Slow → articles in Photography

A Mouth Full of Sun

When in 2012 the young American photographer Grace Ann Leadbeater left the area where she grew up in Florida, she got what she longed for since she first sensed that there was a whole - colder - world out there to be discovered. That doesn't mean Leadbeater is free of nostalgia whenever she stays away too long, sometimes longing for times long gone and left behind, or at least the romanticized abstraction of what once was. And it might just be this emotion which urges her to document it whenever she comes home for holidays or family events, despite the fact of growing more restless with every rendez-vouz. Out of these explorations of her real feelings towards the land she grew up in with her medium format camera and motivated by a combination of nostalgic feelings with a serious portion of feeling unheimlich, she created the beautiful series 'A Mouthful of Sun'. The images with a remarkable color palette show a Florida very different from the eclectic cliche images, reminding us of the unpolished cinema of Gus van Sant and the photography of Estelle Hanani. Finding beauty in the ordinary and even the uncomfortable, always being honest. We love this almost tangible series showing the talent of the photographer, perfectly translating emotion into image. [ Continue reading ]

Coming to Terms by Abdul Abdullah

The intriguing show named 'Coming to Terms' is emerging artist Abdul Abdullah's New York debut, featuring a new series of performative photographic portraits. The 29-year-old Abdullah is one of the most interesting emerging artists coming out of Australia, who after graduating from Curtin University had a focus on painting and in recent years moved into photography and video.  Notions of contemporary ceremony, genesis, ritual, reinforcement of personal identity, cultural hybridity and intimate aspects of the self are revealed in his work through his darkly distinctive oeuvre that is confronting and deeply elucidating in regard to the human condition. We are super fascinated by both the images itself as the symbolic instilled in them, and look forward what the future will hold for this exciting young Australian artist. When in New York see this incredible work! [ Continue reading ]

Reading 78 by Gil Rigoulet

Last week, on the 22nd of July, a great exhibition opened in the Parisian bar Ground Control, curated by the interesting young Mayday Mayday Mayday art/street culture platform. In the show named 'Reading 78', the still quite unknown but greatly talented French photographer Gil Rigoulet transports the spectator into the universe of the uncompromising British punk movement during the late Seventies. One year after the release of the now legendary and paradigm shifting 'Nevermind the Bollocks' record by the Sex Pistols, the English youth was having great fun, dancing like never before to the rhythms of the ever-hardening furious riffs. Taking place in the city of Reading, during its legendary rock festival: in the series a lawless zone is revealed in all its glory, portrayed in grainy black and white photographs - showing that in 1978 everything seemed to still be possible. [ Continue reading ]

Transition by Lauren Marsolier

Recently we stumbled upon the truly magnificent work of Los Angeles-based photographer Lauren Marsolier. The French-born creates extraordinary images that are convincingly real using multiple photographs, unrelated fragments of the outside world collected over time in a variety of locations. Months or years often separate the capture of elements juxtaposed in her landscapes; a technique reminiscent of the art of painting. Her work probes the mental process of transition - hence its moniker - a particular phase when our parameters of perception shift, when we suddenly don't see ourselves, our environment, or our life quite the same way we used to. These transitional periods often feel like being in a place one knows, but can't quite identify. We can't stop gazing at these remarkable photographs, which seem to tell deep stories of solitude and show a clinical beauty which feels both surreal and keeps haunting us. [ Continue reading ]

David Cohen de Lara

We have been following the talented photographer David Cohen de Lara for a while now and have appreciated his incredible work ever since we first found it. David’s portrait photography is diverse in style, but always beautiful, full of mystery and character. Through his cinematic and atmospheric images he reveals an authentic sense of beauty and personality in the real and the uninhibited. We can’t take our eyes off his intriguing images.  [ Continue reading ]

Back to Nothing

Alexis Vasilikos is a very talented Athens-based photographer and the co-editor of Phases Magazine. His immaculate photographic eye explores the presence of the aesthetic in everyday life and is an intimate contemplation on the nature of emptiness. His images have a contemplative quality, they show the spectator the serendipities of life and the essence of signs. Through Vasilikos' unique gaze, life seems to be more magical. One of his series which we discovered recently, named 'Back to Nothing' is no different. The incredible collection of photographs is the result of Vasilikos' most recent travel to India. The photographer first visited the colorful country in 2004 in search for a spiritual teacher, which he found in Rishikesh, where he became familiar with a Guru named Mooji. Over the years that followed the photographer returned to India three times, proving to be highly inspirational experiences - both spiritually as artistically (although one could argue that this is somewhat intertwined). The incredible 'Back to Nothing' series - which clearly comes from a bright eye - is the result of Vasilikos' most recent trip to India, earlier this year.  [ Continue reading ]

Ropes & Knots by Luke Stephenson

We have been following British photographer Luke Stephenson since our collaboration with him, when we gave a signed and numbered copy of his ‘An Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds’ as our fourth Curated gift in 2013. In the following years Luke has kept very busy and made a name for himself through his exquisite eye for details which transcends his impeccable imagery, both in free project as on commissions. Recently another series of Luke has caught our attention when he portrayed Des Pawson (and some of his beloved knots, ropes and tools), the founder of the interesting Museum of Knots and Sailors’ Ropes for a feature in the inspirational magazine Hole & Corner. The incredible series by the photographer shows Stephenson's great talent, giving a wonderful and inspirational peek into the fascinating world of nautical ropes and knots guided by Pawson in an utmost aesthetic manner. [ Continue reading ]

New Mexico

We've been a fan of the inspirational work of American photographer Mikael Kennedy for years now. After releasing the incredible Done to Death Projects publication 'California' last year, he has now returned on its own with a sequel to that series named 'New Mexico'. In the same familiar toned down color palette, Kennedy once more takes the spectator on one of his tremendous journeys through wide open landscapes, which he distilled into a collection of 31 color photographs blessed with his signature aesthetic, taken during his stay in the American state last November. Kennedy presents the new project in a tremendous 44-page zine, which was printed in his homebase New York City - limited to 200 copies. We can't get enough of Kennedy's images which evoke somewhat of an escapist and melancholic sentiment within the beauty of the depicted landscapes, making us want to hit to road every time we lay our eyes on them. [ Continue reading ]

Tokyo Parrots

The Japanese photographer Yoshinori Muzutani released the incredible series 'Tokyo Parrots' in 2013 and since then it has left an unforgettable impression on us. The escaped parakeets - not actually parrots - have flourished in the city of Tokyo for some decades now, and likewise fascinated photographer Yoshinori Mizutani, who upon his first encounter with them was struck by apprehension and fear, as if he had walked into Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’. Unnatural as they seemed in the urban environment, he followed the flocks and watched their daily patterns, eventually locating one of the largest nesting places in a certain ginkgo tree. After some resesarch Mizutani found out that these parakeets were brought to Japan in the 1960s and 1970s from tropical regions in India and Sri Lanka to be sold as pets, but which have been roaming the city after the owners lost interest. The result of his bird watching study is a highly remarkable, aesthetic series of surreal photographs revealing a tropical urban world inhabited by parakeets. [ Continue reading ]

Tempo Polveroso

After writing about Virginie Khateeb's visit to the marble quarries of Carrara and sharing the incredible 'Il Capo' documentary that was shot in the area, we found a new inspirational artist - Belgian photographer Frederik Vercruysse - who has explored that fascinating place on earth and returned with some impressive work named 'Temo Polveroso' or 'Pulverised Time'. The project which Vercruysse initially had in mind when embarking on his residency at Villa Lena was a new series of still lifes, but he soon felt compelled to capture his inspirational surroundings in images rather than remain within the four walls of his studio. His photographs of the marble quarries reveal a similar dynamic as Khateeb's images - showing a mixture of an utmost raw beauty and solitary melancholy, which could be seen as a metaphor for the embodiment of the area: the creation of beauty at the expense of nature. Without any human beings in the frames, it is impossible to fathom the larger-than-life scale of this totally unique form of landscape exploitation/architecture. The series of 16 stunning images over which a cloud of mysterious, powdery mist appears to be suspended, will be on display at the inspirational gallery/store Graanmarkt 13 in Antwerpen until Saturday 30 May. [ Continue reading ]

Lush Life by Katja Kremenić

And yet another extraordinary analogue series by the super talented Berlin-based Croatian photographer Katja Kremenić. For the beautiful series which she named 'Lush Life', Katja once again finds herself in paradise, on the beaches of Central American Costa Rica - where she also shot her 'Rip Currents' series, through which we discovered her work - this time creating a visual narrative in her signature romantic free-floating style for the inspirational Australia-based travel platform The Adventure Handbook. Kremenić continues to excel in translating a broad field of emotions into her photographs, making the fragmentations of her gaze almost tangible through the frames of her images. Her continuing fascination with the beach both proves to be an everlasting source of aesthetic inspiration in the creation of her highly appealing images as the perfect environment for her to create in. We can't wait for more beautiful stories by Katja Kremenić. [ Continue reading ]

The Selby in Morocco

Yet another beautiful series by the always inspiring Todd Selby, who shared his photographs after traveling through beautiful Morocco at the end of last year. With his signature color-orientated eye, the Selby reveals some tremendous shades of blue in different Moroccan cities. The color is famous for being the dominant choice when it comes to the facades of structures - both building as roads and passages - within the city of  Chefchaouen (often referred to as the most colorful city of the world), but also in Yves Saint Laurent's favorite Moroccan city, Marrakesh the photographer finds deep blues, which we love. His last destinations lays some 50 kilometers South of Marrakesh and is known as some of the more beautiful mountain retreats of Morocco, named Tamadot. There he visited the award-winning Kasbah Tamadot hotel, which was bought by Sir Richard Branson during one of his famous ballooning expeditions some years ago and has become a destination of choice for those who value peaceful quiet elegance, rather than loud luxury. Each of the 27 rooms and suites has been individually decorated to reflect the beautiful architecture of the building and features antiques from all over the world. We love these beautiful glimpses of colorful Morocco through the eyes of The Selby. [ Continue reading ]

Badlands by Ryan Lowry

Whether he's shooting on location for TIME magazine, portraying a creative mind - while discussing the difficulties of working in the field - for The Great Discontent or documenting a day in the life of a young Chicago rapper/gang member (which seems to be almost synonymous these days), the talented Chicago-based photographer Ryan Lowry finds the right frames in all situations. Next to his work on commissions, out of which the TGD cover shoot was our introduction to his work, Lowry also created several series of free work. We are particularly drawn to his series named 'Badlands' which reveals the diversity of his photographic eye. In his portrait photography Lowry uses a lot of light, exposing as many details of the subject as possible, yet within 'Badlands' the photographer leaves a lot of room for imagination. The moody black and white images portray the dessert from a very mysterious perspective - creating an almost moon-like appearance - in which light and dark are strongly juxtaposed, both in the landscapes as the few male figures dressed in white and dark in some of the photographs. The mystique of these images continue to fascinate us thoroughly and we look out to more work by the talented photographer. [ Continue reading ]

Jack Davison

The extremely talented young British photographer Jack Davison was just added to the roster of the incredible mini title agency. Being only 24 years old, his work inhabits everything for him to become a household name in portrait and possibly fashion photography in the coming years. We first noticed the work of Jack Davison when his '26 States' project was released, showing portraits from all over the United States giving a modern, honest and concise window into the Land of the Free. It first showed us his seemingly effortless talent for framing interesting images, underlining his tremendous talent with a camera. Davison creates both raw (portrait) images full of details and also more stylized observations, reminding us of photographers like Louis Faurer and Garry Winogrand on the one hand, with Philip-Lorca diCorcia shining through on the other side. Personally he has stated both Vivian Maier as Vivianne Sassen to be his biggest inspirations at the moment, which explains the broad aesthetic field he moves in. Keep an eye on this super promising talent. [ Continue reading ]

Christoph Morlinghaus

Although he has been having an impact with his photographic eye for quite some years, we only became familiar with the absolutely stunning work of German photographer Christoph Morlinghaus recently. The buildings which become the mysterious subjects of Morlinghaus's isolated images are often-times the crowns of modernist architecture. Whether it are the American churches in his ongoing critically acclaimed series 'Form/Faith', factory buildings or hotels. Beyond the theme of modernism and questioning its paradigms, Morlinghaus's work investigates how form gives expression to new and old interpretations of faith, from for instance the ghostly interiors of a Brutalist church to the superficiality of the famous Doha hotel. Seeping through the surfaces of the photographer's impeccably crafted photographs is a profound and infectious irony that reveals, rather than creates, the uncanny presence of mortal consciousness inherent in the fissures of our modern human environment. His most recent series even move beyond just the structures and machines in the public sphere, into the highly aesthetic world of microchips and computer motherboards. We are highly inspired by Morlinghaus's totally unique vision on the world around us. [ Continue reading ]

The Holi Celebrations in Vrindavan

Another beautiful story by our friends of Jungles in Paris which we can share, again shot through the lens of the talented Belgian travel photographer Pascal Mannaerts, who continues to bring us beautiful stories from India. This instance taking us to the city of Vrindavan, which is located 10 kilometer away from where an important Hindu deity, Krishna was born. It's one of the major celebrations of Holi, if not the major one, especially in the Banke Bihari temple. Celebrants drench each other with colored water and throw fistfuls of gulal – brightly tinted powders, traditionally made by dyeing arrowroot starch with spices, leaves, and flowers. Although these days, it is more often chemically pigmented cornstarch. At the Banke Bihari temple, which is among the most sacred places to worship Krishna, eruptions of red, yellow, and magenta waft down from the roof, landing on the sea of ecstatic faces in the courtyard. They say Holi is a time to come together, to repair broken relationships, and to forgive oneself of past errors. In a caste-bound society, it is also a time when inhibitions are lost, and everyone stands on more equal footing. Jungles in Paris continues to inspire us. [ Continue reading ]

Deconstruction by Virginie Khateeb

Virginie Khateeb is a French photographer, currently based in Paris. Her main inspirations lay in the wilderness, raw materials, body shapes and the stillness of chaos. This results in a longing for change and new experiences, constantly pushing her to find unspoiled beauty, whether that lays within a person or at a particular place. One of those discoveries, which she found and captured in a tremendous manner, are the marble quarries of Carrara in the North of Italy, just under Genoa, where the talented photographer shot the series named 'Deconstruction' for Yet Magazine. The subject matter of her series is an area full of constantly evolving landscapes, characterized by their surreal architecture and sculpted structures built from gutted mountains. Khateeb portrays this tour de force of nature's beauty in incredible clean frames, which at first glance may even appear to be paintings, with the extraordinary marble, full of hard lines, almost becoming tangible. We just plainly love the raw beauty of these images, underlining the great talent of Khateeb. [ Continue reading ]

Midnight Modern by Tom Blachford

On February 20th, the Palm Springs-based Modernism Week will present an incredible one-day only exhibition opening by photographer Tom Blachford, at the iconic Menrad Residence, which forms the latest installment series by the photographer's 'Midnight Modern' images. The new works are an extension of Blachford’s previous collection, capturing tremendous classic Palm Springs mid-century architecture in the surreal light of a full moon. Fittingly, the exhibition will take place inside one of Palm Spring’s most beautiful mid-century homes, the Alexander built Menrad Residence - the foremost mid-century construction company known for their homes built in the 1950’s and 60’s - which will be open for tours during the day, finishing with a cocktail party in the evening. The amazing images truly reveal the sharp lines of the beautiful mid-century buildings in a perfect color palette, showing the tremendous talent of Blachford.  [ Continue reading ]

Katja Kremenić’s Dairy

At the end of last year the Berlin-based Croatian photographer Katja Kremenić shared some of her latest dairy shots with us and they are, like her earlier work, quite stunning. We first wrote about Katja's work after the release of the highly remarkable series named 'Rip Currents', which was preceded by other beautiful grainy black and white series with similar themes named 'Corse Noir' and 'Bonanza', in which the photographer explores areas with the sea and beach holding a prominent role as the iconic backdrop for the often-times softly portrayed subjects of her images. In these recent diary shots her love for analogue techniques, the beach and female appearances is again very apparent, always maintaining a significant sentiment of soft- and even tenderness in the images she creates. The motivation for all of Katja's work lays in catching certain feelings and an overall atmosphere at the particular moment in time, when she encounters, people, places or even clothes, which she directly aims to communicate to the spectator. Consistently resulting in remarkably appealing images, making us look forward to more beautiful work by the very talented photographer. [ Continue reading ]

Shona Sanzgiri

We recently became familiar with the work of the talented 29-years-old California-based photographer Shona Sanzgiri. Before Sanzgiri put his focus on photography he was writing, dreaming to become a fiction writer, but soon found out he was better suited for journalism —specifically arts and culture reporting— with some of his work published in GQ, Interview, Bookforum, the Paris Review and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Despite the success in his journalistic endeavors he never lost his sincere interest in photography, which had fascinated him since he was a child, but at the same time intimidated him because of the technical side that comes with the craft. Despite these objections some years ago he bought his first SLR, and what was meant to happen happened: he was hooked. Influential thinkers and writers like Susan Sontag, John Berger, Geoff Dyer and Teju Cole have written hypnotically about how photography and writing are both ways to create images, which comforted Sanzgiri as he made the switch from pen to lens, creating warm images by using natural light mostly at sunrise or sunset, clearly inspired by the great street photographers and reminding us of the beautiful work of Phillip Kalantzi-Scope. [ Continue reading ]

Anna et Salomé

We really like the latest publication from Edinburgh-based publisher Lawson's Books. The book named 'Anna et Salomé' holds the thrilling photographs by the very talented Barcelona-based photographer Adrià Cañameras. Born to a French father and a Spanish mother, Adrià initially learned the craft assisting fellow photographer Misha Kominek, after which his own work took off, working both for magazines as for some interesting names in music. The central point of focus of 'Anna et Salomé' is the Mediterranean. Developed from a personal project which allowed Cañameras to truly reflect on the environment he grew up around, the images were captured in various locations along the Costa Brava in Spain and on the French island of Corsica. Shot between June 2012 and March 2013 these beautiful and striking photographs function on both an abstract and geological level, and can be viewed as part survey, part celebration and part meditation. We love Cañameras' exquisite eye for details, both when it comes to the forms as the incredible colors served by beautiful Mother Nature, masterfully captured in his frames.  [ Continue reading ]

Engineered Garments Workaday by JIMA

The New York City-based fashion label Engineered Garments showcases its incredible sub-label Workaday in this editorial that was brought to our attention at the end of October by Inventory and still is one of our favorite outings of this year. The extraordinary editorial was launched by the mother company of Engineered Garments and label Needles, the highly inspirational Japan and USA-based collective/stores Nepenthes, and shows the intrinsic skill and style of the regularly contributing highly talented Japanese photographer JIMA once again, portraying the workwear-heavy line along familiar themes. Workadays has a strong focus on jackets and work pants, or maybe even better referred to as uniforms, which are offered in military greens and shades of blue. Overall the collection boasts boxy silhouettes similar to ’60s USMC uniforms, contrast shades are used across patch pockets and trouser panels can be observed on the bottoms. The editorial shows the pieces on a group of classical looking men strolling around The Big Apple in an aesthetic reminding strongly of the great street-photographers like Louis Faurer and Garry Winogrand, combined with the cool of filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch and Jean-Luc Godard. Highly inspirational! [ Continue reading ]

I Think Things Are Getting Better

Over the last few years Instagram has risen to become the most revealing creative social medium which gives insight into the lives of people all over the globe. With technology now truly supporting the creative needs one can slowly observe something like a canon within photography disclosed within the unique preconditions of the now mature medium. A very interesting project out of this new emerging field is the series 'I Think Things Are Getting Better' by the New York City-based Amardeep Singh, which has been translated back into a more traditional form, a book, by Chris Black's Done to Death Projects, also responsible for our friend Mikael Kennedy's last publication 'California'. The new outing by Done to Death Projects documents a year and a half of the life of Singh caught in 97 digital photos, taken with his phone and initially shared on his Instagram account, with the final photo dating back to only 5 October 2014. The photographer has a tremendous eye for detail both when it comes to shape and color, which in the publication is underlined on every page through the juxtapositioning of the images forming an incredible example of what soon very likely will be seen as an important new genre within photography. [ Continue reading ]

The Crosses of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

We are very happy to share a new breath-taking story by our favorite online destination for armchair travel: Jungles in Paris. The story finds another extraordinary angle and examines the crosses of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Based in the country's northern highlands, it is by far the oldest Christian tradition in sub-Saharan Africa, which dates back as far as 1700 years ago. Its rituals are more ancient than those of many other Christian denominations around the world. Crosses are, unsurprisingly, a major part of the visual and spiritual expressions of this church, and they come in a beautiful variety of wood and metallic forms. Many of the designs are found nowhere else on earth and are beautifully caught by the very talented Greek photographer Lizy Manola, as part of her newly released publication named 'Ethiopian Highlands', out of which, through the observation and curation of Jungles in Paris' driving forces Oliver and Darrell Hartman, this beautiful story was created. [ Continue reading ]