Photographer Chantel King

It’s 11am on a Thursday and the doorbell rings just as photographer Chantel King sits down to have her interview with me at her beautiful home in Archway in London. As she goes to get the door, it gives me time to soak in the colourful furnishings, squish my feet into the patterned rug beneath my feet and drink the tea she’s made for me.

Once Chantel comes back up after getting her delivery I ask her if she’s ready before pressing record, she nods and sits back comfortably wearing an oversized zebra print jumper and jeans and I delve right in. Can anyone take a photograph? She laughs before gathering her thoughts and answering….Anyone can take a photo, but not everyone can capture an image. It’s a sharp succinct answer but I’m interested to know more so ask her to elaborate. The term that’s often used in Photography ‘is having an eye’ that could mean a mixture of things, from composition being able to frame an image within the shot- so the way you start an image and end it. People have mobiles so they can snap away, but its without thought generally, one thing that really annoys me is when people cut off the feet or they take it from the middle of the forehead, and it doesn’t bother them, but it’s such a pet hate of mine. For many artist’s you’re thinking about the image, the emotion, the mood you’re trying to convey, so yeah there are many elements.

I’ve collected almost every piece of work my sister has done throughout the years, but I was as surprised as anyone when she went on to do photography I wonder is it’s something that she always wanted to do from a young age. Definitely not, I’ve been asked this before and it’s a really strange one because I think many people say from the moment they picked up a camera they were hooked, but from my experience mum would drag us around taking pictures that I never wanted to take, and I hated it. We both begin to laugh at the memory… but I also thought I couldn’t do it, I never saw any black photographers much less to female ones, I didn’t even think it was an option. Once I finished secondary school I went on to do business studies, so I could work in an office because that’s what I thought people did, they got to a certain age went and got a good job with a briefcase and suit sort of thing and y’know I thought that was life after school. I didn’t think that life could have such creative possibilities.

You have photographed for the Guardian newspaper, Stylist magazine, Grazia and many more can you explain a bit about the type of photography you do? My main focus is beauty, I also do portraiture mostly of celebrities or people in the public eye. When I’m shooting beauty I like to be fairly close to my subjects I have a 50mm lens which allows me to do that and I normally shoot at a lower angle so the subject looks more heroic in the shot, a lot of people like to shoot further away, but for me to have such distance loses connection.

Just as Chantel takes a sip of her tea I want to hear what about the work that gets her excited, is it the light, shade, the colour…I’m always drawn to the colour I just think it’s so fun, whether it’s in the make-up, or the background you can do so much with it. It doesn’t make you feel nervous? When I first started it was a little scary using colour, I was told by many other photographers things like if you do a bold lip avoid a bold eye, it was kind of the rule of thumb and I did that at the beginning. But I remember at one point I had this car crash of a shoot when everyone wanted to do their own thing and it was a mess! But later on in my career, when I got to work with really good collaborators from make-up to hair stylists who knew how to be bold but cohesive, that’s when I stopped being scared and wanted to challenge the use of colour more.

With a period of growth obviously propelling Chantel forward, I wonder if breaking away from rules and conventions is something that interests her. Oh god there have been many revelations along the way and confidence can certainly grow from that, people can be critical over something that’s different from that clean classic beauty image, so every so often I do like to push those boundaries. Great to hear that rebel spirit is alive and well, does that mean there’s no prep before a shoot what’s the starting point. No, I do prep definitely, but I try not to over prep otherwise it takes a bit of the magic away, primarily I like to think about the mood I want to convey; the worse thing about not prepping is that no one knows what’s going on, you can lose trust as the lead photographer which could be a loss of an opportunity when you could’ve used that time to create something special.

How closely do you and your team follow the brief? It depends if its my own brief I have quite a collaborative method but if its external I don’t always get to choose my team, regardless you still have to know how to deliver quality results. Ever the consummate professional I can see that Chantel demands a lot from her photographs to meet standards no matter what the brief is or who is on the job, I wonder if she works with reoccurring concepts or if that wheel of ideas is forever changing….It depends, I’m still building my portfolio and as we discussed I’m not shy when it comes to using colour so that’s one aspect, but I also enjoy photographing people with different backgrounds and body shapes. One thing I realised when I started was that there wasn’t enough diversity within my work and that was something I actively wanted to change, having said that I am also aware that I may be the ‘go to girl’ to photograph only the black and brown model because of my skin colour -which I’m not opposed to, but my book shows a range of diverse faces. I’m about to jump in with my next question when I can see Chantel is still mulling over the question Sorry, I was in a meeting just the other day she continues and the art director looking at my portfolio told me she was impressed by the range of skin tones I’d showcased, she said she was still surprised how many photographers still have a lack of diversity in their portfolio.

We’ve heard throughout the years that people of colour do not sell magazines, are things changing in the world of photography when it comes to inclusion or is it just lip service? Chantel shifts in her seat and takes a breath and I can totally understand the discomfort, it’s such a tiring and frustrating question for one main reason, it still has to be asked. I’ve been in the industry for over 12 years so I’ve definitely seen a progression, when I first started you’d rarely see a black model on the cover except for maybe the Naomi Campbells of this world, so they’d have their one high profile model y’know, and even on shoots before which wasn’t that long ago when I was assisting I’ve been in situations where the magazine decided they wouldn’t use a black model because they used a model with a darker hue for the previous issue, but obviously if it were a white model that had been photographed that question would never have come up in conversation.

So to answer your question yes there have been changes but there’s still a long way to go, but I’m looking through magazines, reading books and there has been a shift in seeing more of not just black models, but Asian, Indian, non-able bodied, deaf, LGBTQI, curvy models and many others on our screens and in our literature and it’s fantastic.

As her face lights up at the prospect of change I cease the moment to ask her that well-heeled question about her inspirations. The photographer who made a big impression on me was Tim Walker his work is generally theatrical and jumps off the page at you. I remember seeing his stuff at the time I’d graduated and he was like everywhere, but I was completely magnetised by his style which for me not everyone was doing at the time. It’s when I realised you can push the boundaries and explore what’s beyond, you could be different.

What does a day on shoot day look like when you’re on set with Chantel King…It’s a lot of running around she laughs pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. I like to be in control but I always relax when I know I have a great team, I set up before anyone gets there put some music on, and set the mood. We both do an impromptu shoulder jiggle at the word ‘mood’, then double over laughing at our sister vibes. I make sure everyone has breakfast, I know I’m like mum because it’s a long day and sometimes people forget the simple things. Then I gather the assisting team together to make sure they know what I want for the lighting, next I’ll bring the glam crew together to go through the ideas, introduce myself to the model[s] who are sometimes surprised that it’s me I ask why… Well they’re not usually expecting a black female photographer to be heading the shoot, but its all met with love and smiles, and its sometimes funnily enough what gets people more amped which is sweet.

All that’s left is for me to go out there to get the best possible shots I can.

Thanks sis love ya

By Sabrina Bramble 

“Create something beautiful that brings joy to others.” Claudia Hollister and her floral cyanotypes

As a third generation Oregonian, I have been fortunate enough to grow up surrounded by beauty everywhere you look. I found gardens to be my church, and my grandfather’s rose garden was a special place to wander and imagine. This is why I am a devoted gardener. Nature has been my inspiration to create something beautiful in my art, my north star!

From a young age, I was a spirited child who had a big imagination. My parents supported my curiosity about art. Their encouragement allowed me to follow my dreams and talents as a practicing artist. College further informed my way of seeing things differently and using materials in a nontraditional format.

Three Generations

I jumped into practicing and selling my art right out of college. As a jeweler working in lost wax casting I included imagery of flowers, plants and butterflies in a contemporary art nouveau style, to adorn objects and containers in silver. Later designing for silver and crystal companies. I also designed the seashell series of molds for Godiva, and reproduction carving for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ending this phase of my journey with a show at Cartier’s, NYC.

When the silver market crashed in the early 80’s, I shifted my focus to working in porcelain. First teaching myself and then creating hand built color inlaid vases and teapots sold throughout galleries in the US. Then years later transitioned to large wall installations for hotels, corporations, and the most rewarding children’s hospitals.

Peony

In 2008 I decided to follow my heart and shifted to painting in encaustic.

This medium provided a way to express visual mystery to imagery, blurring the lines between illusionary depth and sculptural relief. By utilizing multiple materials, paper grounds, and adding dimensional vessels and flowers to the paintings I found my style. It was while I was teaching encaustic at Pacific Northwest College of Art [PNCA] that I was introduced to Cyanotypes.

Cyanotype is an alternative photographic process developed in 1842.

Originally I used the cyanotype process for printing on various art papers in the backgrounds of my encaustic work, and have continued the practice.

Luscious Anemone .jpg

However during COVID-19 lockdown everything changed. I turned to my garden, deciding to take on a 100 day challenge on Instagram to ease my mind into a positive place.

My process involves alchemy, nature, artistic license, technology and timing. I start by sensitizing my paper with a combination of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferric cyanide, sensitive to UV light. This paper will be set to dry in a dark room.

Beautiful Vintage Tiles

I photograph my images in my studio using an iPhone from which I create a negative transparency film.

The dried paper is placed on a panel  with the negative film on top in direct contact, you can also use plants. Setting glass onto and in the sun until reaching the correct exposure time. This may take more than one print. I start with a 6 minute test print and adjust when needed based on the time, angle of the sun and the temperature outside.

Next I drop the exposed paper in water and I watch the magic as the print oxidizes and a positive image appears. After drying and photographing the final print I would post it on Instagram, for a 100 day project. Doing this as a daily process taught me to view my garden in a new light, capturing its beauty and spirit. Though most of the first year prints were failures, what I learned was invaluable. Today these basic steps in my studio to printing remain the same.This is my fourth year of documenting the cycle of season blooms, and every year brings new gifts and a handful of special prints.

The element of surprise in the imperfect process of printing cyanotypes is something I love, not to mention the depth of Prussian blue hues that can’t be duplicated in any other material. There is often an unpredictable outcome to a print that can’t be repeated, I like to think of it as a gift.

All this said, you need to start with a good photograph and produce a good negative in order to create an excellent print. One should count on putting in the time, throwing away many more prints and negatives than you keep. Good work doesn’t happen overnight, so perseverance is required.

Many of my current backgrounds for my new Visual Poetry series of Cyanotype Collages are completely experimental. I may print 6 pieces of paper and only one will turn out. I utilize different kinds of papers and techniques using the cyanotype solution, always reaching to stretch my journey and creative process developing new floral metaphors.

My personal goal as an artist has always been to create something beautiful that brings joy to others. When I look at the world today I feel it is even more important to bring beauty and share it with others, if only for one calming moment.

I think of my work as vintage modern, although iPhones are high tech the actual process was developed in the 1800’s and is still very hands on. I still have so much more to learn and explore as I continue to move forward on my cyanotype journey. I plan to create larger cyanotype collages for a couple of upcoming  shows, which will come with new challenges and problems to solve.

There are many current cyanotype artists' work that I admire, here are a few.

Julia Whitney Barnes for extremely large cyanotype print installation over the door of the  Drying House.

Rosalind Hobley for her stunning prints of roses.

Diana H. Bloomfield for her amazing photography and cyanotypes.

Emma Powell/ @emmaobscura, story telling cyanotypes.

Alexandrea DeFurio for her narrative cyanotypes.

Edward S Curtis for his early cyanotypes of native Americans.

A few painters, embroidery artists, too many to list.

Uzo Hiramatsu, his work is simple and complex at the same time.

Yukakimi Akiba for stunning detailed stitching on photographs.

Hinke Schreuders for masterful embroidery on photographs.

Timothy McDowell for being a master painter, printmaker who is not afraid to experiment, and tease your eyes to see what’s not there.

I want to thank you for your interest and this opportunity to talk about my work.

Vintage Fritillaria

Loop de Loop

Marvelous Spring

The Butterfly Effect

Insta @claudiahollister

Poetic portraits by Polish photographer Kate Katies

Everyday is a new day and has its own opportunities which in many cases are unique. So patience, calm and assertiveness are skills that I have developed with the frequency of love and understanding to people around me. 

My Name  is Kate, I'm from Poland, yet I've been based in London for a few years now.

It’s here in London where I have found the key ingredient in my creativity. I'm grateful for how life has been in the last few years. Challenges and difficulties have made me look at my surroundings from a different perspective. At the beginning as a scape, yet with the time it has become a way to explore my emotions, connection with others and how the world moves around me. I’m a keen Yogi, and that also has an influence as it helped me to be more flexible, not only physically but at heart.

At the beginning I started just using a mobile phone camera as I couldn’t afford anything else and wasn’t sure of where photography was going to take me. Nowadays, I still work with my IPhone 13 Pro and a Fuji x-e4 which I really like as it’s a small frame and easy to carry and shoot without much time to prepare.

I started with street geometry, which I think is a must as it really gives you the school for perspective but not often tells a story, it’s the interaction that people have with their environment, nature, structures, and themselves what really sparks my creativity on my daily commute, walks, etc… Lately I’m focusing on portrait in the studio which throws a technical challenge, but anything and anyone under any circumstance could be my next shot.

Creativity is about having the freedom to do whatever I want, is good to have an influence at some point from other photographers but following other people’s work just keeps you in a static frame, experimentation has been in so many ways the key to finding my own style. Pleasing others might give you straight recognition but doesn’t mean good work, in fact, it could turn out to be the worst of your work.

instagram @kate_katies

People in Nairobi as photographed by Kibe Nduni

My name is Kibe Nduni, a photographer based in Nairobi, Kenya. My journey in photography started back in highschool, I'd go out on the weekends with friends and we’d take pictures of each other around town or whatever location that we’d find interesting. I found a lot of joy in photographing people, if they looked a certain way, dressed a certain way as well, this fascinates me as I get an array of really different bodies of work which at the end of the day reminds me why I have this as my career. For now I use a Nikon D750 with a 17-55mm lens but I can use anything. 

Being an artist to me, I believe is being the catalyst between the viewer and the story, playing a part in making stories. Themes and ideas coming to life through photography is a joy and a privilege that I am honoured to have. I believe that being truthful is an important part of being an artist. Staying true to yourself as well as to your work is a fundamental part of creating timeless works of art.  

Alec Soth – Gathered Leaves

2008_02zL0189, from Broken Manual © Alec Soth

The Alec Soth retrospective at The Science Museum contains works from four of his most well known projects: Sleeping By The Mississippi (2004), Niagara (2006), Broken Manual (2010), and Songbook (2014).

As well as being the first major exhibition of his work in the country, this is also the first ever UK exhibition of Songbook. 

The first room contains his first and perhaps most well known collection, Sleeping By The Mississippi. A series taken all along the iconic American river, documenting the daily lives of the locals who live inside its wide basin.

Hailing from Minnesota, Soth has an intimate knowledge of this river that runs through his hometown of Minneapolis. In this way this series is partially self-referential, as he is documenting a society of which he is an inhabitant. This familiarity is evident through the photographs, and such closeness would be unimaginable were he not a part of what he documents.

His work shows us beauty in the most unexpected of places, and this series is especially good at showing to us that which we would have never found for ourselves. What is ordinary to these people is otherworldly and exotic for those who live away from it.

The simple lives of people living outside of traditional society are beautiful in their approach to nature, and in their honest simplicity. They live with the existing landscapes, rather than upon them. Their houses are simple and inoffensive to the nature that surrounds them, hermitlike and nomadic. 

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Two Towels, 2004, from Niagara © Alec Soth

The works in this series (and indeed most of his oeuvre) instill an unusual air of calm upon the viewer. There is an intense stillness in these works that seems at once both serene and frozen. The expressions and poses seem at first calm, but upon further discovery seem pained, even forced. This is something that Soth himself embraces, as the camera set-up and way he photographs takes longer than most contemporary cameras. This removes the initial pose that is automatic from the subject, and the one captured is of bewilderment and frustration at the process. In this way he is able to take un-posed photographs of posing subjects, and through this he shows us the real person beneath their instinctual façade.

These people have sought out freedom, and somewhere for them to disappear. They are contented with their lot, and all they seek is escape. Soth permeates this community with ease, and is accepted by the residents. Their need to disappear is lifted slightly, and he allows us to peek beneath. In a sense we are voyeurs when we look upon a Soth photograph, for they were always only posing for Soth, and never for us.

“When I think of the Falls as a metaphor, I think of a kind of intensified sexuality and unsustainable desire”

Soth’s love of the work of Diane Arbus is evident throughout, and the methodology of documenting those ‘on the fringes of society’ permeates the work of both artists. One obvious difference is that Soth is primarily a ‘book-photographer’, but in this show he proves that his work is as at home on a gallery wall as it is in a book.

Niagara is the series that fills room two, and in many ways feels like an extension of the Mississippi project. The work is presented slightly larger, but the themes of stillness, calm, and loneliness all appear throughout. Niagara itself appears still and calm, like a blanket of crushed blue velvet.

Two Towels, 2004 is a photograph of a pair of towels manipulated in such a way that they appear as if two swans are kissing, forming a heart in the negative space between them.  Tragically comic, this arrangement is clearly shot in some budget motel, the type which is often stayed in alone, or with a guest who is paid by the hour.

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View fullsize

The balance between tragedy and comedy is evident in all of his series; in Sleeping By The Mississippi a woman sits amid garish Valentine’s decorations, drinking alone. In Niagara a mirrorball is strung from a tree in a forest, the photograph hung on the adjacent wall is of a shirtless man with a swastika tattoo. This man is one of the subjects interviewed in the documentary Somewhere To Disappear, and despite his fascist opinions, seems timid and delicate.

These people have actively sought a life that is away from the conventional, living entirely as they please. They appear to crave their own freedom, and yet allow (and indeed enjoy) the attention that they receive from Soth and his camera. Isolation can bring freedom, but it can also create intense loneliness. This loneliness is visible in his subjects, through the look upon their faces to their willingness to welcome Soth into their insular existence. These people are escaping ‘traditional’ life for a reason unknown to us as the viewer, and in this they make us fantasize about our own escape, if but for a fleeting second. This is something that pervades most of his work, and in every series in this show there are elements of “American individualism and the urge to be united.”

Crazy Legs Saloon. Watertown, New York, from Songbook © Alec Soth

As a species we crave both freedom and unity, but sometimes we forego one to fully experience the other. Soth has found such people, and their desire to be one with humanity is reminded to them through his intervention. There is a certain delicateness in his work that is suggested by the simple connection between two people who just happen to be together. Sometimes it is nothing more than being in the same place as another person, but in the moment that two people inhabit the same space, they are connected. This connection between Soth and his subjects is profound in its simplicity. They are connected, but only for a short while, and then they are both alone again.

A collection of letters between some of the people he photographs is displayed, and this offers us further insight into these people’s lives. One such letter closes with “Take care and drop dead”.

The brilliant documentary Somewhere To Disappear is shown in its entirety at the exit to the show, and is an exquisite look at some of these subjects. It is quite long (57 minutes or so) and can be viewed at the below here if time is a concern.

Page No 2: “If there was a nice apartment and I have a descent job and you felt happy and thought there could be a nice history together, would you come home?”

Photo by Nick JS Thompson 

Photo by Nick JS Thompson 

Photo by Nick JS Thompson 

Photo by Nick JS Thompson 

The show runs until the 28th of March at Media Space in the Science Museum.

Alec Soth

Alexandra Uhart – real stories through the power of image

Since the last month of my masters, I’ve transformed my home into my temporary studio. I live in a newly built flat with big white walls, two of which at the moment are covered in photographs, sketches, sticky notes and diverse research material that I have been gathering for my latest work “Someone here”. I’m sitting at what used to be the dinning table, and now transformed into a desk. I have a laptop, books, a couple of pens and a glass of water in front of me. From here I face the window. It’s raining heavily outside, I’m happy to be working in today. If I were to photograph this, I would set up my camera on a tripod and shoot the scene from behind me. The photograph would capture me facing the window from across the table, showing the artist behind the work and the process behind the photos. I would maintain a certain mystery by facing away from the camera, giving the viewer an opportunity in doing so to connect the dots and make up their own story about the scene.

ROOMS' long time photographer Alexandra Uhart has just completed her Photography Masters at the London College of Communication, and her series Someone Here is the Winner of the Photoworks Prize 2015. With a mission to document real life, and an execution that is unique and compelling in every way possible, Alexandra stole our hearts and will soon devour yours too. 

When did you know you wanted to be a photographer?

Photography has always been a passion of mine. My first camera was given to me on my 9th birthday. It was a little Ninja Turtles themed film camera, which took photos that had a Ninja Turtle stamp in the right corner of every print. I remember photographing my toys with it; organizing them in groups and posing them amongst very elaborate settings. As I grew up and upgraded my photo equipment, I started photographing my friends. I would spend the afternoons borrowing make-up and clothing from my mom and styling photo shoots with them as models.

However it didn’t occur to me to study photography until years after I left college. I tried being traditional at first and went to law school for a couple of years, quickly realising that it was not for me. After that I decided to study Aesthetics. I really enjoyed it but I wasn’t sure where it would take me, since I felt like something was missing. It was not until I moved to Paris in 2009 that I decided to pursue photography, realising I wanted to be the one creating and not just theorising about other people’s creations.

Where do you go for inspiration?

I think everything can inspire me at a certain moment; inspiration can come from so many different places and I go and search for different things depending on the work that I am looking to produce. I would normally start by doing some research on an idea and moving forward from there. The truth is reality can be immensely inspiring.

When is a scene good enough to be captured?

I think every scene is good enough to be captured, depending on what you’re looking for. My work comes from a documentary and street photography tradition, from capturing the life around me and trying to understand it through images.

I’m motivated by humanity; how we interact with each other and with our environments. In my latest series “Someone Here” I’ve focused on different aspects of our current struggles with the environment. In this media-driven world that we live in, photography has the opportunity to be shared easier and faster than ever before, making photography an invaluable channel of communication in raising awareness. What we choose to photograph can actually make a difference in the world.

“What we choose to photograph can actually make a difference in the world.”

Your portraits have a very authentic feel to it. Tell me something about your process of shooting portraits. What is your goal, and how do you achieve it?

I really enjoy taking portraits. Most of the ones I shoot are set in people’s studios or houses, which helps give the photograph a more intimate feeling. However, the camera can be very invasive so it’s very important for me to make my subjects feel at ease quickly. My goal is to reveal something about them, to show an aspect of their personality. I have to say that the most important part of the process happens before taking the photo. I do my research, I prepare everything. Then I go to their homes or their working spaces. Once I get there I talk to them while setting up my equipment. I love getting to know people, having the opportunity to capture something special about them with my images.

I’m fascinated by your photo series 'mind trap'. It conveys however a very different style and feeling than the work you did in the beginning of your career. Can you tell me something about the concept?

‘Mind Trap’ was one of my first incursions into fine art photography. After years of working in more commercial areas of photography, I decided it was time to explore my personal interests and move to a setting that would allow me to freely express my views. I created this series when applying for the Photography MA at LCC. My inspiration came from a deep concern I have for our environment and its species. In the past years we hear of an increasing number of animals that are going extinct due to our careless appropriation and treatment of their ecosystems; with these images I aimed to mirror the way in which people have been confining them into man-made spaces where they don’t belong.

Any exciting projects in the future?

I just finished working on my new series “Someone Here” a documentary exploration of the Atacama Desert in Chile, where the rise of the mining industry has led to an alarming environmental detriment. As a Chilean artist, I think it is important for me to show the stories of my country and help raise awareness of its problems. I am currently exhibiting this work at LCC College as part of the MA Photography show. I’m thinking of creating a book with the body of work and some of the research that led to the creation of this project in the near future.

Since film is an area that I have also always been very interested in, I am eager to start working on a collaborated film project with Chilean-Swiss director Nicolas Bauer that will be shooting in Miami next year.

After that, I see myself continuing on the path I am now: combining fine art photography and film. However, as I evolve as an individual so will my way of looking at things and photographing them. It is essential to keep reinventing myself as an artist and photographer, but I hope to do this while still being faithful to what’s drawn me to photography in the first place: telling real stories through images, documenting life.

Alexandra Uhart

Introducing: Nick JS Thompson

ROOMS presents: The Decline of Conscience by Nick JS Thompson

Curated by Benjamin Murphy | Hundred Years Gallery

19 - 25 Nov'15

The Decline of Conscience 

The Decline of Conscience

The Decline of Conscience

Nick is a photographer with a strong sense of social conscience, and his work is always both beautifully alluring and ethically charged. This duality is what balances his work perfectly in-between honest documentary photography and fine art.

Often his photographs show human-altered landscapes, long after the people charged with their intervention have left them behind. These ghostly but familiar images are both beautiful and almost frightening.

BM – Is photography a nostalgic art form, always documenting the past?

NJST – Not necessarily. For my work yes possibly; it is rooted in nostalgia. I create work that explores events that have happened in the past and what people’s actions have been. Maybe that is a nostalgic act but I still wouldn’t class my work as nostalgic. I think it depends on the type of photography though. Something like still life photography, which is created in the present with a certain purpose in mind, could be anything but nostalgic.

BM – Are photographers creating or recording a reality? And do you think you can do one without doing both?

NJST – That’s a hard one, I think both are true. Obviously if you are a photojournalist and covering a story, you should be recording reality as it happens or as it happened in the past. Photography is such a broad term that it encompasses things such as fashion photography where each situation is carefully controlled and created to evoke a particular emotion or put across an aesthetic which has been chosen by the photographer.

BM – Susan Sontag said that no two photographers can take the same photograph of the same thing, do you agree?

NJST – Yes I do, I think that even if two photographers are photographing the same scene at the same time the images will each be different. Every person has a different take on things, what their views are on the subject matter, and emotional insights, and biases that each person has. 

BM – How much control over the final image can the photographer actually claim, due to lighting changes, wind, shutter speed etc.?

NJST – Again this depends on what type of photography you are talking about. The phrase that Henri Cartier-Bresson coined is that of “the decisive moment” which he sums up by saying "the decisive moment, it is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression."  This is taking the chance events that are happening around you and trying to control them to the best of your ability in one image. This is true of documentary photography, or the street photography that Cartier-Bresson is famous for, but if you are creating a still life in a studio then you obviously have complete control of every aspect of the image.

Fanø

Fanø

BM – Should photographs only be viewed in print? As then the artist can control exactly how it is encountered. Screen brightness and quality affect how it is seen, is this a problem?

NJST – I definitely prefer people to see my work in print. Viewing work online also affects your concentration, people flick through thousands of images and don’t give them as much attention as they sometimes deserve. (I know I’m guilty of it.) It is very easy to become desensitized with an endless stream of images from your computer screen or smartphone. The display quality is also definitely an issue, presenting images, which have sometimes been compressed and the resolution reduced. These things can greatly influence and detract from the viewers experience with an image.

The sequencing of pictures in a series is also extremely important for me to tell the story that I want. In the digital world this is often lost; which is why the recent surge in self-published photo books, with people like Self Publish, Be Happy leading the way. I think that is an incredible thing.

BM – Do you think smartphones and the Internet have ruined photography?

NJST – With platforms such as Instagram, where images are presented in an endless list and shown on a small scale, on screen, like I said before I think has definitely affected photography in a negative way. I wouldn’t say that it had ruined it per se but the knock on affect for a new generation of photographers and artists viewing work in this format I’m sure will have repercussions down the line.

“it is really interesting to see how people alter things for purposes that maybe no longer matter or aren’t relevant any more”

Having said that, I think that digital has a place in the world of photography and obviously it is here to stay so we just have to look for ways to use it in different ways; to embrace it and use it in a way that compliments the technology.

BM – You take photos and make videos, what does photography have that video doesn’t?

NJST – They are such different disciplines for me. In my opinion, photography can be more powerful. A still image can be looked at for as long as you want, and is often seared into you brain. The length of time you can look at it and the attention you can give to it mean that it can have more of an impact.

Video for me is more of a whole atmosphere that can be created encompassing sound and images. This is more on par with a photo essay or series of images to make up a whole picture of events or what you want to portray.

BM – You take mainly portraits, but more specifically portraits within landscapes. What are the relationships between the two?

NJST – My work looks at the effect and marks that people have left on a landscape or surrounding. I think it is really interesting to see how people alter things for purposes that maybe no longer matter or aren’t relevant any more. My work on Fanø for example was documenting the huge number of bunkers that cover a small island off the coast of Denmark, built by the Nazi’s during WWII. Their purpose has completely changed, and they are obsolete. Their appeal to the viewer now is at first glance more aesthetic than functional, although they have undertones of what the original purpose was, and this adds a sinister layer of emotion to the work. Or the work that I have shot over the last few years around the Heygate Estate in South London, again is a record of how people have changed the environment in which they live and the constant changing of this for better or worse

The Decline of Conscience

BM – Are these the fine art photographs and your Cambodia ones more documentary?

NJST – Yeah, some of the work I shoot when I travel is more based in the traditions of documentary photography. The Fanø series is a lot more calculated and thought out over an extended period, where as the travel documentary photos are usually more off the cuff and going with the flow of what is happening around me at that particular time.

BM – Why do you choose to show the documentary works in a fine art setting?

NJST – Documentary work can definitely be shown in a fine art setting. It depends on what your thought processes are behind the images and work as a whole. For me, my work falls under fine art to an extent because of the ideas behind what I am trying to portray visually to people. I choose to show the work in a fine art setting because it gives me a space to explore the work and display the work exactly how I want it to be viewed instead of handing it over to a picture editor and letting them then edit and govern the work, possibly even changing its intended purpose to fit a particular agenda. I think it is maybe me being a bit of a control freak over the work and over people’s experience of viewing it.

BM – Do you think that once you have taken a photograph of something, that the act of you taking the photograph changes it forever or are you entirely a voyeur?

NJST – I like to think that it doesn’t change it, but I think possibly it does. It’s a question that I constantly ask myself. If you are going to enter a person’s personal space or environment to take a picture then I think that inevitably you are going to effect their behavior in some way. This is why I prefer to spend longer periods of time with people so that they become used to me being around and then almost forget that I am there. This is the ideal.

Phuomi

BM - Often your work is rather bleak, what is it about this kind of photography that attracts you?

NJST – For me it some of the most interesting human emotions are fear or distress. I don’t know what type of person this makes me (Laughs). They are extreme and when people are in these states it sometimes makes them behave in odd and interesting ways. For me putting myself in uncomfortable situations either as they are happening or after the event, pushes me to create work that reflect these extremes. 

I also find it interesting to see how viewers engage and react to work when confronted with images that are uncomfortable to look at.

BM – My favourite of your works are the empty rooms, what do you think these can say that a portrait can’t?

NJST – This links back to showing how people have altered their surroundings and the effect that this has on the atmosphere of a space. Vilhelm Hammershøi is a massive influence on my work, with his paintings of rooms with often-muted tones and somber ambiance.

It is documenting everyday life but when you take the people out of the image it slows things down for me, I can concentrate of the finer details of the scene that I think can be extremely telling in what that person is like. And this adds to it being a more complete picture.

Nick JS Thompson

The Decline of Conscience by Nick JS Thompson | facebook event

19 - 25 November at Hundred Years Gallery

Curated by Benjamin Murphy

5 Documentary photographers who will change your life

From the series Afterlife © Adam Broomberg And Oliver Chanarin

From the series The Day Nobody Died © Adam Broomberg And Oliver Chanarin

Adam Broomberg And Oliver Chanarin

Known for:  

Talking to the subjects, making them aware of what their work contemplates and getting to know their subject behind the superficial layer of preformed stereotypes.

The Press Conference, June 9, 2008 (detail), The Day Nobody Died, 2008, Unique C-type, 762mm x 6000mm

The Day Nobody Died IV, June 10 (detail), The Day Nobody Died, 2008, Unique C-type, 762mm x 6000mm

Treating photographing as a very slow and meticulous process. Adam and Oliver‘s photography style references to 19th century photography in terms of process and style, going beyond the conventions of photojournalism.

Highlight: The Day Nobody Died (2008)
Quote: “People are given time to compose themselves. The fact that we're not looking through the lens but we're actually above, it looking at the subject and they are looking at us means there's a different relationship. There is a dialogue. The important thing is that we talk to people, we don't categories them and that's the big difference.”

© Brenda Ann Kenneally

Brenda Ann Kenneally

Known for:

Developing intimate portraits of the growing economical and social desperation in the US, intersecting personal and political into honest and poignant photographs.

Upstate Girls: Unravelling Collar City (2015) © Brenda Ann Kenneally

Observing the lives of her subjects on a long-term basis. Her latest one, 'Upstate Girls: Unravelling Collar City' Brenda documented her main subject for over 10 years. She claims to always go back to the people she has met to see how their life is developing. “When I stop it is as if my life with these people ends, I sort of never want that to happen.”

Highlight: Upstate Girls: Unravelling Collar City (2015)

Quote: “This kind of documentary work requires a kind of obsessive pathology and stamina. Also one must have a big empty space that allows for complete integration of life and work. Luckily for me I was born with this empty space. Some call it loneliness. I say it is a gift.”

©  Tina Barney

Tina Barney

Known for:

Capturing the relationship between family members, different as supposed to the clichéd stick-up-your-ass household portrait hanging above the fireplace. Her fascination with this subject started with the exploration of her own family in North America. Her years of experience made her able to understand the private and complex relationship between family members. “I began photographing what I knew.”.

Highlight: Theatre Of Manners (1997)

 Theatre Of Manners (1997) ©  Tina Barney

Quote: “I want to make approaching the image possible. I want every object as clear and precise as possible so that the viewer can really examine them and feel as if they are entering the room. I want my pictures to say, “You can come inside here. This is not a forbidden place.” I want you to be with us and to share this existence with us. I want every single thing to be seen, the beauty of it all: the textures, the fabrics, the colors, the china, the furniture, the architecture.”

©  Stephanie Sinclair

©  Stephanie Sinclair

Stephanie Sinclair

Known for:

Confronting us with gender and human rights issues such as child marriage and self-immolation in a direct yet beautiful way, evoking action, shock and compassion.

Highlight: Too Young To Wed (2012)

Quote: "We can’t just present a solution before we’ve presented the problem, or they’ll feel like it’s already taken care of and it’s not urgent. We want these issues to feel urgent, because for the girls being forced into marriage, it is urgent."

Russia, Oblast Murmansk, 2006 / Brigade number three - from the series NomadsLife © Jeroen Toirkens

Jeroen Toirkens

Known for:

Covering every nomadic tribe in the Northern Hermisphere through the lens of a camera, uncovering the unknown facets of what nomadism in this modern age entails.

Highlight: NomadsLife

Solitude. Norway, E75 near Vardø, 21.04.2013 - from the NomadsLife series © Jeroen Toirkens

Quote:  “For me, photography has always been a kind of excuse to do all sorts of things, to be present in many places. I think it's just great to connect to a group of people who, for whatever reason, are forced to work together and to live together, to be a participant in that, in that life.”

Paul Solberg - Ten Years in Pictures, Lifetimes in Print.

Ten Years in Pictures, Paul Solberg’s fifth photographic compendium, is a catalogue of ethnographic encounters with a startling diversity of artistic topography; drawing together sepia sailors, haunted soldiers, priests, Wild West horses, flower petals and Ai Weiwei that have gathered together in his lens across the years.

From Vietnam to Cairo to Sicily to Jordan, the book reads as a world portrait where the parts make up the whole but each part stands alone with a poetic, poignant, potency. Solberg hones in on the intricacies in his anthropological portraits; choosing to capture the subtler details of expression of culture and humanity. Instead of cataloguing these subjects with a flat, documentary, objectivity, he infuses these details with a joy, a poignancy and a simple reflectiveness. Through his photographs, we see “a world in which Solberg lives, and wishes we could all live”. There is a sense of standing in the shoes of Solberg when looking at his photographs; seeing the subject through not only his lens, but his eyes; with a universal awe and wonder. The Moholy—Nagy-new-vision approach reframes his scenes and subjects from an alternative angle; encouraging us too to look on anew and afresh with, and through his hungry, curious eyes. Life and art bleed, indeed - previous to his prestigious photographic publishings in Interview, the Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast Traveler, and CNN Travel, Solberg studied anthropology at university in South Africa before travelling extensively throughout South Africa, South America and Asia. These early formative experiences fostered his fascination for the forms of the world, and the influence is evident throughout. 

Ten Years in Pictures. © Paul Solberg 

paulsolberg.com 

Behind the Lens: Simon Butterworth

Pipe Dreams

Winning first, second, and third place respectively in categories including Professional Aerial Photography and Professional Nature Category in the 2014 International Photography Awards, and shortlisted in the Landscape category for this year’s Sony World Photography Awards, Simon Butterworth is a force in the world of photography who really needs no introduction.

With projects including a lengthy study of his childhood home in ‘Searching for Yorkshire’ and an exploration of the human cost behind Shanghai’s rapid modernisation and development in ‘Domicide Shanghai’, there seems to be no landscape too big, small, desolate or distant to escape Butterworth’s discerning eye; we got in contact to find out a little bit more about the man behind the lens.

B:  When did you first pick up a camera, and what initially inspired you to become a landscape photographer?

SB:  A love of the great outdoors is in my blood. My father and grandfather were both keen outdoorsmen. From an early age I was taken on long hikes in the English countryside, particularly the Peak District and Lake District. I admit that sometimes my participation was reluctant, but nevertheless I absorbed the atmosphere and grew to love the mental and physical freedom a day in the hills gives.

As an adult much of my holiday times became devoted to exploring the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It was a dream come true when I relocated north of the border fifteen years ago. I now had the opportunity to visit the most remote parts of Britain at all times of the year...this was the catalyst for buying my first camera. It wasn't long before the focus of my trips into the wilderness was to take photographs rather than climb as many mountains as possible. At first I was satisfied with gathering images of majestic Highland scenes in glorious light, but my ambitions soon became more sophisticated. I discovered the camera was the perfect tool to pose important questions about how we live and what we do to the planet we live on. Since then, much of my time behind the camera has been spent looking at social and environmental issues as well as capturing the beauty of the natural world.

Propinquity. Hong Kong

Propinquity. Hong Kong

B:  Your projects have taken you to various stunning locations all over the world; is there anywhere you have particularly enjoyed photographing?

SB:  I am particularly fired up by Hong Kong at the moment. Hong Kong is the city of the future - but happening now! It's a place of huge contrast, high density living at its most extreme with a backdrop of jungle clad mountains and island studded seas, a mind blowing visual mix. It's also nice to work there, you can get around easily and it's safe. I like to work alone, so personal safety is a big issue. To absorb a location and get under its skin you need time to stand and stare without constantly looking over your shoulder. Also, I can work in short trousers - don't underestimate how utterly wonderful that feels after enduring a Scottish winter!

B:  It has recently been postulated that “photography is the most essential task of art in the current time”; please comment on this idea, and how you feel about it in relation to your own work.

SB:  As a photographer whose work contains a large element of social documentary I agree completely. The world around us needs recording, not just big physical things but also the small things, things that are important to individuals. Photographers train themselves to observe the world in a special way, searching for motivations and drivers that can ultimately shape society. These things aren't always apparent or easy to see at the time but with hindsight become vital to our understanding of who and what we are.

Home. Mumbai

Home. Mumbai

B:  Please give us a little insight into the general process of choosing a location to photograph, and how you go about deciding what projects to undertake.

SB:  The decision to commit to a photo project is a big one. The kind of questions I ask myself before embarking on something which could quite literally occupy me for years are...

Has this idea been covered by someone else?

Can I afford the necessary equipment?

Do I have the resources to get the shots I need?

Does it interest me sufficiently to spend the time necessary to complete it?

Is the end result going to be interesting to other people?

Is pursuing this idea going to end in divorce from my partner Lauren?

Am I going to be able to negotiate access for the shots I need?

Is it going to entail risking death or serious injury?

Ideally a project can be slotted into everyday life, as with the Yorkshire series. This was a double plus for me, it not only provided the motivation to visit my family, it gave me good outdoor exercise when I got there!

Blue Fields

Blue Fields

B:  Have you got any projects in the works at the moment? Is there anywhere in particular you have yet to photograph that you feel would make for particularly interesting/compelling subject matter?

SB:  It's important for my motivation that I have several projects on the go at any one time. At least one of these must be local to where I live and be something that I can pursue in free moments at home, ideally it should also provide some serious exercise (I hate going to the gym but like to keep reasonably fit) - as with the Full Circle project, I walked many, many miles looking for circular sheep folds!

This time next week I will be in Hong Kong following some ideas I've been working on for shooting various aspects of high rise, high density living. I can't wait to get my short trousers on after the wettest 'summer' of all time in Scotland! Later in the year I want to revisit India to follow up on a trip I did eighteen months ago. India really got under my skin in a big way, sensory overload hardly describes the assault on your mind and body that this amazing country provides 24/7.

Full Circle. Border Stell

Welsh Slate

All images © Simon Butterworth

Michael Corridore and London’s New Photography Fair

By Libby Russell

Michael Corridore - Transient, The think line we walk

The ambitious upcoming international photography fair, Photo London, has attracted a lot of attention. According to co-director of the fair, Michael Benson it aspires to be “The best photography fair in the world - bar none.” Proposing to mirror the impact of Frieze, it aims to transform London’s photography audience, to attract people less likely to attend a photography fair, in a climate where, Benson believes, photography is finally being noticed after previous years of it’s significance being underappreciated. With all the hype, it has a lot to live up to and it’s set to meet expectations with exhibiting artists like Michael Corridore working recently with Galerie Pavlova.

Angry Black Snake (2004-2012) is perhaps Corridore’s most recognised work in recent years. The photography series shows people fighting through clouds of sand and dust, shielding their eyes. Without context the viewer could assume something very different from what was being documented; audiences of outdoor events like racing. These scenes instead seem dystopian and post-apocalyptic. This work inverts the gaze and focuses on the spectator rather then what they’re watching, perhaps reappropriating them as objects, which in turn implicates viewers of the work themselves in the same contemplation.

Michael Corridore - Transient, The think line we walk

Earlier this year Corridore exhibited in Frühlings Salon, Galerie Pavlova and now is back exhibiting at Photo London 2015 with the work ‘Transient - The thin line we walk’, an experimental photo series presenting abstracted images of densely populated urban landscapes from an elevated viewpoint. This is a stark shift from his previous focus on deserted and barren areas but it brings us back to peoples collision with their environment. It presents to the audience the issue of ‘humans’ indiscriminate imprint’, making us confront our impact on our environment, illustrating our negligence and imposed ownership upon it. The act of creating the final image has involved many steps of abstracting the original photo. This process of distancing and simplifying questions, Does a photograph become less a documentation of a moment as it becomes less recognizable?

The widely anticipated Photo London is held at Somerset House from 21-24 May 2015. With talk of selfie stick aerobics classes over at Tate Modern, this fair promises to be as focused on the worth of concept driven photography as much as selling work, keeping up with evolving contemporary institutional practices and inviting in new and curious audiences. 

Galerie Pavlova

Michael Corridore

Photo London

The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2015 Exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery

Last week, this year’s Deutsche Börse Photography Prize Exhibition opened at the Photographer’s Gallery in London, showcasing the work of finalists Nikolai Bakharev, Zanele Muholi, Viviane Sassen and Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse.

Coil, from the series Soil, 2014 © Viviane Sassen

Perhaps having just finished Lelyveld’s profoundly moving book Move Your Shadow, I was immediately drawn to the work of Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse, shortlisted for their publication, Ponte City. Displayed on the top floor of the gallery and quite fittingly so, Ponte City documents the results of a mammoth six year project on a 54-floor apartment block in Johannesburg, which was built during the Apartheid era and stands today as a living reminder to all those who suffered an inconsolable amount of racial antagonism and arguably today, still sits at the forefront of conflict in South Africa.

Untitled #5, from the series Relation, 1991-1993 © MAMM, Moscow / Nikolai 

Built for the white ‘sophisticates’ in the heyday of the Apartheid, by the 1990s Ponte City hailed a new group of residents and with that came a pool of neglect. A building that once welcomed its residents to ‘heaven on earth’ quickly turned into an epicenter of crime, a symbol of urban hatred and South Africa’s tallest slum-dogged squat den, to put it bluntly.

In 2007, Subotzky and Waterhouse began their project, picking up the pieces that remained in the now half occupied residency. The result was a stunning culmination of visuals, architectural plans and the untold stories of past and present occupants, documenting the history of a building packed with contrasts and indicative of a nation’s changing cultures, ideologies, racial neglect and the less grandiose reality of apartment living.

In an impressive floor to ceiling light box, Subotzky and Waterhouse display the images they captured on each floor of the tower block; every door, view and television screen captured through the lens of a camera and with it, the accompanying stories, essays and documentary texts that put it all into context. 

Ponte City from Yeoville Ridge, from the series Ponte City, 2008 © Mikhael 

For me, what was so striking about this exhibit was not so much the photographs themselves but the sheer number of lives and stories subsumed within the solid walls of one tower block. We live in a world of hellishly confined spaces yet have mastered an unnerving ability to keep everything behind closed doors and Subotzky and Waterhouse’s project does well to address this. Ponte City reaches beyond the facade of rainbow coloured curtains and smiling faces, to expose us to the realities of apartment living, poverty and the unending prejudice that still lingers today. Visually perhaps not the most striking, but here is a body of work that sticks with you both for its content and ability to leave you questioning what has really changed in a country still evidently stuck between its past and present.

Downstairs, visual activist Zanele Muholi uses a different medium to challenge, specifically, the identity and politics of LGBTI communities in post-apartheid South Africa, with a wall of stunning black and white portraits. At a glance, individuals silenced and under explained, but shift your attention to the limply held, hand written words hanging to the left of the gallery and an unsettling likeness begins to emerge. For these are the real faces and real words of former victims, subjected to prejudice and curative rape but still stand before us. No rainbow filters through these images, but strength, defiance and dignity remains. They are the images of a ‘Rainbow Nation’ cast only in black and white and captured by Muholi in the most sensitive and simultaneously hard-hitting of ways.

Untitled #70, from the series Relation, 1991-1993 © MAMM, Moscow / Nikolai 

Politically, here are two of the better contestants, but all indisputably unrivalled by last year’s finalist, Richard Mosse who, in his epic display of coloured jungle war zones, set the bar very, very high. For me, this year’s finalists lack any real visual flair but rather, comply with the often held high view that ‘content is king’. An interesting, defiant and provocative body of works nevertheless, and most definitely worth a visit. 

The exhibition, featuring work by all four shortlisted artists is on show at the Photographer’s Gallery until 7 June | www.thephotographersgallery.org.uk ​

ROOMS 17 presents: PING WANG

Photographer Ping Wang graduated from the New York Film Academy in 2014 and is currently completing a Master’s in Digital photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His works display themes of isolation, solitude and resignation in a variety of different settings and are teemed with a sense of renowned admiration, a timeless energy, as if one were seeing the world again for the first time. I caught up with the artist to find out more. 

View fullsize

Hi Ping, tell me a little bit about yourself.   

Born and raised in Beijing, I am the single child in a traditional military family. No one in my family has any background in art; actually, my family still do not really understand what exactly I am doing now. I live and work in New York City. My photographic works evidence a delicate balance between Eastern and Western visual culture, resulting in a personal style characterized by drama and restrain. My emotional sensitivity drives me to focus on the subtleties of light, architecture and the moments that often go unobserved.

What are your inspirations? 

Talking about inspirations, I have to mention Michael Jackson. He is the first western artist came into my world. The first time I saw the video of his Billie Jean performance in his concert, his stage lighting and the way he controls the rhythm of the performance fascinated me. That triggered my interest in music videos and stage arts. Since then I began to explore the dramatic stage setting and the way to present the climax of the scene.

Are there any particular artists that have influenced you? 

Tableau Photography: Gregory Crewdson, Jeff Wall, Ray K Metzker

Painting: Edward Hopper, René Magritte | Minjun Yue 

Your photographs are very theatrical in the way that they are staged, like the sets to a film. How has film influenced your work, if at all? 

Actually, I am more influenced by music videos and live performances (and stage arts). Because music videos are so short and delicate, I feel that it is more significant to focus on the rhythm and hit the climax than actually telling a story. Similarly to my works, I tend to present a feeling or a vibe instead of telling a complete story. Also, talking about music videos, Michael Jackson’s music video Smooth Criminal greatly influenced me in how it carefully stages every scene, and how each scene is related to one another.

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Do you think that our ability to interact with one another is being affected by the digital within our lives? 

Well, I would say the digital or digital lifestyle within our lives enables us to be exposed to the outside world. I can see what everyone is doing more easily, and can get inspirations from other artists’ works. It accelerates the speed of getting know each other, but also makes it hard to “really” know each other—the connection could only be on the surface.

From time to time, as an artist, I feel that I need a space to be isolated from the outside world in order to discover myself. Sometimes artists might lose their direction when marketing their career, but they really need to “go back to the nature”. For me, I don’t have a logical storyline behind my works; I focus on the feelings. Isolation enables me to discover this feeling. It opens up a door to let the curiousness and aspirations in, and my feelings are then automatically projected onto certain objects to make a photograph.

You grew up in Beijing and now live in New York. To what extent have these cities influenced your visions? 

The military community in Beijing, a relatively closed, rigorous and a secure place for me. That environment influenced me a lot in the form of my works; you could see very few people in my works, in a clean and precise setting. But New York helps me to be fearless. Being with so many talented artists in New York, I feel free and bold to break the “rules” in my mind.

Check out Ping Wang's work in our current issue ROOMS 17, Who decides what you see?

The Writer's Selection : Ping Wang Xin

ROOMS 17 presents Ping Wang Xin

Here are the works of an artist whose images capture and communicate the moments of solitude that too often in our busy lives, go unnoticed. In a world that has become so fixated on being constantly connected, these moments are becoming harder to visualise and harder to find, which is why I was drawn to the works of New York based artist Ping Wang. Ping’s photographs give way to these moments of reflection and serve to remind us of the small but important presence of things that we take for granted. The subtleties of light that frame our ever changing landscapes, for example, or the architecture that stands before us as we venture into work. Ping’s images remind us to look up from our screens, to take a break from the digital infusing our lives and to take pleasure in the fact that we live in a world filled with splendour and beauty.

With an emotional sensitivity that many photographers lack, Ping explores the subtle interaction of human beings and the environment and in capturing the lone figure in moments of silence, skillfully manages to recharge our own appreciation for such feelings. I was particularly drawn to Ping’s series of travel inspired images that effortlessly capture scenes of people and sweeping landscapes to express his overriding themes of solitude and solace. Among them, the hazy image of a young child wandering absent-mindedly amidst the blushing orange sun that sets low on Brooklyn’s Coney Island and the simple yet refreshing scenes of humans interacting with one another on a ferry to New York. For London’s underground would have you thinking otherwise. And then there is my favourite image of a man pondering and absorbing in the realm of nature as he tends his leaves (Shan Dong in China, 2014). The photograph documents nature and man working together to create an isolation that I believe, is often the driving force behind creativity.

 With these images comes an amazing ability to fill you with a desire to experience these new cultures and feel the energy of such exotic locations. An ache for distant places, the craving to travel. These are the scenes prior to the indoctrination of digitalisation and they are like bouts of fresh air, captured so beautifully and artistically by Ping that it would be hard not to miss them.    

PING WANG XIN

 Check out Ping Wang's work in our current issue ROOMS 17, Who decides what you see?

Yener Torun uncovers Istanbul, one Instagram at a time

Yener Torun has made quite a name for himself on Instagram. His colourful profile is simplistically beautiful, showcasing an alternative view of the traditional Turkish city, Istanbul. 

With a following of over 40,000 thousand on the photographic platform, 32-year-old Torun’s passion for buildings stemmed from his architectural background.  His imagery captures a side to Istanbul even long term residents are unaware of, the brightly coloured buildings and geometric shapes tucked away beneath the layer of traditional. 

Torun’s quest to hunt out architectural treasures began after he noticed how proficient Instagram was at bringing these rainbow buildings to life. He was able to give these hidden buildings, walls and geometric shapes new meaning, all with the help of his trusty iPhone. By escaping the one-dimensional, conventional side to Istanbul he believes he is able to provide a better understanding of the city, for his viewers, and himself. 

View fullsize

His work displays his preference for modernist architecture, choosing to stay clear of the ancient scene most would associate with Istanbul. Favoring to photographing the business districts of Kavacik, Merter and Cevizlibag, his work also often taking him to other cities, such as Izmir, Bursa and Mugla. 

Having lived in the city for 14 years, he has openly admitted that he does not consider himself to be an ‘architectural photographer’, and finding locations can sometimes be a challenging, mental exercise. One he is willing to participate in, as the city still manages to surprise him and reveal spots that are worth sharing with his 40,000 thousand followers. 

Offering an alternative view of the historic Turkish city, Torun’s work not only captivates his viewers with bold colours, but also gives them an insight to a new realm of Istanbul.  Tourists, and even residents, associate the city with mosques, old streets and traditional life, Torun’s photography demonstrations that there is more than meets the eye. 

His attention to detail is understatedly clever, he coordination the colours of the walls, to the individuals that happen to be passing by. Reflecting both the energy of the architecture, and giving his human subjects a story by contrasting their clothing to the paint pallet like walls.  Blending the buildings and the people brings the images to life; the elements juxtapose effortlessly. 

It’s hard to ever imagine Torun’s Instagram profile as anything but a kaleidoscopic of vivid colours, but he began photographing like most. It wasn’t till he discovered the minimalistic beauty that Istanbul had kept a secret that he began letting his followers in on it too. 

His profile not only stands out in the overwhelming amount of people using the platform today, it begs you to scroll further down, eyes glued to the colour that jumps out of the phone. Like an addiction, he’s hooked anyone who happen to stumble across his page, the images could be pages in a book, and deserve to be for that matter – perhaps a new project is on the horizon.

 Yener Torun

Heated Words: Initial Research of a forgotten typeface

Heated Words presents, Initial Research private view, an exhibition documenting the journey of a forgotten typeface across the subcultural movement.

The exhibition, which will display photography and ephemera, is solely focused on a specific, unidentified typeface that exclusively existed as iron-on flock lettering. 

The typeface has made predominant appearances within the documentation of subcultures between the early 70s to late 80s, appearing on items of D.I.Y clothing and used by: Little League teams, Street gangs, B-Boys, Punks, Pop artists, Pop stars, Disco dancers and the entire squadrons of the Double Dutch skipping troupes. 

Heated Words aims to illustrate an ongoing investigation to uncover the true identity of a folk-lore typeface that never made it to the post analogue era. The discovery of this typeface involves some of pop cultures most influential individuals, locations, brands and central moments in history. 

The Clash, Biz Markie, Ramellzee, Big Audio Dynamite, Rock City Crew, Furious Rockers and the Ebonettes all have a connection with this typeface, and make an appearance within Heated Words. 

Located at multi use creative space, House of Vans, in the heart of one of the world’s most creative cities, London.  The 3,000sqm space is devoted to encouraging evolving talent, across cinematic, artistic and musical areas. The creative space is free, and open to all who wish to attend. 

Heated Words: Initial Research | March 27th to April 10th, House of Vans, London.

Private view - Thursday 26th April 2015 | 7 – 11pm

Kent Baker and Futurecity present Inferno: Alexander McQueen

Striking Images taken from Kent Baker’s new book, Inferno: Alexander McQueen, will be shown for the first time at the Gallery at Foyles from 20 March till 3 May 2015. 

As another tribute to the McQueen season, the up and coming Futurecity show will display a selection of previously unseen, backstage photographs, taken by Kent Baker during the seminal show, Dante, in 1996. 

Alexander McQueen, who applied to Central St. Martin’s School of Art and Design in 1994, was persuaded by Bobby Hilson – the Head of the Masters course to apply. The exhibition will inhabit the Foyles Bookstore building, which Central Saint Martins once notably occupied. 

McQueen showcased his early collection, Dante, in 1996 at Nicholas Hawksmoor’s architectural masterpiece Christchurch in Spitalfields. In true McQueen style, the audiences were treated to a theatrical spectacle. Photographer, Kent Baker, who was lucky enough to be in McQueen’s intimate circle of friends, was able to capture this iconic moment in contemporary fashion. 

His backstage photography not only captures the excitement and dramatics of the evening, but the distinct moment in which this creative force was born. Displaying just how much McQueen’s vision was destined to challenge and fundamentally alter notions of beauty, bookmarking an unforgettable moment in British fashion history.

Olly Walker curator of the ‘Inferno’ exhibition

FOYLES | FUTURECITY

Beauty in Desolation: Photographer Florian Ruiz

From a harrowing exploration of prostitute’s rooms in the series Two star hotel  to a study of Japan’s abandoned radioactive roads in Lost Highway through Google Earth, French photographer Florian Ruiz captures life at its most remote, his subject matter strikingly distant from society as we are accustomed to seeing it in the Western world. 

Aiming to express the atmosphere, feelings, and sensations of desolate locations, Ruiz demonstrates a propensity for locating people and places with backstories just as interesting as the pictures that result from his studies:

“I try to capture the in-between, life at the margins, and borderlines of lives and places.”

Ruiz’s portfolio has a distinct Eastern flavour, with galleries compiled in China, Mongolia, Pakistan and various locations in Japan available to view on his website.

Fukushima, Invisible Pain, a series of photographs which took second place at the Sony World Photography Awards 2013 (professional conceptual category) visually communicates the stillness and ghostly tension that surrounded the eponymous prefecture after the 2011 nuclear disaster; moving comfortably across a variety of photographic styles, Ruiz demonstrates the creative use of a pin hole camera on long exposure in this particular series, making for evocative, eerily distorted compositions. 

Exploring similar themes to those found in his Fukushima studies, Brezhnev’s Gift is an insight into the lives of Mongolia’s Erdenet inhabitants, their existence poised between dreams of a better life and the reality of the unsustainable mining activity the town they choose to inhabit was built upon in the 70s. Ruiz’s images hint at the futility of everyday life, a poignant lethargic stasis looming over every shot; the viewer is left unsure whether to admire or weep for the resilience of humanity.

Ruiz’s most recent study tells of the lives of those dwelling on the borders of China’s major cities, a collection of images as colourful and eclectic as the subjects they present; entitled Borderlands, the series juxtaposes scenic panoramas with a mix of intimate and action-filled portraits, paralleling life and the landscapes on which it transpires.

Ruiz has been published and exhibited widely since 2005, regularly popping up in photography magazines and journals, including a spot in the 2010 British Journal of Photography; he currently lives and works in Tokyo. 

Florian Ruiz

London based abstract photographer Katie Bret-Day sheds light on her work

Katie Bret-Day is a London based photographer bridging the gap between digital and analogue in creating abstract work based on the human form. Her Facets exhibition has recently been displayed at the Brighton Photo Fringe and she is currently working on its follow up, a selection of work perfecting a previously unused technique. 

When did you first become aware of photography?

 My Dad gave me my first camera when I was about ten. It’s a Canon F10 that I still use today. I can remember using it in my parent’s house in Normandy. The house has been in our family for generations and is full of weird history. During the Second World War it was used as a rest point for a group of Nazi’s. After Normandy was liberated Neme, my grandma, hid one of them in the attic and he became a gardener after the war. I think I managed to capture some of the bizarreness of the house but in all honesty, I mostly turned my camera towards my sister and the dog.

When did you make the move away from classic realism towards the work you do now? 

My perspective on photography changed when I was introduced to the dark room at school. It was so small, not much more than a cupboard and nothing really worked properly. There were no timers on the enlargers and you always bumped your head on the shelves. I am hesitant to connect the two, but there does seem to be a vague correlation between my current exploration into the darker facets of the human form and one particularly sharp knock to my head in the dark room. 

What form does this exploration take in your most recent exhibition? 

My most recent project revolved around Dissociative Identity Disorder, more commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. In short, the condition is characterised by a person having multiple selves that are distinct from one another and I looked to capture this in photographic form. This had me playing around with form, nudes and portraits, and disrupting what would be perceived as the bodily norm. 

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Practically, how did you achieve this? 

Primarily through shapes and mirror. I was printing into mirror and setting myla into resin.

What effect would you like this to have on the viewer? 

My work is often abstract and is therefore left open to a fair degree of interpretation. However, I would like people to question themselves when they look at my work. To be forced to really look at themselves and ask how the body is different from the being. This has been a long held objective in my work. In my previous exhibition Amalgam, named after a chemical dentists use to repair teeth, I looked to reflect the narrative of contemporary medicine in its improvement of the human form and the integration of synthetic materials into our body. Our contemporary physiology no longer has a fixed, un-malleable architecture and I think this is a poignant theme in a medium associated with the realist capture of the natural body. 

Can you explain the technique you’re currently looking to perfect and how it relates to the thematic focus of your work?

I have been advised not to talk about it too much until I perfect it, because, as far as I’m aware, I’m the only person in the world to be making prints this way. 

I first started doing it as a money thing because of the cost of film. It’s fundamentally a way to manipulate an image without doing it digitally. But it’s more than that. It completely disrupts the essence of the image. I pick up and play with the pigments of a piece, shifting them about whilst attempting to retain a certain quality of the original image. I’ve always seen photography as a building block, a starting point upon which I can intervene. I use it to tell a narrative whilst exploring the realities of a photograph. 

I want people to realise digital imagery is fragile like analogue. It can be too disposable. I think there’s a precious and transient quality to photography that has gone now. My technique is a way of saying that digital imagery is fragile, it is beautiful. By integrating contemporary means with digital it makes the process necessary. Perhaps there is some irony in the fact that I have to shackle myself to do my most able work. 

What’re you planning on doing next?

I’ve just started forming a collection that I’m hoping will pick up the work done in Facets and move it on. So far I’m toying with the idea of mirrors and the split sense of identity that they can bring about. There is a symbiosis between the two identities people perceive, loosely the body and the mind. I want to take that idea and then make the dualist gap wider, more distinct, and disconnect the two. Photographically at least.

Joanna Piotrowska’s Other Family Albums

Winner of the MACK First Book Award in 2014, and among one of three winners for the first Jerwood/Photoworks Awards this year for FROWST - the unsettling and uncomfortable familial inspired album - Polish photographer Joanna Piotrowska creates intriguing staged images, deeply embedded with meaning. 

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“Interested in psychotherapies within the family structure, particularly focusing on the inequalities of power between individuals,” the London based artist who achieves her shots through experimentation, explored the oppressive and sinister side of family life in her thought-proving body of work, which was inspired by dance and performance and the German therapist Bert Hellinger, who is best known for his theory and practice of Family Constellation therapy. 

FROWST captured intimate family scenes, including two adult brothers lying together on a Persia carpet wearing only white briefs, and black-clothing bodies of two embracing women, which as Mack write suggest the “atavistic overlap of mother and daughter.”

Working in black and white, as in her words it is related to the act of documentation, the photography is intentionally nostalgic for lost moment of happiness. The artist also often uses flash as she notes it “flattens the image, merges bodies with domestic interiors, objectifying them.”

Other projects using the medium include the honest series of portraits “Never is a long time” which featured in the winter 2014 issue of Dazed, capturing the “controlled chaos” and “defiant optimism of a Latvian rehab centre.”

Piotrowska’s works have been internationally exhibited in Ireland, Spain, Poland, Russia, France, Latvia and in the UK. The artist began her photography education in Warsaw in 2004 and graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2013.

This march she will be exhibiting at the photography and art gallery on the second floor of the Science Museum, London.

Joanna Piotrowska