11 Jun 2013 written by Cecilia Manfredi in
Focus on
Much of my work deals in some way with the idea that nothing is fully knowable.
Brea Souders
It is often thought that a photographer – like any artist – at some point will develop a style and an imagery which she will forever go on employing, perhaps with slight variations.
Brea Souders shatters this preconception: her work deals with the concepts of memory and absence, focussing on a visual rendering of the concepts themselves that completely eschews cheap sentiment.
Souders’ projects range from the more naturalistic, almost impressionistic Counterforms to images that are highly conceptual and reminiscing of Joan Miró’s surreal paintings in Film Electric, her latest. Of Film Electric, Souders says: “[T]he photographs in this series are tapestries of my personal history. They contain slices of forgotten adventures, portraits of loved ones and strangers, untold experiments and family vacations, as well as shards of unrecognizable shapes and empty spaces–memories alongside their absence. Together, the charged fragments merge in energy and light to create a new narrative”.
Brea Souders holds a BA in Visual Arts from the University of Maryland; she is based in New York. Her work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, and also in festivals such as the New York Photo Festival, PhotoIreland, Dublin, and the Singapore International Photography Festival. She has participated in the Hyères International Festival of Photography & Fashion and her work has been exhibited in Europe and the US. Souders’ photographs have also been featured in The Creative Review, The New York Magazine, The New York Times, The New Yorker, L’Officiel Art, Marie Claire, Vice and WSJ Magazine. Find more of her work on her website and her Tumblr.
Read more »
- Photographers:
Brea Souders
22 May 2013 written by Maurizio Di Iorio in
Books
NAVSEGDA (Forever) is the silent dialogue between the two multi-disciplinary creatives Tatiana Leshkina and Erik Hart, an artifact composed of their selected works from 2009 to 2012. Investigating the values of loneliness and fragility, despite the indifference of the world that surrounds them, they turn them universal. The idea of eternity as privation of space and time. Static elements are not subject to decay and are frozen into digital fragments. The human condition is experienced and expressed with conscious naivety and cold objectivity. Distance, daily life, shared experiences, and mutual thoughts are collected in a visual, intimate and emotional 3-year narration.
Its a 92 page book that comes in a limited edition of 125 signed and numbered copies which are now available for pre order on http://shabazzprojects.com/. And will later be available in select stores.
Read more »
- Photographers:
Tatiana Lëshkina
21 May 2013 written by Cecilia Manfredi in
Focus on
Relying on already appealing subjects is a surefire way to make at least some sort of impression on the audience – sexy bodies, breathtaking landscapes, beautiful clothes. The issue, however, often lies more in the author’s lack of imagination than in the choice of subjects.
Philippe Jarrigeon‘s work steers clear of cheap tricks while maintaining its visually pleasing quality. Frequently shooting in a studio (with an apparent preference for blue-tinged backgrounds), Jarrigeon takes photographs where a colourful pop aesthetic is married to surreal, abstract suggestions. The sheer confidence of the mise-en-scène, the vibrant nuances and the precision of the framing make up a style that never indulges in navel-gazing.
Philippe Jarrigeon is a photographer, but also an art director and the publisher of Dorade. His work has been exhibited all over Europe and has been featured on a variety of publications (such as Double Magazine, Libération, L’Officiel, Jalouse, Das Magazin, Uovo, Wallpaper*, M Le Monde and more).
Read more »
13 May 2013 written by Cecilia Manfredi in
Focus on
If you are interested in photography and roam the Internet looking for interesting stuff as much as we do, chances are you already know CULT – but perhaps you don’t know the people behind it. One of them is Ramon Haindl, whose own work is as interesting as his taste. His photographs’ consistently display a neat composition matched up with a sharp sense for striking colour combinations. Haindl comes from documentary photography, and his pictures are indeed a mix of truth and mise-en-scène. Even the least competent eye would not be able to attribute authenticity to his photographs without acknowledging their beauty. They are authentic because the author reveals a particular sensibility towards his subjects and a remarkable ability to explore different places and realities, often met by chance. And at the same time they’re beautiful, the expression of a recognizable style without clichés.
Born in Bavaria in 1983, Ramon Haindl is a graduate in Visual Communication of the School of Applied Sciences in Mainz. He has realized several fashion shoots and ads, such as the one for Velour AW 2011, and videos like the À Nos Amours project (a series of intimate short portraits). Haindl is now based in Frankfurt and runs Cult together with Evelyn Dragan. Find more of his work on his website and Tumblr.
Read more »
- Photographers:
Ramon Haindl
11 Apr 2013 written by Maurizio Di Iorio in
Exhibitions
Thomas Ruff‘s work is currently being exhibited at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York; the show presents two productions by Ruff, including the world premiere of the series “photograms“. Working in distinct series since the late 1970s, Ruff has approached different genres of photography, including portraiture, architecture, astronomy, the nude, surveillance imagery, and reportage. This is Ruff’s seventh solo show since his joining David Zwirner in 2000.
Read more »
- Photographers:
Thomas Ruff
10 Apr 2013 written by Cecilia Manfredi in
Focus on
Style and substance are sometimes bafflingly considered as competitors in an artist’s work, while it would be more correct to expect that – in order to create something remarkable – they should actually compenetrate each other. This is what happens in the work of Thomas Albdorf.
Thomas Albdorf’s photographs deal mainly in manipulation of the landscape and composition, characteristics that underline the thoughtfulness of the author’s process and his ability: Albdorf shows a deft hand in taking objects and refashioning them in new tools or shapes (from a few stacked bricks resembling a staircase to more conceptual results).
The landscape is often treated as part of the work itself and becomes almost sculptural in and of itself, particularly in the series “Soft and Lucent” and “I’m not yet out of the Woods”.
Thomas Albdorf was born in Linz in 1982 and is now based in Vienna, Austria. After working as graphic designer and art director, he is now studying Transmediale Kunst at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. His work has been exhibited in Europe and in the US. You can find more of his work on his website and his Tumblr.
Read more »
- Photographers:
Thomas Albdorf
28 Mar 2013 written by Cecilia Manfredi in
Focus on
It’s a well-established prejudice that fashion photography represents the more superficial end of the photographic world spectrum; the same view, however, can be refuted as often as it is deemed right.The work of Blommers and Schumm is an example that disproves that prejudice. Their main focus is portraiture and still life, which informs and influences their fashion work as well. Their portraits – at times displaying something of a 70s vibe – are usually shot against a neutral background, often in cold colours. The subjects faces maintain a blank expression that contributes to bring forward the cleanness and the pure lines of the compositions. Besides portraiture, their photographs cover the entire range between playful and experimental, often mixing the two for enticing results – such as the editorial for Baron Magazine, in which everyday objects are photographed in a way that is suggestive of sex but never explicit – or the photographs for Hector – a series where the theme “fashion on strike” is dealt with by keeping the images hidden beneath an optical effect.
Anushka Blommers and Niels Schumm are a Dutch photographic duo. Both born in 1969, they have been active for fifteen years and their photographs have appeared on a variety of publications (Interview, The New York Times, Visionaire, several editions of Vogue, AnOther, Self Service, The Gentlewoman and more). Their work has been exhibited all over the world and included in private collections.
Read more »
19 Mar 2013 written by Maurizio Di Iorio in
Books
In An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, Taryn Simon compiles an inventory of what lies hidden and out-of-view within the borders of the United States. She examines a culture through documentation of subjects from domains including: science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion. Confronting the divide between those with and without the privilege of access, Simon’s collection reflects and reveals that which is integral to America’s foundation, mythology and daily functioning.
Taryn Simon: An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar
Text by Ronald Dworkin, Tina Kukielski, Salman Rushdie, Elisabeth Sussman.
First published in 2008, and now commanding high prices second-hand, Taryn Simon’s
Read more »
- Photographers:
Taryn Simon
13 Mar 2013 written by Cecilia Manfredi in
Books
Tania Shcheglova and Roman Noven, also known as Synchrodogs, have been a fixture here on Disturber since the interview we published two years ago – and they’ve come a long way. Their photographs, raw and experimental, have been featured on international publications such as Dazed & Confused (USA), Vice (USA), Neon (Germany), L’Imparfaite (France), Novembre (France/Switzerland), S magazine (Denmark), I Love Fake (UK), Vision (China) and The British Journal of Photography (UK), as well as exhibited all over the world.
Byzantine is their debut monograph and collects some of their most striking works; the volume itself, published by Éditions du LIC, is a large format clothbound hardcover book, published in a limited edition of only 460 copies.
Byzantine is available here.
Read more »
06 Mar 2013 written by Cecilia Manfredi in
Focus on
I allow the viewers to question whether they are truly subjects or merely objects. I strive to depict an image that remains pristine and foreign to the viewers.
Pastel nuances, strategic cuts, neat lines, Yayoi Kusama-like polka dots: Ina Jang‘s photographs employ few characterizing traits and work them into striking images that often walk the line between substance and pure style – managing to retain the force of impact of the former together with the aesthetic beauty of the latter.
Jang’s work deals with the erasing of identity and the compenetration of artistic formats (“I’d like to think of my work as a humble mixture of graphic design, sculpture, drawing, performance art and even clothing design”, she has stated); her light touch is all but superficial and evokes a certain playfulness that enriches her pictures while making useless the need for a “message”.
Ina Jang was born in South Korea and is now based in New York. Her work has been exhibited all over the world and has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Dear, Dave Magazine, Jalouse British Journal of Photography and Time Magazine’s Light Box.
Read more »
- Photographers:
Ina Jang
