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2D Flower, 2016, Elspeth Diederix/Stigter van Doesburg

Old acquaintances and new talents at Unseen Amsterdam

The sixth edition of the renowned fair for contemporary photography again offers plenty of surprises and inspiration. The truly pioneering event taking place from 22 to 24 September at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, offers many accompanying programs such as CO-OP, the Book Market and the Living Room, The Exhibition, Onsite Projects and City Programme.

At the Unseen Photofair, 53 international galleries are represented, 80 of the exhibiting artists will present their new photographic works, which have not yet been shown in any gallery or exhibitions.

https://unseenamsterdam.com

 

#6, from the series Forest, 2017, Sandra Kantanen
#6, from the series Forest, 2017, Sandra Kantanen/Purdy Hicks Gallery

 

Backside of Light, 2017, Andreas Gefeller/Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen
04, from the series Backside of Light, 2017, Andreas Gefeller/Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen

 

Nakanoshima, Corona, from the series Stay, 2016, Charlotte Dumas/andriesse eyck galerie
Nakanoshima, Corona, from the series Stay, 2016, Charlotte Dumas/andriesse eyck galerie

 

Highway 9, Tivoli, NY, 2016, Raymond Meeks/Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen
Highway 9, Tivoli, NY, 2016, Raymond Meeks/Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen

 

2D Flower, 2016, Elspeth Diederix/Stigter van Doesburg
2D Flower, 2016, Elspeth Diederix/Stigter van Doesburg

 

Untitled from the series La noche oscura diptych, 2017, Anais Boudot/Galerie Binôme
Untitled from the series La noche oscura diptych, 2017, Anais Boudot/Galerie Binôme

 

The Lamppost, 2015, Stanislaw Lewkowicz/Flatland Gallery
The Lamppost, 2015, Stanislaw Lewkowicz/Flatland Gallery

 

Egbert and his underpants, 2009-2015, Hanne van der Woude/Van der Mieden Gallery
Egbert and his underpants, 2009-2015, Hanne van der Woude/Van der Mieden Gallery

 

Pond I, from the series Utopian Waters, 2017, Daniel Shea/Webber
Pond I, from the series Utopian Waters, 2017, Daniel Shea/Webber

 

Untitled 50, Amani, 2015, Evgenia Arbugaeva/The Photographers Gallery
Untitled 50, Amani, 2015, Evgenia Arbugaeva/The Photographers Gallery

 

Winter 3, 2016, Ralf Peters/BERNHARD KNAUS FINE ART
Winter 3, 2016, Ralf Peters/BERNHARD KNAUS FINE ART

 

Headland Of Dreams 2, from the Headland of Dreams series, 2015, Julien Mauve/Galerie Intervalle
Headland Of Dreams 2, from the Headland of Dreams series, 2015, Julien Mauve/Galerie Intervalle

 

Untitled, from the series Illuminance, 2009, Rinko Kawauchi/Christophe Guye Galerie
Untitled, from the series Illuminance, 2009, Rinko Kawauchi/Christophe Guye Galerie

 

Untitled, 2016, Rogier Houwen/Kahmann Gallery
Untitled, 2016, Rogier Houwen/Kahmann Gallery

 

#3, from the series Beyond Here Is Nothing,2017, Laura El-Tantawy/Seen Fifteen
#3, from the series Beyond Here Is Nothing,2017, Laura El-Tantawy/Seen Fifteen

 

Le monde avant la création de l´homme III, 2015, Daan Paan/LhGWR
Le monde avant la création de l´homme III, 2015, Daan Paan/LhGWR

 

Untitled, from the series Night Procession, 2017, Stephen Gill/Christophe Guye Galerie
Untitled, from the series Night Procession, 2017, Stephen Gill/Christophe Guye Galerie
Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Goodbye Pyongyang – Paulo Simão

This week, I stumbled across this adorable project, which, especially after the recent events in Pyongyang that made the world pretty much shudder, touches on issues perfectly related to this. The Portuguese photographer, Paulo Simão, takes us on a fictitious trip to North Korea, and handles two very exciting aspects in doing so: the extremely restrictive dictatorship of Kim Jong-un, which is, as it were, almost entirely isolated and violates human rights domestically, as well as the distortion of reality through fictional representations, through staged events and the instrumentalisation of fake messages. Both are themes that leave behind a very anxious feeling due to arbitrariness and the apparent powerlessness of undeceived democratic human beings.

Simão manages to create this anxiety with the viewer, and, so to speak, adds a touch of ease to the theme with his way of transforming this adopted strange and absurd reality. With his playful creativity, he addresses the manipulation of images and messages, as well as the cruel arbitrariness of a dictator, and makes it captivating and enticing at the same time.

All pictures were taken in Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.

 

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

 

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

Paulo Simão - Goodbye Pyongyang - The South Edition

 

 

www.paulosimao.pt

All images © courtesy of Paulo Simão

Philippe Bordas - Souley - The South Edition

Stuff we love from the Paris Photo Fair 2016

A year after Paris attacks and the related early termination of the Paris Photo Fair 2015 the persons engaged in the cultural sector are looking into the future. There is a great solidarity – however, it is a long way to return to normality.

Here we can only show a few works from the sheer diversity of works shown in Paris this year. Probably this is nothing new for you but this is what we really like.

Also always great is the great virtual tour every year, highly recommended!
http://www.parisphoto.com/fr/paris/visite-virtuelle-2016#/accueil/

Boomoon, Skogar #5084 - The South Edition
Boomoon, Skogar #5084

 

Harry Callahan, Weed Against Sky, Detroit - The South Edition
Harry Callahan, Weed Against Sky, Detroit

 

Philippe Bordas - Souley - The South Edition
Philippe Bordas, Souley (Les cavaliers Mossi), 2012

 

Philippe Dudouit, Ubari, Southern Libya 2, 2015. Tuareg tribal militia group vehicle. From the series,'THE DYNAMICS OF DUST' - The South Edition
Philippe Dudouit, Ubari, Southern Libya 2, 2015. Tuareg tribal militia group vehicle. From the series,’THE DYNAMICS OF DUST‘

 

Eric Dessert, Sichuan, Chine - The South Edition
Eric Dessert, Sichuan, Chine

 

Gérard Traquandi, Sans titre  - The South Edition
Gérard Traquandi, Sans titre

 

Pierre Gonnord, Swamp IV - The South Edition
Pierre Gonnord, Swamp IV

 

Adam Jeppesen, Incahuasi I - The South Edition
Adam Jeppesen, Incahuasi I

 

Risaku Suzuki, SAKURA 16,4-11 - The South Edition
Risaku Suzuki, SAKURA 16,4-11

 

Masao Yamamoto, Tori  - The South Edition
Masao Yamamoto, Tori

 

Rikard Laving, De la série Caravan- The South Edition
Rikard Laving, De la série Caravan

 

Jungjin Lee, Série Everglades #25  - The South Edition
Jungjin Lee, Série Everglades #25

 

Nils Udo, “Sequoia Piece” – Vancouver - The South Edition
Nils Udo, “Sequoia Piece” – Vancouver

http://www.parisphoto.com/

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water – Zhang Kechun

After viewing the images of Zhang Kechun his work did not release me anymore. „Between the mountains and water“ is more than a specific view on today’s China. These images have a soothing influence and it feels like coming closer and closer to a supposed awareness of life and to a very personal view of the artist on his country.

 

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

Between the mountains and water - Zhang Kechun - The South Edition

www.zhangkechun.com

All images © courtesy of Zhang Kechun

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Diary of an Italian Borderworker – Fabrizio Albertini

With „Diary of an Italian Border Worker“ the italian photographer Fabrizio Albertini takes up the thematic of cross-border workers in Switzerland, a situation that is well known to many people in the neighbouring countries. Border workers are workers who travel daily across the border to get to their workplace. They are confronted day-to-day with the challenges of identity formation and the issues of foreignness and belonging.

Many commuters work in Switzerland, as Switzerland was barely able to meet the demand for skilled workers. They make up a large part in several industries. Since Switzerland is not a member of the EU, the status of these commuters is subject to various agreements and laws.

In addition, a national conservative party formed an initiative against immigration in Switzerland. The swiss approved a referendum and votes against „mass immigration“. A new law will introduce annual quotas on foreign workers and will affect border workers in the future.

 

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

„State Route 34, Lake Maggiore. It’s a beautiful day, finally. “Nothing to Declare” hangs from my rear-view mirror. Customs. Shift to second gear. The border guard looks me over quickly. “Ok”. I lift my hand a fraction off the wheel. I don’t say “Thankyou”. A nod is enough. Switzerland, Ticino. Second, third, fourth.

I drive an Alfa Romeo-cum-rubbish dump. Dust covers the dashboard, the windows are filthy and the metallic grey bodywork is covered with salt. I’ve grown attached to this car. It’s become a home, a ferry that glides between one bank and the other. I continue on National highway 13 for a few kilometres. Palms and construction sites hug the lake. In the distance, the peaks of the mountains are covered in snow. I flip through radio stations; nothing interesting.. Near the speed gauge a warning light flashes: I’m running on empty. I put on my blinker at the first petrol station. I park and get out of the car. The freezing air constricts my lungs; Spring hasn’t arrived here yet. I do up my jacket and grab the hose. Open the tank flap, unscrew the lid, shove the nozzle into the fill pipe and squeeze the trigger. The currency exchange kiosk has a new window display. A pop-art installation. A pedestal, in doric style, about a meter tall, it’s capital sporting a plastic ivy pot plant. The plant’s leaves hang to the ground to brush the petroleum green carpet. From the ceiling the owner has hung a paper-money mobile of every denomination. Swiss francs and Euro. I realize that the window is bullet proof. Next to the entrance, leaning on a standing bar table, two construction workers drink a panaché. A panaché is beer mixed with lemonade, the staple beverage around these parts. Yellow as pale lager. Not bad. At the diesel pump a man in his seventies argues with his wife. They make an elegant couple. He is wearing an improbably colourful tie while his wife, not to be outdone, is wearing a short jacket with prominent shoulder pads. They have an old mercedes R129. Nineties model, same as them. Beautiful.

The nozzle jerks suddenly. The tank is full. I look at the litre counter and how much I owe. I hurry into the shop, eager to be out of the cold.

I grew up bare kilometres from the border. My parents were border-workers; I live in a town of border-workers; I am a border-worker. I am Italian. I’m in Switzerland.

I’m not so very far from home, and yet everything is different. It’s in the unfamiliar details. I’m not used to it yet. Still. The colours, the houses, the schools, the cafés, the food, the automobiles, the clothes, the people, this petrol pump and everything that goes with it. I feel distant. I am so very far from home. I feel like a foreigner.“ – Fabrizio Albertini

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

Fabrizio Albertini - Diary of an Italian Borderworker

http://www.fabrizioalbertini.com

All images © courtesy of Fabrizio Albertini

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli

Artificial Infinite – Fernando Maselli

Landscapes, as they could not be more beautiful and lonely. Symmetrical arranged mountain ranges and peaks, staggered in the depth. The digital works of photographer Fernando Maselli appear almost meditative. The images of his series „Artificial Infinite“ show nature – but an artificial landscape, a corrected nature, constructed from original images and various digital techniques. The results provide new sensory experiences, the viewer loses himself through the staggered composition of the space in a sublime illusion of depth.

„I take my pictures after long expeditions into wilderness and spend several days until I find the right moment for taking the photo. I consider the technical factor an important element in my compositions, so I work with large format cameras or elaborate photo manipulation processes that allow me to build artificial landscapes, based on fragments, cuts, repetitions and overlaps. My aim is to approach various manifestations of natural landscape in an empiricist way, linking them to my own sensory perception and from a neutral view, free from value judgements.“ – Fernando Maselli

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Dolomiti #1, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Brenta Massif, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Misurina Massif, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Fitz Roy, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Dolomiti #5, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Picos de Europa, 2013

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Monte Patterno, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Rosengarten Massif, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Macizo de Sella, 2014

 

Artificial Infinite - Fernando Maselli
Glaciers, 2014

 

www.fernandomaselli.com

All images © courtesy of Fernando Maselli

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether – Matthieu Gafsou

The ongoing series „ether“ by the Swiss photographer Matthieu Gafsou makes highly aesthetic structures of human existence and civilization photographically visible. The resulting fine lines and delicate shapes seem to underlie unitary principles and appear as a higher-order structure that is reminiscent of the shape of nature.

The captured and seemingly structured phenomena reminiscent of chemical compounds, scientific classification systems, physical laws – the poetic structure of the world. A genuine discovery

 

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

Ether, since 2014 (ongoing), © Matthieu Gafsou

http://www.gafsou.ch

All images © courtesy of Matthieu Gafsou

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Stateless – Gohar Dashti

With her work „Stateless“, the Iranian artists Gohar Dashti has analysed the subject of flight and migration. The series of staged photographs attempts to explore the aspects of citizenship, refuge and asylum and the need to find a secure place in a new environment. The spectacular scenery and the carefully staged protagonists confronts us in a restrained way with such situations of searching for an identity and a sense of security after fleeing from wars, violence or repressive regimes.  

„In every corner of the world, devastations of war, massacres, oppression, disease and death are the cause of widespread human disorders with no imaginable ending.

When disasters force people to migration, where would they be welcomed with open arms?

Hoping for a better life, they struggle in a never-ending limbo, a strange place with no identity that does not belong to them.

Maybe it is only at this point, when nature can be a safe haven for these refugees. Sky becomes the ceiling and mountains the walls of their new home; because Nature is the only promising place that shelters these people, an eternal and everlasting refuge.“

– Gohar Dashti

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

Gohar Dashti / Stateless 2014 , 2015

 

http://www.gohardashti.com

All images © courtesy of Gohar Dashti

© Petros Koublis

The Wonderful World of Petros Koublis

If you follow the photography scene, you probably know the magical images of Petros Koublis. With his work he may surprise us again and again and we cannot escape the aesthetic power.

The viewer catches a glimpse of the miraculous and, so to speak, wonderful dreamscape, which fascinate us with its qualities of poetry and sensuality.

 

„There is no beauty that is timeless but the timelessness of nature can reflect a new direction, maybe even a hope.
It’s not a blissful silence but it’s an inspiring one.“ – Petros Koublis

 

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

© Petros Koublis

http://www.petroskoublis.com

All images © courtesy of Petros Koublis

 

© Katrin Koenning

Indefinitely – Katrin Koenning

The work of the Melbourne-based artist Katrin Koenning invite us to take an extensive look at her conceptual approach to deal with her own personal family past. The personal migrant background and a family scattered all over the world are the basis for the artistic engagement with space and existence. 

Already her work „Dear Chris“ (2013), dedicated to her cousin’s husband who committed suicidehas touched us deeply. Her series „Indefinitely“ now wins the 2015 Daylight Photo Awards.

„Indefinitely is about love and a seemingly infinite space that is, in fact, filled to the rim with all kinds of things.“ – Katrin Koenning

 

© Katrin Koenning

© Katrin Koenning

© Katrin Koenning

© Katrin Koenning

© Katrin Koenning

© Katrin Koenning

© Katrin Koenning

© Katrin Koenning

 

http://www.katrinkoenning.com

http://daylightphotoawards.com

All images © courtesy of Katrin Koenning