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Michal Brezinsky Benedetta Falugi Andy Feltham Nick Halstead Kostas Kapsianis Nick Prideaux Thieu Riemen Kevin Samuels Junya Suzuki Giacomo Tiberia Skyid Wang Yatender
Curator/Editor/Publisher: Isa Gelb www.punkroyaltiger.tumblr.com/ www.flickr.com/photos/isagelb/ www.instagram.com/punkroyaltiger/ Cover & back cover: Kostas kapsianis 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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You may have noticed on the cover of this Issue 14 that Underdogs is featuring 12 photographers instead of the usual 9. This is part of a long-term change: from this issue on, new issues of Underdogs will be released 3 times a year (in November, March, and July), and feature 12 photographers per issue. The expected number of photographers to be featured per year (36) will remain the same. On a different note, I recently discovered a feature story the Guardian published in 2013, “The death of photography: are camera phones destroying an artform?” (available at https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/dec/13/death-of-photography-camera-phones). The article discusses some interesting claims—new at the time of publication—that photo-taking impairs our memories compared to our ability to remember what we see with our eyes alone. Despite that novel research, one quote from the article stuck with me most, even though it reiterated past criticisms of photography: People taking photographs of their food in a restaurant instead of eating it . . . People taking photographs of the Mona Lisa instead of looking at it. I think the iPhone is taking people away from their experiences. I thought of how similar complaints were made in the middle and later 20th century about vacationers and their 35mm film cameras, snapping away at every opportunity to have pictures for their slide show. It’s clear to me photography has persisted nonetheless. The death of photography is overstated, and I don’t think technological advances will ever inflict the death blow. If you were to ask me, the death of photography would occur when no new photographic image could add meaning to the world. And that’s a limit that may never be reached. Yet there’s a meaning to the above quote that isn’t hyperbole. Far from describing an event that may never occur, it describes something that is virtually intrinsic to photography: how the photographic act separates us from our experiences. Even when I find myself in the presence of something I wish to photograph, when I pick up the camera, the moment vanishes. I’m in a rectangle, pushing outward, but not quite there. The experience rarely lasts for more than a few seconds at a time, with each shot. But it is intense, and it makes me wonder if something else, more subjective, is meant by the “death of photography”—something more like the “failure of photography”: that point where no image can compensate for the photographer’s loss of experience outside the camera. I can understand how photography, which is unpredictable in so many ways, could produce diminishing returns for many practitioners. To be certain, I haven’t reached that point yet. Still, I think the long-term consequences of photography’s promotion of an aestheticized worldview are mixed. If I overburden this editorial with my doubt here, I plan to share in the next editorial some strands of thought that better explain the value I find in the creation of photographs.
JOHN KOCH www.flickr.com/photos/orphotographer/
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MICHAl BREzINSKY 5
MICHAl BREzINSKY Wrocław / Poland
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HIS CAMERAS Olympus XA, Olympus Mju II, Fuji X10 and Iphone SE
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BENEDETTA FAlUGI 11
BENEDETTA FAlUGI Follonica, Tuscany / Italy
HER CAMERAS Contax T2, Olympus OM1, Leica Mini II, Yachica T4, Eximus 22mm, lc-a
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ANDY FElTHAM
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ANDY FElTHAM Northampton / United Kingdom
HIS CAMERA Pentax K1
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NICK ANTONY HAlSTEAD 23
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NICK ANTONY HAlSTEAD Largs / Scotland
HIS CAMERA Fuji GW690
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KOSTAS KAPSIANIS
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KOSTAS KAPSIANIS Athens / Greece
HIS CAMERAS Mamiya 7 II
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NICK PRIDEAUx
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NICK PRIDEAUx Australian born based in Bangkok / Thailand
HIS CAMERAS Contax T2, Konica Big Mini, Konica Hexar and Olympus Mju II
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THIEU RIEMEN
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THIEU RIEMEN Tilburg / The Netherlands
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HIS CAMERAS Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EOS 5DSR mostly with Canon Lens TS-E 24mm 1:3.5L II
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KEvIN SAMUElS
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KEvIN SAMUElS Los Angeles, CA / USA
HIS CAMERAS Ricoh GR, Fuji X100S and Fuji Instax 300
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JUNYA SUzUKI
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JUNYA SUzUKI Kawasaki, Kanagawa / Japan
HIS CAMERAS Leica M Type240 + Summicron 35mm/f2 ASPH
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GIACOMO TIBERIA
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GIACOMO TIBERIA Frosinone / Italy
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HIS CAMERAS In most cases 35 mm cameras: Contax G1, Leica Mini, Konica S3 and Canon Demi
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SKYID WANG
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SKYID WANG Burnaby, BC / Canada
HIS CAMERAS Leica M6 and Ricoh GR
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YATENDER
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YATENDER Saigon / Vietnam
HER CAMERAS Contax TVS II, Nikon L35ad, Fuji Tiara zoom and Fuji Cardia Wavee
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THANKS TO All PHOTOGRAPHERS
MICHAL BREZINSKY Wrocław / Poland www.michalbrezinsky.com/
BENEDETTA FALUGI Follonica, Tuscany / Italy www.benedettafalugi.com/ www.flickr.com/photos/benedetta_f/ www.instagram.com/benedettafalugi/
ANDY FELTHAM
THIEU RIEMEN
Northampton / United Kingdom
Tilburg / The Netherlands
www.andyfelthamphotography.com/ www.flickr.com/photos/61249924@N06/ www.instagram.com/andyfelthamphotography/
www.thieuriemen.nl/
KEVIN SAMUELS NICK ANTONY HALSTEAD Largs / Scotland http://cargocollective.com/nickhalstead http://blog.nickhalstead.co.uk/ www.instagram.com/nickantonyhalstead/ http://nickhalstead.bigcartel.com/
Los Angeles, CA / USA www.instagram.com/ashnolo/ https://ashnolo.tumblr.com/
JUNYA SUZUKI Kawasaki, Kanagawa / Japan www.junya-suzuki.com/
KOSTAS KAPSIANIS Athens / Greece
GIACOMO TIBERIA
www.kostaskapsianis.com/ www.instagram.com/kapsianis8/ www.kostaskapsianis.com/blog/
Frosinone / Italy
NICK PRIDEAUX
SKYID WANG
Bangkok / Thailand
Burnaby, BC / Canada
www.nickprideaux.com/ www.prideaux.tumblr.com/ www.instagram.com/prideaux/
www.skyid.wang/ www.fullfrontalflash.wordpress.com/photographers/sky id-wang/ www.instagram.com/skyid.wang/ www.flickr.com/photos/skyid/
www.flickr.com/photos/136525821@N04/ www.instagram.com/instacrobat/
YATENDER Saigon / Vietnam cargocollective.com/yatender http://ya-tender.tumblr.com/ www.instagram.com/yaonthemoon/ www.flickr.com/photos/xya_yax007/
Next issue Mars 2018
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