Portfolio 08_12
Susanna Luna Bellandi
Portfolio 10-12 Susanna Luna Bellandi London, UK susannaluna.bellandi@gmail.com +44.7432.031.368 / +39.333.265.4361 susannalunabellandi.com trustmemagazine.com
Photo Stories
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BOOT FAIRS
PHOTO STORIES
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Every week end the boot fairs’ people wake up at the sunrise and occupys a field, a farm or a parking lot. The boot fairers are Sunday gypsies that for few hours a week make a car, a truck or a van as their stall, resting place and warehouse... Moving from London to a village in the South of England I discovered this phenomenon that is deeply different from the urban flea market I was used to. There is no pretentiousness here, not distinction among valuable objects and junk. The items on sale are not evaluated on trade base, but on the compromise that what is useless for someone may be valuable to someone else. In an economic system that overproduces and encourage replacement instead of recycling these makeshift markets look like a local sustainable model. In the last two months I’ve just wandered around these stalls shooting very simple portraits to the people and the objects they’ve decided to get rid of. To realize these image I had to buy a fair number of shoddy goods. In detail: a maisy mouse puzzle, a book about cats, a polka dot dress, a polar bear puppet, a pair of wellies, second hand ballet shoes, a knitted dog, a christmas jumper, a book about up and coming (in the 90’s) british authors, a straw bag, a puppet of Waldo from “Where’s Waldo?”, a mood ring, a pillow, a fake Lacoste shirt, a cantaloupe, a bowl of cherries and much more... 35 mm B/W
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C.H.U.G.- Canal in Hackney Users Group
PHOTO STORIES
Rhys
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C.H.U.G. (Chanal in Hackney Users Group) is a community of people living in a basin along Regent’s canals in Dalston, East London. What makes them unique, compared to the many boats moored along the canal from east to west, is the sense of community among these people and the responsibility towards the ecosystem in which they live. In Kingsland basin are currently living about 25 people including two children, Ella and Eve. There are ducks, an allotment and an area for compost. The life in the basin is fluid, because the structure of this floating town is constantly changing, there is always someone who leaves for a journey, who arrives, who stays overnight. There are people of all ages who have moved from land to water for different reasons. There is Jerry that has joined to boats together to have enough room for his wood workshop, there is Anneka, architect from Germany who lives with her daughter and her husband, there is Rhys, filmmaker and “voice” of the community, John a former teacher with a beautifully painted narrowboat and Liz “The Coal”, that with her dog “Scruffy”, travels back and forth the canal to bring coal to all the boats that need it. Digital 2012
Ella
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Rhys’s bedroom
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John
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Liz “The Coal”
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Liz The Coal’s listEvery week Elizabeth goes back and forth the London’s canals to bring coal and fuel to the several communities of houseboats. She usually spends a couple of nights in the Kingsland basin every two weeks. In her diary She writes the amount of fuel she will need to bring at her customers in her next journey.
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“Scruffy” the dog
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Darren
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The allotment
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Jerry in his workshop-boat
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Anneka and Ella
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Eve
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Becky
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BRICK LANERS
PHOTO STORIES
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Just few street shoots realized here and there in Brick Lane, East London. This images have been realize for the Rag Factory Space in Brick Lane. Digital 2011
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PHOTO STORIES
OCCUPY LONDON
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This is not a real project. It’s just a series pictures of tents, huts and temporary shelters that have occupied St. Paul & Finsbury sq. in London from the 15th of October 2011 to the 28th February 2012. Digital 2012
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WHERE THE WILD BOARS ARE. digital photography.
PHOTO STORIES
2011- on-going
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The life of wild boars’ hunters starts at 5 am and does not end until 8 pm. It’s a life lived in team, ruled by well-defined duties. Each team is divided into “canai” (who manage dogs) and “postisti” (who stay in specific places shooting). At every postista, according with his skills and physical condition, is assigned a place in the wood, where he will stay for the whole hunt. The hunter’s life consists in a strong contact with nature, long cold waiting, days and sometimes nights spent on the mountains. The wild boar hunting is a very important gathering tradition for people living in rural areas of central Italy.I followed the day of the team of wild boars’ hunters “la Bomba” (the bomb) of the village of Vicchio (Florence), and this is what I shot. Digital 2011
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KATIE. large format photography
PHOTO STORIES
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Katie is 19 years old and she was born and raised in a farm in Hugo, Mn. She has five brothers and two nieces. Now she is studying at the University of Minnesota and she is living in the Saint Paul campus, in the house of her sorority, Beta of Clovdia, where all members are daughters of dairy farmers. In the fall of 2010 she won the “Princess Kay of the Milky Way” beauty contest. She’s been 8 hours in a 40 F degrees glass refrigerator so that a sculptor could carve her portrait in a large stick of butter. Now the butter head sculpture is in a large freezer at the home of her sister. Her duties as princess will be travel all around the state talking to dairy farmers and lecturing to children. Katie and her family will eat the butter head when the Katie’s term as Princess Kay will be over. One of the most important test during the competition was to make a speech in front to the jury. Katie has compared the dairy farmers’ life to the superheroes’ one Digital/ Large format 2010
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booklet: 24 pp. 17 x 22 inches newsprint 2010
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FAST FOODIES.
PHOTO STORIES
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Fast foods are often solitary and silent places, in sharp contrast with showy signs, loudly music and strong lights that characterize them. Apparently all the fast foods seem very similar to one other, but every brand tries to differentiate itself creating an unique and distinctive identity. Mexican, North-American, Cajun: the cooking reference strongly determines the choice of furniture, menus, colors, uniforms and, somehow, the attitude of the staff. Fast foodies series is a collection of places and faces taken in a methodical way. In every restaurant I’d take one picture of a staff’s person, one of the building and one of the daily special: Arby’s Melt Sandwich”,” flavored chicken ring sandwich”, ”1pc. spicy breast Meal”, “Original Vanilla Frosty” ,“Caramel Mocha” etc.etc. In my project I’d try to represent these anonymous places, where people eat artificial food, creating a minimal relationship with the staff who work there, but to criticize the fast food culture isn’t the aim of my project. I’d like to focus on the human element of these spaces, mostly young women who come from foreign countries. For these people working in there is usually the first job in the U.S., or a part time job that they need to keep their family. Large Format 2010, Ongoing project.
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MINNESOTA digital e large format photography. 2010
PHOTO STORIES
from left to right:
Pippi Van Whalen, Derby girl / Lutz Cuts Meat processing, Hugo / Carol, Tubman women’s shelter /
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The Minnesota state is covered with snow and ice for about six months a year. In its territory there are about 11,000 lakes. Minnesota is the state of meaningless records (the largest twine ball, the largest Dala horse), huge fiberglass sculptures, miles of fields and silent farms.During the period I spent in Minnesota I had the chance know roller girls, descendants of Chippewa tribe, dairy farmers, courageous women who have escaped from their husbands, homeless veterans from Vietnam, bluegrass music players, deer hunters, beauty queens.I traveled around farmers fairs, fast food restaurants, shelters and high schools trying to represent the complexity of this state in the heart of the Midwest where a large community of Scandinavian origin coexists with the largest Somali community after Mogadishu and with one of the most controversial community of native Americans. Minnesota is how I’ve always imagined the United States. Minnesota is a nice place to be. Digital / Large format 2010
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from left to right: Lutz Cuts Meat processing, Hugo / Anita Tension, Derby girl / Old Country Buffett, Minneapolis / Schoolgirls of Ojibwe language’s class, South high school / Farms, White Bear lake / Students of Ojibwe language’s class, South high school /
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from left to right: Coleman / Lourdes and her family, Laundry “El Arroyo� / homeless veteran, Nicolett Av.
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SNOWFLAKE PIZZA. 35mm photography. 2010
PHOTO STORIES
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I’ve wanted to go to North Dakota since I was a little girl. I’d heard there was nothing there except for lots of grain, emptiness and a long line of horizon. In 2011 I went to northwestern North Dakota, just few miles from the Canadian border, and It was exactly what I expected it to be. On the top of the Writing Rock (where most of these pictures have been taken) there was an absolute silence and you could see only fields and quiet and sky for miles and miles. A goldfish named Snowflake Pizza travelled with us in a jar. His name was choosen by the little nephew of the fish owner. I thought it would also be an appropriate name for the state of North Dakota.
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Editorial Projects
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EDITORIAL PROJECTS
TRUST ME MAGAZINE_1# the morning issue
Trust Me Magazine is an independent magazine about photography and illustration born two years ago. Each issue talk about an extremely abstract topic as a number, a word, a color. Is possible to download Trust Me Magazine for free at: trustmemagazine.com. We currently have more than 100 Italian and international contributors. Trust Me Magazine is a project created by me and my university mate Gloria Giangrande.
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120 pp 19x24 cm matte paper 500 paper copies Cover Pic By Tania Leshkina 2009
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EDITORIAL PROJECTS
TRUST ME MAGAZINE_2# The Double Issue
The topic of the second issue of Trust Me Magazine was the “double”. We involved three young photographers: Ivan Cazzola, Gabriele Galimberti and Ana Kras creating three monographical insert inside the magazine about them. Works of the other contributors were placed on a large poster-tabloid size.
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TMM#2_the double issue: Mixed format: -poster, 640x480, matte paper -A4, colored paper -A6, newsprint cover print by Vincent Gillian 2010
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EDITORIAL PROJECTS
TRUST ME MAGAZINE_3# the Blue Issue
The blue color is the topic of the third issue of Trust Me Magazine. The Blue issue was published online in November 2010 and was built entirely through volunteer submissions from readers. In the first month the Blue issue was downloaded by more than 1500 people.
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58 pp 14,8x21 matte paper Cover pic by Aleksandar Hrib 2010
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EDITORIAL PROJECTS
TRUST ME MAGAZINE_4# Hair, fur and beards Issue
“Hair, Fur and beards” is the topic of the fourth issue.Released in the August 2011 it has involved 24 photographers and illustrators. Cover illustration by Winnie Truong.
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EDITORIAL PROJECTS
TRUST ME MAGAZINE_5# The Bread Issue
“Hair, Fur and beards” is the topic of the fourth issue.Released in the August 2011 it has involved 24 photographers and illustrators. Cover illustration by Winnie Truong.
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