Solitude in Peace: This is @__circo
This interview was conducted by Valeria Cammareri @_soulkitchen_ and Marina Torchiana @gatta_randagia
Sunday Abstracts : February + March
Grryo believes that abstract artists deserve to be recognised. Every Sunday join us in celebrating creative photography and art, from collage, design, multi layered textural compositions, to minimal colour pieces. We want to see diversity and images that cross and merge the boundaries of our imaginations.
We hope to support the abstract arts community by having a place for artists to share imagery that goes beyond the everyday snapshot and pixel and is transformed into a digital artwork that makes you feel something. Abstract art needs to be seen and experienced. We look forward to you and your expressive art and we want to spread the word about your Abstract talents. Thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/arts community. Please join us by tagging your unique abstract images to #wearegrryo or #grryo.
We hope to see you there!
We invite you to take a look at these artist selections from February and March and experience their extraordinary galleries for yourselves.
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Erin McGean
Ground control to major tom. Take your protein pills and put your helmets on. Strap yourselves in and sprinkle yourselves with star dust every Sunday for Abstract Art features from all around the IG galaxy. First up in the digital stratosphere is the exceptionally talented graphical goddess and all round gorgeous being Erin @lifewithart who masterfully experiments with collage and editing elements to create wonderfully surreal images like this one – Iconoclast. Truly in a class of her own.
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Kim Meinelt
One of the things I love about Sundays is uncovering new artists that inspire, move or simply take my breath away. Looking through your images for this weeks grryo abstract feature i uncovered a dreamy, layered, gem of an artist whose work both transcends time and evokes a sense of mystery that leaves you wanting more and more.
Ethereal, dreamlike, poetry only begins to paint the artistry of the exquisite images of Kim @kimmibird where you can lose yourself in the layers of textures both hidden and revealed. Tattered and torn fragments and portals to a completely different reality, I highly recommend you visit.
yes, i’m Looking at You.
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Gary Edward Blum
If, like me, you adore subtle works on found paper, experiments with mixed media, expressive mark-making, and dabs of colour, then this dynamic combination of fields between painting and photography is just the sunday abstract discovery for you.
Gary Edward Blum @garyedwardblum is a deft hand with delicate lines, textures, and juxtapositions, and has a keen eye for still life which speaks my kind of visual language. There is nothing ‘incidental’ about his artwork, everything is carefully considered and thoughtfully placed. “Utilizing a mixture of realism and minimalist abstraction, I create a narrative between pictorial reality, artistic process and formal composition.” This converging contrast in his body of work highlights not only his remarkable vision of the world but teeters on the edge between real and perceived reality and abstraction, dotted with smears of colour along the way…
∞
₀ ₂ ₀ ₅ ₁ ₆
instagram | website
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Shuko Kawase
Its that time of the week again – Abstract Sunday, as the day draws to a close here in Australia. This time round we venture to Japan where @studioshuko caught my gaze with her hazy abstract umbrella in my favourite colour – red. Shuko Kawase’s delicate sensibilities and art leave a dusty and delightful impression on the senses. A dissolving rain of colour and an abstract silhouette bleeding at the edges as if seen through a foggy window or snow storm is just enough detail for our mind to fill in the gaps and form a picture in our minds of the mood and moment captured here in Hokkaido’s Moerenuma Park. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful memory of the day – Portrait of a lady.
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Bonny Breddels
App-stacking, there’s a term you dont hear much of these days… well guess what, i’m bringing it back with this beauty. And yes, i’ve checked, its still Sunday in the Netherlands where this weeks’ artist is from… When I asked Bonny about how she creates her images I was amazed how many levels of work went in to transform this ‘manny’ into an almost unrecognible but absolutely Abstract Sunday marvel. In case you were wondering – that’s a mannequin, for the uninitiated, and I love mannequins! Also, are you into textures, scratches, layers of type, creating a multifaceted, multilayered artwork? More is more with miss @beezzz_ and I couldnt help but notice how it adds depth to her dark, inkylicious, moody and mysterious images. For a unique beez eye look at the weird but oh so wonderful world of bonny, buzz on in to to her feed.
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Tim Matregrano
I hopped aboard the yellow submarine again with our latest artist, Tim Matregrano @ruxco_tim for this Sundays escapism treat. It’s been a bright, sunnylicious day here and i’m extremely excited to introduce you to the wonderful waves of moon beamy goodness that radiate from this space age digital collage artwork. But… rather than subject you to my nonsensical ramblings I’d rather you heard it from the man himself. You see, i’m a curious sort and asked the question, “Where does your inspiration come from?” His answer, like his creativity – was rather impressive, so i’ll share it with you now… “I enjoy seeking nuance from composition, shapes, color, texture, and finding the harmony and balance of these. I’ve found that I’m able to create these ‘strange’ scenes, or worlds, with mobile editing that I wasn’t able to achieve with my tactile art. Each piece is an experiment, a push to create the idea I have…” Oh and those tactile things? I wanna hear more about those – it sounds kinda fancy. Drawings, collages, sculptures too? Multitalented – yes. Do we dig it? Oh Yes.
No.230d
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Jeanette Vazquez
Don’t be fooled by the apparent simplicity of her photographs. There is something innately intuitive that I was drawn to with this artists’ work among the thousands of images tagged to the grryo gallery.
How she sees and more importantly how she feels what she photographs is really compelling. Her work is a mixture of abstract reflections and segments of street photography handled with a sensitivity and dusty use of colour that feels like its from a time gone by… Layer by layer she peels back the underlying essence of New York, as she sees it, a fleeting glance, a pair of heels walking out of frame, a window … A frame that is constantly moving and shifting, such an alluring picture of how she breathes in and paints the colours of the city through her eyes.
Thank you Jeanette Vazquez @_jeanettevazquez for revealing your fascinating fragments of art with us this Abstract Sunday. Please wander down the dusky pavements in her footsteps and take a peek into her beautiful world of photography.
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Andrew J Hays
What’s in a name? This week for our Sunday burst of Abstractness, a tidy little square package of pop sung out to my graphic heart in the mix of #wearegrryo. How could i go past this bright geometric image by Andrew Hays @andrewjhays . Who doesn’t need a few little splices of multicolour in their life, right?! I’m not always just about black and white you know, and what a mood lifting antidote with this selection. An Amalgamation of cool, cropped, compositionally, correct, crazy, colour treats with mind spinning minimalism. Linear pieces and slices of shadows on this delicious candy coloured wall. This refreshing blend of shapes and colours makes a lively geometric flavour combination for my Sunday Abstracts pick.
And yes getting back to Amalgamation, what a brilliant word and title.
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Agnès Lanteri
Immerse yourself in the creative work of the extraordinary artist Agnès Lanteri @ellla_k . She is an exquisite painter of light who has envisioned this brilliantly hued blue abstract piece called Passengers in Transit. This monochromatic mist series 3/6 is a beautiful balm for eyes that see beyond the routine of everyday life and recognise it a true piece of art.
Agnès handles colour and light like they were old friends, each going hand in hand, it doesn’t matter the subject, even a simple piece of fabric or a stranger on the move can be illuminated in her eyes.
This is a remarkable gift.
I for one want to take a meandering journey with this artist and escape into the dreamy quiet of her imaginative space, who’s with me?
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Heather McAlister
Graceful, captivating, and full of emotion, this exquisite celestial being Heather McAlister @poppybay takes my Abstract Sunday heart this week with an ethereal self portrait. From behind her gauzy veil her porcelain skin is illuminated against the murky shadows by a most radiant light.
I’m fascinated by art which strips back the layers and reveals something true and real about the artist themselves. Heather does that with elegance and a glowing bouquet of luminous colour cascading down her canvas.
An entrancing hum of divine, glorious, light and dark woven together with her gossamer thread.
It isn’t possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal. E.M. Forster
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There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.
Pablo Picasso
Intimacy and photography by Buku Sarkar
I mostly photograph in a big slum, the largest Muslim slum, in Calcutta. Narrow alleys, no wider than the width of one person, separate little houses.
There are no doors to these houses, only curtains. The alleyways are dark, even at night, only a light shining through a half open window might show the way. I stand in dark corners and photograph women at the counter of stores, or the visible legs of a man, sitting by the entryway of his home, behind half parted curtain.
I photograph lit windows, or passageways through which you see a broken chair, a wooden cot–parts of a home. These images contain all the possible stories I’d never know and lives I’d never live.
I am, by nature, shy. I don’t generally start conversations with strangers; a ‘people-person’ is not quite the accurate description for me. The camera is my buffer against the real world. It allows me to, in a sense, permeate through that curtain—that flimsy cloth of privacy— without really being noticed.
When I traded in the iPhone for a real camera, however, it was hard to go unnoticed. I was visiting the slum almost daily. My rolled up jeans and careless coiffure made me inevitably stand out from the sari and salwar clad women of the area. Soon the little children were pestering me to take their pictures. Women would push each other in front of my camera. Take a picture of her. Take a picture of her. Sometimes I would acquiesce.
Will you come to my house? A woman asked.
I was standing by a tea stall sipping chai. Mapping out my walk for the day. She pointed towards an alley beside a large construction site. A small shack, made of canvas and plastic stood at its corner, separated from the construction site by six feet of bamboo fence.
Will you come and take photographs of my house? You see, I have lived there for twenty five years but they are making me move.
She led the way and I followed.
The only furniture in the house was a large bed, a wall cabinet mounted on top of it and an iron cupboard in one corner. Clothes, enviably folded, were stacked neatly in a corner. Steel crockery shone from the cabinet. I took several pictures and in a few days, I returned to give her the prints.Then came more photo requests from others near by, more prints and more visits- a still ongoing cycle.
Invariably I’d be invited into someone’s home for tea, or to photograph a family gathered on the bed. These were strangers’ homes, homes of people with whom I’d have no connection with were it not for the camera. As someone who writes fiction, I had previously no intention of being a documenter of lives. Yet here I was, now the chronicler of the people of Park Circus Basti.
They were almost identical, these homes. Single rooms, no larger than a 100 sq. ft, where a family of four or more lived. On one end was always a big double bed. Sometimes, an old grandfather would be reading on it, sometimes, a young child sleeping, a scarf covering her face from the light. Those awake, sat on the floor watching television—mounted on the wall. A young girl might have been studying for her school. Every detail of their lives completely visible to me.
The camera, my wall against the world opened up a new form of intimacy between the slum dwellers and myself.
Portraits in themselves are an intimate form of photography, one I can’t say I’m very adept at. The very act of being photographed says—here is a record of me. And by recording it, a private moment has been exposed.
Portraits, by nature, unlike street photography, which is what I prefer to do, require a closeness between the photographer and the subject. A physical closeness, because you have to get closer to the subject…
…and the other kind of closeness- intimacy. A photographer sees his subject with a certain eye and he tries to capture a moment which speaks to him of what he sees. There is a connection, an interaction between the two— an intimacy that is recorded in the picture. and then exposed to the public.
A portrait is a dichotomy of the intimate inner and exposed outer. What is visible: the way one holds a cigarette, or slouches their chin when they are asleep and what can only be imagined: who was that woman peering out from the saris, hanging up to dry? She looks so enchanting. I must capture that. And that ‘that’ is what the photographer tries to create an intimacy with his subject for, to replicate in image.
As I wander through the traffic-less alleys, I cannot but help but think that no middle class or upper class home in the city would do such a thing—invite a stranger in, expose every little detail of what goes on behind closed doors.
I’m accustomed to an aunt visiting unannounced, or sweets sent across from a family friend. In India, we always keep doors open, in that sense. But there are always barriers: guests sit in the living room; if someone is sleeping, the bedroom door is always shut. As far as class is concerned, the barriers are even more rigid: a worker always stands outside the room; the gardener is never allowed to enter the house. But the people of Park Circus Basti keep their doors unabashedly open.
Contact:
Instagram: @bukusarkar
Web: www.bukusarkar.com
Postal by Gemma Antón, Orietta Gelardin Spinola, Ione Saizar
Postal is a project about short messages, or fragments (from the Latin word fragmentum, meaning “an isolated or incomplete part of something”). What is that something? In this case, it is our own daily realities. The daily realities of three different people. Each of us in a different part of the world, sending to one another our own pieces of a puzzle we share, which becomes real as the very process is taking place.
In each instance, a different private moment, selected or highlighted at random, becomes a new piece of that puzzle: a vanishing point of a singular reality, its fate to become part of a bigger picture. Part of a three-headed creature that will, at least for a while, inhabit a single body.
The old habit of sending postcards seems very apposite to our purpose; that gesture of travellers, beautiful in its simplicity, of sending something simply to say, “I’m thinking of you now”. Far from a long letter all about oneself “à la Sévigné”, it is precisely this mere glimpse, this awareness that something is incomplete, which allows us to experience a sense of process. Because this game we are playing creates its own meaning only at the time, and at the rhythm, in which it is being played out. Each postcard on its own is simply a decontextualized image of a mute hieroglyphic.
Derrida said that what he liked most about postcards was the fact that they were made to circulate like an open but illegible letter. We agree.
“ While you occupy yourself with turning it around in every direction, it is the picture that turns you around like a letter, in advance it deciphers you, it preoccupies space, it procures your words and gestures, all the bodies that you believe you invent in order to determine its outline. You find yourself, you, yourself, on its path.“
Jacques Derrida. The Post Card: From Socrates to Freud and Beyond
Perhaps what attracted us to this project was nothing more than an excuse to wander through the streets we are in, be they in Rome, Paris or London, whether it is somewhere close to where we live, or somewhere we may happen to be at any given moment. It is about an exchange of ideas and feelings within a context that is all to do with a plurality of expression, which is open to diversity, without rules or regulations. It is, quite simply, an exploration of individual urban spaces – female spaces – from different cities.
In this journey, nothing is planned, nothing expected. There is no preparation, no schedule. There is a beginning, but there is no end.
Gemma Antón @g_e_mm_a
Orietta Gelardin Spinola @orietta.gs
Ione Saizar @ionecell
P.S
It’s difficult to say where everything started… Either way it is not so important. The key element may be the desire to communicate to each other. We do think in each other and each postcard is a unique proof of it. In whatever way we share it.
It is a creative action on a primary stage at the moment. We want to humor ourselves while enjoying the “process”. Like a jam ballet. It’s a gesture, a glimpse. It’s an artistic offering we do to each other. No questions are asked.
What will it be when it grows up? We don’t know, and we don’t need to know. We just love to see it growing up freely. It will talk when it’s ready.
Click below to view images full size
Gemma Antón Serna
Born in Valencia is currently Living in Paris.
She combines her work in architecture with photography and collage.
Has participated in some collective shows. Her work appears in some printed and online publications as #4 eyesightZine
At the moment she is collaborating in some artistic Projects as h4rt “the hothouse for rough translations” while she continues working solo.
http://cargocollective.com/gemmaantonphotography
http://cargocollective.com/gemmaanton
http://www.hothouseforroughtranslations.org
Orietta Gelardin Spinola
Is a Graphic Designer born in Madrid (Spain) from an American father and an Italian mother, currently living between Madrid and Rome (Italy).
After having studied a Bachelor of Arts in graphic design between London and New York City, she settled in Madrid to pursue her professional career.
She has participated in various group shows.
One of her photos has been included in the ‘Out of the Phone’ mobile photography book.
Her work has been featured in magazines such as The Guardian, La Repubblica, Huffington Post Italia, L’Oeil de la Photographie, Indie Rocks…
At the moment she works in her graphic design studio (Alcorta & Gelardin).
https://www.instagram.com/orietta.gs/
https://www.lensculture.com/orietta-gelardin-spinola
Ione Saizar
Was born in San Sebastian, Spain. She earned her BA in Photography at the London College of Printing and she completed her Master in Image and Communication at the Goldsmiths College, London. Actually she lives and work as a freelance photographer in London
Happy Face by Yoshihisa Egami
My friend often says to me: “You’re an expressionless man.”
Certainly, it might be so. I can’t laugh very well.
My friend asks me: ” Why do you always have a sad face? “
友達が、僕によくこう言う。「あなたは無表情な人ね。」
確かにその通りだと思う。僕は上手く笑うことができない。
友達が僕にきく。「なんでいつもそんなに悲しそうな顔をしているの？」
MYSTERY TRAIN
I took this photograph on my way home from work in January 2015. Around this time, I was absorbed in taking photos using the randomize function of the Hipstamatic app, with an iPhone 5s . When I was able to take this, I was very excited: “It’s really cool picture!” To me, this photograph is an image like the Jim Jarmusch film “MYSTERY TRAIN“. Or, an image representing Tom Waits song, “Downtown Train”. ” MYSTERY TRAIN ” is one of my favorite films.
この写真は、2015年の1月、仕事帰りに撮った。
この頃、僕は、iPhone5sに入れていたHipstamaticアプリのランダマイズ機能を使って写真を撮ることに
夢中になっていた。これが撮れた時、「すげー。かっこいいの撮れちゃったよ！」ってとても興奮したのを憶えている。
僕にとってこの写真の列車は、ジム・ジャームッシュの映画『MYSTERY TRAIN』に出てくるやつのような
イメージだ。それか、トム・ウェイツの『Downtown Train』っていう曲のような感じかな。
『MYSTERY TRAIN』は、大好きな映画のひとつだ。
TRAIN STATION
Here is our favorite place. The good old bowling alley in our town. Don’t you think it also looks like a station platform? My wife and son are standing. We’ll ride the “MYSTERY TRAIN” at this station.
ここは、お気に入りの場所。
僕らの町にある昔ながらの古いボーリング場だ。
なんかさ、列車の駅のように見えると思わない？
僕の妻と息子が立っている。
僕らは、この駅で『MYSTERY TRAIN』に乗る。
THE KING
Before we get on the “MYSTERY TRAIN” we take a commemorative photo. This boy is my son. He is my supporter. He gave me a life there along with the photographs. In this photograph he’s so cool, as Christian Slater who appeared in the movie “TRUE ROMANCE“. I’m in the sunglasses lens. My wife is beside me. She’s also my supporter. She’s the first person who praised the photos I took.
『MYSTERY TRAIN』に乗る前に、僕らは記念写真を撮った。
この男の子が僕の息子。恩人だ。彼は、僕に「写真と共にある人生」をくれた。
この写真、まるで彼が映画『TRUE ROMANCE』に出てくるクリスチャン・スレーターみたいですごくかっこいい。
サングラスには、僕が映っている。
僕の隣には妻がいる。彼女もまた、僕の恩人だ。
彼女は、僕の写真を褒めてくれた一番最初の人なんだ。
IT’S OH SO QUIET
View from the “MYSTERY TRAIN” . Every time I see a Ferris wheel, I take a lot of photos. I like the eternity and very quiet feeling of a Ferris wheel. It’s an image that reminds me of the Bjork song.
『MYSTERY TRAIN』からの眺めだよ。
観覧車を見かける度に、僕は何枚も何枚も写真を撮る。
なんかさ、観覧車のさ、はてしなく永遠な感じとかとてもとても静かな感じがさ、好きなんだよね。
ビョークの曲『IT’S OH SO QUIET』のようなイメージだ。
HUMANITY
When we get off the “MYSTERY TRAIN“, the trumpeter robot greets us. My wife and I take a little time to warm up to the robot. But our son was friendly with the robot immediately.
『MYSTERY TRAIN』から降りた時、ラッパを吹くロボットが出迎えてくれた。
妻と僕は、ロボットと意思疎通するまでに少し時間がかかった。
だけどさ、僕らの息子は、あっという間にロボットと仲良しになっちゃったんだ。
NAKED CITY BLUES
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
THE GUIDING LIGHT
Then we walked the city. We buy ice cream from the vending machine, cross the front of the planetarium, and climb the long stairs. It is a familiar location, but it feels like a whole new world.
それから僕らは、街を歩いた。
自販機でアイスクリームを買って、プラネタリウムの前を横切り、長い階段を登った。
どこも僕らには馴染みの場所だ。けど、全く新しい世界のように感じた。
LOVIN’ SPOONFUL
INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM
We stay in a strange hotel. The room is full of balloons. My son plays with the balloons, until, too tired to play, he falls directly asleep. A balloon was swaying happily to meet my son rolling over…
Taking photos greatly changed my life. I began to cherish life. I think it gave me the ability to see things in a variety of perspectives. I would only see one side of things, but then I take a picture. Every place is a playground for me now.
A philosopher thinks on every point of view to find the essence of things. A comedian talks with an interesting perspective to make people happy. I want to be able to take pictures like both a philosopher and a comedian.
I began to take pictures because my wife gave me a compliment for photos I took of our son. Huge thanks to my family.
僕らは、変なホテルに泊まった。部屋中、風船だらけでね。
息子はひとしきり風船と遊んで、遊び疲れてそのまま眠ってしまった。
彼の寝返りに合わせて、風船が楽し気に揺れていた・・・。
写真を撮るようになって、僕の人生は大きく変わった。人生を大切に思えるようになった。
物事を色んな視座で見れるようになったんだと思う。
写真を撮るようになる前は、僕には物事の一面しか見えなかったんだ。
今じゃ、いる場所いる場所どこだって、僕の遊び場だ。
哲学者はさ、物事の本質を見つけるためにあらゆる視点から考えるでしょ。
お笑い芸人は、人を笑わせるために面白い視点で話をするじゃん。
僕は、そんな風に写真が撮れるようになりたい。
息子の写真を妻が褒めてくれたから、僕は写真を撮るようになった。
家族には、感謝の他ないよ。
BRAND NEW DAY
MORNING HOTEL
Now.
A new day begins today.
さあ。
新しい一日が、今日も始まる。
HAVE LOVE WILL TRAVEL
MYSTERY TRAIN IS RUNNING
My friend often asks me this: ”Why do you always have a sad face?”
I answer: “I’m happy at any time. This face is my face.”
And I laugh just a little bit.
友達が、僕にこうきく。「なんでいつもそんなに悲しそうな顔をしているの？」
僕は答える。「いつでもハッピーだよ。これが俺の顔なんだ。」
そして、僕はほんの少しだけ笑うんだ。
One Snap, One Love.
Life is art. Record all.
I’m Yoshihisa Egami. Japanese man. I love rock music, cinema, and taking photos. I’m an Instagrammer. @YOSHIBOWORKS on Instagram. I’m very excited to meet you on Instagram!
Thank you for reading my contributions.
僕は、エガミ ヨシヒサ。日本人だ。
ロック音楽と映画、そして写真を撮ることが大好き。
インスタグラマーで、YOSHIBOWORKS って名乗ってる。
君とInstagramで会えることをとても楽しみにしているよ！
僕の寄稿を読んでくれて、ありがとう。
My Version of Street Photography (Street Photography Versiku) by Muhamad Yasin
Street photography is the art of shooting or taking pictures in public places. I, Muhamad Yasin, define street photography as the category of image that is in the public sphere, and usually a candid shot (without the subject knowing). While it defines the state of the human subject in the public sphere, there are also many approaches in terms of street photography. The approach can be in terms of journalism, architecture, portrait, still life and others that are all in a public space.
Street Fotografi adalah pengambilan gambar atau seni memotret pada lingkup ruang publik. Disini saya, Muhamad Yasin juga mendefiniskan mengenai street fotografi adalah bagian dari kategori foto yang ada di Ruang Publik yang biasanya diambil dengan cara candid (tanpa subjek mengetahui) dan tak hanya mendefinisikan keadaan dengan Objek Manusia pada ruang publik tetapi juga banyak pendekatan-pendekatan lainnya dalam hal street fotografi. Entah itu pendekatan ke sisi Jurnalistik, Arsitektur, Portrait, Still Life misalnya tanda rambu lalulintas dan dan sebagainya yang berada di ruang publik.
Some of the photos below have several approaches to street photography itself. Whether portrait, architecture or another style, they can be assessed based on the composition and approach of each picture. People’s judgments will vary regarding this.
Beberapa foto dibawah ini mempunyai beberapa pendekatan street fotografi itu sendiri, portrait, arsitektur atau lainnya dinilai dari komposisi berapa persen yang ada pada tiap gambar sisi pendekatannya. Penilaian orang akan berbeda-beda mengenai ini.
Maybe someone will say some of the above photos are portraits, but in my opinion it is a street portrait photography approach. Or, some will also say they are simply photos of architecture; but I think it is an architectural approach to street photography. All opinions will vary depending on the individual person’s views. But, remember, street photography has lots of approaches.
Mungkin ada yang bilang beberapa foto diatas portrait tapi menurut saya street fotografi dengan pendekatan portrait, atau juga ada yang bilang foto arsitektur tapi menurut saya itu street fotografi pendekatan arsitekstur. Semua penilaian akan berubah tergantung mereka yang menilainya. Tapi, ingat street fotografi memiliki banyak pendekatan.
In street photography many have said: hunting photos in the same location repeatedly, do not you get bored? I don’t ever get bored, however. Why? Because, while in the same location, we never know the situation and the moment that we are going to come across. That is the uniqueness of street photography. Regardless of the method of taking pictures, with a few friends I mostly explore the area of Jakarta, often capturing in the same location. However, the results are moments that have not been obtained in a previous hunting in the same location.
Dalam street fotografi banyak yang bilang : Hunting Foto dalam 1 lokasi yang sama berkali-kali, apa kamu tidak bosan? Jangan pernah bilang bosan, kenapa? Karena, dalam lokasi yang sama kita tidak pernah tahu situasi dan moment apa lagi yang akan kita dapatkan karena disanalah uniknya sisi Street Fotografi. Diluar dari cara pengambilan kita tentunya, seperti halnya diriku paling sering mengeksplore kawasan Jakarta dengan beberapa teman dan terkadang mengulang dilokasi yang sama. Tetapi, hasilnya moment-moment yang belum pernah didapat dalam hunting sebelumnya dilokasi yang sama.
In Indonesia there are many laws that are not standardized in terms of street photography, because as a nation we uphold decency and politeness. For example, we sometimes capture the subject of street people and homeless beggars, but many oppose it because it is seen as a type of human exploitation. My personal view on the matter is that the viewers themselves are looking and judging them from the final image by enforcing their views impressed on a photograph as human exploitation. The important thing is the process behind creating the image. Only then, we can judge (for exploits) or appreciation (because you want to show a good message in it). In addition, these rules are not the rules that I believe God has is required of all religions to abide by. But still, I say we should take the good and useful points from any existing rules, and the most important point is “don’t let such rules limit your work”.
Di Indonesia sendiri ada banyak peraturan yang bentuknya memang tidak baku dalam hal street fotografi karena Indonesia lebih menjunjung tinggi kesopanan. Misalnya, kita melakukan pemotretan street dengan subjek orang-orang pengemis dan tunawisma banyak yang menentang hal tersebut karena dipandang sebagai Eksploitasi manusia. Pandangan saya secara pribadi mengenai hal tersebut adalah banyak dari mereka yang memandang dan menilai dari hasil akhir foto tersebut. Mungkin jika kita lebih dekat untuk melihat proses dan alasan baik mereka bagaimana mereka mengambil foto tersebut dan maksud dari pengambilan gambar tersebut (biarkan public dan pembaca yang menilai setelahnya). Yang terpenting adalah, proses dibelakangnya sehingga foto tersebut terbentuk. Barulah, kita bisa menghakimi (karena mengeksploitasi) atau memberikan apresiasi (karena ingin menunjukan pesan yang baik didalamnya). Selain itu peraturan-peraturan tersebut bukan aturan Tuhan yang memang diwajibkan semua umatnya untuk mematuhi aturan tersebut. Tapi tetap ambil sisi yang baik dan bermanfaat dari setiap aturan yang ada point terpenting “Jangan Sampai Aturan Tersebut Membatasi Karyamu”.
Does street photography always need to be in black and white? Many have asked that question. I personally think street photography was preceded by a film camera when it was only in monochrome. Thus, people also think and interpret it that way based on the past. For my images, I choose to turn them into black and white if the image does not have beautiful colors (monotone color). However, if my photo has beautiful colors in it, I prefer to leave it as it is, because those colors will also tell a story of that particular moment.
Street Fotografi apa harus selalu menggunakan tone Black and White? Banyak sekali yang menanyakan hal tersebut, menurut saya pribadi Street Fotografi memang diawali oleh kamera film yang saat itu hanya Hitam dan Putih saja. Jadi, kebanyakan mendefinisikan dan mengartikannya seperti itu, tapi kalau kalian memahami seperti itu jelas salah besar kenapa kategori foto lain (selain street fotografi) yang mungkin berkembang pada masa kamera film Hitam dan Putih tidak menggunakan BW saat ini? Kesimpulannya jika seperti saya hanya buat gambar saya menjadi Hitam dan Putih jika memang pada gambar tersebut tidak memiliki warna-warni yang indah (warna yang monoton) jadi saya memilihnya untuk mengubahnya ke Hitam dan Putih. Namun, jika foto street saya memiliki warna yang indah saya lebih suka membiarkanya dengan warna tersebut, karena dengan adanya warna juga akan membuat sebuah cerita yang ada pada foto tesebut.
My personal take on street photography is taken in the public scope, with a variety of approaches for each of the photos taken in public places. Street photography does not have to use black and white tones. Street photography does not have to look elsewhere because, in the same location we can get a lot of moments. And most importantly, don’t make any rules in photography that can limit your work because it should not be like that: take the positive and usefulness of each of the existing regulations. Both in terms of global photography and the traditions of each country, let your heart give color to every picture you take in various public places.
Kesimpulan dalam street fotografi menurut saya pribadi adalah ruang lingkupnya berada di publik, dan dengan macam-macam pendekatan masing-masing dari hasil foto yang diambil diruang publik. Street fotografi tidak harus menggunakan tone Hitam dan Putih seperti penjelasan saya diatas, Street fotografi tidak harus mencari tempat lain karena di satu lokasi yang sama pun kita bisa mendapatkan banyak sekali moment. Dan yang TERPENTING jangan jadikan sebuah aturan dalam fotografi yang bisa membuat karyamu terbatasi namun tetap ambil sisi baik dan manfaat dari tiap peraturan yang ada. Baik dalam fotografi global maupun tata krama ditiap Negara dan bagian daerah dari tiap Negara yang ada. Biarkan Hatimu yang memberi warna pada setiap gambar yang kamu ambil pada ruang publik tersebut.
About Muhamad Yasin :
My name is Muhamad Yasin, but people know and often call me Kang Yasin. I was born in Jakarta and am 25 years old. Lately, I feel Street has taught me to smile to the subject that I take a picture of, a smile that I can give every time I shoot street with human subjects.
Tentang Muhamad Yasin :
Nama saya Muhamad Yasin namun orang-orang mengenal dan sering memanggil saya Kang Yasin, Lahir di Jakarta dan berusia 25 tahun. Akhir-akhir ini saya merasa Street telah mengajarkan saya untuk tersenyum kepada subjek yang saya ambil gambarnya, senyuman itu yang bisa saya berikan setiap kali saya memotret street dengan subjek manusia.
The Storytellers: Special Edition
In GRRYO’s Instagram account we feature a photo prompt each Monday and ask our audience to share their stories to accompany the image. You can join us each Monday to stretch your storytelling skills and enjoy stories being told around the world. We have a special digest to give you on Leap Year Day that reveals what happened in the month of January as we invited Marina to share a series of her street photography so that we could piece together a running story for that month. Read on to unfold the magic that was conjured in an Italian café.
Story portion by @grandreopening
Antoine’s mother had always said magic was real. He had thought she was a just a dumb hippy, that her version of magic was some Jerry Garcia unicorn pipe dream but despite a lifetime of crystals that had adorned her neck she had always insisted that sometimes things did go bump in the night.
Now Antoine believed.
The witches had been coming to his café, his very table, for two weeks. At first they seemed like normal women but a good server notices things. The sweet smell of dead flesh had hooked Antoine’s nose while reaching to deliver a basket of fresh baked croissants; in a glance he had witnessed their subtly forked tongues, tongues that twitched and tracked him like copperheads. In a blink they were normal tongues again and he was left staring and feeling rude. The way the witches had looked at him while he looked at them; wet, obsidian eyes and the synchronized tapping of long, pointed, putty gray nails on the table had made his skin crawl.
There had been more clues since, enough that he drank wine each morning to ease the shaking of his hands. The cafe’s china cups clattered on their saucers without it.
He told himself the spike of missing children post bills he had suddenly started to notice in his neighborhood were just his imagination. They had always been there he told himself, Chianti in hand.
Story portion by Cally
Today is the day. Lobelia glanced at her sisters, a slight nod echoed among them. This is the one, they had all agreed. For the past couple weeks, the three had driven down into the valley to the café, just to be sure. And they were. His name is Antoine, and sure enough, he has the sign. At each visit, Lobelia sensed his increasing anxiety at their passive observation. He knows, she thought. That’s good. Most men know nothing until it’s too late. Antoine was different. Maybe this time would be different.
Story portion by @theliebox
By the end of the third week Antoine could see nothing but the gap-toothed smiles and pink pom-pom stocking hats; the wild eyed grins of children once happy but now lost. New posters seemed to appear daily on light poles, taped to mailboxes and bulletin boards. Where were the police Antoine wondered, didn’t everyone notice?
Just this morning outside his neighborhood wine shop he had paused to note a lovely girl, no more than five, with a corona of flaming red hair clutching a doll. The photo was stuck with glue under the shakily written words MISSING, PLEASE HELP. The doll had hair that perfectly matched the girls. Clearly handmade, the creator had teased the ends of the yarn until the exact quotient of frizzy had been reached.
Antoine had nursed wine from the bottle as he finished his walk to work pondering on what pure love it had taken to make such detail and how much love the little girl had squeezed into that doll when she’d first been given the gift.
Hours later, Antoine with his clattering hands and crimson stained lips had forgotten the doll as he served the witches. He had thought of nothing but the looming arrival of those tallow skin faces. His eyes downcast as he delivered biscotti he saw in the open bag at the feet of Lobelia the witch the curly haired doll, now dirty and stained the color of rust.
Antoine gasped audibly and in inadvertent panic looked directly at the witch. She smiled a coy smile marvelously pleased with herself. “She’s done it on purpose!” Antoine thought to himself, “she wanted me to see it!”
Story portion by Joe
As cunning as the “Terrible Trio” (as they delightfully called themselves) were, they were also forgetful. A dull black notebook was left in the restroom just minutes before Antoine stumbled upon it. Knowing this was planned to be his last living day, he scurried to the kitchen turning pages frantically and found a page titled, “A recipe for Antoine.”
He followed the directions which included “scraped human heel skin,” which Antoine quietly obliged. He poured his new spice mix named after him into the wine bottle and collected himself before going to serve the witches one more time.
As the ladies gleefully sipped their wine waiting for their opportunity to trick Antoine into drinking his customized glass of death, they unknowingly drank their own concoction that would end their lives just moments later. Antoine took off his apron, and walked outside reading the black notebook once more for handwritten directions the witches left behind to find the little girl.
We hope you’ve enjoyed the creativity of our photo artist, Marina, and the storytellers who gave words to her images. Please share this series with others by using the social media share buttons at the top of the page beneath the first image. Of course you’re always invited to drop into our Storytellers Circle each Monday to spread your imagination wings with the rest of the world.
The Storytellers Vol. 13
In GRRYO’s Instagram account we feature a photo prompt each Monday and ask our audience to share their stories to accompany the image. We would love for you to join us and share what each photo says to you. In December we focused on the theme of “Giving.” So come and browse through this digest warming yourselves with the tender images of giving and the stories that flow from them.
Photo Credit: Luis
Story Credit: Joe
The elderly street artist stared at the little girl as the little girl stared back at the woman’s weathered face. The little girl smiled and handed the woman a hand-drawn picture. The street artist smiled as she realized that she was the subject of the little girl’s artistic expression.
Photo Credit: Tania
Story Credit: Nancy
Going through an old family album I can still feel my Dad’s hairy arms around me . . . encouraging me toward success! I can even remember his shaving lotion smell (Old Spice of course)!
Photo Credit: Mohsen
Story Credit: Tommy
Jackson decided this year’s Christmas would be different from the past two. Those had been hard years and this one just as difficult but back then he had wallowed in his loss and misery looking for whatever handouts he could get. Although his need was still great, he had decided he would be the one to give this Christmas in spite of his hardship. So here he sat with a gift of fine chocolate he had found in a dumpster on 5th street a year ago and saved for something special. Today he would find someone who needed a blessing and demonstrate the generosity and change he was feeling in his heart.
Photo Credit: Valeria
Story Credit: Ariana
She told me that through the tunnel at the end of the street was her childhood, all the memories and laughter, the secrets and games, the tree climbing and fort building . . . all of it, the little things that make you who you are. That was before things changed – she took my hand and said Peter Pan had it got it right and that on this trip we were going to adventure and find magic – that it exists to those who can see it . . .
Thanks to our wonderful photographers and creative storytellers for this digest. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read we invite you to share this article through any of the social media links you find beneath the banner photo at the top of this page.
States of Mind by Emma Amar
“We would have said that I existed of two manners, between what I was for me and what I was for the others. There was no relationship.”
– Simone de Beauvoir
I think of defining myself by these few lines…
In my head is a winter decor, a Baudelaire’s Spleen that I mask by my daily life, my social life; two completely different and opposed aspects which find themselves in a person: me!
I make self portraits, and I try to transmit a sensation, a moment of thought.
I am ‘schizophrenic’; it’s as if my different faces show themselves through my photos.
To escape a too traditional and classic life which sometimes suffocates, I calm down thanks to my selfs, living as something else, a moment suspended in the labyrinth of my own mind.
It is not a thought out approach, it is really the work which I execute on the spot; I start with a very classic self portrait and later, according to my mood, by instinct, I surf through apps. It is always an internal pulse.
Hence this therapeutic need to seize the fleeting moment in which I find myself. It is very intimate.
Then, I pass from one state to the other without any link. It is an exercise which is not studied, I do not make a series of photos; there is no coherence.
My moodboard is a mixture of reading, poetry, music, painting, and photos by which I am profoundly inspired, I suck the life blood out of them in order to spit them out in my own way!
Thanks to iPhoneography, I have been able to thrive on being able to make everything with a single purpose: taking the photo, editing it, and posting it.
I compare it to therapy: appointment with the psychologist, I speak to him and then pay his session.
Every session is different, except for the fact that it is always related to the same person.
I like this unlimited side, instant and unique, which is offered by mobile photography.
I take all my pictures with my iPhone 6. Regarding apps, I think I have an addiction, because I use almost twenty! But I principally use VSCO, iColorama, Mextures, Paint FX, and Noir. It is really a special intimate work which leads to satisfaction or a failure, depending the result…
“On aurait dit que j’existais de deux manières, entre ce que j’étais pour moi et ce que j’étais pour les autres. Il n’y avait aucun rapport.”
– Simone de Beauvoir
Je pense me définir par ces quelques lignes…
Dans ma tête, c’est un décors d hiver, un spleen à la Baudelaire que je masque par mon quotidien, ma vie sociale, deux aspects complètement différents, opposés mais qui se retrouve en une personne moi!
Je fais surtout des self-portraits, j essaie de transmettre une sensation, un état d esprit du moment.
Je suis comme “schizophrène”, c’est comme si je vivais à travers plusieurs visages par le biais de mes photos.
Pour échapper à une vie trop traditionnelle et classique dans laquelle parfois j étouffe je m apaise grâce à mes selfs je vie autre chose, un moment suspendu dans le labyrinthe de mon esprit.
Ce n est pas une démarche réfléchie, c’est vraiment une œuvre que j exécute sur le vif, je part d un self-portrait très classique et après en fonction de mon humeur, à l instinct je me balade dans les applications c’est toujours une impulsion.
D’où ce besoin thérapeutique de saisir le moment fugace dans lequel je suis, c’est très intime.
Et je passe d un état à l autre sans forcément de lien.
C’est un exercice qui n est pas étudié, je ne fais pas de série, il n y a pas de cohérence d une photo à l autre.
Mon moonboard est un mélange de lecture, poème, musique, peinture, photographies dont je m’inspire profondément, je les vampirise pour les recracher à ma façon!
Grâce à l’ iphonographie, j ai pu m épanouir sur le fait de pouvoir tout faire avec un seul objet: prendre la photo, l éditer et la poster.
Je compare cela à une thérapie : Rdv chez le psy, lui parler, payer sa séance.
Chaque séance est différente à l exception que c’est toujours de la même personne qu il s agit!
J aime ce côté infini, instantané et unique que m offre la photographie mobile. Je prend toutes mes photos avec mon IPhone 6. En ce qui concerne les applications, je crois vraiment avoir une addiction car je dois en avoir une vingtaine! Je me sers principalement de VsoCam, Icolorama, Paintfx et Noir. C’est vraiment un travail très intimiste qui se définit soit par une satisfaction ou un échec en fonction du résultat.
You can find me on Instagram | Facebook | Eyeem | Flickr | Ello
Framing Feelings by Racheli Shavit
My main occupation in the last ten years or so is song writing, which mainly means writing lyrics to songs in close cooperation with musicians and performing artists.
The last two years have been dramatically overwhelming in my personal life. For 25 years I’ve lived in Tel-Aviv, the Israeli Big Apple, a liberal city, full of ongoing cultural and social happenings, but I was forced to leave and move to a small and culturally isolated village and then move again, within a year, to another city, not far from Tel-Aviv but miles away in every other aspect.
Concerns the go
During these two years I’ve also experienced the loss of my Father and of young, precious, family members, and so I found myself with bare skin, withdrawing into myself, writing less and finding solace in photography.
Something in the immediacy of photography and even more, in street photography, makes it (in my own eyes) an expression tool that doesn’t involve hard decision making and/or agony.
And like in writing – In photography I can take on different roles and express my personal feelings through other characters.
Stairway to nowhere
My daily wonderings in various geographic/urban environments, meeting different inhabitants and energies – evoked an inner urge to document and frame random, unique moments that are also very expressive and silently moving.
One precise frame of a human situation in the middle of the street can tell us a whole story, without struggling with a single word.
Black Friday
I “use” other people’s body language and facial expressions to express situations I feel inside of me, but without giving them away physically and verbally.
Self-awareness
Street Photography is such a category that demands and forces all my senses to be wide awake and identify in a split of a second, passing, but powerful, worthy situations to document.
Those conditions exist, in fact, every time I enter a public space, whereas my iPhone allows me to blend in with people, without getting noticed, something not quite possible with a big intimidating DSLR.
Existential detachment
When I walk the streets, I identify (in a very natural way) compositions, frames, light and shadow, contrast and ambience (a walking Snapseed…).
I love the speed needed to react to the various happenings all around me. Sometimes I identify a situation immediately and shoot it spontaneously, and sometimes I realise I have to freeze in my place, in front of certain background and wait until an interesting figure will walk into the frame. A half spontaneous, half planned photo.
Dreams vs Reality
There are these days I get off the bus and feel that all the street happening is a one big, orchestrated theatre show. All the characters jump out from all directions in front of my eyes, like a 3D Greeting Card, and perfectly align in the most wonderful compositions. Such days fill me with the most positive adrenalin. But that’s the easy case.
Grumpy Lady
When I’m in a less interesting place, or a place where nothing much is happening, I go from Macro to Micro, looking for little gestures inside the bigger image. It could be a woman’s profile, palm of a child’s hand, the texture of a hat or a dog’s tail. If the element is aligned in a way that conveys an interesting story, or hints of a story that won’t be fully revealed, it’s a justified photograph for me.
Investigative inner world of childhood
We are all a bit trapped
Looking for little gestures inside the bigger image
BTW –
When I look at my edited image, I always hear music. A soundtrack that accompanies the image I caught. So, in the end of it all, photography does connect to words and music, and it’s how, in fact, I close a circle and feel my creation is whole and connected to my original occupation.
I must admit that my greatest dream is to get a hold of the “Cloak of invisibility” which will allow me to get closer, much closer to the people I’d like to photograph, without being noticed.
Just to think about all the photos and rare moments I missed or gave up on completely, just for being nice 🙂
Socially isolated
This is Racheli’s first article for Grryo. You can find her work on Instagram.
West Lake Rhapsody by Nga Hoang
Hello everyone! It’s Nga Hoang (@ngahoang0812). I am from Hanoi, Vietnam. Bitten by the storytelling bug at an early age, I have evolved from an avid listener of my tailor-grandfather’s exotic tales to a passionate travel writer and a hobbyist photographer. When not on assignment, I enjoy wandering aimlessly around the streets with my camera and capturing the odds and quirks of everyday life. I am very delighted to share my photo essay about the West Lake lifestyle in Hanoi with the Grryo community.
In a city that is built on lowlands between rivers, there is no shortage of waterfront retreats, and West Lake is up there with the best of them. It serves as a rare green lung amid the ever-growing concrete jungle, an oasis of calm away from the hustle and bustle. Once a sleepy north Hanoi suburb thronged with fishing villages, the West Lake, or Tay Ho neighbourhood, has been transformed into an area of urban cool. It offers all the elements of the cosmopolitan lifestyle that modern city dwellers hunger after, with the added benefit of a lakefront setting. It is not for nothing that royal families built summer retreats near its shores as long as 400 years ago. With its fresh air, scenic views and tranquil surroundings, it is very clear why. With a camera in hand, I’ve documented a juxtaposition of lifestyles and offer a glimpse into the lives of the people in the West Lake neighbourhood.
A group of kayakers gather around a pier overlooking the West Lake for a training session.
Young Vietnamese kayakers in matching tracksuits from the Hanoi Kayak Club take part in a training session for the national rowing team.
With sampling its waters being free of charge, an intriguing mix of retirees, young families and pets can be found taking a dip in the early morning and late afternoon.
As the oldest temple complex dating back more than 1500 years Tran Quoc Pagoda, which translates as The Guardian of the Nation, draws in large numbers of worshippers and visitors alike. It juts out over a small island near the east bank of Hanoi’s West Lake. The octagonal 6-sided brick tower is made up of 11 levels, with each level housing small white Buddha statues which represent several stages of the life of Buddha.
The ceramic dragon gates at the far end of the West Lake were initially set up to mark the beginning of the Year of the Dragon.
With water and the cityscape stretching as far as the eye can see, the West Lake acts as something of an urban beach for local residents.
Few places can compete with West Lake for a spot to soak up the sunset in Hanoi. This image depicts a sense of urban isolation in Hanoi.
The odd charm of West Lake is revealed in the almost ghost-like, worn-out ferris wheels at the Tay Ho water park that run intermittently. The ferris wheels were reflected off the water which was dotted with withering lotus flowers during winter times.
Secluded and idyllic, West Lake is as good a spot for fishing as it is for swimming. Fishing is quite well established as a favourite local pastime, but it is a real test of patience. Urban fishermen can be seen balancing themselves on stepping stones as they cast their bamboo poles out into the waters. They might spend a whole day under the baking sun and catch nothing.
A young diving enthusiast takes delight in diving off a high board at the semi-deserted Tay Ho water park.
If you’d like to view more of Nga’s work, you can find her on Instagram
Dancing in Abandoned Places with Austen Browne
I can remember when I first found Austen Browne’s work on Instagram. The ability to upload video was still relatively new to the app, and I was searching for creative videos to feature on an account I’d cleverly dubbed “@creativevideo”. It was tough wading through what were mostly bad selfies, in video form, and finding anything worth watching. So when I stumbled upon Austen’s videos, it was like hitting the jackpot. They took my breath away. In fact, his videos still do.
making a dance reel for @kjuniverse and this is one of my favorite sequences we’ve made together
Seeing Austen’s work raised several questions for me. How come these videos are so amazing? What is it about them that produces such an emotional reaction in me? Why can’t I dance like that? Ok, the last one wasn’t a serious question, but I decided I wanted to try and find out what the answers were.
dancer: Adrienne (@adrlipson)
It turns out that it’s not a fluke that Austen’s work is of such high quality. A child of two artists, he grew up near Minneapolis and started dancing at an early age. Along the way, he met Kevin, who has been his best friend and fellow dancer since the age of eight; Kevin is often the subject in his videos. In addition to dance, Austen has had other creative outlets, including drawing, video, photography and pottery. When it came time to choose a course of study in college, he decided to choose filmmaking. The combination of film and dance felt like something he was always meant to do.
@kjuniverse asylum improv with @durty2shoes lurking in the back… music: @londongrammar
” Being a dancer myself, I was able to film in a way that other filmmakers, who are not dancers, couldn’t. I was able to anticipate how a person would move, or what they were going to do next… It became similar to a dance duet, where the dancer and the camera were interacting through space.”
One of the first things that grabs your attention when you view one of Austen’s works is the stark contrast. Typically filmed in an abandoned location, where things have often been stagnant for decades, he captures a fervent energy being inserted into these places; specifically in the form of a dancing figure.
dancer: Carisa ( @carisadrews )
“I loved how dancing could bring a dead abandoned space to life and create such a strong contrast between the space and the subject. The decaying, motionless backdrop is brought to life by the movement of the dancer and their interaction with the space.”
dancer: Zach (@zenquist)
A large part of that energy, as I found out, is because the movement is mostly improvised, which in turn is a large part of the style of dance that he both practices and teaches. One could call it modern, post modern, or contemporary, though Austen would contend it is more the latter than anything else. For Austen, improvisation is a large part of contemporary dance and how it is taught. However, while the improv clearly occurs within the parameters of trained motion, there is a raw energy that occurs that is anything but mechanical.
music: @humphreys.jpeg dancer: @kjuniverse
“If I were to try and explain contemporary dance or improv to a non-dancer, I would say that it is an exploration of movement with your body, whether the moment is coming from within the body, or the body is reacting to external forces/shapes/spaces/energy. It is definitely an exploration.”
I was still curious, though, as to what caused such an emotional reaction in me when I watched these videos. Austen helped me figure it out a bit. Dance is an art form in which one’s own body is the medium through which the art is expressed. It’s different from just about any other medium I can think of. With other arts, the viewer is interpreting what the artist is putting forth through external means, whether it’s a musical instrument, canvas, or photograph. The dancer, though, is really baring their soul. What they are putting forth is literally a part of themselves, in a most physical sense.
dancers: Kevin ( @kjuniverse ) / Kacey ( @kchulk )
“I think that for most people, improv comes from somewhere deep within, and when you are truly in the zone nothing else matters in the world… I find dance to be one of the best art forms, because your body is the instrument, which makes it so raw, and the connection of the body and mind that dancers have is really something that is special to me.”
So while I don’t see myself anytime soon being able to move in the way Austen and his friends do, I do look forward to seeing more of his work, whether it’s his photographs, films, or, maybe if I’m lucky enough, a live performance. I secretly hope that the next time I’m shooting in an abandoned spot, he and his friends somehow magically appear. In lieu of that happening, I’ll have to be content with seeing his work online and sharing it with anyone who is willing to stop and watch.
If you’d like to check out (and help fund) Austen’s next project, visit here
dancer: Zach music: Olafur Arnalds