What first brought be to this image was while studying Personal photography and photographers who use this style I came across an image of Hugues de Wurtemberger this picture of a child intrigued by a bug not even a hollywood movie could stage it. It shows how absorbed the child was and how used to being photographed as to no longer pay attention. The image is tender, it made me smile and to me any image that can transmit such emotion instantly and keep you still looking is amazing. That to me is what art is about.
So I continued along reading the website of otherwise productions and what interested me afterwards was the essays to go with the images. I will soon be putting together my photo stories for Assignment 5 and there is some work here that has given me ideas and food for tought.
As I am still learning the basics of photography sometimes I miss a moment as my skills let me down however I aim to improve my speed. I need to understand better the effects of light this can help me reposition myself to gain a better image. The composition and what is behind my subject must all be taken into consideration.
http://www.otherwiseproductions.com.au/
Photographers
jens olof lasthein – christophe gin – andy freeberg – steven siewert
julien chatelin – yang yi – katrin koenning – jurgen nefzger
hugues de wurstemberger – benjamin bechet – billy maynard
and dean sewell
Information and details about the photographers
© Jens olof Lasthein, from the series : White sea Black sea
jens olof lasthein, sweden
White sea Black sea
A visual journey along the eastern border of the European Union.
The old political division of Europe came to an end about 20 years ago,
but during this period a new demarcation has evolved, identical with the
new eastern border of the European Union and the Schengen area.
I have travelled to areas along this borderline, from Arkhangelsk on the
White Sea in the north to Odessa on the Black Sea in the south,
photographing the daily life of the people I happened to meet.
Basically the idea of these pictures is to take the viewer on a visual journey
through the borderland between European East and West. Not claiming any
kind of truth, the conditions are decided by myself alone, in relation to my
own internal boundaries: What can it be like being European? An attempt to
open up some borders – my own, and maybe even others´.
www.lasthein.se
© Christophe Gin, from the series : Borders
christophe gin, france
Amazon Basin / Borders 2000-2010
On a background of industrial and ecological populism, “storehouse of the
XXIst Century” for some, “green lung of the planet” for others, the Amazon
is the victim of the dream it generates.
The Amazonian basin’s reality mostly depends on both the external debt
of its constitutent nations, and the industrialised countries relying on its
raw materials as necessity.
The Amazonian forest is today the stage for a giant free-for-all, putting in
opposition rich landlords, landless peasants, garimpeiros, seringueiros,
and other poverty-stricken populations, international mining firms, Indians,
preachers of all kinds, drug barons and armed forces. However, for the
20 million Brazilians living here, development is inevitable and all aspire
to progress.
Represented by Isabelle Rouvillois, in Australia.
Contact : i.rouvillois@gmail.com Mob: 04 05 51 39 30
www.christophegin.com
© Andy Freeberg, from the series : Guardians
andy freeberg, usa
Guardians
In the art museums of Russia, women sit in the galleries and guard the
collections. When you look at the paintings and sculptures, the presence
of the women becomes an inherent part of viewing the artwork itself.
I found the guards as intriguing to observe as the pieces they watch over.
In conversation they told me how much they like being among Russia’s
great art. A woman in Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery Museum said she
often returns there on her day off to sit in front of a painting that reminds her
of her childhood home. Another guard travels three hours each day to work,
since at home she would just sit on her porch and complain about her
illnesses, “as old women do.” She would rather be at the museum enjoying
the people watching, surrounded by the history of her country.
www.andyfreeberg.com
© Steven Siewert
steven siewert, australia
Set my Soul on Fire
Every year fans travel from the four corners of the globe in a rockabilly
pilgimage to attend Viva Las Vegas rockabilly weekend.
This year’s event was attended by up to 20,000 fans in a four day celebration
of all things 50s including music, fashion, dancing and cars all in the heart
of Sin City in the country where it all began.
www.oculi.com.au
© Julien Chatelin, from the series : Israel Borderline
julien chatelin, france
Israel Borderline
Israel is without any doubt the most mediatised country in the world, yet
through the mass media we learn very little about its society, which has
been shaped by sixty years of war, and waves of immigration from Europe,
north Africa, Ethiopia, and more recently from the former Soviet Union.
Israel is a state in constant mutation, with a heterogeneous nation united
behind a flag, a common enemy, and an ideal, zionism. As deep divisions
between national religious and secular Jews, have emerged, about the
future of this country, it appeared to me essential to grasp the complexity
of this nation, and understand the issues at stake. Young people, because
they reflect the society in its present time, seemed an ideal prism through
which to define the edges, sometimes blurry, of this multifaceted society.
This essay is a journey through Israeli society, exploring its various faces;
from the trendy secular youth of Tel Aviv, to the ultra-orthodox communities
of Jerusalem; from the radical Jewish West Bank settlers, to the left-wing
militants aspiring to a peaceful relationship with their Palestinian neighbours;
from the new age hippies, to the new development town junkies. This essay
also addresses the issues of the various minorities that compose Israel,
from newly established Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, to the large
“Arab-Israeli” community. Finally, this project looks into the Army, which is
the cornerstone of Israeli society. Except for ultra-orthodox and Arabs,
every young Israeli joins for three years (two for girls) this institution which
they will never really leave. Tsahal, military service, is a crucial unifying factor
in a country increasingly divided.
www.julienchatelin.com
yang yi, china
Uprooted
One morning, I don’t remember when, I woke up in a sweat, my heart
pounding in alarm. I was left only with a vague memory. In my dream,
I appear, clothed; I come and go along these familiar alleys. I revisit my old
school, the dazzle of lights emanating from the cinema, the riverside where
I used to swim, the rooftops where I once went to get a breath of fresh air,
the winding pathways… all is in darkness, unattended, there are no friends or
relatives to be found anywhere. Where do all of these bubbles and floating
objects come from? It becomes difficult to breathe, I fail to grasp anything,
I scream but no sound can be heard…
Near the end of 2005, camera in tow, I endeavored to return to my hometown
in order to photograph it. For better or for worse, my town had not yet been
completely leveled and the people had not yet been entirely relocated.
Despite the many ruins, the city’s activity could still be discerned. As for
construction on the new town, that had long since been completed. Everything
was so enthralling! I was far too busy looking up old friends and acquaintances
to take any pictures. In the summer of 2006, I traveled by boat to the Three
Gorges Dam. All along the route, in Zigui, Wushan, Yunyang, Fengjie and
Wanxian, I photographed fragments of these riverside places. This year I have
returned several times. Each time, I felt it was a race against time. Thrilling
slogans could be read everywhere, painted on the walls: “Let us tear down
half a city in one hundred days”. They were destroying the old town so fast,
leaving an atmosphere of death and decomposition everywhere. In taking
these photographs, I had to hold my breath and, once taken, would
make my escape.
I don’t intend to dwell on the meaning to be found in my photography.
What is important for me is that I came from that town. It is about all that we
have in common there: our accent, our spicy coriander, the nod we give each
other, a friendly signal to say hello when we pass one another on the street,
these streets that we have traveled alongside our ancestors, that have herded
us along together… this series was created for all of that. It will be my
personal memoir!
In 2009, it will be among the last settlements to be evacuated of people and
submerged under the waters of the Three Gorges Dam, uprooting its
inhabitants forever. Kaixian, the 1800 years of my childhood home’s history,
expunged.
I was born there 36 years ago.
On that day, I will awake underwater. Yang Yi
Represented by Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris
www.parisbeijingphotogallery.com
© Katrin Koenning, from the series : Near
katrin koenning, australia
Near
Near is an ongoing portrait of my family.
Our story is common to the 21st Century – we’re spread across four
countries and three continents, torn apart and thrown together
by migration.
We are divorced, we are married, we are old and young. Together, we’ve
come through cancer and suicide.
Above all, we’re lucky – we are close.
In early 2011, we came together for a weekend to celebrate life.
www.katrinkoenning.com
© Jurgen Nefzger, from the series Fluffy Clouds
jürgen nefzger, germany – lives in paris.
Fluffy Clouds
With “Fluffy Clouds”, Jürgen Nefzger takes us on a journey through several
Europeen countries: France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Great-Britain and
Belgium, all of which are strongly dependent on nuclear power. This series
goes further than merely cataloguing power stations covers great
geographical diversity by situating them in their natural and social environment.
The representation of various landscape patterns is underlined by the use of
a wide range of colors and lighting situations, following the course of a full
year. By choosing the power station as a symbol these images address
sociological, ideological and political issues.
Represented by the Galerie Françoise Paviot : www.paviotfoto.com
www.juergennefzger.com
© Hugues de Wurstemberger, fromthe series : Pauline and Pierre
hugues de wurtemberger, suisse – lives in brussels
Pauline et Pierre, 2005
Pauline and Pierre are very lucky ones and, if I didn’t know them for as long
as ever, I would probably be very jealous of them. Actually they have the
most beautiful family album that exists in the whole world. Because they
have a daddy that loves them, of course, but also because their daddy can’t
help being a photographer at each instant of their lives, at each of their
breaths. On the pictures of this album, we see them growing up, like
children who discover the world, then invent their own, by turns,
breack-neck, witty, infernal, tender, playful, worried, cheerful, amazed.
We also see their relationship with their mother and their grand mother
( the one with their father, the pictures tell about it) and also to the space,
the nature among others, in the original Switzerland or on the coasts of the
North sea. That’s why it is completely normal that this family album is
sprinkled with landscapes, forests and lakes.
Represented by Agence Vu and Galerie Vu :
www.agencevu.com and www.galerievu.com
© Benjamin Béchet / Odessa/Picturetank, from the series : I am Winnie the Pooh
benjamin béchet, france
I am Winnie the Pooh.
Populist rhetoric which feeds on general discontent and fear, identifies
enemies and cultivates the seeds of intolerance and racism : out of the
closet come old nationalist ideals which exploit a concept looming larger
and larger in political discourse and bar conversations; that of identity.
As a historical and cultural building block, identity is, as we are taught by
anthropologists, multiple, open and contextual. Each one of us can have
anything from several to an infinite number : ‘one, none or a hundred
thousand’, to quote Pirandello. But identity is above all a relational issue :
the definition of Us always entails the negation of Them. When identities
are in the hands of political ambitions, they become rigid in the form of
regionalism, or of religious, political or national fanaticism.
Through a tongue-in-cheek manipulation of identity, ‘I am Winnie the Pooh’
aims to provoke reflection on the stigmatisation of Them by portraying
those very fears and related contradictions. The project is set in Rome
which is a breeding ground for hundreds of tiny identity-obsessed groups who seize the opportunity to refer to a certain Romaness or the Roman Empire; the
city is a theatre for a wave of overt intolerance and violence against a
segment of the population who represent a feared and rejected
otherness – marginal figures, undeclared workers, illegal immigrants etc.
Invisible people or black sheep; we stick a label on these complex and
varied identities that simplifies and denigrates Them. I have put superheroes,
icons, celebrities known throughout the world into these marginal shoes.
To serve as a reminder that what you see is never what you get, that
people are always more complex, that each identity is only partial and that
we are all one, none and a hundred thousand. Federica Romanò
Belong to the collective Odessa – www.odessaphotographies.com
Represented by Picturetank www.picturetank.com
© Billy Maynard, from the series : Trans/tender
billy maynard, australia
Trans/tender
Peppe changed it all for me. These pictures pay homage to shadows at
night and a river running deep, flowing with the dark feeling that we share.
It was only at night I would see the light so delicate and unfamiliar. I started
to see their rooms lit like nativity scenes – like the manger, waiting for the
lambs. The Spirito Santos was everywhere.
These images come from trust and respect. Not the respect of manners
and eye contact they taught me at school, but respect as an acceptance of
the faults, the sweat, the shit, the corruption, the stench, the sex, and the
panic. Through all of the mud and anxiety and internal struggles, they gave
me all their tenderness, their friendship.
I drive to my apartment before light, after an unkind night through deserted
streets past hungry boys and dogs. Blue, lost and falling asleep at the wheel,
this lovely classical music starts in my brain. It’s the only music I remember
from Timor. So I have pictures instead.
Peppe loved me, and turned me into an artist.
© Dean Sewell, from the series, Hillsdale
dean sewell, australia
Hillsdale
I grew up in the suburb of Hillsdale, a late 1950’s solution to the housing of
post war migrants coming to Australia. Smothered in concrete, row upon
row of red brick flats would recede as far as the eye could see.
In 2004-2005 I decided to train my eye back on the landscape of my early
childhood to try and make sense of its brutal minimalism and
aesthetic bankruptcy.
