Tag: portraiture

Prince Gyasi – instilling hope through imagery

Ghanaian photographer Prince Gyasi likes to describe himself as an artistic vessel who uses imagery to express how he feels, and to share what he cares about. Primarily producing portraits and documentary photography, his work creates a collage of his city and the people who live in it. Playing with colour, shadow and composition, he has developed a style that beautifully captures planned and candid moments. With Instagram operating as an online gallery and portfolio for his work, he is able to curate the collective visual narrative for his photography, pushing against the fetishized and problematic representations of African cities by outside photographers.

Reflecting on his portraiture, Prince expressed in an interview with Sukeban Magazine that, “Portraits are part of human history…Portraits go way back; it helped people keep track of growth, express creativity and record memories. I believe portraits are important in our generation; it helps you communicate your emotions to others just by the way you look. As a photographer when you’re taking portraits you’ve got to be the mirror! People have to look at their portraits and say I feel dull today, I’m happy today, or I feel I’m really pretty or fine. It helps people grow and tackle their day to day issues with hope.”

His most recent project continues with the idea of instilling hope in people. Prince co-founded Boxed Kids with his partner Kuukua. This nonprofit project aims to help creative children in Jamestown with getting access to education. The name “Boxed Kids” refers to the fact that many of the children Prince came across in the small fishing district were in places and situations that are difficult to come out of without any assistance. Inspired by an event that his mother organised to help underprivileged children, his aim was to go further by helping them to develop their creative talents through education.

The initial plan was to launch a campaign that offered direct access to school, but with this own limited means this was not an option. Working within his own creative practice, Prince took photographs of the city, some of the children and the conditions in which some people live, and shared this on Instagram. Titled ‘Boxed Kids: Accra, Ghana’, this work received an increasing number of likes and shares, and this response encouraged him to set up a gofundme page for some of the children he has gotten to know, with the hope that this will assist with the initial goal.

15 August 2018
Maxim Vakhovskiy – Celebrating the raw beauty women of colour possess through photography

Maxim Vakhovskiy is a self-taught photographer based in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA). Growing up in Kiev, Ukraine, her family immigrated to the United States when she was 13 years old. Her father’s hobbyist photography instilled a passion for the art form within her.

“He would create a makeshift darkroom in the small bathroom of our house. I sat with him watching the images emerge on paper under red light. It was one of my favourite things to do and I think that’s when the passion for photography, or at least a small dormant seed, was planted.” – on her father’s photographic practice and influence.

Maxim tells me in our email interview that the process of finding herself in the photographic landscape was extensive. Initially studying Psychology and Philosophy she switched over to graphic design and concluded with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. It was during her formal training that she rekindled her friendship with the medium of the lens.

After graduation, Maxim began working at MODE (a branding agency in Charlotte, North Carolina) as a graphic designer. Later she inhabited the part of an art director and transitioned into photography.

Central to Maxim’s personal practice is portraiture through which she aims to emphasize the raw beauty of the people she photographs. Her work acts as a celebration of womanhood, the human body and women of colour.

Her work generally plays out within a studio set up and she explains that the reason for this is because of the control that the studio space lends to her. She elaborates on this point by stating that her obsession with precise lighting can be satisfied within the studio space. Another aspect that draws her to the studio is its privacy as she is drawn to nude portraiture. Within the studio the people she photographs can feel more at ease.

“I think of it as a love affair. I’m in love with my craft and fall a little bit in love with everyone I photograph. To me, it’s one of the few ways to capture a bit of someone’s essence. I focus on visual simplicity that evokes complexity. My work is an exercise of trust and untraditional ideals beauty basked in classic light.”

Muted tonal backdrops, soft becoming lighting, simplified backgrounds and beautiful women of colour act together to unify Maxim’s vision. With her work, she elevates the beauty of women of colour, womanhood and the human body. Her simplified backgrounds make her work more arresting as attention is brought to the people that she photographs.

3 May 2018
The Human Touch and Sensibility Inherent in the Photographic work of Senay Berhe

Senay Berhe is a self-taught image creator from Stockholm, Sweden predominantly known for his work in the film industry. But what needs to be foregrounded among his other talents, is his still imagery. His creation of visual eye candy. Eye candy coated with deep depth of field, contrasted areas that melt into darkness, natural lighting and settings, traditional composition and rich tones. Silhouetted forms are lent a godlike stature with a magnificent glow around their faces, an appraisal of beauty perhaps? Moving away from his sweeping portraits, you are met with halting documentary images so vivid that they come across as the actual occurrence captured, not just a copy of real life.

His day-to-day profession as a film director has granted him access to the world as a traveler and he has thus been able to create images in New York, across African cities, as well as in the city he grew up in.

Fixated with images ever since he can remember, he was determined to find a career related to their production. Affirming his passion for the still image he expresses, “It was about two years ago that I really fell in love with photography again. I always loved photography and had been shooting occasionally, but now I’m obsessed with it and shoot every day. I set a goal a year ago: to at least take one photo a day that I’m satisfied with.”

The first moments of documentation started taking hold of his creative being as a teenager. He was driven by a desire to document the graffiti and skateboarding culture that influence him. Senay reveals his current image creation tools to me as a Fuji X 2 pro, a 23mm (35mm) f/1.4 lens that he prefers for low lighting conditions and portraiture work.

“I see my own photography as visual poetry and my work often surrounds or reflects my own emotions. It allows me to communicate what I don’t say in words. I’m quite interested in the mundane, ordinary everyday life situations and finding the beauty and surrealism in that. I look for details and tend to shoot a lot of urban life. Maybe because that’s how I live.” Senay’s imagery flows in a painterly fashion and conveys strong heart felt emotions. Emotions that are representative of his ability to identify with the people he portrays with immense dignity.

Reflecting on his practice Senay explains that he regards it as an act of documenting the now for the future. He sees his photographic work as an attempt at understanding himself and the world around him. “It makes me stay curious and takes me places, forces me to interact with people, and allows me to challenge myself, my perceptions and my beliefs.”

Senay highlights the qualities that he looks for in an image to me as beauty and simplicity. He goes on to say that he is speaking about how his subject relates to their surroundings in that moment, as well as the quality of light. “I love shooting documentary because of the element of surprise, and that’s always what I’m trying to recreate when creating an image. The aim has always been to make it feel as natural as possible, with a human touch and sensibility.”

Senay’s photographic work can be regarded as a personal documentation of the world he sees around him. His images are powerful due to the fact that they carry real emotion and a human touch and sensibility. His creation of literal eye candy, makes it difficult to look away from them or forget them. The rich tonal values combined with immense contrast are indicative of his subjective view oozing with emotion. Senay’s work is a feeling.

He will be having an exhibition of his work in the beginning of April in Stockholm.

14 March 2018
Dune Tilley – A young photographer documenting the world around him with beautiful frankness and subtlety

Diluted tones, traditional composition married to the monumentalizing of subject matter. Human and non-human. This acts as a description of Dune Tilley’s work; Cape Town’s rising star photographer. The now 18-year-old image creator has made his mark with images that consume you. Images that pull you closer and beg you to question “Who are the people in these images? What are they like?” or “Where is this amazing building?”.

His interest in documenting the world began at a very young age. As is the case with many photographers today, it is difficult to label Dune’s specialty. His work extends over the disciplines of documentary, portraiture and fashion photography.

With an emphasis placed on capturing his subject matter’s (human or not) soul he seeks out to document the feelings he observes around his subjects. His style has shifted since the first time I saw his presence online two years ago – a natural happening for a young creative in any medium. What stays is a rather peculiar objectiveness in his images. A frankness which can be attributed to his aim at making his images genuine, and project integrity onto his sitters.

“I think there is beauty in both well thought out, staged, conceptual photographs and spontaneous photographs on the street. It all depends on your intention and your reason for taking that picture in the first place. The most effective way to capture great images, in my opinion, is just to constantly have a camera on you…” he states in an interview with DEAD TOWN Zine.

Dune’s style is one that can be summed up as beautiful frankness with immense sensitivity. I look forward to witnessing his growth into an even greater and skilled photographer than he already encompasses.

22 February 2018
Photographer Hana Jayne Sho’s series Boys in Light // The Intimate Moments of Collaboration

Forms of flesh awash with pale pink hues, steeped in the sounds Lana Del Rey’s youthful lullabies. Tendrils of smoke twist and turn off the tips of cigarettes, held gently between tentative fingers. Nostalgic desire captured by the grain of film. Intimacy found in those moments of home.

It was a Tuesday night. Photographer, Hana Sho, ventured over to a friend’s apartment in the Cape Town city bowl. Armed with only a studio light, a desk lamp, DIY gels and a few rolls of film she adopted her usual modus operandi of spontaneity and experimentation. “We’re all friends, and during the shoot it kind’ve felt like what they would usually do before going to a party, except I was documenting it. Have a few drinks, smoke cigarettes and try on each other’s clothes…It almost felt like a mini production team. Adam turns out to be a hella good Art Director. Alex popped in for some Art Direction, and Mziyanda pulled through with some bomb styling.”

Hana’s photographic work spans the space of portraiture, editorials, fashion and documentary style images. “When I shoot it’s always a collaboration.” She often goes for a walk with the model before the shoot – as a means to put them at ease. “I find that walking around and getting to know somebody makes them more comfortable, and whatever mood their feeling in that moment reflects in the photographs.” Hana also values collaboration as a space of learning, “from my experience, collaborative work is always better and has other layers of meaning that I wouldn’t have thought of… I’ve learned so much from the collaborators I’ve had the pleasure of working with.”

After discovering her mother’s old Nikon from the 90s, she bought some film and started taking photographs of her friends. “I realized film gave a more three-dimensional affect. I can’t describe it, but it’s so much more textured and alive.”

For Boys in Light, Hana took the opportunity to play with light and explore expressions of youth on film. “My concepts are always based on people and how they portray themselves – everyone’s just trying to figure themselves out; experimenting, having fun, making mistakes and learning from them. I think I’ve managed to capture those sweet in between moments where everyone kind of forgets.” She described a shift in the atmosphere when the lights used in her images were turned on, “It felt like we stepped into another realm where everyone could express their alter egos.”

“I think collaboration is definitely an important part of learning and developing as a young artist, whatever the medium may be.”

Credits:

Models: Alex Paterimos, Jeremy, Adam Lennox, Mziyanda

21 February 2018
Omar Victor Diop – portraiture that blurs linear chronology

Senegalese photographer Omar Victor Diop recently gave a talk at The High Museum as part of the exhibition “Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design“. His own series, The Studio of Vanities, is displayed alongside than 120 artists and designers from 22 countries. In his talk he addresses his own medium, portrait photography. Mentioning that this medium was introduced to Senegal by Europeans, he brought attention to how local people established their own photography studios which carried references to European-style photography. These eventually morphed into spaces which were able to reflect local interpretations of imagery and the permanence of memories. Relaying stories of going to Senegalese and other West African homes, Diop said that, “the first thing that is handed to you, after a glass of water, is the family album, with these fabulous portraits from the last century and every special occasion.” With a desire to continue this tradition combined with the necessity to project underrepresented African photography, Diop’s own practice involves the renovation of African studio photography by referencing the past, present and future.

In his 2015 series Project Diaspora we see Diop engage with thematic orientations that visually discuss the exotic other, the African diaspora and paintings serving as archives for constructing historical figures. In an interview for The Guardian he explained that, “It started with me wanting to look at these historical black figures who did not fulfill the usual expectations of the African diaspora insofar as they were educated, stylish and confident, even if some of them were owned by white people and treated as the exotic other… I wanted to bring these rich historical characters into the current conversation about the African diaspora and contemporary issues around immigration, integration and acceptance.” The photographs he produced were based on 15th-19th century paintings, but also refer to the modern world.

Within this series he also interrogates racial frameworks by integrating objects associated with soccer. According to Diop, the reception received by African soccer players in Europe operates like a pendulum. There is worshiping for their skill and talent, as well as exclusion and derogatory racial interactions. “…The whole illusion of integration is shattered in the most brutal way. It’s that kind of paradox I am investigating in the work,” Diop explains. Diop is the character photographed in these images. However, he does not view them as self-portraits. He instead refers to them as metaphorical portraits which make the idea of black identity central. “I enjoyed being the subject and the object of the photographs, but, no, they are not self-portraits in the traditional sense. Part of me wants to reinvent the great heritage of elaborate studio photography that we have in Africa – and which every other young African artist is reacting against,” explains further.

Blurring linear chronology is a thread that he sews throughout his work. This enables him to make connections between racial conversations as well as debates on blackness, Africanness and the production of images that continue to exist but mutate in various visual and textual forms. This mutation can be subliminal, but more often are quite direct. Diop’s work shares the persistence of questions and experiences related to the above mentioned themes, and his use of portraiture presents a way of involving the self as a real and metaphorical vessel from which to engage with this topics.

‘Thiaroya, 1944’ from the series ‘Liberty’

8 November 2017
‘Bigger, Rounder, Blacker’ // Body Positivity with Rochelle Brock

Rochelle Brock is a young photographer of colour from Brooklyn, New York. With her brand Fat Leopard Photography she has been revolutionizing the concept of the ideal body type. Her work challenges conventional beauty standards in America featuring beautiful curvy women of colour styled in the latest fashion trends. Here I will analyse Rochelle’s methodology and technique.

Her work can be deemed out of the ordinary by the way in which she documents the confidence that radiates from her models. Using colour palettes that shift from very vibrant tones to nitty gritty and the concrete jungle, Rochelle seems to have an uncanny know-how of evoking mood with her colour choices. While Rochelle’s work focuses predominantly on the bodies of women of colour and their curves she does not leave out slimmer body types and some of her series’ revolve around slim women.

Photograph from ‘Kidnap snap’

Rochelle has an amazing ability to move from a studio set up with soft defused light and pastels that amplify her subjects to a more documentary style of shooting which is an outstanding achievement to ascertain as so many photographers are stuck in one form of image creation.

Rochelle’s motivation behind celebrating marginalized body types came from her frustration with not seeing her own body type represented in any fashion campaigns and she set out to change that. Today, Rochelle has worked on various fashion campaigns and is a true ambassador of body positivity who expresses that she wants a bigger, rounder, blacker movement.

Photograph from ‘Jarae Hollieway’

What Rochelle enjoys about the body positive movement is that it has helped her come to terms with her own body shape and love herself for all that she is. Her advice to women who have larger body types is this, “Take up more space. If we don’t fit the ideal norm in society or even in the BOPO movement, we need to make sure we step into that “room” when we get the chance. Take up space and be heard!”

Femme photographers like Rochelle are actively trying to normalize larger body types and the fact that this kind of intervention is necessary is dismaying. Why should larger women have to fight or campaign or have movements for body positivity and acceptance when they are already beautiful? I am thankful for the body positive movement, as this is a societal problem that requires resolve. I do hope that with time the movement will have a larger impact and create more change into what is considered the ideal body type. Fair and accurate representation of all women is the norm that we need to strive for. All women are beautiful, and that’s that.

Photograph from ‘Jarae Hollieway’

Photograph from ‘Girls Girls Girls’

Photograph from ‘Girls Girls Girls’

20 October 2017
Georg Gatsas – Exploring Cities Through Portraiture

The work of Swiss photographer Georg Gatsas has been published by magazines such as Wire, Dazed, i-D and Beat. Georg has been operating between London and Zurich for the past couple of years. He recently spent some time in Johannesburg as part of an artist residency organized by Pro Helvetia. I caught up with him to find out about his work and his time in SA.

Georg shot his first series called “The Process” (2002-2007) in New York which ended up in several exhibitions, magazines and publications. Currently, he mainly works as an analogue photographer. Shooting on film has allowed him to develop a particular attitude towards the shots he takes. Thinking about the cost of film rolls and that each closing of the shutter has a feeling of finality to it, Georg tries to focus and capture the right moment, taking less shots than he would with a digital camera. And often he finds it easier to carry around an analogue camera. In mentioning his creative process, Georg emphasized how he enjoys working organically and tries not to force any part of his work.

Tube Station

Georg’s first series were mainly portraits of musicians, visual artists, performance artists and designers which he shot at night. The people he was shooting were living mostly parallel to mainstream society; they had created their own hub. Through taking their portraits he got into their sleeping rhythms and started shooting nighttime streetscapes and the environment of the people in his portraits. The combination of these pictures became a portrayal of New York City and particular kinds of people who lived there. While residing in London for an exhibition in 2008, he started shooting the UK base music scene, which over an eight-year period has developed into a series called “Signal The Future”.”The portraits as part of the series become a portrayal of a certain environment, but also of the times we live in.” Georg explained that his work can be looked at in different ways, bringing to the fore questions on global sound, migration politics, cultural production in a hyper-capitalist city such as London, new aesthetics, new instruments of the underground, and how the mainstream reacts to it.

Having only spent time in Europe and the States before, he was initially quite thrown by the different rhythms and ways of being in Johannesburg. But soon his desire to learn about the flow of the city became stronger. His photographs from SA will follow a similar creative starting point to his previous work – capturing artists best representing their city. He has been photographing some of South Africa’s most interesting producers, musicians, artists and performers of 2016, including Fela Gucci, Mante Ribane and Dear Ribane, DJ Lag, DJ Doowap and Moonchild Sanelly. In his comment on how he selected people to photograph he explained that “it has to be a fan boy thing. So I am first of all a fan [of their work].” He explained that his choices were based on people doing important work, but work that was not quite defined yet. “I don’t like defined stuff. I like surprises…I like when people try out new things, things that move forward.”The photographs from Georg’s Johannesburg series will also be linked and combined with the images from his previous series as some of the artists in all these series know each other personally, are communicating and collaborating with each other.

Manthe Ribane

Georg’s experiences in Johannesburg and the people he has met have influenced the way in which he thinks about his work. “I have learned a lot politically, work wise, rhythmically. And a lot on the history of photography coming out of Africa and South Africa which is heavy, complex and difficult.”

Georg will be back in April for the second part of his residency. His first solo museum exhibition will take place at the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland in November 2017, and parts of it will hopefully lead into partnership exhibitions in London and Johannesburg.

DancerII

Sky H1

Bill Kouligas

2 January 2017
Black existence is not just pain it’s the ultimate celebration of life: A review of the Mina Nawe portraiture series

What makes a good portrait? What has made this genre so important that it became its own discipline within the arts? It is a medium that pulls you in through one’s need to connect with others. It objectifies the self as a moment in time. The viewer is seduced by this static self and we begin to realize something about ourselves through this 2 dimensional other. Is this who I used to be? Is this what I want to become? Is this the person who I never ever want to become? These works force us to answer these questions as we begin to tap into a deeper understanding of ourselves.

Yet attitudes towards photography must not be generalized. At a point in history Native Americans were accused of being fearful of having their picture taken out of fear for their souls being stolen by the machine . Ironically the very process of picture taking has long since been a tool of colonialization. Indigenous peoples would find themselves exoticized by being categorized as inferior under the guise of scientific enquiry. The camera has never been an objective tool. It can very easily lie when placed in unscrutinized hands.

Mina Nawe is a photographic series which breaks down this disconnect between subject and voyeur, reconnecting the person to their audience. Its very name translates to “you and me” and represents a need for the viewer to engage with the model through the political landscapes of our continents heritage of black portraiture.

The series conjures up the vibrancy of Malick Sedibe’s portraits of young Malians. “Critics say his photos of Mali’s post-colonial period helped people see the West African nation in a new light” but his work would also function to normalize what it means to be African. No longer to be the object of study and western enquiry.

Malik explained his photographs as being “a world, someone’s face. When I capture it, I see the future of the world.”

Mina Nawe continues this tradition of bringing back the life to a space where black lives don’t matter. The series is a collaboration between stylist Slomokazi (Silondile Jali) and photographer Paul Shiakallis. Their project “showcases modern African style and beauty by exploring gender roles, identity and affordability” (Mina Nawe, 2016).

In the photographs we see two people; a couple, brother and sister, lovers or just friends; it is not clear. What is clear is that they are sharing this space through formal stance. Like the old school studio portraits, their pose exposes a regality that in contemporary times tends to be unjustly accused of lacking a dignity reminiscent of a previous generation.

Yet the viewer is confronted with another layer to these familiar portraits. A bearded body in a skirt. An Afro crowned goddess in suit pants. Sexuality becomes fluid and the clothes can no longer be used to identify gender. A child presumably younger than 16 is also featured yet their clothing stands in stark contrast with their “adoptive photo parents”. His clothing is grunge or comfortable street wear. Oversized shirts and heavy boots. The series seems to be playing with the concept of the generation gaps through styles. The formality of the “parents” pose in contrast with the child just standing in front of the camera but with a certain rigidity.

Two worlds are at play within the series and we the viewers are invited to engage. These are black bodies as beautiful. They are black bodies as normal. They are black bodies whose gender and I dare say sexuality is even questionable. Yet the very act of such questioning reflects not the problem of styling but the viewer’s unquestioned assumptions over what constitutes gender. We have so much to learn about ourselves as South Africans and it is through such portraits, and states of confusion, that one can get their start in self-understanding.

22 December 2016