Diggie Vitt is a fine art photographer from Jacksonville, FL. For the past three months he has been traveling the United States completing his 365 project (a photo every day for a year) and has now put down roots in Los Angeles, California. Diggie has also had work featured on My Modern Met, Exposure Guide, 500px, and others.

Interviewed by Quemby Sheree

 [traduzione in italiano in basso]

(c) diggie vitt

How was your road trip?

Through this journey, I learned a lot about generosity. There are so many people that were willing to help me out, in the most surprising locations too. Now I have multiple homes all over the country. I grew so much as a photographer during this experience, learning how to shoot with so many new landscapes and weather conditions. And now I know exactly where I want to go with my career and how I am going to get there.
I recently read a quote in Portland, Oregon, “Life was uncertain.” Don’t waste any time, go chase your dreams! This quote is also how I like to define some of my photographs. I love to place myself in an uncomfortable situation and emerge from it. So, I like to encourage people move forward, because it always gets better.

(c) diggie vitt

What direction would you like to go with your career and how do you plan to get there?

I really want to sell my art in galleries and have more magazine features. I also want to rent my own art space to work on bigger projects. I just have to keep creating. After my 365 I will most likely take a short break, and start putting more time and emotion into individual photos. I feel my best work is going to be produced after my 365, I have about 40 days remaining. My advice is to not give up. It’s very easy to quit and move onto something else. I have gained so much experience on the way I think and create; you’re always learning what you want. I recommend everyone should attempt a consecutive project like this to progress.

(c) diggie vitt

How long have you been photographing? Are you self-taught or formally trained?

I purchased a Canon 7D in 2011 and started teaching myself photography. I was really interested in very technical photoshop manipulations at first, now I have sort of backed away from that and try to create as much as I can in camera.

(c) diggie vitt

Tell me about these homes you have all over the country. How did you meet some of the people you shot with?

My first stop was in Atlanta, Georgia. There I met a really cool photographer that took me around the city to abandoned schools and warehouses, and we got some great photos! I stayed in a few hostels in Maryland, Chicago, Portland, and in Canada, where I met the amazing photographer, Patty Maher. Some people were generous enough to let me stay in their house without them even present; they just left me a key to get in and out in the morning. I stayed with several friends along the way, my friend works at a ski resort in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and he managed to get me in to ski for free one day. I stayed with a guy that lives a block away from Hollywood blvd in Los Angeles, and now I am living with him!

(c) diggie vitt

Why did you settle on Los Angeles?

Los Angeles was an available place to live; it wasn’t a part of the original plan to move here. I planned on moving to Redding, CA. I stayed there for half a month, but things didn’t work out. It’s an amazing place to visit if you get a chance.

(c) diggie vitt

After the 365 project do you think you will stick to portraiture or concentrate on other subjects?

I’ll continue with the same photo genre I do now, everything will be just a little more planned out.

(c) diggie vitt

Do you think you will continue to shoot every day?

I probably won’t take a photo EVERY day, but of course still frequently. I want to put more time and emotion into my photos. I may do a 52 week project, but that’s just up in the air.

(c) diggie vitt

Portland compared with Los Angeles can be a huge culture shock! Did you relate to people from one part of the country more? Maybe you felt more at home in a particular city?

I never really had a culture shock on my trip. I was surprised by how much rain Portland got though, we almost got our VooDoo Doughnuts wet! (note from the interviewer: VooDoo Donuts is a famous and magical donut shop in Portland, Oregon that must be seen to be believed. They are popular for their creative donut toppings and designs) I feel more at home on the west coast, I really enjoy the central states too, but the west coast is just so beautiful! How can people stay inside?

(c) diggie vitt

Did you have any bad experiences while traveling and can you give other artists any advice for travel and staying in hostels?

The only bad experience I had was getting my knife confiscated by a jerk cop. I crossed the Canadian border with it without any problems, I went to court (for a traffic ticket) without any problems, but Pittsburg bus station has a problem with it! Definitely bring a knife with you if you travel, just keep it in your backpack at a bus station! My advice is to really plan things a month or two ahead of time to save money and have a place to stay every night. I took advantage of websites like couchsurfing and different hostel websites to find free or cheap places to sleep. It’s a safe and great way to meet other travelers. Don’t be scared, they’re completely safe, and some even feed you in the morning!
Make sure you plan everything very well, and early. I saved so much money by traveling via Megabus and Greyhound, reserving the tickets 45 in advance, allowing me to occasionally get bus fares for under $5!

(c) diggie vitt

(c) diggie vitt

(c) diggie vitt

(Images © Diggie Vitt)

More on Diggie Vitt’s work here

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Quenby Sheree grew up in Eugene Oregon and now lives in Maitland Florida. She graduated from the Southeast Center of Photography in Daytona Beach in 2012. Quenby was previously a freelance and documentary photographer and now she is the curator/founder of Curating the Unseen as well as editor for Fluster Magazine.

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***Italiano***

Traduzione di Alice Pam

Diggie Vitt è un fotografo di Jacksonville, FL. Negli ultimi tre mesi ha viaggiato per gli Stati Uniti completando il suo progetto “365” (una foto al giorno per un anno) e ha ora messo radici a Los Angeles, California. Diggie ha anche lavorato collaborando con My Modern Met, Exposure Guide, 500px, e altri.

Intervista di Quemby Sheree

Come è andato il viaggio?

Attraverso questo viaggio, ho imparato molto sulla generosità. Ci sono così tante persone che hanno voluto aiutarmi, anche nei luoghi più sorprendenti. Ora ho più case (posti che chiamo casa) per tutto il paese. Durante questa esperienza sono cresciuto così tanto come fotografo, imparando come scattare con tanti nuovi paesaggi e diverse condizioni meteo. E ora so esattemente dove voglio andare con la mia carriera e come arrivarci.

Ho letto di recente una citazione a Portland, nell’Oregon, “La vita era incerta.” Non sprecare il tuo tempo, insegui i tuoi sogni! Questa citazione è anche come mi piace definire alcune delle mie foto. Adoro mettermi in situazioni scomode per poi poterne emergere. Così come mi piace anche incoraggiare le persone ad andare avanti, perchè tutto migliora.

Quale direzione vorresti prendere con la tua carriera e come conti di arrivarci?

Voglio davvero vendere la mia arte nelle gallerie e collaborare ancora con le riviste. Voglio anche affittare un spazio per la mia arte dove lavorare su progetti più grandi. Ho solo bisogno di continuare a creare. Dopoil mio progetto “365” prenderò probabilmente una pausa, e comincerò a mettere più tempo ed emozione nelle singole foto. Sento che il mio miglior lavoro verrà prodotto dopo il mio progetto “365”, e mi sono rimasti circa 40 giorni. Il mio consiglio è di non arrendersi. E’ davvero facile lasciare e mettersi a fare qualcos’altro. Ho fatto così tanta esperienza con il modo in cui penso e creo; impari sempre quello che tu vuoi. Raccomando a tutti di tentare un progetto consecutivo come questo, per migliorare.

Per quanto tempo hai fotografato? Sei un autodidatta o hai delle qualifiche?

Ho comprato una Canon 7D nel 2011 e ho iniziato a studiare la fotografia per conto mio. All’inizio ero davvero interessato alle manipolazioni molto tecniche con Photoshop, ora è un po’ come se avessi fatto marcia indietro e cerco invece di creare il più possibile con la macchina fotografica.

Parlami delle case che hai per il Paese. Come hai incontrato alcune delle persone con cui hai scattato?

Il mio primo stop era in Atlanta, in Georgia. Lì ho incontrato un fotografo davvero bravo che mi ha portato in giro per la città, in scuole abbandonate e magazzini, e abbiamo fatto foto grandiose! Sono stato in qualche ostello nel Maryland, a Chicago, Portland e in Canada, dove ho incontrato una fantastica fotografa, Patty Maher. Alcune persone sono state così generose da farmi stare in casa loro anche quando non erano presenti; mi lasciavano semplicemente la chiave per entrare e andarmene la mattina. Sono stato con diversi amici durante il viaggio, un mio amico lavora in un resort sciistico a Steamboat Springs, nel Colorado, e ha fatto in modo che potessi sciare lì gratis per un giorno. Sono stato da un ragazzo che vive ad un quartiere di distanza dall’Hollywood Boulevard a Los Angeles, e ora vivo con lui!

Perchè ti sei trasferito a Los Angeles?

Los Angeles era un posto un buon posto dove vivere; ma trasferirmi qui non era parte del mio piano originale. Avevo pianificato di trasferirmi a Redding, sempre in California. Sono stato lì per metà mese, ma le cose non funzionavano. Se avete la possibilità, è un bellissimo posto da visitare.

Dopo il progetto “365” pensi che ti atterrai ancora alla ritrattistica o ti concentrerai su altri soggetti?

Continuerò con lo stesso genere di foto che faccio ora, e tutto sarà un po’ più pianificato.

Credi che continuerai a scattare ogni giorno?

Probabilmente non farò una foto OGNI giorno, ma certamente scatterò di frequente. Voglio mettere più tempo ed emozione nelle mie foto. Potrei fare un progetto da 52 settimane, ma è ancora tutto campato per aria.

Portland, comparata a Los Angeles, può essere un grande shock culturale! In quale parte del Paese ti sei relazionato di più con la gente? Ti sei sentito di più a casa in qualche città in particolare?

Non ho mai avuto un vero e proprio shock culturale. Ma sono stato sorpreso da quanto piova a Portland, abbiamo quasi bagnato le nostre VooDoo Doughnuts! (nota dell’intervistatore: VooDoo Donuts è un famoso e magico negozio di ciambelle a Portland, nell’Oregon che bisogna vedere  per crederci. Sono famosi per le loro creative glasse sulle ciambelle e il design) Mi sento più a casa nella West Coast, anche se mi piacciono molto gli stati centrali. Ma la costa occidentale è semplicemente bella! Come può la gente restare nell’interno, nella zona centrale, nell’entroterra?

Hai avuto qualche brutta esperienza mentre viaggiavi e puoi dare agli altri artisti qualche consiglio per viaggiare e stare negli ostelli?

L’unica brutta esperienza è stata quando il mio coltello è stato confiscato da uno stupido poliziotto.

Ci ho attraversato i confini canadesi senza alcun problema, ci sono andato in tribunale (per una multa) senza alcun problema, ma la stazione degli autobus di Pittsburg ha un problema con il mio coltello! Di sicuro, se viaggi e porti un coltello con te, tienilo al sicuro nel tuo zaino nelle stazioni degli autobus! Il mio consiglio è di pianificare le cose solo uno o due mesi in anticipo, per risparmiare soldi e avere un posto dove stare ogni notte. Mi sono avvantaggiato con siti come Couchsurfing e diversi siti di ostelli per trovare dei posti economici o gratis. E’ sicuro ed è un ottimo modo di incontrare altri viaggiatori. Non spaventatevi, sono mezzi completamente sicuri, e alcuni ti danno anche la colazione al mattino! Assicuratevi che tutto sia pianificato bene, e in anticipo. Ho risparmiato così tanti soldi viaggiando con Megabus e Greyhound, riservando dei biglietti con 45 giorni in anticipo, e permettendomi di ottenere di tanto in tanto delle tariffe per gli autobus sotto i $5!

Nanni Licitra (25) lives in Bologna and is a university student who loves analog photography (medium size, 35mm, 110mm, instant). Always charmed by pictures of great bands of the past (Joy Division, The Stooge, Pink Floyd, Velvet Underground), which for him are much more realistic and, at the same time, more dreamlike than the modern digital photos.

He begins to read up about analog until he bumped into an online community that gave space exclusively to this and to its many fans: Lomography.it; he realized that analog was not dead and obtaining films was much easier than he thought. So Nanni began to shoot and experiment with different types of film, coarse grained  film became his hallmark, often influenced by his musical tastes (New Wave, Post Punk, Alternative rock).

Recently, thanks to Ishotpix.com, he had the possibility to take analog pictures in a wide range of musical events. Among his gallery: emerging Italian artists such as “Testaintasca” and “I Cani”, historical Italian artists such as “Diaframma”of Fiumani” or “3 allegri ragazzi morti” and international artists like “Chinese Man”, “DJ Food”, “Dj Koze” and “2many dj’s”, always trying to recreate the atmosphere of those dated photos that inspired him so much.

(Images © Nanni Licitra)

More about Nanni Licitra’s work

Born and raised in Greece, her true name is Evangelia Tsialta. She always had the art as a form of expression in her life. First drawing, then painting, now photographing, she enjoys life and is nothing more than a dreamer. 

 

Hi Deda! Tell us a few things about you. Who is the person behind the camera?

I call myself an optimist. I’m a little stubborn and reactive as a person, not always a good sign.  I think my creativity comes from simple things, like reading or hearing. Or from a strange person, a short phrase, a song.

When and how did you realise you can see through photography? What does photography mean to you?

I realised it almost a year ago,  thanks to a good friend, who helped me a lot with this. I always liked photography but I had never tried for something more.  I just woke up one morning, and decided to change my route. After some artless months, I felt I truly needed something to express myself. Soon enough it became my way of living, the reason I can’t sleep at nights.

If you were to describe your work with 3 words, what would they be and why?

I cannot really describe my work… I think every piece of mine is a little impulsive or spontaneous if you like, because there is almost never a clear concept behind them.  I can also say that my work is simple in a way. Nothing complex. Just simple face expressions and body poses to create a feeling. ”Alive” is the last word I could use to describe my work, because each time I look at my pictures, I can still feel the same thing.

You have a stream of significally creative and expressive portraits. What sort of influence has lead you to portraiture?

My personal belief is that face and body language are the strongest among all other. A mute expression and a form of a silent communication, I would say. 

I was personally impressed with the “Queen Bee” portrait and I fell for the “kiss me or bite me”. Tell us a bit about your inspiration to these photographs.

“Queen Bee” is based on chaos theory. It is believed that when bees vanish, life on earth will end too. I tried to make a simple metaphor, revisioning the butterfly effect ( in chaos theory a small change in one place can lead to large changes later, Ed.). “Kiss me or bite me” is about self destruction and our two sides. When a kiss of ourselves becomes dangerous. A reaction of our other half. It could be a kiss. It could be a bite. 

They say, we are witnessing the fourth wave of feminism. Your portraits are feminine, powerful and elegant at the same time.  What is your opinion on female artists?

Their strength is obvious. It’s impressive to see it translated into  a battlefield of works ready to speak, not afraid to show naked thoughts, elegant figures, or even ugliness.

 What are your aspirations in photography?

 I must admit, I hope. For the best. I want to evolve my skills and my aesthetic view in my own way. If something good comes as a result, it will be welcome. For the time, I enjoy every frame. 

 If you were to give one advice to young artists, what would that be?

Don’t follow the rules.

If you had the chance to portrait one person, actor/actress, artist, scientist, politician, persona, or whoever, who would that be? What would you try to evoke out of them?

Kurt Cobain. The passion for destruction can become a creative passion.

If you were not a photographer, in which other way would you express your artist within?

As I said, photography came recently into my life. Before that I used to paint and draw, since I can remember. Although photography and painting differ in many ways, they both have in common the depiction of passion, fears, pain, joy, memories, dreams, beauty and life. I cannot live without one of those two. So, the answer to your question is painting. I don’t know if I can call myself a true photographer yet, but I do believe in my passion for art.

(Images © Deda)

More about Deda’s work here

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 Nassia Kapa, aka Nassia Katroutsou, is an independent self-taught Greek  photographer based in London, UK. Restless in mind and passionate in heart, she only  realised her genuine obsession with photography, when her need for self-awareness  and repositioning in life was of vital importance. She has participated in local  exhibitions in Athens, Greece and her work has been hosted among Greek and  international photography related web pages and magazines. Nassia Kapa is an escape  exit for Nassia Katroutsou, and her main target is to experience life to it utmost limits, using photography as a vehicle.

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***Traduzione Italiana***

Nata e cresciuta in Grecia, il suo vero nome è Evangelia Tsialta. L’arte è sempre stata la forma espressiva della sua vita. All’inizio il disegno, poi la pittura, ora la fotografia, ama la vita e non è nient’altro che una sognatrice.

Ciao Deda! Raccontaci qualcosa di te. Chi è la persona dietro la fotocamera?

Mi definisco un’ottimista. Sono un po’ testarda e impulsiva come persona, non sempre un buon segno. Penso che la mia creatività venga da cose semplici, come leggere o ascoltare. O da una persona sconosciuta, una breve frase, una canzone.

Quando e come hai capito che potevi vedere attraverso la fotografia? Cosa significa per te la fotografia?

L’ho capito circa un anno fa, grazie a una persona, mia buon’amica, che mi ha aiutato un sacco in questo senso. Mi è sempre piaciuta la fotografia, ma non avevo mai provato niente di più. Mi sono semplicemente svegliata una mattina e ho deciso di cambiare il mio destino. Dopo alcuni mesi senz’arte, sentivo un vero bisogno di qualcosa che mi permettesse di esprimermi. Molto presto è diventata il mio modo di vivere, la ragione per cui non dormo la notte.

Se dovessi descrivere il tuo lavoro in tre parole, quali sarebbero e perché?

Non riesco a descrivere bene il mio lavoro… penso che ogni parte di me sia un po’ impulsiva e spontanea, se vuoi, perché non c’è quasi mai un’idea chiara dietro di esse. Posso anche affermare che il mio lavoro in un certo senso sia semplice. Niente di complesso. Soltanto semplici espressioni del volto e pose del corpo, destinate a creare una sensazione. “Viva” è l’ultima parola che potrei usare per descrivere il mio lavoro, perché ogni volta che guardo le mie foto, riesco ancora a provare quella sensazione.

Hai realizzato una serie di ritratti davvero creativi ed espressivi. Cos’è che ti ha condotto alla ritrattistica?

Personalmente, ritengo che il linguaggio del viso e del corpo siano i più forti, in mezzo alle altre forme di comunicazione. Un’espressione muta e una sorta di comunicazione silenziosa, direi.

Sono rimasta molto colpita dal ritratto “Queen Bee” (ape regina, n.d.T.) e mi sono innamorata di “kiss me or bite me” (baciami o mordimi, n.d.T.). Parlaci dell’ispirazione che c’è dietro queste fotografie.

“Queen Bee” è basata sulla teoria del caos. Si pensa che quando le api scompariranno, anche la vita sulla Terra cesserà. Ho cercato di renderla attraverso una metafora semplice, rivisitando l’effetto farfalla (secondo la teoria del caos, un piccolo cambiamento in un posto può condurre a grandi cambiamenti in seguito, n.d.R.). “Kiss me or bite me” riguarda l’autodistruzione e i due lati di ognuno di noi. Quando un bacio di noi stessi diviene pericoloso. Una reazione dell’altra metà di noi. Potrebbe essere un bacio. Potrebbe essere un morso.

Dicono che stiamo assistendo alla quarta ondata del Femminismo. I tuoi ritratti sono femmili, potenti e eleganti allo stesso tempo. Qual è la tua opinione delle artiste donne?

La loro forza è evidente. E’ impressionante vederlo tradotto in un campo di battaglia di lavori pronti a parlare, senza alcuna paura di mostrare i pensieri nudi, le figure eleganti, persino la bruttezza.

Quali sono le tue aspirazioni in fotografia?

Devo ammetterlo, io spero. Per il meglio. Voglio sviluppare le mie capacità e la mia visione estetica in modo personale. Se ne viene fuori qualcosa di buono, sarà il benvenuto. Per ora, mi godo ogni inquadratura.

Se dovessi dare un consiglio ai giovani artisti, quale sarebbe?

Non seguite le regole.

Se avessi la possibilità di ritrarre una persona, attore o attrice, artista, scienziato/a, politico/a, o chiunque altro, chi sarebbe? Cosa proveresti a suggerire attraverso di loro?

Kurt Cobain. La passione per il distruttivo può divenire una passione creativa.

Se non fossi una fotografa, in quale altro modo esprimeresti l’artista che c’è dentro di te?

Come ho detto, la fotografia è entrata solo di recente nella mia vita. Prima disegnavo e dipingevo, dacché posso ricordare. Sebbene la fotografia e la pittura differiscano per molti aspetti, entrambe hanno in comune la raffigurazione della passione, delle paure, del dolore, della felicità, dei ricordi, dei sogni, della bellezza e della vita. Non posso vivere senza una delle due. Dunque, la risposta alla tua domanda è dipingere. Non so se posso definirmi già una vera fotografa, ma credo fermamente nella mia passione per l’arte.

Giulia Mei was born in Liguria (Italy). Her passion for photography was born suddenly, because of a very painful experience, she found that the only way to express and metabolize that tangle of feelings, absences and anxiety was photographing and especially photographing herself. Thus she realized a series of self-portraits that she would define psychoanalysis.

In her darkest and most difficult moments photography helps Giulia; shooting manages to capture her emotions, pulling them out and lighten her soul, in the true sense of the word. During a trip to Paris Giulia realized that even though she was surrounded by wonderful places and monuments, she instinctively tended to photograph people; rather than the wonderful Sacre Coeur of Montmartre, she photographed people who were admiring it. Personal and emotional universe is the aspect that really interests Giulia.

(Images © Giulia Mei)

More about Giulia Mei’s work

Valeria Pierini (1984) was born in Assisi, Italy and lives in Bastia Umbra. Her works were featured in many collective and solo exhibitions in Italy and won several awards. She also organizes photography workshops and contributes to printed and web magazines. Her On (your) body project is a sneak preview for Fluster Magazine.

”On (your) body” replaces the female body with the male, and tells it with a contemporary look, but inspired by the great tradition of painting and photography on the body. The body is here narrated through some topics suggested by the literature and present in the titles: ‘the symmetry of desires’ of Eskol, “sons of Adam” by Whitman, with the closing ‘night dances’ by Sylvia Plath. It ‘s a play of lines and lights reflecting on the ambiguity of the forms, now ephebes now androgynous. It ‘a celebration of the one thing on which the human being has no choice and that is a source of occasions destinali: the body. To give it an identity that often does not belong in the same way as the photographer chooses to portray the body in a certain way. The body – the only true temple of human beings – that differs so much between the tactile and visual sensations: graze imagining and imagining touching look.

(Images © Valeria Pierini)

More about Valeria Pierini

Cristiana Gasparotto is an Italian photographer with a degree in English Literature and History from the University of Padua. Her work is highly self-referential, drawing intensely on her own emotions and personal experiences; it been exhibited in Europe as well as Miami and New York and been published in numerous magazines, including Vogue Italia online. She currently lives in Madrid, Spain.

Hi Cristiana! What led you to become a photographer?

One day, pretty excited with the camera in my hands, I realized that through photography I would be able to express my own world in a conceptual and visual way. At that very moment, I felt dizzy.

Your series Florile brings together different female body parts with different flowers and the name itself is a contraction of the Italian fiori (flowers) and femminile (female). What is it that you want to express with this series of photographs?

In this series, it was my intention to pay homage to female grace and fragility. I chose to focus on details to express our most delicate and vital features. The elegance of the flowers and the intimacy of the nudes aim to represent the emotional universe I’m part of.

Self-portraits are a characteristic of your work. Why this choice?

In my creative process, the self-portrait is a very intimate and powerful tool. I employ it to deeply connect with my own feeling and share them with the public.

How would you describe your aesthetics?

I find it hard to encapsulate my work in a clearly defined line of aesthetics. I create in the only way I feel I can. I suppose it could be considered conceptual and emotional.

Projects like Insomnia and Caprices of fear seem to me marked by a certain anxiety, a feeling that I think very characteristic of modern society. Is there an element of social commentary to your work?

Not especially. My projects are strongly self-referential. On the other hand, my experiences are fully integrated into the social community I belong to, and they might convey a sense of commonly felt discomfort and concern.

Do you have a particularly favorite photo or project? What’s the story behind it?

I think my favorite project is ‘Insomnia’, for two main reasons: it was a quite suffered autobiographical project and, from my point of view, it represents the beginning of my artistic production.

You currently live in Madrid. What took you to Spain?

I needed fresh air and new challenges. Actually, the point was not about coming to Spain, but leaving Italy and abandoning my comfort zone.

What are your photography influences?

I like very different photographers, such as Man Ray, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Lori Vrba and Irene Cruz. Just now, I’m discovering some amazing Asian artists, mostly from Japan.

And your influences beyond photography?

Literature and music are the main sources of my inspiration. Recently, I’ve felt a stronger interest in film, too.

What’s always on your photography bag when you go out?

I take my camera with a prime lens or two and a paper block (to jot down I’m old school).

What are you working on currently? And what are the plans for future projects?

Just now I am working on a series about losing and searching my way in a very personal ground; I investigate an emotional territory, with nature’s patient help. In the upcoming months, I’d like to reminisce about my past and work on a series recalling my childhood memories.

(Images © Cristiana Gasparotto)

More about Cristiana Gasparotto’s work

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  Rodolfo Barradas lives in Leeds, UK where he studies History & Italian. He’s interested in  languages, words and everything remotely cultural. Occasionally he tweets about all the  above @RodolfoBarradas

Stefania Sammarro is a young Italian photographer based in Calabria (Italy). She is passionate about photography, digital and analogue . She writes on her own blog as well as on magazines about photography and cinema.
She got a degree in Dams (Art, Music and Performance’s Disciplines) at the University of Calabria and currently she is studying Publishing. She is an ardent fan of fantasy books, fairy tales and unreal stories. This unconditional passion for the “mystical” is reflected on her photography; portraits, mostly female ones, uncover her romantic side, her deep emotions.

Introduce yourself to us. Who’s the person behind the camera?

I’m Ania, I live stories, sounds and visions. I don’t prefer talking about me but I expect others to find me. I am inspired by my memories, nature and atmosphere created through music and film. I like thinking that photography takes shape together to my being, to my way of thinking. Photography is not an art that merely capture reality as it is. It allows you to turn it into a vortex of mirrors. Reality and fiction mix constantly in a photograph. The eye does not just play, but recreates colors, souls, emotions and sensations separated from time and reality. Photography is as an expression of the soul. Protagonists of my photographs are mostly female figures, sometimes seem only visions, lost souls, represented in domestic gardens: soul is the only protagonist of my shots, in which, as a director, I am present. Wind is the ideal companion of my journey.  A photography is life and death at the same time. I love the dreamlike: the art ranges from portrait, reportage and street photography, in constant search of situations, emotions and faces, unique projection of my inner life, expressing myself in every shot. Warm and isolated cold spaces, the quiet of sounds in an atmosphere of dream.

When did you take up photography and why?

I always took pictures. During parties or dinners with friends I was the only one who was always ready to capture every moment. When I went out I focused on details. I watched and I imagined my reality. It started by chance and then I became interested in photography in 2006.  I spent my teenage years photographing my friends and it ended up doing my first photography course, from here there was no turning back.

You experiment a lot with female portraits. Who are they and how do you choose your models? what do they mean to you?

My photos are addressed to the female figure because for me she is everything. The woman is life, she is love, she is hope. The feminine vision in my mind represents purity and fragility: the woman in my pictures is the crack of the soul from the date it is crumbling in places or in gardens. The models chosen are not professional models. They are faces that can better express myself, Laura and Deborah are the visions that I use most frequently, in addition to being my cousins, it takes just one look to understand each other. They are dreaming but fragile souls, their vitality comes out even looking at them only from behind or while sleeping.

You play a lot with colour and light. I personally found your photograph “silence” very poetic. What is your idea behind this technique?

I love contrasts, I live in black and white, light and shadow. My life is full of color and darkness. Every time I see a subject I recreate it in my imagination. “Silence” is a shot created by chance. I was in the woods near my home, sun was setting and everything was dark. I tried to create an escape route, defined by light.

Tell us more about the landscapes you present on your photo stream, where are those places and what made you wonder among their streets and paths?

My photo are taken especially in my country, Calabria. I have travelled a lot but only in this place I could realize what I really wanted. I feel so much my belonging with the territory, its villages, its people.

Nature plays a significant part in your work. What is the connection between nature and your photographs?

Since my childhood I always had a connection with nature, wind, rain, moon and stars. I remember listening to the wind all the time when I was on the street, as a matter of fact I still do that. I believe that many things are falling down inside of us. I have always believed to be from Avalon, the land of Druids.

If you were to choose one photograph, that includes your photographic personality, which would that be and why?

There isn’t a particular photo, all my photos evoke an emotion unique to me. Surely I love my portrait “Sleep of enchantment”, which was the photo of initiation.

What are you dreams, your aspirations on photography?

I hope I can continue my  professional and interior journey. I hope my visions can get to the top.

Is there any other form of art that would help you express yourself other than photography?

I have danced for several years. Dancing is like talking in silence. You say a lot without saying a word. I also love theater, a place that not only offers a complete fiction of life but, at the same time, shows life itself. 

Give an advice to female artists out there. What would you tell them?

Believing in themselves, because it is never wrong. Being able to say their ideas, to believe strongly in what they do, to listen and listen themselves, to listen to their heart because it knows everything.

(Images © Stefania Sammarro)

More about Stefania Sammarro’s work

Nassia Kapa, aka Nassia Katroutsou, is an independent self-taught Greek      photographer based in London, UK. Restless in mind and passionate in heart, she only    realised her genuine obsession with photography, when her need for self-awareness  and repositioning in life was of vital importance. She has participated in local  exhibitions in Athens, Greece and her work has been hosted among Greek and  international photography related web pages and magazines. Nassia Kapa is an escape  exit for Nassia Katroutsou, and her main target is to experience life to it utmost limits, using photography as a vehicle.

Liat Aharoni graduated in political science at the University of Toronto; this helped her to explore issues related to womanhood, struggle and identity. She is a self-taught photographer who seeks to elevate these narratives into surreal and fictional imagery. Liat’s work aims to portray the concept of balance in life, between the grotesque and beautiful. It is both celebratory and reflective of humankind. 

Hi Liat! First of all, I would like to congratulate you for being so young but you have already  created such a beautiful and interesting work. Would you consider yourself “talented”?

I do consider myself talented but it’s crucial to be confident in your own work – why would I expect anyone else to like or support what I do if I don’t like it myself? With that being said, I never want to weigh my work and feel too satisfied. I always want to be learning more.

How and when did you decide to experiment with photography?

I’ve gravitated towards art my entire life but my unhappiness in school two years ago led me to experiment with photography.. This experimentation took me on a completely different and unexpected path. I realized the extent in which I can use it for creative expression and not only for documentation.

Are you self-taught or have you attended any photography school/courses?

To say self-taught would be somewhat untrue, I would consider it more self-driven than self-taught, as I push myself to learn outside of a classroom setting. My photography education consists of practice, learning from others as well as taking advantage of the abundant resources found online.

Please, tell us more about the technique you use for the composition of your images.

As my resources, funding, and equipment are limited I rely heavily on Photoshop to create specific effects in post production.

What are the issues that you prefer to explore and raise through your images? 

I’ve been pretty consistent with the themes that I focus on – those that connect to surrealism, fantasy, femininity, darkness.. But regarding specific issues, I find that the issues I deal with have to do with where I am in life at the time of creating each picture. In that sense they are somewhat autobiographical.

It is obvious that your work is focused on humankind and especially womankind. Could you tell us more about this preference? 

I love photographing women for a number of reasons. Perhaps because softness and femininity are aspects that I tend to insert into my work and I find it easiest to do so by photographing women. I also find that developing relationships with models is critical and preferable. My shooting experiences often demand vulnerability in models and as I am a woman developing a relationship is extremely non-threatening and positive.

Do you think that your studies on political science play a critical role for the way you think and act on your artwork? 

Sure, life is cumulative but I think that my interests have remained consistent even before I studied politics. I infused the premise of my education – the practice of politics – with content that I’ve been interested in prior to university – primarily to do with women. In that way the education that I’ve received has allowed me to grasp a deeper understanding about issues that I enjoy, and deal with constantly in my work.

Do you prefer to create color or B&W images and why so? 

They are two different beasts and I would like to concentrate on colour images before I tackle black and white!

Are there any specific photographers or artists who have inspired your work?

Of course, many!

Do you thing that your images as a work of art are closer to photography, graphic design or something else?

The entire process of capturing and editing is digital but I would still consider it photography.

The last decades many Canadian photographers have risen. Who is your favorite?

My mother is a teacher and a previous student of hers has grown to be an incredible artist – Kitra Cahana – I would highly recommend her as an instant favourite!

If you had the possibility to make the portrait of a famous woman of the past, whom would you choose?

Toughest question yet haha! I would have loved to photograph Janis Joplin.

(Images © Liat Aharoni)

More about Liat Aharoni’s work

 Marinos Tsagkarakis (1984, Crete, Greece) lives in Thessaloniki. He works as an economic analyst and Deputy  Director in an international non-profit organization for trade & exports. He started dealing with photography 10  years ago. He studied contemporary photography at STEREOSIS Photography School in Thessaloniki. In 2013 he  obtained the winning award in 7th Photoday Contest among 192 professional and amateur photographers. Also,  he has participated in team-exhibitions and  in several Photographic Workshops of renowned photographers. He  used to shoot with 35mm format but finally he has turned to medium format 6×6. You can see a sample of his work  on his site.

Aaron Nett grew up in the NW on the Oregon Coast. Moved around Oregon and California for school over the past ten years or so, and now splits his time between Portland and Salem. You might consider him to be in the “lifetime student” category, and will probably continue to drift in and out of school for the rest of his life. There’s always more to learn.
Howl is his current project and is a series based on the poem of the same name by Allen Ginsberg. Since reading it the first time at the age of 16 it has always stuck with him as something that he connected with. As the years passed, the more and more it seemed relevant to life. This series is a way for Aaron to connect with the work on a more personal level. When it’s finished Aaron will have covered the first part of the poem and have around 80 images.

Hi Aaron! How did you come to photography? 

Around 20 or so I got my first camera (that wasn’t disposable) from my dad. The basics came fairly quickly, but my subjects were never more than documentary in content. Road trips, events, concerts; nothing more than showing “we were there”. The past three years or so, after looking at work from other photographers, it suddenly hit me that the camera could be used to show ideas. Since then my photography has become more a form of artistic expression, rather than a tool for documenting.

Why did you decide to share your work now, rather than from the beginning? 

Mostly because of the more recent change in the style of photography. Before, it was more just to show friends and family what was going on. Now that it’s taken on a different purpose, I think there’s probably more people that would be able to connect with the work on a personal or emotional level.

You’re work seems rooted in stories, in drawing a narrative (out) of fragments almost – not just Howl, but also your Conceptual Portraits series. What is it that attracts you to storytelling?

Interesting you ask this; it’s a topic I’ve been thinking about quite a bit the past month. I’ve both noticed this in my work, and thought of a different series I’d like to do based around this idea. Storytelling is something all of us do; through spoken or written word, artistic medium, or even our mannerisms and the way we interact with people around us, we’re telling a story.

The way I experience things around me, everything is connected, but I only get fragments, and have to try and put it together and make sense of it. Sometimes I get it right, usually I get it wrong, and I have a terrible time trying to put it all into words. Photography lets me tell a story by showing the fragments I see, then letting the viewer put them together, similar to the process I experience daily. This leads to different interpretations, but I think that’s one of the strengths of it.

To finally answer your initial question, it’s the ability to communicate the things that can’t necessarily put into words.  

How would you define your aesthetics? 

This was by far the most difficult question to answer; I even had to sleep on this one to even begin to come up with something. It’s hard to try and describe something without taking the opinions and interpretations of others into consideration. If I were to pick though, I would probably say a combination of cold, distant, and pensive.

How did the Howl project came about? 

A class assignment actually; we had to come up with five images that had to be based on a film, book, or poem, and used color to express emotion and mood. Howl was an obvious choice for me; “expelled”, “walked all night”, “cut”, “disappeared” and “around and around”, all came from this initial push. From this I had the idea to do an entire series based on the poem, line by line.

Your photographs try to capture the visceral images of Ginsberg’s writing – how has it been working with such powerful material?

In short, extremely challenging. Most of them are the fourth, fifth, or further iteration of the initial idea. Usually I start with a general layout, sketch it, find the location, plan the shoot, and finally go do it. Almost always, the initial sketch isn’t what I end up with in the final shot, and I’ll end up trashing multiple ideas and trying repeatedly before finding the right one. Even if it the final image is really close to my initial sketch, there are a ton of shots leading to the ‘one’ all with slightly different lighting, angles, or composition. The difficulty comes from attempting to do Ginsberg’s work justice, in making an image that is both worthy of being connected with Howl, yet also evoking the same emotion and tone I feel when reading that line.

The current project comprises of Part I of Howl, but do you plan to work with Parts II & III after?

I do. Part III will probably be the first one afterwards because I already have some ideas for that one and the feel will be very similar to Part I. Part II will take a little more time though; it will be a bigger production, more manipulation, and a different feel than I and III. A bit of a psychedelic trip gone wrong.

And what other projects do you have planned, if any? Any more literature ones perhaps?

There are a couple ideas I’m playing with that will end up being projects after Howl is finished. One I mentioned above that has to do with fragments. The second is more tied to literature in a way, inspired by Dante Alighieri and Auguste Rodin. Right now I’m also working on a 52 week project which lets me experiment with different editing techniques, ideas, and processes that I typically wouldn’t use, especially within Howl.

Besides literature, what are the other big influences for you as an artist and on your work?

Just about everything has some sort of influence. Some of the top would have to be films, especially certain directors, other artists, both current and past, and daily interaction and relationships with the people around me.

Since you use both digital and analogue depending on the project, is there anything always present in your camera bag? Or do you just grab a camera and head out? 

Two things: tripod and sketchbook.

(Images © Aaron Nett)

More about Aaron Nett’s work

Marta Ivanova (1991, Russia) is a young Lithuanian artist, revealing body, femininity and everyday life intimately and unexpectedly in her works. After graduation in Sculpture in Vilnius M. K. Čiurlionio Arts Gymnasium, she chose Photography and Media Arts studies at Vilnius Academy of Arts. Namely photographic and video material dominates in the artist’s works, but installation or performance expression is also familiar to her. Marta’s works have been exhibited abroad and published in various art review magazines. 

In her works there are constant hints to strands of womanly themes and subtle critique. Every work is different, carried out with various techniques, playing with womanly subthemes and juggling with intermediate situations between him and her. Artist actively uses her personal experience, visually talking to her body.

Hi Marta! How did you come to photography?

Hello, the artist is like a traveler (a tourist), constantly travelling and being escorted by a ‘basic’ baggage of tools. But I would compare myself more to a huntress with her fire-arm. I compare my photocamera to a fire-arm in means of ‘loading’ the shutter and pulling the ‘trigger’. Both require careful attention not to shoot the wrong shot. Camera becomes the main witness of my daily life, but not the main tool of my creative work. I am open to all media as I more or less rethink interdisciplinary practice.

Analogue or digital?

 I work with both. But recently I have traded my camera to a cheap graphite pencil and a notebook.

Your works were exhibited in Lithuania, Croatia, Germany, USA and so on. How did Internet help you spread the word about your art?

It scares me to imagine how “shelled” I would be without the Internet. It‘s not possible to go everywhere and shake hands and thank to everyone. I intensively look around in the foreign oceans so I frequently engage in the Internet‘s possibilities. Because of it I can contact daily various galleries, curators, art fairs, also it helps highly in management and promotion of my creative work.

Are there artists who influenced you?

Yes there are. At the moment works of Ryan Gander keep me mesmerised, but I would also mention artists like J. Hodges, H. Chadwick, T. Emin, M. Pascual. 

You wrote about your work “Amazon”: <<In my creative life a woman‘s body act as a source to convey my experience>>. What does it mean for your creative process?

In my case, a very important and integral part of my creative work is a chest of experiences which till this day doesn‘t stop accumulating new experiences and their marginal and self-led moments. And I would call this chest my body canvas.
Much time has passed since the creation of the mentioned work. I have made many important steps in my creative path. Now I rethink the concept of body in new perspectives.

For “Butterly” you used the scan technique. Tell us more about this kind of technique, why did you choose to use it?

„Butterfly“ and „Week“ are my first works created using the scanning technique. I regarded the butterfly‘s wing, its delicacy and fragility as woman’s underwear which is made of fragile lace pieces. In both cases the scanning technique helped to reach my goal – to highlight the details of the underwear, its materiality, to recreate identical colors and their contrast, and by using my body and specific fragments of the underwear, construct a butterfly’s wing.

Regarding “Butterly”, what does this insect symbolize?

A butterfly has quite vast and interesting range of meanings. In example, in Romania there was a belief that butterflies came from St. Mary’s tears. There are many images of a butterfly in mythology and religion. Also one can remember sexual images of butterflies in Nabokov’s “Ada” and Puccini’s opera “Madame Butterfly”.
What interests me is the ambiguousness of this word. It can be seen in the description of my work “Butterfly”: “Flattening the image explores the link between female body parts and something as delicate and women-depicting cliché as a butterfly, which also comes as a play of words, referring to prostitution. Blurred and distorted view of labia as a texture of a butterfly’s wing and depiction of a bra as an extended butterfly makes the viewer uneasy when juggling the visual definition of the images”.

I noticed many flowers in your photographs (real or printed on fabric). What is their meaning? When I think about flowers and photographs, I cannot stop thinking about Mapplethorpe. Is there any connection?

I don‘t engage any connections with Mappplethorpe. Although I can say that I have always admired the precision of his work, cleanness, display and quality of prints. Now I work on photography series by which I hope to obtain hand-made prints of not lesser quality.
Going back to the flowers and their meanings. Most of the images are the result of self-led experiences and intuition, but not all of them. There are images with concrete references to female genitals, when they are regarded as the blossoms of flowers – when a woman loses her virginity, the blossom wilts.

What is the last book you read?

Karin Johanisson’s “Melancholy Rooms” and Gaston Bachelard’s “The Poetics of Space”.

Any running or upcoming projects?

I am intensely working on my Bachelor installation. I don’t like to share or announce my future plans as I like to share my achievements and reached goals more :)
For those who are interested and want to see, read, and know more about me and my creative work, I can suggest to follow my personal website.

What are your goals for the future, as a person and as an artist?

My creative work and personal life can be compared to the ocean. It is emotional, broad, constantly lively, facing high and low tides. So resonances of the waves of moving underwater plates can be instantly heard :)

(Images © Marta Ivanova)

More about Marta Ivanova’s work

 Chiara Costantino (1984) lives in Bologna, Italy. She creates and curates content and social media for Fluster Magazine. She works as a web content editor, social media specialist, translator and web marketer. Chiara loves Sphynx cats, Murakami’s books, vegan cooking and of course photography, especially street and conceptual photography and every work that explores gender and identity. The Internet is her home and you can tweet her at @c84costantino

Shelbie Dimond is a 22 years old artist expressing her creativity as photographer, model and actress. Born and raised in the US, she is full of inspirational ideas that constitute an exceptionally fresh and engaging portfolio that has been hosted in various web pages such as Shooting Film, Vogue Italia, Pulse Magazine, Unicorn Dream Magazine and plenty of others. She has participated in exhibitions and shows in the US.

 Hi Shelbie! Who is behind the camera. Introduce yourself.

I’m a 22 year old Bay Area transplant (born and raised in very small town in western Michigan, USA). I enjoy roller-skating, ice cream, polaroid film, bunny kisses from my rabbit Henry, 1940s dresses, and sailing with my husband.

What is attracting you to photography as a way of expression and communication?

Photography is a way for me to express myself without having to say anything. I can capture a moment in time, even if the moment has passed years ago, or has yet to happen. I have full control of what the viewer sees. 

Tell us a few things about your portraits. Who are your models? What do they mean to you? What sort of messages and thoughts do you want to provoke?

For a long time my only models were my close friends. After I moved away from home there was a small period of time I would photograph girls I found via the internet, and that was that. I found that my photographs meant the most to me when I have some sort of relationship with the subject, whether it be a model or surrounding, so I’m back to working with only those who inspire me on more than one level. I’m not necessarily interested in “pretty”. I want to evoke an intimate relationship or the sense of having a “past”, which is difficult when there’s nothing to build on. Lately I have been fairly focused on my self portraiture, but my main muse has been my lovely friend Erin (aka ErinTheArtist) who is also a self portrait photographer. We have a few big project ideas in the works!

 Tell us about your nudes. They seem to evoke a sense of romance and sexuality but they are not provocative in the most expected way.

Thank you! My nude work is relatively a new venture. It is….very honest. Or at least I aim for that. I absolutely love the female form, and I have been trying to explore my own relationship I have with my body. For much of my teenage years up until recently I have had body image issues, like many girls, and this has been really positive successful.

Do you also work on the styling and the execution of the idea behind your photo shootings?

Absolutely! I’ve worked with a few stylists, but mostly I style my own shoots. I completely love vintage fashions from the 20s-50s (I also sell vintage clothing on Etsy). Again, nostalgia comes into play here. 

What sort of projects, ideas are you currently working on?

This year is about self exploration, getting back to the basics and exploring new places. I am trying to focus more on my self-portraiture, which is what got me shooting in the beginning. In some instances, I am including other human subjects in the self portrait as well.

What are your influences? Are there photographers you admire or get inspired by?

Film Noir, Zeigfeld Girls, ErinTheArtist, Cary Ann Wayman, Hana Haley….along with many others!

What are your aspirations? What do you aim to accomplish in the next few years?

Exhibitions, travel, unexpected adventures… maybe a photo-book. 

What would you advise young photographers?

Just keep shooting! Don’t wait for inspiration to come, make your own if you have to. Carry a real camera with you at all times, try not to depend on your Iphone.

 Finally, give us 3 words that identify you through your photography.

Nostalgic, intimate, whimsical.

(Images © Shelbie Dimond)

More about Shelbie Dimond’s works here

Nassia Kapa, aka Nassia Katroutsou, is an independent self-taught Greek  photographer based in London, UK. Restless in mind and passionate in heart, she only  realised her genuine obsession with photography, when her need for self-awareness  and repositioning in life was of vital importance. She has participated in local  exhibitions in Athens, Greece and her work has been hosted among Greek and  international photography related web pages and magazines. Nassia Kapa is an escape  exit for Nassia Katroutsou, and her main target is to experience life to it utmost limits, using photography as a vehicle.

Alessandro Ciolini è nato e cresciuto a Firenze, poi si è trasferito ad Arezzo. Nei primi anni ’90 scattava fotografie per divertimento, con l’avvento della digitale ha iniziato a usarla per i suoi lavori di grafica. Adesso si è dedicato completamente alla fotografia.

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Genova – 05 Novembre 2011

“Nell’alluvione di Genova si contano già le vittime, mentre la pioggia cade ancora incessante e mentre l’allarme si sposta anche sul Piemonte”. Questa è una delle tante notizie che in quei giorni TV e giornali facevano passare. Quella mattina ero li, come tanti altri, con la mia macchina fotografica.. cercando di raccogliere delle immagini che poi avrebbero potuto raccontare la storia, la sofferenza, il disagio e tutto ciò che comporta una tragedia improvvisa del genere. Era vero, quello che diceva la notizia, la pioggia cadeva ancora incessante, ma la gente, i genovesi e i volontari, sembravano non sentirla. Lavoravano incessantemente cercando di riportare vita a quella precisa zona di Genova, di riportare vita, perché in quel momento si respirava nell’aria la tragedia. Ritrovarsi in mezzo ad una cosa del genere ti rende veramente piccolo e incapace di reagire. Poi anche per quella pioggia che continuava a cadere inesorabile, traspariva sui volti della gente la paura che tutto potesse iniziare da capo da un momento all’altro. Girando per le strade ho cercato di riportare le mie emozioni vedendo ciò che stava accadendo. Sentendomi parte della tragedia, perché vivendola dava questa sensazione.

( Images © Alessandro Ciolini)

More on Alessandro Ciolini’s work here

**Italiano**

Alessandro Ciolini was born and raised in Florence, then he moved to Arezzo. During the early 90s he took pictures for fun, with the coming of the digital camera he started using it for his graphics work. Nowadays he completely devoted himself to photography.

Genoa – 5th November 2011

“Death toll in Genoa flooding raises as rain continues to fall and authorities have lifted a rainfall advisory also in Piedmont”.
This is one of the news reports from Tv and newspapers during those days.
I was there that morning, like many others, with my camera… trying to catch images, in order to tell people stories, sufference, discomfort and anything else caused by such a sudden tragedy.
News reports were true, steady rain continues to fall but Genoese people and volunteers weren’t scared: they worked ceaselessly, trying to bring to life that city area again, because everyone breathed tragedy. When you find yourself in such a situation, you feel so small and lost, unable to react.
Because of that persistent, relentless rain, people feared tragedy could happen again.
Wandering through the streets I tried reporting my feelings about what happened. I felt I was part of the tragedy, because I was living it.

María Callizo Monge (1992) was born in Zaragoza (Spain). She is currently living and working in Barcelona. As a visual and conceptual artist, her works have been exhibited and published on some magazines. Since she was a child she had always a camera in her hands, so she could portrait her world as her eyes saw it. She likes to think about the story behind the emptiness of buildings and small lifes hidden in the crowd.

Text and pictures by María Callizo Monge
Edited by Chiara Costantino

Lineas Alienadas (Alienated Lines) is a work in progress that started in 2010. It describes overpopulation, massive construction and lack of individuality. María Callizo’s work talks about overcrowding and the inability to find ourselves; the huge amount of people living in the same area, people who come and go, people who escape. Thousands of people and buildings, gathered into a mass. There is no space.
Life disappears and is replaced by hundreds of new lives.
Who are you, compared to this immense mass?
How to find out what you are looking for, in such an overcrowded world?
How to find out our individuality?

( Images © María Callizo Monge)

More about María Callizo Monge’s work

Barbaros Cangürgel (1992) is from Turkey, İzmir.He has been taking photographs since he was sixteen years old. He is a student of Cinema in the Department of Fine Arts in Dokuz Eylül University. He is very interested in visual arts. Barbaros does not see himself as a ‘photographer’, he prefers to define his images as “visual data” rather than “digital images”. His works are deeply influenced by poetry, literature and cinema. Barbaros is also interested in plant sociology and anatomy and in Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulation.

Edited by Chiara Costantino

( Images © Barbaros Cangürgel)

More about Barbaros Cangürgel’s works here

Michael Raymond Lund is a visual artist (photography, painting/drawing) from Minneapolis, MN. Currently, he is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His goal is to be the greatest  photographer that has ever lived.

Interviewed by Nassia Kapa
Edited by Chiara Costantino

Hello Mike, tell us a bit about the persona behind the camera. What would be the most important thing you’d like to let people know about you as photographer? 

Its essential to separate the art from the artist. Who I am is irrelevant. My work speaks for itself.

What is your relationship with photography? When did it start and what does it mean to you?

Originally, I was interested in film-making but found it to be too collaborative. I want to present a singular vision. Photography allows me that.

Your work is a mixture of documentary and street photography. What sort of stories are interested in telling through your photographs?

I am non political and non conceptual. I present the raw ingredients of a story, and the observer creates the narrative. There is no right or wrong. My intention does not matter to the observer. Once i create the art; the observer owns it.

Tell us about the places you have photographed. Why do they inspire you?

The majority of my work was shot in Istanbul, Bucharest, and Morocco. Everything and everywhere is capable of inspiring me. I revel in being displaced and out of my element; its the main fuel to my creativity. I use the camera to forge an understanding of a new place. It forces me to see things that are hidden and beautiful.

Do you shoot analogue or digital? Why do you often choose the red scale in your photography?

Digital is inherently a compromise. I shoot exclusively analog. I use a lot of expired film, which may account for the “red-scale”.

Many of your photographs evoke a certain atmosphere and a thought provoking light, scenery, despite of complete human absence. Tell us a bit about that.

Atmosphere is always my main focus; with or without humans. I want to provoke something intangible rather than concrete. Instead of stories; i want to convey feelings.

How do you see yourself as photographer in 5 years?

I foresee nothing. The only thing on my mind is what I will create today. 5 years from now it will be the same; only I hope to be rich and famous.

Any projects you are currently working on and would develop in the future?

I have an ongoing project of self-portraits taken in street scenes. The self tends to be obscured and distracted by the more obvious surroundings.

Beside photography, what other source of communicating stories would you use?

I want to be a novelist, but right now my main focus is visual arts.

Give an advice to young fellow photographers out there.

There are no rules. Strive to be the best or else there is no point.

(Images © Mike Lund)

More about Mike Lund’s work here

 Nassia Kapa, aka Nassia Katroutsou, is an independent self-taught Greek  photographer based in London, UK. Restless in mind and passionate in heart, she only  realised her genuine obsession with photography, when her need for self-awareness  and repositioning in life was of vital importance. She has participated in local  exhibitions in Athens, Greece and her work has been hosted among Greek and  international photography related web pages and magazines. Nassia Kapa is an escape  exit for Nassia Katroutsou, and her main target is to experience life to it utmost limits, using photography as a vehicle.

“A project that transforms the Greek crisis into a global state of being”

The Depression Era project is a collective of photographers, artists, researchers, writers, architects, journalists and curators formed in 2011, recording the Greek crisis through images and texts. It was originally inspired by the photographic program of the Farm Security Administration, which was designed to capture the impact of the Great Depression on the American people. Master-minder of the project is the photographer Pavlos Fysakis.

Text by Marinos Tsagkarakis
Edited by Chiara Costantino

Georges Salameh

The Project started inhabiting the urban and social landscapes of the crisis. It began as a collective experiment, picturing the Greek land, the private lives of outcasts, the collapse of Public systems, the emergence of the Commons and snapshots of the everyday life, aiming to understand and present the social, economic and historical transformation currently taking place in Greece.

Yorgos Prinos

Yiannis Hadjiaslanis

Petros Koublis

The photographers of the Depression Era belong to that new generation of contemporary Greek artists who face the crisis with sensitivity and dynamism, acting with as clear a gaze as possible. One of the greatest advantages of DE’s artists is that they represent a wide range of variety in respect of photographic media, visual languages and aesthetic approaches, embodying personal view and emotion. The target is to get beyond the effects of economic crises attempting to transform all the cumulative energy and disappointment of Greek people into awareness and resistance. They suggest that we should not want “to understand but rather to collect the world”. The “collection” of the crisis is inexhaustible, unlimited and infinite. 

Petros Koublis

Pavlos Fysakis

Olga Stefatou

The quality of the project is provided by its proposed methods of collective expression, co-existence, shared coordination and widespread dialogue of cultures, besides its ambition to offer a reception of and a critical approach to crisis through the lens of the camera. In the end, what is perhaps most fascinating about this project for the non-Greek viewer is the ways in which the Depression Era understands its images and texts as not Greek, but European. The viewpoints it offers, whether through image or text, or video, give us all an idea of the shape of things to come. They also show ways of overcoming the limiting lines of crisis as a global state of being, a universal, collective turning point. 

Maria Mavropoulou

Kostas Kapsianis

Kostas Kapsianis

Last November, Depression Era exhibited a big part of the project at the Benaki Museum in Athens. Moreover, parts of the project have already been showcased at the Bozar Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, at the Mois de la Photo in Paris, the European Month of Photography in Budapest, the PhotoBiennale of the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography and at Fotoistanbul – Beşiktaş International Festival of Photography.

Christos Kapatos

Christos Kapatos

Eirini Vourloumis

Depression Era Project artists are:
George Drivas, Pavlos Fysakis, Marina Gioti, Giorgos Gripeos , Yiannis Hadjiaslanis, Zoe Hatziyannaki, Harry Kakoulidis, Christos Kapatos, Kostas Kapsianis, Panos Kiamos, Petros Koublis, Tassos Langis, Maria Mavropoulou, Dimitris Michalakis, Giorgos Moutafis, Yorgos Prinos, Dimitris Rapakousis, Georges Salameh, Spyros Staveris, Olga Stefatou, Angela Svoronou, Vaggelis Tatsis, Yiannis Theodoropoulos, Marinos Tsagkarakis, Dimitris Tsoumplekas, Loukas Vasilikos, Pasqua Vorgia, Chrissoula Voulgari, Eirini Vourloumis (Images ©)

More about them and about Depression Era Project here

Marinos Tsagkarakis (1984, Crete, Greece) lives in Thessaloniki. He works as an economic analyst and Deputy  Director in an international non-profit organization for trade & exports. He started dealing with photography 10  years ago. He studied contemporary photography at STEREOSIS Photography School in Thessaloniki. In 2013 he  obtained the winning award in 7th Photoday Contest among 192 professional and amateur photographers. Also,  he has participated in team-exhibitions and  in several Photographic Workshops of renowned photographers. He  used to shoot with 35mm format but finally he has turned to medium format 6×6. You can see a sample of his work  on his site.

Mirko Grifoni was born in 1974, he’s a melting pot of different cultures, half Italian, half Swiss with ancients from Ghana. He had the chance to travel and live in different places, an amazing playground for an artist.
He’s both into analog and digital photography , with a passion for experimental and b&w shots plus electronic music production. His motto is “Street is reality check”.
Currently he’s looking for an editorial/commercial adventure no matter where.

Edited by Chiara Costantino

( Images © Mirko Grifoni)

More about Mirko Grifoni’s work here

Milena Fadda is a photojournalist from Sardinia (Italy). Through her reportage “Far from Heaven” she shows her personal opinion about the community she lives in.

Text and pictures by Milena Fadda

Edited by Chiara Costantino

Sometimes, some places seem to live in an eternal fairy tale. That’s the misreading with the thin line which separates perception from real life. Far from dreamy landscapes and elite tourism, Sardinia is facing the heaviest crisis in its history. Unemployment has reached its maximum rate between 2009 and 2013, with a quarter of the residents living in poverty. Hazardous industrialization and lack of sustainable policies have led to increasing environmental troubles. Through the years, many people have asked themselves which could be the very way to save the day for our resources and our people. We hope not to be so far from the solution. My portfolio focuses on Sardinia caught at the end of its industrial era. During the last 60 years, the second island in Mediterranean Sea, despite its vigorous natural environment, has built up the idea that we all can survive without depending on our territory. Now we ask to ourselves: is economic development worth the price we are paying?

( Images © Milena Fadda)

More about Milena Fadda’s work here

Benedetta Ristori (26) is a young photographer currently based in Rome. After high school she approached the world of visual art in a spontaneous and individual way.  Since 2009 she dedicated herself entirely to photography. Benedetta started as an assistant photographer in Rome and began to exhibit in group exhibitions and later in solo exhibitions. As a freelance photographer she focuses on fashion and portraits works.
Her main topic are people; it remains crucial in the path of the artist to capture the human individual and grasp its deeper and inner appearance, trying to make it clear through the image.
In 2013 she approached the world of fashion. In 2014 Benedetta was interviewed by Vanity Fair – Style.it in the Emerging Photographers section. Previously she exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Rome and Milan.

Edited by Chiara Costantino




     
( Images © Benedetta Ristori)
More about Benedetta Ristori's work here

Tiziana Bel (1984) is an Italian photographer from Puglia. She is fascinated by art since she was a child. Tiziana studied Cultural Heritage while specializing in self-taught photographic technique. In 2011 she got in contact with Museum of Photography at Polytechnic of Bari. There she attended laboratories and workshops and approached conceptual photography. After some years of experimentation, recently her photographic research focused on European cities’ urban space; among architecture, colors and details that suggest an idea of urbanity.
Her works have been published in Italian and foreign magazines.

Interviewed by Chiara Costantino

Hi Tiziana, how did you come to photography?

Since I was a child I’ve always loved art in all its forms, from painting to sculpture and i just needed to find my ideal means of expression: I found it 10 years ago when I received my first camera, I immediately understood that it would become my best friend for a long time, becoming soon an overwhelming passion.

Are there photographers and other artists who influenced you?

Photographically I’m influenced by the work of Robert Adams, William Eggleston, Thomas Struth, Joel Meyerowitz, Stephen Shore, Walker Evans and Italian photographers like Gabriele Basilico, Ghirri and Guido Guidi. Lately I’ve been fascinated by German director Wim Wenders’ photography and by his excellent description of desolate place or urban setting.

On your site you wrote that you have “the anxiety to understand the outside world through the sight”. Please explain how you do it through your photographs.

Photography is for me an exercise of observation and reflection of reality around me, so my photographs are influenced by my perception of reality, from my experience, from my thoughts.

Analog or digital?

Both, but for the most part of my work I use the digital camera, because it gives me more freedom of expression.

You visited many European cities and portrayed them. Which aspects have you focused on?

I am a great lover of urban landscape, my photographic research focuses on the metropolis, seen as a place of dialogue in which I’m in search of the relationship between identity and urban space. For example in my work “Berlin Explorer” I investigated the relationship between history and urban landscape and as the soul of the city and its people are influenced by its architecture.

What countries do you want to visit most and why?

Photography for me means travel, through the images to tell the surrounding reality, dwelling especially on large urban spaces. Photography  allows to represent historical memory, everyday life and future. In the coming months I plan two trips; one to Budapest in Hungary, I am very happy, I want to walk along the river Danube and admire the beauty of the architecture of this city, I’m sure the atmosphere will inspire my photographic work, another trip will be in Istanbul in Turkey, a city full of charm and mystery which extends between the continents of Europe and Asia, divided by the charming Bosphorus Strait.

What are your goals for the future?

My goals for the future are experimenting with photography and make new work experiences, travelling to wonderful countries, learning about new cultures and new people and capturing everything with my camera.

Your “Light in the Night” project is about cities at night, when there’s almost no sign of any human presence. Tell us more.

Light in the Night is an open work born in 2013, I photographed at night some European cities such as Bucarest, Krakow, Warsaw, Paris, Praha, Tirana with no traffic, no people, closed shops, metro stations deserted, cities are in a silent solitude and reveal their most intimate side. Streets are animated only by blue Light of the night, neon lights and distant sound and everything is emptied from its daily function. Sometimes there is a human figure and seems to emerge from a dramatic estrangement and lack of communication with the surrounding space. Night experience in the city changes urban space’s perception.

What do you miss the most in your life?

I think I’m very lucky because I have everything I need!!! I live in a city by the sea in southern Italy, where in April is already summer, I am surrounded by my wonderful friends, I have a boyfriend who adores me and with whom I travel a lot and my passion is turning in my work. The only thing I miss is a life experience outside Italy, I would like to live for a while in Berlin or London but I’m working at this ;)

The question you expected me to ask is…

What are your influences beyond photography? Cinema and Literature are the main sources of my inspiration :)

(Images © Tiziana Bel)

More about Tiziana Bel’s work

Chiara Costantino (1984) lives in Bologna, Italy. She creates and curates content and social media for Fluster Magazine. She works as a web content editor, social media specialist, translator and web marketer. Chiara loves Sphynx cats, Murakami’s books, vegan cooking and of course photography, especially street and conceptual photography and every work that explores gender and identity. The Internet is her home and you can tweet her at @c84costantino