We team up with Fotografia magazine to profile the lens men and women who lit up this month
The art world has had a busy month. Somehow, we’ve found ourselves squished between Art Licks Weekend and the Frieze Art Fair in London, to Artissima in Turin and Istanbul Contemporary on next month’s horizon. So who are we to blame you for missing a couple of beats? Namely, ten great photographers you should really be committing to memory, but that's what this monthly collaboration with Fotografia magazine exist for – to keep you in the loop with new and emerging talent, but also people who have been, and still are, killing the visual game. Below, Fotografia's founder and editor Graziano Ferri gives us his round up of the best things the site had to offer this month.
AAPO HUHTA
“As a newcomer in New York, Finnish photographer Aapo Huhta was immediately impressed by the unique plays of light and shadows created by Manhattan’s skyscrapers. Roaming the streets with the camera in his hand, Aapo had the idea to transform New York in an anonymous, dystopic, depersonalising setting where passers-by are almost always seen from the back. Aapo’s concept eventually became Block, a fascinating photo book that represents New York like you’ve never seen it before (more images here).”
HANNAH SAUNDERS
“Is nudity overly sexualised? British photographer Hannah Saunders and her friends seem to think so. A recent graduate, Hannah took portraits of her closest friends as they posed naked for the camera: ‘We don’t need to think that the body is just a vehicle for sexual gratification within portraiture or our portrayals of ourselves. We can reclaim authorship of our own bodies and recognise ourselves as works of art, not in a narcissistic way, but in the most natural and wondrous light’ (full interview here).”
KE PENG
“Chinese photographer Ke Peng was born 23-years-ago in China’s southern province of Hunan, but moved to the city of Shenzhen when she was still just a child. After witnessing the impressively rapid development of Shenzhen – a city ‘literally as old as me’ – Ke decided to return to Hunan and visit the places she was born in, but had so few memories of. Ke’s photo essay is called ‘Primal Planet’ and includes very personal photographs that mix feelings like isolation and estrangement (see more here).”
MICHELE TAGLIAFERRI
“Poetry is often cited by photographers as a source of inspiration for their work. Italian photographer Michele Tagliaferri was especially influenced by American poet Walt Whitman, and his latest photobook Grass makes a reference to Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’ poem in particular. Grass is a collection of unrelated photographs, brought together by a non linear narrative, but each one possessing a poetic charge and the ability to transport the viewer to another dimension (more images here).”
VINCENT GOURIOU
“An old nun, an overweight girl, a transsexual, a child in a surgical corset: for his portraits, French photographer Vincent Gouriou tends to choose ‘people with something unusual’ as he defines them, individuals who can bring out the common traits that make us all humans by force of their singularity. Vincent approaches his portraits like a painter, with each session taking several hours to complete as he waits for the subject to feel completely at ease and let the guard down.”
THOM AND BETH ATKINSON
“Between September 1940 and May 1941, the city of London was strategically and heavily bombarded by the Nazis for a period of time that went down in history as The Blitz. Many buildings were destroyed during The Blitz, leaving the city scarred by empty gaps and huge, blank marks on the walls of the adjoining structures. Brother and sister British photographers Thom and Beth Atkinson have been walking around London and making large-format photographs of these ‘scars’ as they stumbled upon them during their strolls (more images here).”
ETIENNE COURTOIS
“‘I am after pictures that are problematic, disorienting, difficult to categorise,’ Belgian photographer Etienne Courtois said to us in this interview. Indeed, Etienne’s still lifes are quite eccentric – by fabricating, twisting and playing with his subject matter, the photographer actually raises questions on what a photograph is. For his latest project ‘Stay Out of My Slippers, You Fool’, for example, Etienne brought the backdrop forward making it the protagonist of his colorful creations.”
TODD FORSGREN
“American photographer Todd Forsgren has always been a passionate bird-watcher – in fact, he became interested in avian art even before he discovered photography. Recently, Todd had the opportunity to combine the two artistic practices: he followed a group of ornithologists in the field and photographed the birds that remain entangled in the nets the ornithologists themselves set up for research reasons. The result is a series of quite stunning portraits published in the book Ornithological Photographs (more images here).”
JESSE BURKE
“Clover Burke is a lucky young girl. To instill in her his same appreciation and respect for the Earth, her father Jesse Burke brought her on many adventurous trips out into the wild, exploring the woods, learning the name of plants and collecting small treasures found on the way. Looking at the sweet photographs Jesse took of her all along (recently published in the book Wild & Precious) one thinks Clover had the adventure – and the father – that every child should (more images here).”
LAURENT KRONENTAL
“Paris’ Grands Ensembles are huge suburban housing complexes characterised by striking but decaying architecture. French photographer Laurent Kronental wondered what it is like to grow old in these estates – this is the theme of his mesmerising series of photographs ‘Souvenir d’un Futur’ (‘Memory of a Future’). In our interview with him, Laurent acknowledges his time spent living in China and futuristic movies like Blade Runner as the main inspirations for these must-see pictures.”
Check out Fotografia magazine for more, and sign up to their newsletter here