All posts filed under: Photography

french photographer Léa Bartet-Friburg

Grannie by Léa Bartet-Friburg

Published by VAGA Editor

This is a story about my grandmother’s perception, the objects that surrounded her with which I grew up, her garden, her house in Normandy, her taste for fashion, and beautiful things that she passed on to me, and Africa… always Africa. My grandfather was from Togo but he died very young, yet she kept very close contacts with this African family year after year, she’s our only link with this black side that we can see on our skin and which seems so far from our native Normandy, France. All the styling are items found in her closet, the fabrics used for the images have been brought back by her from Ghana and Togo (Wax et Keta). Her expressions are distinguished, proud, and independent. —by photographer Léa Bartet-Friburg

andy warhol photography polaroid

Andy Warhol’s Many Models —New York Photo Exhibit

Published by VAGA Editor

Photography played an important part in the life of Andy Warhol. Young Andy greedily collected images of Hollywood celebrities and their timeless glamour inspired his own work. Warhol started his art career using photographs of famous people such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor to create a series of silkscreens that stormed the world. Andy Warhol brought his camera with him throughout every journey. During his life, he developed hundreds and thousands of photos. At the time of his death, only a small percentage had been printed. He created a new visual language from a photographic vocabulary, like other influential artists of the 1960s, well before the world of art understood the importance of the medium. The New York exhibition “Andy Warhol Photography: 1967-1987” at the Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea presents a series of gelatin silver prints showing the most ordinary moments in his random daily practices, as well as the artists’ Polaroid portraits, still-life, and nudes. Many of the 193 pieces were rarely used. The most fascinating aspect of the exhibit is seeing …

Documenting YOUTH and DREAMS of Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Published by VAGA Editor

Hassan Kurbanbaev’s recent project focuses on Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, in which  he was born and where he lives to this day. Attempting to choose his favorite part of the city, Kurbanbaev maintains that he doesn’t know which place he likes the most. He loves the past and the present; the places that bring to him “the joyful freedom of childhood memories”. Photographing the city from three parallel but different angles, Kurbanbaev has created three interlinked photo diaries: tashkent.DOC, tashkent.YOUTH and tashkent.DREAMS. Each diary serves an individual purpose, but focus on the city. tashkent.DOC is the body of the city, tashkent.YOUTH is its face and tashkent.DREAMS are Kurbanbaev’s feelings towards it. In tashkent.DOC Kurbanbaev set out to document the capital as it is today. Photographing random parts of the city, you can see the past interacting with the present. The stark brutal, Soviet architecture painted with bright, colourful graffiti. The older generation walking side by side with the children of today. September 2016 was the 25th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence from the Soviet Union. …

Youth Culture Photographer Cheney Orr — “Young in Havana, Cuba”

Published by VAGA Editor

New York City-based youth culture photographer, Cheney Orr chases the less depicted places and faces of society all over the world. His images range from raw yet deeper-level relatable (partying New York kids) to the force that pulls the wool back from one’s eyes (the streets of Kabul). Orr is not only willing to go where many don’t go; he feels a drive to seek it out and capture it. That drive has brought him to places like Ukraine, Nepal, Rwanda, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia. Most recently, it brought him to photograph the young counter-culture scene of Cuba. Orr’s knack for simultaneously observing and communing his subjects provides an intriguing perspective on the youth culture in a country that has just become open for tourism business for Americans. The young scenes in Orr’s photographs are poignant and thought-provoking, but also new and novel for many. Here, he shares why he’s pulled toward the subjects he’s pulled to, what he found in Cuba, and the stories behind his photos. —Interview by Courtney Iseman How did you get …

Conceptual Photographer Sam Cannon — “Your Eye Must See”

Published by liza

New York based photographer and director Sam Cannon is part of a new generation of conceptual artists that feed from modern visual culture and use its tools as a medium. In a contemporary digital era that has proven to fancy short attention spans and extremely capacious images, the artist aims to mesmerize the viewer. “I want them to stop scrolling through their feed and sit with the image.” Most of Cannon’s conceptual photography work is based on the ideas of time and observation; in her looped videos and animated GIFs she immerses us in a timeless, never-ending dimension. Cannon produces multimedia pieces, cinemagraphs, digitally manipulated photos combining different themes and fields. Her work contemplates a wide range of topics, including femininity, mass media, anxiety struggles, social issues… all mixed into an infinite loop of grotesque shapes. Cannon uses the tools of our present time to bring us into this timeless, reflexive scenario. A kaleidoscope of hands and legs, eye-shaped breasts and eye-filled faces, spider-like creatures and anthropomorphic aliens. These surreal, a bit dark environment smoothly flows into Cannon’s personal and …

LA-based Photographer Richard Ramirez Jr. An Intimate Diary of Ethereal Images

Published by VAGA Editor

Richard Ramirez Jr.’s photographs are reminiscent of an intimate diary from which the poems it contains reveal people’s beauty and their most inner thoughts. The simplicity of the settings is disrupted by the lighting, the unfathomable stares, and the innocence emanating from the subject matter. There are no noisy elements of surprise in his series. Ramirez Jr. confers to each photography the effect of slow motion, as if time had stopped and each picture was telling its own story. He captures the essence of a moment: soul-searching, satisfaction, content, or doubt; and translates it in his soft and opaque tones, spread out through the surface of the image, making it hard for us to leave the world we have just delved in. The sequence of the photographs resonate with how the scenes of a movie would stream. Inspired by movies and the process behind it, the photographer envisions moods and settings and restores them in real life for his cinematic art. The renderings are effortless and ingenious. Richard Ramirez Jr. is a self-taught L.A. based photographer. …

The Surreal World of Greek artist Kostis Fokas

Published by liza

Kostis Fokas surreal and conceptual photographs are vividly realistic and sensual. They seem to be alive while still managing to stay surreal and depict more than just a human body; they convey a liberating feeling of freedom that motivates viewers to reveal their true essence without fear of being judged. Acceptance of our physical nature is one of Fokas’ recurring themes. Indeed, the artist’s work is very somatic and erotic, but with a dash of humor and a pinch of weirdness. We see real people exposing their desires, expressing themselves, trying to find inner balance among the beautiful surroundings of his native Crete —which adds to the composition some notes of Mediterranean sensuality—. Most of his work focus on the human physique and corporality. “Through my photos I wish to present a new take on the human body and explore its infinite capabilities. The use of quirky, and sometimes hidden faces communicates exactly that.” Just as the Surrealists were fascinated with mirrors, self-reflection is another high point for Fokas. They are a pathway to connect with different realities. …

delaneyallen getting lost

Conceptual Still Life Photography — Delaney Allen’s Inner World of Enchanting Imageries

Published by VAGA Editor

Delaney Allen’s visuals are a collection of mystical natural landscapes and enigmatic self-portraits. With the aim of depicting life’s odd moments, he renders dramatic scenes which involves himself posing in costumes or framing nature in a poetic narrative. The Texas born, Portland based artist lists Dutch still life, Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism movements, among his many inspirations. His work is a mixture of still life images, mixing physical and digital manipulation to convey his personal vision on his travels. “I’m constantly traveling, seeking out isolation, confusion, and beauty”. Allen’s imagery is the consequence of his introspection. For the viewer, the experience is akin to accidentally stumbling upon his creative process. In his most recent collection of photographs and objects, ARTIFACT Allen blurs the line between reality and surrealism. He incorporates and then erases his portraits, making it less obvious for the viewer to understand the facts in his photographs. Rather, the viewer is invited to interpret the fiction and dive into the author’s imagination, contemplating the beauty and the oddity of the world. He uses …

Ben Zank Captures Minimalist and Surreal Scenarios

Published by VAGA Editor

Born and raised in NYC, now relocated to New Zealand, photographer Ben Zank came to the lenses by chance during his time studying journalism. His photographs are a reflection of his inner world with self-portraits and individuals in unrealistic situations. His inspiration mainly comes from the photographer Rodney Smith and painter René Magritte but also from browsing on Tumblr. His thought-provoking work is meant to capture a moment in time and leave the viewer to his own interpretation. Zank uses minimalistic backgrounds to create dramatic images. Most of the time, a person and a landscape suffice to produce an intriguing and disturbing photography. According to the artist, the image itself is the emotion and it should not be distracted by too many subjects and crazy environments. Lines from a tennis court, a river, a mountain or a slide; his requirements for a good shooting location is simply a feeling of comfort and balance. The renderings are surreal and poetic. It’s an amalgam of floating bodies frozen in time, an action paused in a bizarre set-up. The photographs …

impossible shapes josh caldwell photographer

Impossible Shapes conceptual photography by Josh Caudwell

Published by VAGA Editor

“Are you really sure that a floor can’t also be a ceiling?” as quoted by Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher (1898-1972). The Penrose triangle is a visual illusion consisting of an object that can be represented in a perspective drawing but which can not exist as a solid object. It was originally created in 1934 by the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd. In the 1950s, psychiatrist Lionel Penrose and his friend, mathematician Roger Penrose, developed and popularized the triangle, defining it as “impossibility in its purest form.” His drawings are used today by both mathematicians and psychologists as models for researching visual perception. He was also a creator of many public works in Sweden, including massive sculptures, mazes and architectural features, as well as his creation of impossible figures. In the conceptual images below, still life photographer Josh Caudwell parallels the artist’s path with his own paradoxical visual artistry. The photo editorial pairs captivating shapes with water rippling tranquilly and plays with forms and illusion to create impossible shapes. —Set designer  Zena May Hendrick, Thanks to Frank Agency.   See more conceptual photography and photo editorials. 

STORM, a conceptual editorial by Puck Verheul

Published by VAGA Editor

Are you allowed to get lost? Create a path. A path that branches off into darkness and brightness. Covering up becomes revealing. Play a game, express the strangeness, and see the little beauties that distinguish both contrasts. Even when the wind is whispering, a personal conversation does not require words. Photography by Puck Verheul, Location Amsterdam & London, Model Jesse Hajo de Jongh. Black leather coat by Calvin Klein, raw edge skirt by Rick Owens, brown leather coat by Guy Laroche, white turtleneck Adidas vintage, black bottom by HM, vintage  scarf

The Time In Between, by New York photographer Tiffany Nicholson

Published by VAGA Editor

“Over the years there have been many times when my destiny has delivered me unexpected moments, unforeseen twists and turns that I’ve had to handle on the fly as they appeared. Occasionally I was ready for them; very often I wasn’t. Never, however, was I so aware of entering a new stage as I was that afternoon in October when I finally dared to cross the threshold and my steps sounded hollowly in the unfurnished apartment. Behind me was a complicated past, and in front of me, like an omen, I could see a space opening out, a great empty space that time would take care of filling up. But with what? With things, and affections. With moments, sensations, and people: with life.” — from “The Time In Between” by María Dueñas. Photo editorial by New York-based photographer Tiffany Nicholson. Stylist Natalie Washuta outfitted model Bruna Buenos (Muse NYC) in vintage pieces from Ramble Clothing and vintage Oscar de la Renta, Hair and Makeup Amanda Wilson.