Xárene Eskandar gives us an interesting look into a landscape over time. He studies the relationship between our body and space, primarily the space of the natural landscape devoid of the built environment. Visit his website to get a better look at his wonderful and intriguing take on landscapes.
Xárene Eskandar’s work: cargocollective.com/atelierxe
Christian Åslund found a wonderful way to still be playing in the streets. Or on it really. In his series Honkey Kong he transformed the streets of Hong Kong into a two-dimensional platform. In this amazing series he pays tribute to classic 2D platform games. The series is part of an advertising campaign for the shoe brand Jim Rickey.
Christian Åslund’s website: www.christian.se
A couple of clever photographs by Bence Bakonyi. A series of people who become one with the city by cleverly using clothing to appear almost invisible.
Bence Bakonyi’s website: bencebakonyi.com
Photographer Haley Morris-Cafiero has created a series in which she herself is situated. We see her in different locations. But the subject are the people surrounding her. Being a person that struggles with her weight, hearing people commenting about her physique has always been part of her life. But capturing the looks and the stares was something that she never thought possible. Until she took photos of herself in Times Square and notices something. In several photographs she notices that different people were staring and some had an expression of disgust on their faces. A new series was born.
The series is called “Wait Watchers”. She places a camera in view and photographed herself doing different things. Such as reading, sketching and talking on the phone. But the one activity that created the most response was when she was eating. For her it is not really certain if people watch her because she’s fat or perhaps she’s taking a photo of herself.
Whether people may look at her for taking a photograph or with the idea “look at that fat lady” is not sure. But what is for sure is that the time we live in has placed a stigma on being a large person. Looking at commercials, magazines and models a standard of size has been set. Compare them to models from the twenties and thirties Or even in art from the 1800s. A difference can be seen. In a way Morris-Cafiero is putting the shame back to ones thoughts. Judging yourself and not someone else.
I have always been aware of people making faces, commenting and laughing at me about my size. I now reverse the gaze and record their reactions to me while I perform mundane tasks in public spaces. I seek out spaces that are visually interesting and geographically diverse. I try to place myself in compositions that contain feminine icons or advertisements.
Haley Morris-Cafiero’s website: haleymorriscafiero.com
If you still think photography has something to do with depicting reality, you really should look at Filip Dujardin’s project (Dis)location. In this series he explores the concept of absurd structures. We all know that models in magazines are manipulated to become more suiting and perfect. Well Filip manages to become an architect who is not bothered by laws, both building as physics. Perhaps he got bored photographing buildings which seem too normal, being an architectural photographer.
In the series he used photographs of buildings in Deauville, France and Guimaraes, Portugal. These photo manipulations are almost an homage to surrealism. And have a strong link to certain types of architecture. The color and softness in the photographs makes that surreal feeling even stronger. This could well have been buildings designed by Disney’s Pixar.
Filip Dujardin’s website: www.filipdujardin.be
EDIT: The main picture and the first and third ones below the article are not from (dis)location but from his previous series, Fictions. You can find more information on Highlight Gallery’s page http://highlightgallery.com/ex… The exhibition will be on until March 29 at Highlight in San Francisco.
Li Wei is a true artist and he manage to amaze and inspire many with his work. This video shows us how Li Wei works.
Li Wei’s website: www.liweiart.com
We all know the children’s books Where’s Waldo or similar books in which you had to find somebody or something. For Andrew Knapp and his dog Momo this was an idea to match. With the popular photography service Instagram they set out to create some of those Where’s Waldo types of photographs. Very creative and fun.
Andrew Knapp’s Instagram website: instagram.com/andrewknapp
The natural world is probably the most photographed subject there is. And the natural world below the ocean surface still holds many secrets. But this natural world is under constant attack. Under attack by us. Pollution is one of the biggest unnatural phenomenas that is invading the habitat of many living organisms. To bring more attention to this issue, photographer Kim Preston created the series Plastic Pacific. In which she shows sea life acted out by plastic objects. As if the war on territory has been won by the plastic creations of men. I believe her message comes across in a very creative and effective way. It makes you think about not only sea life but perhaps also about your own behavior. Kim Preston was inspired by the so called Pacific Trash Vortex. An area of about the size of Texas which is floating in the North Pacific Ocean.
Kim Preston’s website: photography.kp-creative.com
Los Angeles based photographer Michael Muller is a big fan of the outdoors. And being a photographer with a great knowledge of lighting techniques he shot some extraordinary photos. Timeless as he puts it. We’ve all seen photographs or footage of the great white shark. But all shot with available light. Michael Muller went out there to shoot this majestic animal with strobes. And the resulting images are just amazing. Visit his website to see more of the photos Michael took of sharks. And other wild life. Below you’ll also find an inspirational video of Michael Muller talking about his work at the Luminance 2012 conference.
Michael Muller’s website: www.mullerphoto.com
