In this photo series, Cara and Yuen Yee (two sisters-in-law), a photographer and calligraphist, embarked on a journey to investigate their relationship with their ancestors and how to bring their family histories into their own lives. Cara's personal search was sparked by the heirlooms in her Dutch family. Working with these and other artifacts resulted in a kind of playing with her ancestors, a way to connect with the people who are no longer here. For Yuen Yee the question was how to connect to both her Hong Kong-Chinese roots and her Dutch adopted roots without denying either. Because Yuen Yee did not have any heirlooms to work with, her research took her along oral family histories and family and public documents. Cara and Yuen Yee are also family. This photo series is therefore not about two separate processes of rooting and becoming roots. They discovered that both families are unified and characterized by a love of education, storytelling, art and a desire to contribute to society. That is why, next to their own way of bringing their roots to the lived present, they interpreted each other's work: Cara by photographing Yuen Yee's family photographs, and Yuen Yee by interpreting Cara's work through words and calligraphy. Through their bond, they give rise to the merging of families, the inoculation of roots, fortifying them. Doing so they recognized how they embody their ancestors, forging a living connection with the people who came before them. Rootedness is not confined to time, space, culture, families or clans. It has no boundaries.
The world is at risk of widespread famines caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The impact of global economic devastation caused by Covid-19 has already declared as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the Second World War. The number suffering from hunger could go from 135 million to more than 250 million. For Bangladesh it has become both a human and a food crisis catastrophe. House maid Hamida Begum, who is now out of work, said, “We only have forty taka at home. We have to drink poison, if we cannot go out for work. Who will save us from hunger?” The sufferings of approximately 7 million slum dwellers around Dhaka city are multiplying due to fall in income and price hike of consumer goods. There is hardly any food supply left in low income people’s houses, let alone ensuring cleanliness. Most slum dwellers living in different parts of the capital no longer worry about the virus and its infection, but what worries them is hunger as they cannot go out for work. Their empty food storage and remaining little food supply can not save them from starvation and hunger in coming days.
X-Ray Vision vs. Invisibility is a body of work about the phenomenological effects of vision technologies on the perception of undocumented immigrants, migrants and refugees crossing international borders. Cyanotype is used to remediate images, which are appropriated from border control websites. Backscatter machines are used to randomly x-ray vehicles in order to reveal their contents. This translation is intended to expose how new vision technologies recycle Cartesian modes of viewing and in so doing reinforce a neocolonial worldview historically embedded in digital imaging. Reproducing imagery intended for digital screen based viewing using an analog historical process developed at the beginning of the modern period asks us to consider the historical precedence for digital imaging and development of Western Enlightenment vision technologies beginning with perspectival painting. The historical uses of cyanotype in both taxonomy and the reproduction of architectural plans resonates with the elevation-like imagery that the backscatter machine produces, images that reveal a jarring tension between the rationalized mechanical grid of the trucks and the fragile bodies of their human cargo. The physicalization of these images through alternative processes calls into question the immediacy in which they are originally produced and consumed, separating them from their screen and giving them body and space to be viewed outside of their original context, of hunter and hunted.
άνεμος [ÀNEMOS: wind (see Spirit). Principle of life in every organized being; ] Anemos is a photographic project consisting of a series of 30 portraits of refugees awaiting asylum in Italy. While history celebrates the great travelers and explorers of the past for their endeavors, these refugees face equally endless and dangerous journeys not for money, fame or glory, but only to conquer their freedom and a dignified life, often fleeing war or poverty. What shift in values leads us to deliver the first in history and ignore the others? With a provocative choice, therefore, these boys, coming mostly from Africa, but also from Afghanistan and Pakistan, dress up like the great travelers of the world, almost demanding the same respect and dignity for their deeds. The images are inspired by historical or famous characters such as Christopher Columbus, David Livingstone, Napoleon, Pizarro, Cousteau, King Alfred, Amelia Earhart, Yuri Gagarin, Jacques Cousteau, Charles Lindbergh and many others, referring to classical iconography and in any case to the representation of their respective eras.
The series 'Nord et Blanc' (North and White) aims to show wild animals in a pure snowy atmosphere and the presentation, through an artistic and naturalistic vision, shows that nature is beautiful but also in danger. For three long winters, Gregory Pol travelled over the moors and hills of Saint Pierre et Miquelon archipelago, Newfoundland, Greenland and Finland to try to approach with animals in the snow. These hours of exploration and waiting, often resultless, allowed him to scout the animals territories.
How will places look, when forces of nature will reclaim what once was lost? Will the new inhabitants of these marvels simply be bypassers or will they stay and make thriving cities of nature’s life? Because of mankind, the animals have been pushed to live in the most abandoned regions of the earth. In search of places where men are rarer than animals. Shall the ballrooms be again a place of dance and joy, rooms full of life, and the buildings a place of comfort and shelter against the crude forces who retook them?
5 photos of 5 different women. They are photographed in my studio and I used long exposure time in my camera. That is why they were moved and not sharp. They are all standing on a different colored floor and that is why I gave each photo a color name. Edited in Photoshop as many of my photos which I always want to give their own atmosphere and color. Photo Brown is a jumping woman, photo Green is a woman standing still with her hands on her back, photo Purple is a woman walking in the rain with her umbrella, photo Red is a woman walking by just like the woman in photo Yellow. They all belong to my normal social life.
The inspiration for my portraits comes from the Baroque painting combined with contemporary aspects. I especially like the scarce lighting that was so beautifully used by the painters from the Golden Age, such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. With my photos I want to tell a special story that tells about a unity or similarity between children and animals. This creates an almost surreal Baroque atmosphere.
I had the privilege of virtually entering many homes, often of strangers and hearing their personal stories. During all the meetings, regardless of the situation people were in and their mood, the portrait revealed a common denominator, "I am here". "I am here" is the desire to feel part of the world despite forced isolation. The images are made with the optical bench via video call, using a reinterpretation of the calotype, an ancient photographic technique. The photograph comes from a negative on 4x5 "paper, then printed in contact to obtain the positive, and finally acquire it with the scanner. The control, both in the shooting phase and in the subsequent development phases, is very reduced and it is the reason why I chose to use this method which metaphorically reflects our time. They are portraits, not photos of screens.
Pontoons in French Polynesia are the essential link between sea and land. When there is no road , when the houses are isolated on an atoll, the only way to reach the "civilization" (school, food, friends) is to take a boat. I often hung on a pontoon often located in front of the house.
It is the story of a girl who lived through a period of history but was never seen, and though she was very artistic, she always hid from others until one day her identity was revealed. She was still trying to keep his identity a secret until She was satisfied to register herself in history. This girl's name is Lorca, and I have been trying to portray her face with the story she has in my mind so that the whole world can touch her feelings.
This sculptural series is a new take on the limits we encounter daily, all along our lives. Indeed, human beings tend towards a constant evolution. They want to dominate and shape the reality around them. They try to reach beyond their physical and existential limits, never giving up, but eventually, they often find themselves trapped in a deterministic form of the human condition.
Photography inspired by great artists' painting. All my models are non-professional but I like when they show striking similarities between real persons in my photo and the great art work. Inspiration 1 - Jan de Bray, "Portrait d'enfant" Inspiration 2 - Antonello da Messina, "Portrait of a Man" Inspiration 3 - Frans van Mieris I, "The Music Lesson" Inspiration 4 - Lorenzo Costa (The Elder), "Portrait of a Woman with a Pearl Necklace" Inspiration 5 - Marie Elizabeth Louise Vigee-Le Brun also known as Madame Lebrun, "Mademoiselle Brongniart".
In summer 2019 I visited the Kamchatka peninsula, a land in the far east of Russia. My purpose was to discover a natural scenery that, except for some little towns and the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamčatskij, is totally made of pristine nature, forests and huge volcanoes. The nature of Kamchatka is still mostly unknown, it's really dangerous and it changes continuously, so I explored the peninsula with the help of two local guides. The thing that impressed me the most is the contrast between the colors of life, of the trees, the flowers, the forests and the shades of death, of the volcanoes, of the ash. This serie tells also about the strange natural phenomena and elements that can be found in the exploration of this land.
Old traditions and memories are kept alive also by traditional costumes, a precious inheritance of great value.
In this series of portraits, the viewer is transported back to an imagined past. I shoot using classical cinematic and photographic lighting techniques. My intention with these studio portraits is for the viewer to be transported back through periods of history, establishing a direct line from our past that runs from our contemporary culture, back all the way to the Old World. My primary inspirations here - are Dickensian Victorian England, the pre and post WW2 period, the cinematic Film Noir stylings of 1930 - 1950 only in colour , and the golden age of Renaissance painters, and the Dutch Painters.
The origins of the relationship between Man and the bull are lost in history. Upper Paleolithic rock art found in Foz Côa, Portugal (18 000 – 15 000 A.C.) and Lascaux, France (15 000 – 13 000 A.C.) are proof of this, and express the admiration and veneration of Man for the animal. Seen as a symbol of fertility and virility, target of religious cults, the bull has always been understood as a mystical animal, and thus was faced by man as a way to take hold of these qualities. This confrontation manifested itself in the most diverse Mediterranean and Middle Eastern societies, as we can see in the Gilgamesh Epic - Mesopotamia, the 2nd millennium BC - and the myth of Greek antiquity such as the Minotaur and the abduction of Europe. Bullfighting results from these influences. The first reference to a bullfighting activity in Portugal dates from 1258, in the inquiries of D. Afonso III, king of Portugal. However, these bullfighting practices came before the founding of the kingdom of Portugal (1143), and it is impossible to define the date of their origin. The “pega de caras”, performed by a group of men called “Forcados”, is one of the manifestations present in all typical Portuguese bullfighting. The “Forcados” are a group of eight men who after the equestrian fight enter the arena to immobilize the bull, dominating the animal only with the force of arms. Aligned, they are distributed from the first man (Forcado da cara) to the last, the one who holds the tail of the animal.
It is the story of a girl who lived through a period of history but was never seen, and though she was very artistic, she always hid from others until one day her identity was revealed. She was still trying to keep his identity a secret until She was satisfied to register herself in history. This girl's name is Lorca, and I have been trying to portray her face with the story she has in my mind so that the whole world can touch her feelings.
The manipulation of the mass consciousness is especially scary when children with their fragile psyche, shapeless views and beliefs become the object of manipulation. A child (teenager) is constantly faced with manipulations - the media skillfully form false life values, taste preferences, fashion for certain professions and a person's lifestyle in a child. The constant search and creation of the image of the enemy increases the level of anxiety and fear and creates the need for protection with the help of aggression. And the stronger the fear, the higher the level of aggression. Our world is becoming terrible and ugly, and we urgently need to survive this terrible and difficult period, and the beautiful Renaissance has come. But this will only be possible if we help our children resist a powerful manipulation tool.
In the series "Where Is Adam" I imagined a paradise world where, in the beginning, people and animals lived together in harmony. But over time, humans and animals grew further apart. In this series we wonder how things could have been if we didn’t leave paradise, is there still a way to return? Is there a way to create a new one? Will we find a way? Note: I hope to make people more aware that the physical use of animals is not necessary for the final photo or film nowadays. I also think it is important to mention that all animals were photographed separately and digitally edited into the photographs.
My series Dichromasie is an architecture series I shot in many cities. Munich, Stuttgart, Paris ect. I broke down the buildings to minimalist graphics with no consturbant stuff around them. I wanted to show the buildings like a construction plan from the architect. Just white and türkies as main color to make it even more abstract. Break down to minimal forms and shapes so they look like renderings or graphics.
Investigation of the difficult relationship between man and nature in the delicate and precious ecosystem of the Alps which risks being broken by new invasive anthropization interventions. The evocative landscapes of Alpe Devero (Italy) come to life in the moments of urban everyday life. A modern Cassandra opens a window onto an alarming future. A story, a surreal vision of how places today still enchanting and protected could look like, tomorrow, following the new economic exploitation that will transform a place that today belongs to everyone into the property of a few elected men.
The man is tied on threads supported from above, like a puppet that someone moves at will; the wrists, the legs are pushed by a hidden force and the mystery of life is precisely this unawareness of reality, of the truth, the characters are fished from a trunk, they are given life and are put away at the end of the show.
