The new World Press Photo Festival takes place in Amsterdam 20-22 April: Three days of creative presentations and inspiring talks from the world’s leading photographers and digital storytellers.
More than 30 award-winning photographers and digital storytellers from around the world will showcase their work at the festival. Come and meet them and mix with leading editors and members of the visual journalism community.
Over recent years, in all kinds of places around the globe, collectives have been formed that are not tied to specific institutes or to ways of organising activities that are imposed from above. There is a growing tendency among photographers and artists as well to join forces and organise themselves. Many such collectives are based on do-it-yourself principles of ‘cut out the middle man’. Although their points of departure, artistic strategies, processes and visual end products are extremely diverse, they have in common an enthusiasm for interdisciplinary collaboration and an open view of the world.
The collectives differ in organisation and form: some are no more than loose associations of varying composition without an agenda, while others operate as far more business-like undertakings. One collective might present itself as an auction house, another as a shop, digital flower-power movement or tirelessly travelling caravan.
The digitalisation of photography and the rise of social media have unleashed a huge flood of images. The immense quantity and the transience of photos may make it hard to attribute more significance to photography than is intrinsic to a quick glance at yet another picture on Instagram. Working together to attach value and meaning to images is the central theme of the exhibition Collectivism, Collectives and their quest for value. Some collectives investigate the mechanisms and distributions systems that cause financial value to be attributed to images. Others operate as social agents, bringing people together by means of images and creating communities, online or otherwise. The exhibition also presents collectives that concern themselves with the value of images in the media and the organisation of dissenting voice…
For Adam Jeppesen there is no "either/or". Things simply are. For better or worse.
In recent years, Jeppesen has been exploring various materials and printing techniques, out of a desire to get even deeper into the process and break with the smooth surface of photography. This was seen in his last solo exhibition X at the Van der Mieden Gallery in 2014, where desolate landscapes were translated into a series of photogravures, in which the same motif slowly faded out through the series, in an continuous process towards the full or empty image.
In the current series, "The Pond", the artist has moved completely away from the landscape and has turned his attention to ourselves, which has resulted in a study of hands transferred from negative to linen through the use of cyanotype.
The textile has now replaced the paper, and the images lie more in the direction of painting and the connotations that we associate to painting – not only because of the obvious association of the textile with the canvas and its resulting materiality, but also because of the immediacy of the pieces. In Jeppesen’s works, a movement has long been apparent away from the sober, documentary gaze of photography towards something more allusive or suggestive. We now see a sensibility and tenderness, without distance, that speaks directly to our emotions.
The Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation is proud to present the solo exhibition "Planetary Echoes" of the Berlin-based and internationally acclaimed artist Michael Najjar. He is among the vanguard of artists taking a complex, critical look at the technological forces that are currently shaping and drastically transforming the early 21st century. Najjar's photo and video works draw from an interdisciplinary understanding of art; science, art, and technology are fused into utopian visions of future social orders that are spawned by cutting-edge technologies.
The exhibition "Planetary Echoes" focuses on the idea of terraforming and future human settlements in space. Michael Najjar's photo and video compositions suggest formal and thematic similarities between our own home planet and other moons and planets in the solar system. His large-scale photographic works visualize natural extraterrestrial environments that have a sublime and strangely familiar appearance—but are in fact synthetic constructions of a not-too-distant future reality. The awe-inspiring beauty of his interplanetary landscapes is conveyed through hyperreal but imaginary natural settings, places far beyond anywhere we have (yet) been able to reach.
Michael Hoppen Gallery is delighted to present two photographic series, made nearly fifty years apart, that explore the vulnerability, beauty and ambivalence of adolescence.
In contrast, Martha is an on-going collaboration between British photographer Siân Davey and her step-daughter Martha which explores their evolving relationship as well as the lives of Martha and her close friends as they journey through their later teenage years in rural Devon. The level of trust between Davey and all her subjects is reflected in the intimacy and honesty of the photographs, which range from idyllic pastoral scenes reminiscent of Cezanne’s Bathers to an interior shot of a hungry moment eating pizza in a late night kebab shop.
Davey, who is also a psychotherapist, describes her approach to the project: ‘Firstly, as a mother I’m interested in the relational aspects of adolescence. I’m also fascinated with this developmental stage when a child starts to individuate and separate from their parents. There is this particular point in time when you have a child and adult in the same body, which is why it’s such a complex and potentially confusing time. During this period of transition, there is a very short and specific ‘window’ when a person can behave in a way, which is free of the weight of societal expectations and norms. Before too long the window closes and we can forget how it felt to be ‘untethered’.’
A true treat for the eyes is currently on view at the Clairefontaine gallery in Luxembourg: still life photographs from concentration and inner peace, which are printed with precious platinum palladium on a high quality Gampi paper.
Ryuji Taira is a quiet observer, he loves nature and loneliness. He explains that, during hikes, faded plants or dead insects often fascinate him. An ephemeral nature expressed through them inspires the artist to seek a new beginning. He wants to immortalize the fragile beauty of these creations on platinum palladium prints.
The exhibition presents over 200 images by Helmut Newton, one of the most important and famous photographers of the twentieth century. It collects together images from "White Women", "Sleepless Nights", and "Big Nudes", the first three books by Newton published at the end of the 1970s, books that are today considered legendary and which were the only ones to be edited by Newton himself. When selecting the photos, Newton interspersed a sequence, one next to another, of shots that had been commissioned with those he had made for himself, thus constructing a narrative which was a search for style, for the discovery of elegant gestures underpinned by the existence of a further reality, of something that it is up to the viewer to interpret.
For "White Women", published in 1976, Newton chose 84 images (44 in color and 40 in black and white) and, for the first time, introduced nudity and eroticism into fashion photography. Balanced between art and fashion, the shots are mainly of female nudes through which he presented contemporary fashion. These visions had their origins in the history of art, in particular in the Maja desnuda and the Maja vestida by Goya, works now in the Prado, Madrid. Newton’s provocation with his introduction of radical nudity in fashion photography was then taken up by many other photographers and directors and was to remain the symbol of his personal artistic output.
Once again it is women, with their bodies and clothes, that are at the centre of "Sleepless Nights", published in 1978. In this case, however, Newton began to explore a vision that transformed the images from fashion photos into portraits, and from portraits into reportage, almost …
Edwynn Houk Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of recent work by Abelardo Morell (American, b. Cuba, 1948), which marks the artist's third one-person show at the gallery. The exhibition consists of 20 large-scale photographs from his series "Flowers for Lisa," which is comprised of variations on the theme of floral still lifes. "Flowers for Lisa" is titled after and dedicated to Morell's wife of over 40 years, Lisa McElaney. The artist will be present at the opening reception on Thursday, 9 March from 6-8pm.
In 2014 Abelardo Morell made a photograph of flowers for his wife's birthday. What started as an ordinary bouquet, set up in a vase in the artist's studio, became the impetus for an investigation into the depiction of floral arrangements throughout the history of art. Morell shot the same bouquet many times, rearranging it over and over in the same vase, and photographing it repeatedly. After making over 20 photographs of the various arrangements, Morell digitally compiled the multiple exposures, letting the computer software try to make sense of the chaos of imagery to form one image. The resulting photograph, "Flowers for Lisa, 2014" is a demonstration of the passage of time that challenges the very definition of a still life (a picture consisting predominantly of inanimate objects). This single picture captures the transformation of freshly cut flowers into bending, wilting stems. Eventually losing their petals, they form puddles of color that twist into the wood veneer of the artist's work table, dissolving and disappearing before our eyes.
There is no doubt that Helmut Newton is one of the foremost photographers of the 20th century; his extraordinary fashion and nude photographs and portraits continue to be shown to this day. Due to this fact, we also see all three main genres of this photographer here.
Moving beyond traditional forms of narration, Newton’s fashion photography is imbued with luxurious elegance and subtle seduction, cultural citations, and a surprising sense of humor. While living in Paris and Monte Carlo in the 1970s and 1980s the photographer developed his inimitable style, including the play with or total disregard for taboos.
Newton worked for numerous international magazines and also directly with designers and fashion houses. It is common knowledge that women’s fashion aims to seduce and that photographers are hired to support this. In the 1970s, Newton took a decided step further by using reluctant or pure nudity within the visual world of fashion. In ambient luxurious hotels, he would suggestively slide down the model’s shoulder strap to reveal her nipple, while for a night shot in a Parisian alleyway alongside a model clad in an Yves Saint-Laurent tuxedo he posed a second woman naked. While such unusual pictures both astonished and provoked the scene, above all, they revolutionized fashion photography. Furthermore, Newton’s photographs reflected on the transformation of the role of women in Western society at that time.
This spring, the Surinaams Museum in Paramaribo presents work by Jacquie Maria Wessels. In the exhibition Cityscapes + Birdmen photo's of city scenes in Paramaribo alternate with portraits of birdmen, creating a layered image of Suriname’s culture and society.
Birdmen
Between 2006 and 2009 Jacquie Maria Wessels made portraits of macho Surinamese men who are obsessed with their little songbirds. In the songbird contests, one of the most popular sports in Suriname, men from all segments of the population come together amiably, in peaceful combat over which bird sings the best. Stereotypical male attributes such as clothing, cars and motorcycles play an important role in this lifestyle but in the photographs by Wessels the men also reveal another side of themselves.
After the independence of Suriname in 1975 this pastime came to The Netherlands along with the Surinamers. Both in Suriname and in The Netherlands, the contests are held very early on Sunday mornings: in Paramaribo on Independence Square and in The Netherlands on lawns in parks in Amsterdam, The Hague and other cities.
Cityscapes
The urban landscape photographs provide an external context of the subject’s home environment. These city scenes are dominated by the typically Surinamese wall paintings: hand-painted advertisements containing hyper-realistic depictions of tools, soup cans, oatmeal, hot dogs and other products, along with exhortations like "Do your best in school"...
Like the ringmaster Monsieur Loyal, Guillaume Martial introduces us to his new show, a playful and offbeat universe of photography filled with the magic of movement and the illusion of reality. So - drum roll! - the red curtain opens up and we enter Footlights!
Footlights is the title chosen by French photographer Guillaume Martial for this exhibition, which presents several of his recent series. It is also the original title of Charlie Chaplin’s only novel : it was unpublished during his lifetime but became the screenplay for his last film shot in America, finally retitled Limelight.
The choice of this title shows how much the photographer is engaged in this cinematographic tradition. He studied cinema and has always admired Jacques Tati to the point of spending several months in residency on the shooting location of Jour de Fête. Since then, he has been adding a touch of burlesque in each of his series.
Guillaume Martial created a character, his fictional double. This slender silhouette, instantly recognizable and sculpted by the practice of high-level figure skating, animates each scene and transforms an outwardly documentary photography into an illusionist performance.
An important 11-part Panorama of San Francisco from California St. Hill taken in 1877 by the pioneering British photographer, Eadweard Muybridge, is among the highlights of Bonhams Photographs sale in New York on Tuesday April 25. It is estimated at US$40,000-60,000.
The images were taken from the central tower of the Mark Hopkins' residence, at the corner of California and Mason Streets, on Nob Hill. It took Muybridge around five hours to create the photographs, beginning in the late morning and moving the camera in a clockwise direct to keep the sun behind him. He made the final print in the mid-afternoon. The original price for the panorama was US$8 unmounted or US$10 with a bound album.
The sale also features two works by the Brazilian sculptor-turned-photographer, Vik Muniz, known for recreating famous imagery from art history and pop culture. Among other sources, he has drawn inspiration from the mosaics in the Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna Italy as seen in Still Life with Lemons, Oranges, and a Rose, after Francisco de Zurbarán, from Pictures of Magazines. Estimated at US$18,000-25,000, the print dates from 2004, and is signed and numbered 5 from an edition of 6. Teacher (Joseph Beuys), from Pictures in Chocolate, 1999 is a tribute to the influential German performance and visual artist, Joseph Beuys. Artist’s proof number one of three from an edition of three, it is signed by the artist and estimated at US$30,000-40,000.
In the 1930’s Ludwig Jindra was commissioned by his government to conduct a "world tour" and record his travels photographically. The Collection, which is being sold by the son of a close friend, comprises some 500 30 x 38 cm monochrome images, inscribed and stamped, and mounted two to a board.
The collection includes some wonderful images of the Far East inc. China, North Africa recording the Tuareg and Nigerian peoples c. 1935, London just post war and a trip to the Kruger Park in the 1950’s. The Collection is an important ethnographic record of the mid 20th century.
Leigh Ledare (b. 1976), still from Vokzal, 2016. 16mm film, color, sound; 58 min. Collection of The Art Institute of Chicago, Restricted gift of the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation; image courtesy the artist and Mitchell Innes & Nash, New York.
The 2017 Whitney Biennial, the seventy-eighth installment of the longest-running survey of American art, arrives at a time rife with racial tensions, economic inequities, and polarizing politics. Throughout the exhibition, artists challenge us to consider how these realities affect our senses of self and community. The Biennial features sixty-three individuals and collectives whose work takes a wide variety of forms, from painting and installation to activism and video-game design.
In a suite of photographs from her new project, The Silent General, An-My Lê examines allusions to the past in modern-day Louisiana. In one image, a monument to a Confederate Army general quietly interrupts a quotidian urban landscape; another captures a moment on the set of a recent film about a Confederate Army deserter. As in so many of Lê’s works, in these images the imagined past and the actual present coexist in the same frame, begging the question: when does history end and the present begin? Taken as a group, the photographs propose that perhaps history never ends, that the raw materials of America’s bloodiest war—issues of race, class, labor, and wealth—are still deeply enmeshed in the landscape of the United States and the fabric of its society.
