The idea of nostalgia implies loss, memory, things or events seen from the blurry distance of time, old-fashioned ways. Young Russian photographer Denis Yakovlev is exploring the notions of nostalgia and identity in his native homeland by combining modern methods with much older ways to produce multi-layered platinum palladium contact prints on richly textured paper. The effects are both complex and simple. The ideas reverberate with melancholy, confusion and the discomfort of pulling away from old ways and breaking into the new. He seems like a young photographer to watch.
— Jim Casper
Editor's note: We met Denis Yakovlev, and discovered his work, at the excellent Photovisa Festival in Krasnodar, Russia in 2013.
Using collodion wet-plate techniques and photograms, collaborates with his subjects to expose their hands and their personalities. Without the distraction of faces, these images become honest and deeply perceptive portraits, reflecting the lifestyle, habits, and sensitivity of each subject.
Artist, author, iconoclast and provocateur, has been
playing with photography, media and authenticity since the mid-1980s.
In an exclusive audio interview, he talks about his motives, methods,
and why we should know that "every image is a trap."
For over two decades, Stephen Shames injected himself into the mean streets of the South Bronx and made pictures about the kind of life that he saw there— unflinching yet intimate, straight-shooting yet sensitive, objectively powerful but also full of personal emotion—this is a beautiful book.
Magnum photographer made a trek from Moscow to Ulan Bator to Beijing in one month — often making more than 1,000 photographs each day for 28 days straight. He reveals his process in this great 5 minute video interview.
