Underdogs issue 5

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DOGS photography magazine / issue_5

Drew Amyot Bruno Bernardi Warren Dawson Asrul Dwi Oliver Liria Jerey McKee Matsuki Narishige Michael Roggemann Asimina Stefanidou

Curator/Editor/Designer: Isa Gelb Cover & back cover: Matsuki Narishige All images and text published in Underdogs are the sole property of the featured photographers.

NO image can be reproduced, edited, copied or distributed without the express written permission of its legal owner.

NO part of the publication may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher.

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This fifth issue of Underdogs marks the first anniversary of the zine. This occasion is special to me.

I’m happy to have made real something I once only thought about for a long time, and that I wasn’t sure I was capable to do. I thank all of the photographers and loyal readers who have made this anniversary possible.

For a change, I won’t write the editorial. I have invited a former contributor, John Koch, to share his views on photography and the Underdogs project.

While we're on the subject of anniversaries, I'd also like to celebrate the length of my friendship with Isa. She is a positive influence on me, as well as on many others. Although her good work extends in many directions, I wish to use this editorial to focus on the qualities I believe are most pertinent to her work on Underdogs—her desire, and ability, to build a tradition within amateur photography.

Some readers might be surprised by my focus on those aspects. Yet the harsh counterexample to them, and Underdogs, is Erik Kessels' installation artwork “24 Hrs In Photos” (see http://www.kesselskramer.com/exhibitions/24-hrs-of-photos).

In “24 Hrs,” Kessels made 3” x 4” prints of purportedly every photo uploaded to Flickr during a single day, and dumped the contents into a gallery space in a manner resembling trash piled in a landfill.

(For reference, Flickr users publicly uploaded an average of 1.83 million photos per day in 2014.)

Although the meaning of “24 Hrs” is debatable, it is worth noting Kessels himself is a curator of amateur photography. It does not seem his intention was to devalue photography in comparison to other arts.

I would argue that the power of “24 Hrs” lies in its critique of various forms of naivete held by photographers and the viewing public. From the photographer's perspective—the belief that a photograph publicly uploaded to Flickr is an intrinsic work of art. From the public's perspective—the belief that such uploads are a flurry of meaningless activity.

Could it be self-serving for Kessels to imply that the curator is the necessary link to bridge such vast gaps in perception? Of course it's possible. However, consider a quote that the cultural critic Walter Benjamin reflected on in the 1930s: “The illiteracy of the future will be ignorance not of reading or writing, but of photography.” Then compare the effect of “24 Hrs” with an imaginary exhibit—one which piles up, in a similar manner, every piece of written material produced in a 24-hour period, as a commentary on the state of poetry.

If the imaginary exhibit seems more ridiculous than “24 Hrs,” it's because poetry, as fluid of an art form as it is, has thousands of years of literate tradition to help define it. Photography—and especially amateur photography—largely lacks such a literate tradition.

Curators like Isa, and Kessels, are working to build this tradition by thoughtful engagement with photographers who do not shoot for identified professional reasons, and with their works.

The title of the zine is a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of amateur photographers' place not just in the tradition of art, but of photography itself. The progress that the magazine has made, within just one year and 5 issues, gives me hope of something like the David and Goliath story—a version in which disregard of amateur photography per se is revealed as illiteracy.

John Koch https://www.flickr.com/photos/orphotographer/

Isa Gelb https://www.flickr.com/photos/91262356@N06/ http://punkroyaltiger.tumblr.com/

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DREW AMyOt

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DREW AMyOt Edmonton, Alberta / Canada https://www.flickr.com/photos/28101984@N07/ http://drewamyot.tumblr.com/

HIS CAMERAS Main camera: Nikon F4s Sub cams: Minolta Hi-Matic AF2, Canon AV-1, Pentax k1000, Polaroid 330 (very new)

Born and raised in Canada, I love shooting alone and capturing everyday beauty. Photography for me is about being aware and present in my surroundings. When I’m shooting I feel like an observer of life rather than a participant. This feeling helps me enjoy the crazy, misplaced, and chaotic beauty that exists in our world. One luxury of growing up in Canada that has influenced my work as a photographer is empty space. Being accustomed to vast and vacant landscapes, I have grown very attached to shooting them. My greatest pleasure is cruising back roads on my motorbike while stopping to enjoy and capture the breathtaking landscapes of the countryside. I am very passionate about film photography and look forward shooting it over my lifetime.

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BRuNO BERNARDI

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BRuNO BERNARDI Bariloche / Argentina www.ickr.com/photos/bernardibruno/ www.brunobernardi.net/

HIS CAMERA Canon 40d, Canon F1 new, Canon Rebel G, Olympus Mju-II (Stylus)

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WARREN DAWSON

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WARREN DAWSON Brisbane, Queensland / Australia https://www.flickr.com/photos/fasene/ http://fasene.tumblr.com/

HIS CAMERAS Main cameras are Canon 6D and Canon 60D. I rarely use Canon S100, Fujifilm X10, Nikkormat FT and Nikon F3.

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ASRuL DWI

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ASRuL DWI Jakarta / Indonesia https://www.ickr.com/photos/33092685@N04/ http://cargocollective.com/asruldwi

To me, photography is a space to express my self yet a devoted companion to explore unknown space within me, reality and environment around me. I prefer to expose the unseen into my works. The lens allows me to capture it with its magic to bind the scattered fragmentation of the memory within time, then produce palpable even ambiguous pictures. The most important part of my creative process is to explore and experiment photographs as a document and visual layers in the same time.

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HIS CAMERAS

Canon F1 Olympus XA2 Panasonic Super Mini Olympus Trip 35

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OLIvER LIRIA

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OLIvER LIRIA Newport / United Kingdom https://www.ickr.com/photos/ondaocho/ http://ondaocho.tumblr.com/ http://oliverliria.wix.com/oliverliria

HIS CAMERAS Olympus Om2n, Pentax Spotmatic, Olympus Mju-II (Stylus)

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JEffREy MCKEE

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JEffREy MCKEE Lawrence, Kansas / USA https://www.flickr.com/photos/48537421@N04/ http://jeffreymckee.tumblr.com/

HIS CAMERAS I use the Contax G1 and T2 as well as Polaroid SX70 from time to time.

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MAtSuKI NARIShIGE

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MAtSuKI NARIShIGE Tokyo / Japan https://www.ickr.com/photos/oomateto/ http://mtk-ooma.tumblr.com/

I am taking photographs because I want to be kind to the world.

HIS CAMERAS

Plaubel Makina 670, Leica M4-P, Leica Flex SL, TACHIBANA 4x5, and some point-and-shoots.

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MIChAEL ROGGEMANN

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MIChAEL ROGGEMANN Berlin / Germany https://www.ickr.com/photos/typo030/ http://mr0303.tumblr.com/

Nothing is more astounding than the simple truth, nothing is more exotic than our surroundings, nothing is more imaginative than objectiveness, and there is nothing more sensational in the world than the time you are living in!

HIS CAMERAS The camera I use most is the Sony RX100 III and the iphone6

Egon Erwin Kisch

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ASIMINA StEfANIDOu

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ASIMINA StEfANIDOu Athens / Greece https://www.ямВickr.com/photos/92443352@N03/

HER CAMERAS Nikon FE2, Nikkormat FT3, Nikon L35AF,Nikon AF600, Olympus Mju-II (Stylus)

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MANy thANKS tO DREW AMYOT https://www.flickr.com/photos/28101984@N07/ http://drewamyot.tumblr.com/

BRUNO BERNARDI www.flickr.com/photos/bernardibruno/ www.brunobernardi.net/

WARREN DAWSON https://www.flickr.com/photos/fasene/ http://fasene.tumblr.com/

ASRUL DWI https://www.flickr.com/photos/33092685@N04/ http://cargocollective.com/asruldwi

OLIVER LIRIA https://www.flickr.com/photos/ondaocho/ http://ondaocho.tumblr.com/ http://oliverliria.wix.com/oliverliria

JEFFREY MCKEE https://www.flickr.com/photos/48537421@N04/ http://jeffreymckee.tumblr.com/

MATSUKI NARISHIGE https://www.flickr.com/photos/oomateto/ http://mtk-ooma.tumblr.com/

MICHAEL ROGGEMANN https://www.flickr.com/photos/typo030/ http://mr0303.tumblr.com/

ASIMINA STEFANIDOU https://www.flickr.com/photos/92443352@N03/

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Next issue october 2015

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