Ten of the most inspiring photo stories of the month

In typical fashion, Fotografia magazine has curated an incredible selection of photography stories direct from their site for their monthly guide to some of the best les-men and women working today. Taking us into the cultural heart of our homeland for a look at mod and skinhead culture, to our global relationship with one of the most precious resources on the earth; water, and into the lives and journeys of American train ‘travellers’. Below founder and editor Graziano Ferri shares his top ten stories of the month.

EDGAR MARTINS

“When the media covers news of violent death, the attention is often put on the voyeuristic and gory details, showing little respect for the victims’ personal stories and those they leave behind. Portuguese photographer, Edgar Martins used meditative still lifes of forensic evidence and archival photographs derived from real cases to rethink how we think of and represent violent death and suicide. The project, titled Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, was made in strict collaboration with Portugal’s Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.”

MUSTAFAH ABDULAZIZ

“Water is the world’s finest and most precious resource: without water, there is no life. Since 2011, American photographer Mustafah Abdulaziz has been traveling around the planet to document the ways we use water, and the threats that its scarcity poses for the humankind. Despite the documentary value, Abdulaziz’s project impresses with the striking photographs, the global scope, the financing strategies and the photographer’s ambitious goals: Abdulaziz plans to keep working on the series at least until 2026.”

LEAH EDELMAN-­BRIER

“There’s a brutal honesty in Leah Edelman-Brier's photographs of her mother and sister. A young American photographer, Edelman-Brier’s project Body Becoming deals on one hand with her fear of seeing her body change like her mother’s did; on the other, it grapples with the realisation that such fear originates from body image stereotypes, and Edelman-Brier’s efforts to overcome it: ‘This work is a form of catharsis. Using my artwork and practice, I pursue my issues with the body: its defects, moments of beauty, everyday miracles, and my own hang­ ups.’”

JULIEN PEBREL

“In the second half of the 19th century, Sulina was a flourishing port city on the Black Sea; but from the early years of the 20th century, after the prominent Danube European Committee left the city, its fortune progressively declined. Today, Sulina is a small Romanian town at the end of Europe with a few thousand inhabitants, where a soothingly slow pace of life mixes with a sense of resignation that the future doesn’t hold great things. French photographer Julien Pebrel’s superb photos of Sulina beautifully capture both ends of the spectrum.”

SYNCHRODOGS

“A typical picture by Ukrainian artist duo Synchrodogs will see a young girl, either nude or her body disguised in some way, taking on a puppet­like pose in the middle of grandiose natural scenarios. “Our goal is partly to inspire people to live more purely and be out in nature more, to go back to their roots,” the duo explained in a recent interview. Among the inspirations behind their unique work, Synchrodogs include nature, night dreams, the subconscious and meditation.”

MICHAEL JOSEPH

“Train riders, or travelers, are young adults who choose to live their lives always on the go, moving across their country hopping from one train to another. For his series of portraits Lost and Found, American photographer Michael Joseph has photographed the faces of these young men and women, their dirty clothes, their piercings and tattoos, and their skanks, the handkerchief many of them bring around their necks: ‘A majority of travelers are looking to escape a social construct or predetermined, prescribed life. Often they feel imprisoned or stifled by their everyday routine and job. They head out on the road to search for freedom and find themselves.’”

MARK FITTON

“American photographer Mark Fitton believes it’s time we rethink what the relationship between parents and children should be like. For his proactive new series Close, Mark has been capturing private moments of his parents’ intimacy, and at times substituted himself with either his mother or father in scenarios with sexual nuances. Fitton describes Close as an attempt to ‘subvert the stereotype of how a child is expected to see their parents by introducing myself within private moments between my mother and father, and occasionally taking part in the affairs.’”

MORGAN LEVY

“The strong growth and development of the fracking industry in the United States is changing the face of the mythic American west, and greatly impacting on the lives of those who live in the affected territories. Starting in February 2015, American photographer Morgan Levy has made several trips to the state of North Dakota in particular, to document in beautiful pictures the transformations that fracking is producing in the landscapes and people of this particular region.”

JORDAN MADGE

“In 2009, a girl disappeared from a provincial town in Australia’s Victoria state. The news inspired young Australian photographer Jordan Madge to create Red Herring, a body of work that evokes a crime through the places and landscapes it may have occurred in. For this project, Madge mixed his original pictures with online sourced images, exploring new narrative possibilities and storytelling strategies.”

OWEN HARVEY

“The mod and skinhead subcultures may look as different as apples and oranges; but the bottom line is both the mods and the skinheads are trying to affirm their identity by choosing an alternative lifestyle, visually expressed in their looks and appearances. British photographer Owen Harvey has been documenting the mod and skinhead subcultures in the UK in two paralell, ongoing series – here’s an introduction to both.”

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