Portraiture
20 Portrait-Based Essays and Projects
Summer With Ana
Haller Castle, Transylvania
October 7, 2021
If you get to visit Transylvania, you’ll find soon enough there’s no shortage of vampire stories, and, more interesting for the traveler and/ or photographer - castles. They are pretty much everywhere. Some are small, isolated from public roads, left to vanish under the ruthless action of nature; others have a luckier fate, when the state intervenes and puts down some funds for restoration or preservation.— Crina.
Simon Ridell’s Wet Plate Collodion
Healing and Self-Discovery Through the 19th Century Photographic Process
January 5, 2021
Simon Ridell is a fire, health and safety risk assessor who lives and works in the Scottish Highlands. The man is driven by the spirit of adventure, which in his case means trips and climbs across the local rugged terrain and coastal cliffs. Simon owes his love for the physical escapades to his father.— Dmitri, with images by Si.
Catching Myself in Reflections
Self-Empowerment Through Portraiture
July 13, 2020
One would think that not having someone to shoot photos of me is why I end up with so many pictures of self on random street reflections. When I do have someone, I tend to obsessively direct them to get the picture I have in mind. When shooting digital, perseverance and patience could probably get us there.— Luvazq.
Rooftop Halcyon
The Days of Bliss We Took for Granted
June 16, 2020
Fernweh (n. ) | German — A longing for far-off places. An ache to travel. [Literally: farsickness]I think this word perfectly describes how many of us are feeling these days. While we’re all stuck at home staring at the rolls of unused film, I’m sure that at one point or another we’ve thought to ourselves,“I really should've taken a picture of that one place last month.— Rizan H.
The Shape of Dancing
June 11, 2020
The Shape of Dancing is a creative collaboration between the contemporary ballet dancer, a ceramic artist, namely their shop, and the photographer. This series is the result of a photoshoot made at the rustic interior of a ceramic workshop. Shot outdoors, with no additional gear or lights.— Crina.
Portraits of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Killeen, Texas
June 4, 2020
The purpose of this project is to explore how the people are protecting themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic in my neighbourhood: Killeen, Texas. I find black and white film particularly effective for focusing the viewer’s attention towards the subject.— Christian K. Lee.
What They Hide
From the Series ‘Cheekh’
May 11, 2020
Cheekh translates to “scream” from Urdu. This series is my, as of an artist, cry to society. Women are often regarded as symbols of beauty and grace. These ideals, however, are intertwined with a horrifying and ugly existence. My works focus on the concurrence of the sacred and the profane.— Mahnoor Nasir Khan.
Dystopian Fiction
Steampunk Cosplay in Panevėžys, Lithuania
August 6, 2019
My first encounter with dystopian fiction was George Orwell’s “1984. ” The book inspired me to earnestly and continuously seek movies and reads on the topic until I saw Mortal Engines. The 2018 film, based on the novel by Phillip Reeve, finally pushed me to make use of my camera.— Andrej Spilevoj.
Shades of Summer
July 23, 2019
I’ve always been interested in the theme of disconnection. At first, it was unconscious and then I noticed I was developing a certain theme in my photographs. Using shadows, pieces of glass, and different textures to convey a sense of something not being complete, unfulfilled.— Bertie Taylor.
Take Care
By Benedetta Ristori
May 21, 2019
Many sojourn to build better futures for themselves, and above all, their children whom they’ve had to leave behind. Female migration has become increasingly prevalent in Italy. As public welfare struggles to quell the growing need for assistance, women, mainly from Eastern Europe fill that demand.— benedetta.ristori.
KOTD Level Up
A Vancouver Rap Battle Event
April 30, 2019
The event is held at a The Red Room, a downtown Vancouver venue. Scheduled for an unusually early seven o’clock in the evening, ending at ten. Ken, who invited me to the event, met me around eight. He held his own show earlier, performing under “Swabski” at the University of British Columbia campus.— Dmitri.
Family Portraits To Live With
Why Do We Need Museums When We Have our iPads and Laptops?
February 6, 2019
The photograph above is a portrait of my dad, sitting at the breakfast table in a small cafe. I took it when I went to Pennsylvania for a visit. This is him sharing time with me. It’s printed and framed on my desk and I get to see him every day when I’m at work.— Kenneth Wajda.
Time Alone
I Saw People, Being Alone; I Photographed Them.
February 2, 2019
We as photographers walk around looking to shoot landscapes, portraits, street photography, or just anything that catches our eye. I saw people, being alone; I photographed them. Alone because they want to be. Alone because they had no choice. Or maybe alone just for that moment to reflect and think.— Andre Thibault.
The Body of Exile
October 23, 2018
NSFW images follow. The body of exile is a personal exploration that begins with an assertion that is followed by a question. If I am still because I am here, despite having left my land without my family in exile, then who am I and what is left once I am transplanted in another country, in another culture, with another language as unknown as the country that hosts me now.— Natali Herrera-Pacheco.
Purple Mood
September 14, 2018
She. She has fears, tears, doubts, worries and dreams, wishes, hopes and visions. She will be happy as long as she can paint her world purple.— Lela Gruen.
Sick and Tired
Film Soup
September 11, 2018
The brew started forming weeks before any chemicals touched the film. Amanda, the model, came down with a virus the day of the shoot. I was a new mother, sleep deprived and sincerely delirious. It was right after the election, everything felt fucked up.— Nikita Gross.
Calm
Self-Portrait
September 7, 2018
Pictured here is myself, my cat, Rogue, and some gorgeous peonies. Lately, I’ve been drawn to black-and-white film, and flowers. Its timelessness and the way it makes me feel, calm. This image was made with a Leica C-1 camera and Kodak Tri-X 400 35mm film.— lindsey.gerstlauer.
Dwell
And The Self-Portraiture Series
September 4, 2018
In the summer of 2017, I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition that was connected to the one word nobody ever wants to hear: cancer. Following many scans and blood work, a splenectomy, a bone marrow biopsy, and chemotherapy, a year later, and my lymphoma is in remission.— Lisa Toboz.
Open Your Eyes
February 27, 2018
A project aimed at interacting with people and their dreams. A portraiture of calm, peace, and vulnerability. “Open Your Eyes” is a series of photographs with the subjects’ eyes closed, thinking of their dreams. The series got initiated back in 2009 on the streets of Shenzhen, China.— Vincent Assante Di Cupillo.
Brighton Beach
July 29, 2017
Brighton Beach is a Russian community neighbourhood in New York. When I was growing up in Moscow as a kid I’ve heard a lot about it on TV: the magical place where one can become and live like an American. During the early 90s, there was an obsession with everything USA; it suddenly became “amazing and wonderful”, instead of “the villain” — a narrative it was given for over fifty years prior. Perestroika flipped the entire culture onto its head.— Lee Clark.
