of images, videos, works of art, you gain your “luggage” of ideas and style… And in one moment it just brings you an idea!
My first biggest influence was modern art painting. It amazed me not only visually, but also by the idea that art doesn’t have to imitate the reality. Later I started to be interested in contemporary art, and when I’m traveling, I try to go to museums of it in every country I’m visiting. I’m curious in work of local contemporary artists, in their cultural differences. As for the photographers who influenced and inspired me… the list is really huge! From Hiroshi Sugimoto and Jeff Wall to Synchrodogs and Juno Calypso. Now thanks to social platforms it’s really easy to find so many amazing photographers and artists and be inspired by them! My latest obsessions are Alexandra Von Fuerst and Leslie Zhang Jia Cheng.
Congratulations on the success of your Neon project! Could you tell us a little more about the body of work and the story behind how it began? Oh, thank you! I planned a project with outdoor portraits with some combination of unrealistic and realistic things. There were two paths for me: realistic nature and unrealistic person or vice versa. I chose the first path. Then I had to decide how to make my model look unrealistic and surreal. One day I saw a project «Blindless Light» by Javier Martin, where he used black and white fashion portraits and combined it with neon tubes. It inspired me to use neon wires as well and tangle my models with it. I wanted to create the mix between melancholic, apathetic mood and the tension provided by the neon.
Would you say you had initial direction for your Neon project or did the concep-
I had initial direction and it worked as I had planned it to work.
Did any photographers in particular inspire or inform your Neon project?
How does it feel to be exhibited in the Getty Images Gallery Female Gaze exhibition, which celebrated female photographers and female identity as a whole? Oh, it does feel great! I was very honoured to take part in the group show among amazing female photographers.
How important do you feel it is to create photography which relates to femininity? The majority of my models are females. For me it’s easier and more interesting to collaborate with women. I don’t just observe them through my camera, I feel we understand each other better and they can easily express my ideas. It’s kind of sisterhood, and it’s great. At the same time I live in a quite patriarchal society, where it’s still possible to hear phrases like “women must always look beautiful” and where the idea of woman as a property for man still exists. Many women would rather prefer to look just sexually attractive on photos. Personally I choose to work with such concepts as fragility and vulnerability and on the other hand - female strength and confidence. And I’m glad to see there are more and more projects and campaigns celebrating female diversity and empowerment.
How do you hope people will react when they see your Neon body of work? I’d like them to stop by at least!
You seem to enjoy combining objects such as flowers, or more specifically electric neon wires, with your photography; what is the reason for adding this extra dimension to your work? Working with mixed media expands my skills and my visual style. I don’t want to be limited by one tool. I really enjoy doing collages, using real flowers and plants with my photo prints… And if only could you smell the beautiful floral aroma in my room when I’m working on such projects! :) It’s a pure pleasure.
As you may be aware, it is rather difficult for emerging artists to make a break into the artistic industry. Do you have any advice for conceptual and beauty photographers that are trying to make it in this competitive industry? It is difficult! My advice would be: to constantly learn and expand your horizon not only in photography, but in other visual arts as well. It’s also important to build professional contacts and to use social media and other platforms to show off your work.
Finally, do you have any more projects you are working on for the future? I’m still working on my collage projects, going to try some new techniques. Also I want to make a series of beauty portraits with senior people. I think they’re really under-represented, and it’s unfair. And I’m going to study video as well. So one more media is waiting for me!
Kathleen Meier Huis Clos
My work is a study about human psychology. How do we react face to given situations? How does our education, experiences and culture lead our feelings? The series ‘Huis clos’ confronts us to a suggestive confinement. What happens in us when we are faced into a desperate situation? What do we feel when we no longer have a connection with the outside world? The disorientation and the loss of contact with the outside world puts us into physical and mental isolation and can lead us in a conscious or subconscious way to modify, perhaps to alter, our relationship with the external reality. This maze slowly conducts us into a mental illness.
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Thierry Bansront
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Automne
Neoclassical
I’m a French photographer born in 1975 and specialise in fine-art portrait and artistic nude. I started photography in 2014 after a test for “The world’s best photo competition” by PHOTO Magazine in 2013 where I was finalist. I’m also director and post-producer for advertising, television and movies. I compose music too and love cooking! About photography, my work is known through exhibitions in Europe (Milan, MIA Fair, Geneva, Lugano ...) as well as articles in international specialized magazines. I love the neoclassic painting period. I’m very impressed by the art of painter such as Ingres on his work on lights and colours. I try to merge my passion for art and photography together. Each photograph is custom designed according to the chosen model. Moreover, there is never a costume or decoration. The choice of models is very important.
The waiting
Academic Nude
Pot D’eau
Tri du linge Ă la bougie
Compassion
Academique Nude I I
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Islands: Mallorca
Michal Narozny
“Islands: Mallorca”, is the first part of a conceptual photographic quadriptych “Island”, focusing on the four main Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera) located near the east coast of Spain on an archipelago in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea. The idea emerged during the many months of my stay on Mallorca, where I worked, paid taxes, made friends, experienced the openness of the locals, and finally became the island’s resident myself, strongly identifying with the local customs and culture while escaping the tourist fuss. Thanks to that, I discovered one of the most popular destinations for leisure and partying from a different perspective. I discovered that Mallorca as a place treated by locals with a certain dose of reverence and magic. It is full of beautiful and undiscovered obelisks, landscapes, sun-roasted nature, and masonic mysteries a perfect refuge for modern hippies and nomads. Mallorca releases mainly holiday, party moods, it is associated with intoxicating nights and romantic sunsets. However, beneath the surface there lies the energy of a place having its own identity, temperature, and colour. Cycle “Islands: Mallorca”, which is the first conceptual documentary project about this spanish island.
AN INTERVIEW WITH...
Sinai
Mikayla Whitmore
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WRITTEN BY Lisa Gillies
American based artist Mikayla Whitmore explores colour and light in a range of photography, from portraits to editorial. In her landscape work, Whitmore captures the American essence like many of the greats before her but with a modern and female gaze. In her latest project, ‘you and you and you’ Whitmore explores the way stereotypes and societal norms have become intrinsic to our daily lives and how to undo our perceptions. In doing so she photographs individuals and their multiple personas, without barriers in beautiful eccentric images.
Hi Mikayla, could you tell us a bit about your photography background and working as an artist? I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and got my Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2010. I have worked a lot of odd jobs, like being a concierge at a casino on the strip or working abroad in Macau, SAR. But a little over a year ago I left my full-time position as a staff photographer at a local media group to travel to visit with my dad and pursue a full-time freelance career as an artist/photojournalist. My work is greatly inspired by growing up in Las Vegas and the surrounding deserts.
You’ve been a freelance artist for a while now, is it more freeing or do you prefer working to briefs? I love being freelance, except for the inconsistency of making steady money. It is more freeing in the sense that I make up my own timelines and chase my own projects, but its a constant battle to keep doing some come of work that will generate income. I enjoy working with photo editors and the feedback one gets from doing national work.
Do you have a preference of creating more personal projects or working editorial? I think I would always choose to create personal projects if I had the choice and financial freedom to do so. Editorial work is a great combination of mixing in my artistic practice with more responsibility. Anytime
I get paid for work, it normally means I have to adapt or adjust my vision with that of my client. When I am working for myself, I get to explore and be left alone to process and understand my surroundings in a different way.
Your new series, ‘you and you and you’ is different from some of your other work, was there any specific inspiration for this body of work? This series stemmed from thinking about how society is consumed with stereotypes and binary norms. From childhood, most are taught to avoid judging a book by its cover, yet regardless everyone uses visual clues to assess and form opinions about a situation or person prior to interacting. Implicit stereotyping is more apparent throughout the United States current political state and Identity Politics. I was hoping to convey a series of images that centred around the many identities a person can take on and the perceived notions we as viewers can make. I asked people to create a heightened version of themselves because I wanted to express exaggerated characters from everyday people. The personas that everyone took on really tapped into the individual, and allowed for each person to let there guard down when interacting and taking images. Often I think in society we wear a lot of masks or have different personas when interacting with different groups of people or social environments. In social or work settings, individuals are not always allowed to be as open or forward with their personalities, especially if what they enjoy or express is outside of the traditional norms.
In this project your sitters faces are distorted. Could you explain your thought process behind this series? I utilized a lot of mirrors, colour gels, and optic changing materials to create a majority of my effects in camera. When I first saw this type of glass, I was immediately drawn to how it pixilated and almost collaged everything together. I like the idea of creating everything in-camera to create a dialogue with viewers about what is real vs fiction. Even if I am manipulating the light or shooting thru a piece of glass to distort the perspective, the environment existed in real time. The shooting sessions only last about 15 minutes because it was so scorching hot outside. Also, I had
them sitting behind that glass which acted as a giant magnifier, blinding them and heating up the area quicker. The interesting thing was that the glass created a barrier between myself and them, but actually allowed both of us to feel less self-conscious and just create within that instant, instead of fussing over everything little thing. I think every person ended up licking the glass or just smearing their entire faces against it to get really interesting colour fields with the makeup and sweat mixing. I was also much more interested in seeing glamourized, but still hectic and outside your norms of traditional beauty. I used a lot of sanitary products in-between shoots to keep the glass in tip-top shape. I think that the unique shooting environment influenced my models and allowed them to feel a little less inhibited and comfortable to evoke different emotions and allow themselves to been seen in a different way.
Each photograph is very individual, and they each evoke very different emotions. Are the sitters in this series chosen for certain reasons? All the people whom I had model were either friends or close acquaintances, many artists and creatives, however, no one is a professional model. I wanted a diverse group of people and the only common factor was that everyone was of a queer or open mindset.
Do the colours or expressions relate to the individual? People created heightened versions of themselves by using makeup, outfit choices, and sometimes props. Once I saw there character, I would choose the background fabric and colour choices for the light. The colours were based on tones I thought would mix well with each individuals skin and outfit colour palette.
Is there a favourite portrait of yours from this body of work? They all have special meaning to me, but I think the image and image set of Holly was a turning point for me when I realized how I wanted to handle and address photographing the remaining models.
Is this an on-going series?
Yes, I think you could say it is ongoing, I am still taking portraits of my friends but with no exact timeline in place. I definitely have plans to use this technique and expand upon it. For instance, I want to purchase a few large scale pieces of glass to be able to get a wider variety of crops and image sets.
It’s noticeable that colour and light are important in your work from your landscapes to portraits. What draws you towards it or is it just innate in the way you work? I think a big influence in the way I see and process light and colour comes from growing up in Las Vegas. Never a shortage of bizarre neon, over the top port a caches like the one at Circus Circus, and a bizarre mixture of fake facades and landmarks that are fleeting memories, tossed aside and demolished to make room for modern Tuscany style suites. Long gone are the days of the mirror clad and neon-laced casino Riveria. I spent a small amount of time on the strip as a kid visiting family and enjoying the early 90s family-friendly Las Vegas, short-lived, along with a ton of family trips to Gold Butte Nev and surrounding deserts. I think that is why I am so intrigued by taking and creating artificial light sources in natural surroundings and my made environments.
Your landscape and editorial work have an essence of the great American photographers like William Eggleston, would you say you have been influenced by them along the way? I was definitely drawn to William Eggleston and Stephen Shore while studying at the University. Unfortunately many of the “great” photographers documenting the west and outsider landscapes where primarily from male perspectives. In addition to photographers and other creatives, I take a lot of influence from sci-fi movies and the representation of Las Vegas seen through Hollywood. For instance, Tremors, the movie, was a big influencer - when I was a kid exploring the desert, if I saw the sand shift in a certain direction, I always thought a creature might come out of the ground - even to this day, even though I know its the breeze moving the sand. I would also say photographer Michiko Kon had a big influence on me when I was just starting. I remember seeing some of her work, often these surreal, eerie still lifes that really informed how I started seeing my surroundings.
Ian
Leslie
Rocky
Lance
You often work in installations, is it preferred way of working? It is one way I highly enjoy working in and hope to expand more upon with some new concepts. I think it helps me take more of a physical approach to image making and I like creating real environments or miniatures to then contextual in images. Most of my techniques are accessible and obtainable, I have some grand ideas that will probably never see the light of day unless I strike it rich or get the support of many individuals.
Do you have a preferred style of work? Are landscapes preferable over working with people or vice versa? I do not really have a preferred subject matter, in the sense of landscape vs people. However, I tend to like to explore and have the freedom and time to do so. I am often drawn to hoping in my car and just driving in a certain direction, solely with the intent of searching for moments. I think I enjoy shooting when I go unnoticed, I never want to intrude on anyone, which makes an internal turmoil when I can see certain shots, but can’t decide to take the image or address
the person, but in that moment of addressing it completely changes the scene I wanted to photo before.
Do you have any other series or installations currently in the works? I have a show opening in Denver at the David B Smith Gallery on March 29, 2019, titled “Magic Circle”. It’s alongside an exhibition by my fellow Las Vegan and artist Justin Favela. I also am working on a large scale installation with Mary Sabo and Karin Quindo Miller. We are hand cutting about 15 large scale mirror tombstones/portals to install in a few natural landscape locations later this year. Otherwise its the usual balance of opening up rejection letters and still applying to opportunities in spite of it all.
Brittany
Brent
Ronni Campana Badly repaired cars
Born in Milan in 1987, I specialise in photographing the world’s minute imperfections. By concentrating on details in my surrounding environment and framing contrasting colour and shapes I uncover an abstract beauty in seemingly mundane objects. With the use of subtle humour and a bright flash it draws our attention to the wonderful flaws found in everyday life.
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Daria Amaranth Photography in many ways is located outside the verbal category to me: it is a kind of cloth woven of emotions and feelings, a continuous sensual outline. In the perception of art, the sensory moment seems to me to be the most important aspect, it is more primary than analysis. In my works I like to concentrate around emotional life, the secrecy and silent passion of feelings; memories and vague dreams, mysterious intertwining between reminiscences and visions, illusions and inner labyrinths.
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Delusion
PHOTOBOOK REVIEW...
Shouldn’t Throw Stones The view of a Night Watchman 140
...WRITTEN BY tia bryant
depth and personal encounter with a place that most people will never get the chance to see. The body of work as a whole (the documentary, the publication and the exhibition) was largely a collaborative project, Casey worked with writers, architects, graphic designers, sound engineers and drone pilots, just to name a few, to complete this project. It’s easy to imagine that being alone is a familiar feeling with being a night watchman, with time seeming to slow down – “He is acutely aware of being isolated. He dreads the distant tinkle of glass, or the laughter of bored, trespassing teenagers.” Both the language and the images in the photobook are strikingly poetic in a cinematic sense – giving you a feeling of comfort in this somewhat alien environment – a place that only a few will ever see. Casey refers to Susan Sontag’s idea of the “Voyeuristic Stroller” – this interaction between Casey and the space is something that can definitely be seen throughout this work. The images show the deterioration of ‘Shouldn’t Throw Stones – The view of a Night Watchman’ depicts the lonely yet oddly tranquil landscape that was the Pilkington Glass HQ. Shot at night, this work came about when Kevin Casey worked as a night time security guard at the Ex-Pilkington Glass HQ in Merseyside. Casey is a photographer, film maker, and creator of the company Lens Based Media, producing work from both an independent and a commercial stance. Casey is very open when he says that he has to take on various other jobs in order to survive as a practising artist, a realistic and refreshing voice from someone working in the creative industry. During his time working at the old glass manufacturer he documented his role of the watchman, alongside the working life of his fellow employees over a 2-year period; using photography as his tool for investigation. The photobook involves images and collected archival documents. This offers a more in-
“I am capturing these spaces, people and objects in there here and now, with reminders of the recent past. I would hope that the images would provide more questions than answers.” the building, but the lighting and composition juxtapose it, representing the building in a more intimate light, despite its depilated appearance at what is arguably its most vulnerable time – perhaps this is how Casey views the building himself. The book flows in a story-telling manner- allowing for a gradual insight into the world of a watchman in this
environment, showing a journey through the building, almost as if you’re the watchman yourself. A mix of documentary-style images, portraits and archives, lending itself for a more chronological narrative and to allow for an insider experience throughout, exploring this hidden landscape. With documentary photography, you always encounter a number of problems revolving around perception and permission – these were issues that Casey had to understand and overcome. He dealt with matters surrounding the reflection of the industrial economy in the UK (particularly in the North). He had to decide whether he wanted the work to be political in depicting the stance of working class populations who rely on the manufacturing industry as a source of income, or whether he wanted to focus on the historical side of the listed building – which I think he tackles perfectly. He uses storytelling as a way of documenting the cultural and
“You can see the battle between a concrete structure and nature… As time went on, it was the little discoveries that kept me excited” economic change of the industrial climate in the North, showing his insider perspective and the relationship with his working environment.
Check out his photographic documentary on his website here: lensbasedmedia.org/fine-art
index Check out the sites for all photographers featured in this issue for more inspirational work.
Daria Amaranth
Kathleen Meier
Thierry Bansront
Emmanuel Monzon
thierrybansront.wixsite.com
admonzon.format.com
Lucie Blissett
Michal Narozny
blissettphotography.com
michal.narozny.com
Ronni Campana
Dean Pearson
cargocollective.com/r-campana
deanspearson.com
Kevin Casey (Shouldn’t Throw Stones)
Vasilina Popova
daria-amaranth.info
shouldntthrowstones.co.uk
Connor Daly
connordalystudio.com
MAP6
map6.co.uk
kathleenmeier.fr
behance.net/vasilinapopova
Ersen Sariozkan ersensariozkan.com
Mikayla Whitmore mikaylawhitmore.com
Philipp Zechner philipp-zechner.com
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