Archives
volume 23 (11.2009-12.2009)
Video Interview: Klavdij Sluban's Photography Workshops in Jails
In this 8-minute video interview, French photographer Klavdij Sluban talks about his work with juveniles imprisoned in jails around the world.
Dust Book
French photographers Aline Diépois and Thomas Gizolme have created a hybrid, bizarre and fun photobook —
part travel journal,
part scrapbook,
plus a healthy dose
of hallucinatory experiences from their road trip in the
American West.
Drug Trafficking in West Africa
2009 Portfolio Prize winner Marco Vernaschi documents the violence and tragedy taking place right now in Guinea-Bissau.
Jeff Cowen: Attacus Atlas
A new exhibition in Paris reveals all-new sculptural photomurals, hand-cut collages, and other photo-based artwork by Jeff Cowen.
Eiffel Tower Replicas
Korean photographer Han Sungpil explores the worldwide phenomenon of replicas of this iconic structure. We have his text in both English and Korean.
From Back Home
Anders Petersen and JH Engström were both born in the same remote province in Sweden, but generations apart. Together they revisited Värmland, and documented their experiences with two distinct photographic styles.
Marc Feustel writes a review of this great book.
Cuba: Campo Adentro
Susan Bank
self-published this
book of photographs of Cuban tobacco farmers and their families to great acclaim in 2008.
These portraits are raw, yet poetic, and
full of humor and compassion.
BMW Prize 2009 Finalists
Discover each of the 20 finalists chosen this year for the $18,000 Prix BMW. The theme is: "When was the last time you experienced something for the first time?" As always, it's an eclectic mix.
Prix Pictet Finalists
Twelve great photographers are finalists for the yearly Prix Pictet award for photography that promotes environmental sustainability. See a selection of the short-listed work.
Paolo Roversi: Studio
Fashion and celebrity photographer Paolo Roversi has just published a romantic photobook of some of his favorite images, plus some personal shots from inside his studio.
Winners: Lens Culture
International Exposure Awards 2009
After sifting through and evaluating more than 6,000 photographs submitted by photographers from 48 countries on six continents … the panel of judges for the Lens Culture International Exposure Awards 2009 have chosen the winners. Top prize went to Italian photographer Marco Vernaschi for his disturbing photo-essay about the effects of drug trafficking in a small West African country. Top prizes in the Single Image category were awarded to Brad Moore, Stella Johnson, and Laura Pannack. And 25 photographers from 13 countries won Honorable Mentions. Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all of the participants and everyone who made this competition such a success!
Paris Photo 2009: Preview
Paris Photo, the largest and perhaps most important international photography fair in the world, opens its doors on November 19, 2009. This year, in addition to exhibitors from all corners of the globe, there will be a special emphasis on photography from the Arab world and Iran. See 150-plus preview photos here.
Laura Sackett: Liminal Portraits
Teenage identity has been the focus of many recent series of photography portraits. Using a unique approach, Barcelona-based photographer Laura Sackett explores the concept of teenage portraits made remotely through the internet via iChat — a significant way in which her subjects actually see and interact with each other.
Lucia Ganieva: Factory
These triptychs depict disappearing links in the "supply chain" of a globalized marketplace. Each is like a fragment of a novel based in this once-bustling factory town just outside of Moscow. Photographer Lucia Ganieva connects her photographs like lines of haiku — each one registers a different emotion.
Archives
volume 22 (9.2009-10.2009)
Covered
British photographer Peter Ainsworth has photographed carefully wrapped plants in a winter garden, as if they were works of sculpture.
Enchanted Spaces Interiors of private dwellings from all over the world are captured with beautiful natural light, just as they are, by photographer Maarigje de Maar.
In Whose Name?
"Does one form of religious intolerance lead to another?" Abbas traveled to 16 countries to try to sort out this thorny question.
We English
Simon Roberts travelled far and wide throughout his native England to capture contemporary photographs of his fellow countrymen and fabled landscapes. The results are poetic, stunningly beautiful, and sometimes quite humorous.
Home Work
Part artist, part sociologist, Tessa Bunney explores domestic labor in and around Hanoi, Vietnam.
Noorderlicht 2009
Five guest curators each present a unique response to the topic of Conflict this year at the Noorderlicht Photofestival in the Netherlands.
Not Natasha
Dana Popa reports from the Republic of Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, and the main exporter of sex slaves for the whole continent.
Fotografías Mínimas
Argentine photographer Leandro Piñeiro has been making street photography in downtown Buenos Aires since 2002. Kate Stanworth reviews his new photobook.
Lost Istanbul:1950s and 60s
A retrospective of Magnum photographer Ara Güler's photographs from his native Turkey show Istanbul as a bustling, thriving, romantic city in the mid-20th century.
Photobook: Georgian Spring
In the form of a travel journal, 10 Magnum photographers provide a multi-perspective view of contemporary life in this former Soviet country.
Vessels and Interiors
Korean photographer Bohnchang Koo creates wonderfully quiet, elegant photographs of rare Korean white porcelain ceramics, in two related series.
Photoquai 2009 World Images
Photoquai 2009, the 2nd biennial photo festival of world images in Paris, is focusing on the themes of politics, society and poetry, and featuring the work of 50 contemporary photographers. See 60 preview photos here.
Okurimono
Christian Houge guides us into a mystery between the ritualized shapes of the traditional and withdrawn Zen garden in Kyoto and the equally ritualized spaces of futuristic, urban Tokyo.
Out of Season
Reinaldo Loureiro has documented the world's largest concentration of high-tech plastic greenhouse farms on the coast of Spain, as well as the illegal immigrants who provide the cheap labor there to feed most of Europe.
If the Light Goes Out:
Home from Guantanamo
UK photographer Edmund Clark shows what remains of the US detainment center at Guantanamo Bay, and he also photographs the homes to which some of the former detainees have returned.
Springs and Swamps
American photographer Karen Glaser has spent lots of time in, around, and under the waters of lush, exotic areas of the Everglades in Florida, translating her visceral experiences into stunning works of natural beauty.
Archives
volume 21 (6.2009-8.2009)
David Lynch
Film-maker David Lynch made 50 odd photographs in a collaboration with Danger Mouse.
Boarding
House
The latest book from South African photographer Roger Ballen is both beautiful and disturbing. In an exclusive audio interview, Ballen talks about this new work.
Everyone My Brother Knows in Girdwood, Alaska
Laura Domela captures affectionate hyper-real portraits of the characters who live in her brother's small home town in Alaska.
Arles Photo Festival Preview
See more than 90 preview photos from the largest photo festival in Europe— now in its 40th year.
Karambolage/
Smash-up
Arnold Odermatt was a police photograper in a small Swiss canton for more than 40 years. He often took two sets of photographs at the scenes of accidents: one standard shot for the police, and more artful photographs for his own collection.
Zidlicky
Retrospective
A new, beautifully printed book celebrates a 30-year retrospective of the dream-like artwork of Czech photographer Vladimir Zidlicky.
Women
at Work
Young Finnish photographer Joel Gräfnings is working on a series of photographs focusing on women who work in male-dominated environments.
Domésticas
Slovakian documentary photographer Andrej Balco explores the oddly entwined relationships between masters and servants in wealthy middle-class Brazil.
Laurie Lambrecht:
Inside Roy Lichtenstein's Studio
American photographer Laurie Lambrecht spent three years taking pictures in the studio of Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Her photographs offer us a rare and intimate look into the creative working processes of one of the 20th Century's most prominent artists.
Stefania Gurdowa:
Negatives Are To Be Stored
A new book features extraordinary glass-negative portraits from the recently rediscovered archive of little-known Polish photographer Stefania Gurdowa, who died in 1968. Her unnamed, unknown subjects of all ages look out at us like living history.
Andrzej Kramarz: Rzeczy (Things)
Polish photographer Andrzej Kramarz spent two-and-a-half years making pictures of eclectic collections and bizarre jumbles of objects he discovered at flea markets in Krakow.
Adam Panczuk: Actors
Images of a disappearing culture: Polish photographer Adam Panczuk is documenting the transformation of Polish village life. This series offers some beautiful images of folk-theatre performers.
Carlo Gianferro: Roma Interiors
Carlo Gianferro won a first prize at the World Press Photo Awards for his portraits of wealthy Roma families at home in their new opulent interiors.
Archives
volume 20 (4.2009-5.2009)
Obama's People: interview with Nadav Kander
Working for "The New York Times", London-based photographer Nadav Kander was given unprecedented access to make portraits of 52 new incoming members of Obama's administration just weeks before they moved into the White House. Kander spoke with Lens Culture in an exclusive audio interview about this fun but daunting task.
Suburban Slovakia
This photo essay by Andrej Balco is an intimate view into the lives of people in old prefab apartment blocks in Slovakia.
Eleventh Finger
Paris-based artist Yuki Onodera combines quirky hand-cut paper masks with surreptitious photographs of strangers in city streets.
The Quiets
Visual haiku from Timo Kelaranta of the Helsinki School.
Hong Kong Reminiscence 1958
Japanese photographer Shigeichi Nagano just released a new book of photos taken 50 years ago. Marc Feustel writes a glowing review.
Spring-Summer 2008
Illegal street vendors in Tuscany are photographed hiding behind the counterfeit fashion items that the tourists love to buy at bargain prices. Photographs by Gianmaria Gava.
Recent Work by Ralph Gibson
An exhibition in Paris features nudes and other artful black-and-whites by American master Ralph Gibson.
Strangely Familiar
Photographs by Michal Chelbin. This book, published by Aperture in 2008, reveals a disquieting view of daily life for people in various small traveling performing groups.
Scarlett Coten: Still Alive
French photographer Scarlett Coten has
spent a couple years living and photographing throughout Egypt. Her series of diptychs reverberate with intimate life and luscious color. A personal poetic essay (in French, with an English translation) provides interesting insight into her experiences with these timeless cultures.
Guy Tillim:
Documentary in a New Context
South African photographer Guy Tillim creates lush, complex, interweaving photo essays that seem more like nonfiction novels than photojournalism. Listen to a great 18-minute audio interview with the photographer.
Malick Sidibé Interview
African Photographer Malick Sidibé chronicled the exuberant life of the young people in Sudan in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. We have some wonderful photos and a remarkable interview.
Salt Water Tears in Bangladesh
Wasif Munem was awarded a special prize by the Prix Pictet last year to document the struggles of people in Bangladesh who have lost practically all of their natural resources and ways of life as a result of short-sighted shrimp farming along the coastline. Text by Francis Hodgson.
Aki Lumi: Traceryscape
Monochrome photographs of everyday landscapes and urban scenes are superimposed with crisply detailed line drawings, colored ink, and magnified wings of flies. Photo-based artwork by Aki Lumi,
text by Linn K.
Archives
volume 19 (1.2009-3.2009)
World Press
Photo Winners
2009
Discover the photos considered to be the best in worldwide photojournalism. Lens Culture features the winners in a high-resolution slideshow.
David LaChapelle Retrospective in Paris
American Pop Photo Artist David LaChapelle makes work that is usually over-the-top. This show highlights some of his best.
Transparent City
Architectural abstraction meets high-tech voyeurism in Michael Wolf's recent photographic study of downtown Chicago. Someone described this work as “Edward Hopper meets Blade Runner."
Love Me, Turkmenistan
Nicholas Righetti’s new photobook takes a serious/playful look at the ubiquitous shrines of propaganda (and other absurdities) erected throughout Turkmenistan to fuel the megalomania of the evil and demented President for Life, Saparmurat Niyazov.
Last Stop: Rockaway Park
A close-knit community of impoverished social outcasts live on an isolated peninsula at the far edge of New York City. Juliana Beasley has befriended many of these people, and has documented the squalor of their lives for the past four years.
Trans Siberian Flipbook
Jeff Vanderpool photographed literally thousands of landscapes and scenes that passed by during one train journey from Moscow to Beijing. Every image was shot from inside the train. Far from being a travelogue, this series explores the intersection of imagination and memory.
Dogs Can't Read
As a personal side-project, Daniel Milnor photographs dogs in the streets of many of the exotic cities where he is sent on assignment. He's created a series of self-published books of dogs (and graffiti) from Palermo, Tijuana, Paris and New York.
Heavy Light
This book, created to accompany the exhibit at ICP, provides a subjective and lively overview of contemporary Japanese lens-based art. The work of 13 artists is presented, along with personal and insightful interviews with each artist.
Little Austria
Residents of quaint summer cottages in Austria agreed to be photographed in their tidy gardens by Italian photographer Gianmaria Gava. What's unique about them is that they are clustered together in a tiny patch of urban oasis in downtown Vienna — a walled-in, fairytale community surrounded by concrete offices and industrial buildings.
Looking at the U.S. 1957-1986
A retrospective of the documentary photography of Fred Baldwin and Wendy Watriss touches on important historic events that still vibrate with relevance today.
Beijing to
St. Petersburg
Dee O'Connell captured moments of surreal dislocation as she traveled on the Trans Siberian Railway in the dead of winter. She savored her trip across seven time zones by taking "lo-fi" photos with her point-and-shoot camera.
Visual Haiku
The small poetic photographs of Masao Yamamoto seem to come from another era, filled with lost memories and nostalgia. In a great interview, the photographer talks about his work and passions.
Roger Ballen Interview,
and Recent Photographs
Beautiful, surreal and disturbing, the artwork of Roger Ballen has attracted vocal criticism — positive and negative — since the early 1990s. In an exclusive audio interview for Lens Culture, Ballen talks at length about his photography. Listen to the interview while looking at 25 recent photographs.
Look Me in the Eyes:
Russian Photographic Portraits
An eclectic exhibition at the Russian Tea Room Gallery in Paris pulls together photographic portraits made by two generations of Russian photographers.
Twentysix Abandoned Gasoline Stations
French photographer Eric Tabuchi has created a modern day reprise of Ed Ruscha's ground-breaking artist's book from 1963. Forty-five years later, Tabuchi documents an assortment of odd iconic structures that are now lifeless ruins.
Diane Ducruet: Family Games
In a brilliant new photobook, French photographer Diane Ducruet has come up with a thought-provoking series of staged portraits that play with the ideas of family dynamics, identity, control, influence, postures of power, and more.
Hiroh Kikai: Asakusa Portraits
No doubt, this the best photobook to be published in 2008. After working in near obscurity for 30 years, Hiroh Kikai has emerged as a modern-day master portrait maker, patiently documenting eccentric people who pass through an old neighborhood in Tokyo that used to be the city's entertainment district. He's in the same league with Diane Arbus and August Sander. Read the book review, plus a great interview with Kikai by Marc Feustel.
Fault Line Turkey
Turkey is experiencing massive, rapid migration from rural communities into brand-new expanses of impersonal housing on the borders of larger cities. George Georgiou has been documenting this change for four-and-a-half years. Here we show work from two ongoing projects.