Having spent a lot of time with Mark Steinmetz's books South East and Greater Atlanta, I was curious about the history and photographer behind the work. So I asked Mark for an interview, and much to my delight he agreed to it.
Lydia Panas' portraits, which typically contain at least two, if not more people, possess that little something that lifts them above a lot of other portraiture and that at the same time is so undefinable, so indescribable. In Lydia's case, the magic seems to be coming from the interaction between the subjects. Group portraits often contain an element of heroism - this alone would be a good topic for a longer discussion (see an example here) - and that heroism is absent in Lydia's work. Instead, there are trust and displays of intimacy.
Photographically, the continent of Africa, home of around one billion people and cradle of humanity, seems to be in a bit of a tight spot. While there is a lot of different work being produced about or in Africa, the most visible types of photography, the ones we get to see most often, are either photojournalistic depictions of war and/or poverty or what Jim Johnson called the freak show. David Wright's Alebtong, Uganda was thus a very pleasant surprise for me: A young photographer going to Africa and producing images that do not center on photojournalistic clichés or on the overly exotic.
After publishing my review of Christopher Anderson's Capitolio, I ended up exchanging emails with him about the work and its purpose and reception. Things got so interesting that I thought this would be a great opportunity to take things public and to have a conversation with him on this blog. Thankfully, Chris agreed. Note that larger versions of all images (all of them, of course, are copyright Christopher Anderson) can be seen by clicking on them. The b/w images are from the book, and they are presented just like in the book (see the conversation for details).
Bradley Peters is one of the winners of this year's Conscientious Portfolio Competition. A recent graduate from Yale, his work marries what might be thought of as the currently dominant Yale aesthetic (which often involves staging photography) with the flash-heavy, completely spontaneous kind of photography that has been very popular in Britain. Ultimately, such a simplifying description really doesn't do anyone a big favour, but it might serve well to come up with a first, crude description of the work - and knowing what I know now after having done the conversation with Bradley it's not even that far off!
The Fall 2009 edition of FOAM International Photography Magazine is dedicated to showcasing the work of up-and-coming photographers. This year, there are 18 photographers - a very diverse group. FOAM approached me earlier this year to ask whether I was available to conduct interviews with each the photographers, and, of course, I agreed to it. The following conversation with Aaron Schuman is the full version of the abridged one printed in FOAM 20.
Dana Popa's "not Natasha" portrays young women for poor Eastern European countries who spent years in other, richer European nations as forced prostitutes. The numbers alone are sobering for a continent that likes to lecture others about human rights (see, for example, this story or this one). But it's not just a European problem (see, for example, this story). I wanted to talk Dana about what made her work on the project and I wanted to learn more about her experience, so I approached her for an interview. Click on any of the photos to see slightly larger versions.
Vanessa Winship's work came to my attention when a friend of mine showed me the copy of Sweet Nothings, a most exquisite little book of portraiture of school children in Eastern Anatolia (Turkey). A little later, Vanessa sent me a copy of the book, and we started talking about her work, so I ended up asking her for an interview. Click on the images below to see slightly larger versions.
The Fall 2009 edition of FOAM International Photography Magazine is dedicated to showcasing the work of up-and-coming photographers. This year, there are 18 photographers - a very diverse group. FOAM approached me earlier this year to ask whether I was available to conduct interviews with each the photographers, and, of course, I agreed to it. The following conversation with Michael Lundgren is the full version of the abridged one printed in FOAM 20.
Will Steacy's current project is called "Down These Mean Streets", and to take the photos, he hiked from the airport to the central business district of the cities he was photographing - at night, equipped with a large-format camera. This is not something photographers do all the time - so I approached Will to find out more about his work.
published, after spending ten years on the project. His book (and recent show) had me curious about the background of the project, and I approached Joshua to talk about it.
