We are almost coming to the end of a challenging yet reflective year. As we close this chapter, the Grryo Team would like to present some of our last features of the year. Here are some of our favourites including a short note from us at the end.
Grryo
Presents:
“Colours of Autumn”
Artist : @shabzvisuals Congratulations @shabzvisuals! Your photographs perfectly capture the beauty of simplicity!
“Baikal, future ”
Artist : @the_ova Congratulations @the_ova! Love how you handle the light in your photographs and the mood you create with them!
“All aglow on its way back to the Earth ”
Artist : @susiwhollywow Congratulations @susiwhollywow! Your photographs show the delicateness of mother nature and are very captivating!
” There’s a Light in You”
Artist : @koi_no_yohan Congratulations @koi_no_yohan! You beautifully capture the sensitivity of the human body and soul and your edits are very inspiring!
“Moving forward Together”
Artist : @elle_byg Congratulations @elle_byg! Thank you for sharing your art with us. Your photograph has expressed a beautiful moment of “togetherness” captured within intricate perspective detail.
With these features, it is with a heavy heart, we at Grryo bid farewell to you. It was not an easy decision to make for us. But, sooner or later we had to take this step. However, we will not say Goodbye instead “Till we Meet Again”. As this chapter ends, let us move forward together to a new chapter in our lives.
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.
..
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.
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.
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 @garyedwardblumis 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… ∞
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
My friend often says to me: “You’re an expressionlessman.”
Certainly,it might beso. 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.
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.
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 Itakea littletime towarm 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. Webuyicecream from the vending machine, crossthefront of theplanetarium, and climbthelongstairs. It is afamiliarlocation, but it feels like awhole 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
Westayina strangehotel. The room is full ofballoons. My sonplays with the balloons, until, too tired to play, he falls directly asleep. A balloon was swaying happily to meet my son rolling over…
Takingphotosgreatly changedmy life. I began to cherish life. I think it gave me the ability to see things in a variety of perspectives. I wouldonly seeone sideofthings, but then Itake a picture. Every placeis aplaygroundfor menow.
A philosopherthinks 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.
Ibegan totake picturesbecausemy wifegave mea complimentfor 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’mvery excitedto meetyou on Instagram!
Ebrahim Mirmalek takes us on a hypnotic visual and sensory journey that is infused with stories within stories … as he passes through rugged terrain in the small border towns of Iran he is not only observing, but living, breathing and sending visceral echoes over and through these vast landscapes and majestic mountains to his lens …. He stays in the homes of locals, entering their lives as a stranger but leaving forever changed after immersing himself into the everyday reality of a people often ignored and forgotten.
Sistan & Baluchestan is a south eastern, underdeveloped region, with vast areas of rugged, mountainous terrain, bordering the neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan. Here, smugglers illicitly enter in and out of the lawless borders through risky routes, in order to survive the poverty inflicted by the high rising unemployment. A province isolated due to its relentless droughts and desolate lands – its people repleted with pride and poetry, but bonded to their ancestral soil where they endure the harsh climates throughout the dry seasons. Mirmalek’s dusty impressions will long leave their trace where few photographers have tread before…
Why did I choose this area?
In Iran this province has been given the least attention for certain political and social reasons… the image of this province has been crippled mainly because of the security and political issues from hostage crises to kidnapping and sectarian attacks to smuggling. It’s interesting to note that Lonely Planet, the most popular book on traveling, has only devoted a few pages on this the 2nd largest province of Iran. I have since realized that for foreigners it’s considered a red zone, meaning that their government takes no responsibility for their risk of traveling here and so it remains deprived from being seen…
I’ve seen the dark side of this place as well …
Because of a misunderstanding, my iPhone got smashed on the floor and I was close to getting beaten up… but nothing changes the fact of how lovely these people are. I think one should experience the extreme dark side of a place as well to better understand the mentality and extremities of these people, and avoid romanticizing, as often people do, when they travel to these places. I was lucky though, but bad things can happen.
I never separate my everyday reality from what I see through my lens.
It is all part of it, every picture I have taken is a reflection of my own personal feelings and it embodies a reality I choose to capture. Since I’m working alone and not on an assignment I’m free to connect to whatever hits me and that’s the joy of being a photographer and traveling for yourself… Other than photos taken for certain historical and cultural reasons, I take photos for the story I want to tell…
Even landscapes are like monologues to me, they ignite an emotion and feeling to the one who sees it.
There are plenty of sunrises and sunsets taken everyday all around the world, we all see it and they all look the same, but only the ones you take speak personally to you … working in the field of film and documentaries has made me more aware of how the mind and perception works when you are faced with a reality – that’s why I’m interested in fiction. They say to understand the truth one needs to know and understand the myths behind it… I feel it is the same in art and photography in general, there are plenty of documentaries of the same subject and not one of them are the same, as they are all bound to their own unique perspectives… that’s why I believe in journeys, diaries…
Ghaleh no in the Sistan province.
The village is slowly being abandoned due to the devastating drought hitting the region.
An old Sistani shepherd with his livestock grazing in the drylands of the Hamoon Sea, behind him is Khaje Mountain. This black volcanic rock used to be called Rustam Mountain which is derived from an old famous Persian myth character, and also sanctified by the followers of Islam, Zoroaster and Christianity.
An abandoned British railway custom house overlooking a skeletal tree located in the desolate town of Mirjave in the Baluchestan Province of Iran. The building has now turned into wreckage, walls covered and etched with scribbled words of regret, the rooms covered with drug addicts needles and ashes…
Young people drive for days making a risky journey into the borders of Pakistan, illicitly smuggling gasoline to support their family. They are forced to do this work for many reasons, but mainly because of the high-rate of unemployment in this province. They often get arrested, fined or shot by army police, the dust is made by the smugglers trucks taking off-road routes to avoid official check points.
A Baluchi man holding a klashnikov while climbing a hill in the Bamposht mountain area in Baluchestan. It has been one of the most insecure provinces of Iran due to the abductions and insurgencies by rebels.
A Baluchi girl helping her family washing the dishes in Sirkan, Baluchestan. In the Baluchi culture children play an important role helping the family’s household responsibilities from a very early age.
In the untouched mountainous region of Bamposht / Baluchestan during sunset.
A Baluchi man collecting hay for his farm in a village called Nahook.
A Baluchi peasant holding a bundle of harvested crops he gathered early in the morning in Nahook. Traditional farming is still widespread in the small villages of Baluchestan.
An ancient local tradition, weaving baskets, home accesories or bags for transporting goods out of a very common local tree called Daz.
I started filming when I was a teenager with our home video camera, it is then that I became interested in filmmaking and started working as an editor, making documentaries and short films, it was up until my 25th year when I moved to Dubai with my ex-wife that things changed after our separation. It was during the financial crisis, I bought my first digital camera and started shooting the streets or anything that would reflect my internal feelings of isolation and remoteness. Photography wasn’t anything I wanted or was interested to do but rather a necessity, to capture and share these reflections and imagery that I could hardly put into words or even film. The timelessness of photography is magical to me, and allows me to tell stories within a fraction of a second… images turned into a voice for me unlike any other medium I’ve experienced.
Photography has become my closest and only medium of expression.
I believe in the subjectivity of truth and the power of personal photography wishing the mainstream media breaking into small streams of personal truths told by genuine and passionate story-tellers all around the world, where the significance of a story is not based on the hype of our time but purely based on personal connections of the individual with it’s subject matter he/she is photographing…
Ebrahim Mirmalek is a remarkable documentary / travel photographer and documentary video editor who is currently based in Iran…. His background is in film and documentaries. These images are a sample from his Sistan & Baluchestan Travel-memoir, where he traveled overland for 2 months trying to capture his own personal experience as well as the feel and spirit of the people and the lands they dwell in… the rest of the series can be found on his website, he also shares his daily / weekly stories of this trip and many more on Instagram.
Actopan is one of the communities near the city of Pachuca which is the capital of the State of Hidalgo, in Mexico. The name ‘Actopan’ comes from the Otomí: Man’uts’i and means my small way. On the 13 July 2015, they held the 469th anniversary of the founding of the town, a tradition which they continue every year. This is where my story begins of how Don Juan Erbinio Pérez López worked for more than 40 years in the very heart of this fair.
Don Juan talks to us about the traditions of the fair, which was created to celebrate the anniversary of the Actopan district. This place is full of culture and amazing food, and is home to a unique style of grill cooking.
A competition exists specifically on the subject of barbecue and at each event there are three places, first place takes the title of being the best barbacoyero of the country. For the winner this is a huge honour, since Actopan is known as the place where the best barbecue exists in all of Mexico.
Don Juan who now works the streets of the fair, shows us photos of back when he was a truck driver. Even after his accident where he lost both of his legs, he continued working as a trailer driver.
After a time he was already very tired from so many years of being on the road and driving, it was then that he chose to continue his life as a bolero or shoe shiner.
In the words of Don Juan he says “there is no better way to describe this fabulous fair than with photography”.
It is here while he works that Don Juan sees all walks of life on the streets of Actopan, and creates his pathway, in his own small way.
Grryo believes that mobile photographers/artists tell stories through the photographs/images and art that represents their families, their environment, themselves. This is important because of the level of communication that is portrayed in imaging today. We want to support the mobile arts community having a place for artists to share, discuss, and critique (if requested by individual). These dialogues help the individuals and the community to grow. We look forward to you and your art. We thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/arts community. Join us by tagging your images #wearegrryo or #grryo. We hope to see you there!
Through my pictures I try to communicate a sensation, my different states of mind. I’m an unconditional lover of David Lynch and for this image I watched Blue Velvet. I shot this palm tree on the road and after I blended this together with my self portrait, et voilà!
I have quickly become passionate about iphoneography and the power of differents apps, with my pictures I use several softwares. For this one I used Paintfx and Icolorama. Generally, I take my picture and make it really by feeling, depending on the mood of the day. I almost always do self portraits.
Why this title? Right now I am listening to David Bowie a lot, and when I created this picture I was listening to his song We Can Be Heroes. The title goes well, you can imagine a lot of things, a photo, a reference title and we can use our imagination to make a story. This is a photo exhibition created with the dual Union app, Mextures, and Cameramatic. I love this kind of photo double exposure, it is not new but it’s always beautiful.
She is the queen-bee she holds all the answers and she is our protector, she is the root of all and everything.
I’m inspired by the mystery of nature, the human body and our psyche and especially insects and the process of the metamorphosis. The mystery of life itself the hidden parts of our psyche, secrets within that we can sense but not see with complete transparency.
My images are never planned from the start, it’s a process where the image takes a life of it’s own, it’s a journey for me. A journey where I search for questions and that feeling of mystery, where the answers are almost in reach but still always hidden. I wish for the viewer to find their own mystery in my photos, their own questions and answers.
This is my sweetest personal model, who is my niece =) Her name is Nicky, she is 12, and is one of my favorite and graceful subjects for shooting. I would not say that all other children are my favorite subject for shooting. No! I find it [photographing children] a pretty complex process, requiring serious psychological knowledge. However, I loved Nicky, at first sight. You know, with this child who is already 12 years old, it is quite difficult to control the balance; to not cross the line when the photograph becomes too provocative. However, I really like to work with her.
One day I was fortunate to work with a russian director, who is one of the best at working with children in the russian movie industry (which is my main profession, I’m an actress). I chatted with him, asking him a lot of questions and watched him work finally making a lot of conclusions and discovering a few secrets about how to work well with children. Since then my shooting with Nicki has been great fun, filled with new discoveries and positive emotions.
And now we are just happily playing around and get great enjoyment from this process! Every new photo session with Nicky is like a new play with some rules which are agreed beforehand, each has its own story and circumstance behind it (like a screenplay). Then, forgetting about real life we immerse ourselves in a fictional story. We just have fun and I shoot it!
Apps used : Native camera iPhone5S, Retouch, Relook, Provoke (for b&w)
This image was taken in the Nautic Club of Tenerife (Canary Islands), I don’t know this person, she was a stranger, but when I saw her, I knew I had to take a picture. I followed her and took four or five photos very nearby with my iphone 6. I like street photography very much and although on my main instagram account I have not developed this style too much, it is with my other account @shotandmore where I started with the real street photos.
To edit this image I used the apps Skrwt, Oggl, Snapped and PSexpress.
I’m a trained painter, and I’ve always in my paintings had a tendency to layer.. So transparencies, double exposure, and the like, come naturally to me in my photographic compositions. This particular image is a three-part portrait of the dynamics concerning the ego, the superego, and the id… and how in a given situation they will all three react in a different way which is what creates confusion and push-and-pull in the individual, because each of those psychological constructs is built to protect varying interests of the psyche, from values to image…
I used colour as a tool to divide the portraits whilst also uniting the whole space by its overlapping, which is probably also a visual device connected to my being a painter.
Grryo believes that mobile photographers/artists tell stories through the photographs/images and art that represents their families, their environment, themselves. This is important because of the level of communication that is portrayed in imaging today. We want to support the mobile arts community having a place for artists to share, discuss, and critique (if requested by individual). These dialogues help the individuals and the community to grow. We look forward to you and your art. We thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/arts community. Join us by tagging your images #wearegrryo or #grryo. We hope to see you there!
I just love to use multiple apps and create a piece from scratch, combining different sources.
This piece consists of twelve layers, combined with apps like superimpose, modern grunge and union. I used photoshop brushes within icolorama. It’s great to be able to use them on an iPhone!!
I make mobile art as a form of relaxation and to escape the busyness of my every day life for a bit.
This image was taken in a small border town in the Sistan & Baluchestan province of Iran called ‘Mirjave’ an old railway town I happened to stop-over while I was traveling, here is where the railway of Iran ends and begins. A few years ago a cross border attack left a deep scar in this town, drug addicts still consuming drugs in old abandoned British custom houses, gasoline smugglers spewing out their dusty trace…. nothing seemed lively here, just left with a deep feeling of desolation…while walking along the dirt roads I was surprised to see a group of kids biking around with sheer enthusiasm, here I started communicating and photographing them, they told me such heartbreaking stories from their town, these innocent children made me wonder how they are growing up and where will they all end up?
This shot is from my Sistan & Baluchestan Travel-memoir, where I traveled overland there for 2 months trying to capture my own personal experience as well as the feel and spirit of the people and their lands they dwell in…the series can be found on my website and I’m sharing my daily/weekly story of this trip on Instagram. I’ve also made a short 4min Video/Photo clip of my Journey…
For this self-portrait I wanted to represent the link of the bird (which I believe always symbolizes new opportunity) with my representation forming a connection with the thread extending to my right hand representing the power to share and connectivity. For this edition I began to form my collage in Superimpose, then use Snapseed, MonoVu and photocopier to add texture.
Just one moment
Where paths crossed.
You-so strange and foreign,
Nothing in common.
Both on the hunt
To forget about the loneliness in us.
Just one moment
Where eyes crossed
And bodies mingled.
To recognise
The you in me.
All things sorted in black and white.
Just one moment
That my loneliness took on a darker shade of happy.
Grryo believes that mobile photographers/artists tell stories through the photographs/images and art that represents their families, their environment, themselves. This is important because of the level of communication that is portrayed in imaging today. We want to support the mobile arts community having a place for artists to share, discuss, and critique (if requested by individual). These dialogues help the individuals and the community to grow. We look forward to you and your art. We thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/arts community. Join us by tagging your images #wearegrryo or #grryo. We hope to see you there!
My dog is always in the water, since he was a pup. For almost a year he’s been hypnotized with the fishes in the water. Mesmerized, always staring at the water and trying to catch them (he caught one a month ago). He is the primary subject in many of my shots. In my images I try to catch him and the nature that surrounds him. I took this shot standing a few meters above him. My goal was to create color contrast between him and the water, and to add a little mood into the image. Shot was taken in the northern part of Croatia, where the river (Mur) borders with Slovenia.
This piece titled Eastern Glow was named after a song from the band Album Leaf. I was on a big Album Leaf kick at the time, and I was creating that piece when that song came on and I remembered it being titled Eastern Glow, and I felt it was perfectly fitting to the theme of my piece. Generally, you’d find jelly fish on the Eastern coasts of Canada and New England, so I thought it was pretty amazing how well the two complimented each other. So I went with that title for the piece. I had also recently watched American Beauty for the first time in a while, and there’s this one scene where Ricky Fitts is talking about a bag and how it effects him; how there’s so much beauty in the world that he feels like he can’t take it. And this bag is just floating around blissfully with no agenda. With this image, the jellyfish are the bag. They’re just being. It helps me remind myself that sometimes you just have to look beyond what you first see because there’s always beauty to be discovered.
This is Max, my oldest son, he’s six years old. In this picture you can see the most authentic smile of him, I think that Max was really happy in that moment showing how dirty his hands were after an afternoon playing with his brother Teo making somersaults on the floor.
I only used the drama effect in snapseed to increase the contrast of the color in his hands and some mellow tone in vsco… I love the mellow tone!
A story doesn’t always need to have multiple elements, nor it needs to come from the same common eye level angle. Stories can be told with few related elements, and by making the viewer engage always in different ways with the image. I was walking by midtown in New York and saw this lovely lady try grab a taxi. Chaos of humans and traffic was creating too much noise around what was really happening there and then… She was dressed up to conquer the city… her city.
I felt you like the cool rain in a vast dry desert
This image is part of a series called The Enigma Series on Flickr. I’ve often been told that my art is somewhat dark and at times evokes deeper emotions. I just begin a process of editing sometimes and the photo takes on a life of its own. I’m often inspired by the most unlikely things. I’m intrigued by how light contributes to the feeling or how color changes a mood.
The Enigma Series was just an idea that came to me from comments about my work and the deeper sometimes hidden meaning in words and art. I find inspiration from people, places, past experiences and also from photographers such as Lori Vrba and her Piano Farm series, Sally Mann’sAt Twelve series and Jack Spencer. There is an endless plethora of artists and photographers who inspire me endlessly on Instagram and Flickr.
I used hipstamatic for the original shot and edited in Icolorama. I don’t get too complicated with my editing these days as I have limited time. I’ve found that having a general idea in mind and less complicated editing gives me better direction with my art. Some people hate being called artists, others prefer the label photographer. I consider myself more an artist than photographer.
I feel my work starts in a photograph and ends with an unfinished story.
Thanks so much Giulia Macario for asking and allowing me to share my ideas on my work and thanks We Are Grryo for sharing my story.
Grryo believes that mobile photographers/artists tell stories through the photographs/images and art that represents their families, their environment, themselves. This is important because of the level of communication that is portrayed in imaging today. We want to support the mobile arts community by having a place for artists to share, discuss, and critique (if requested by individual). These dialogues help the individuals and the community to grow. We look forward to you and your art. We thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/arts community. Join us by tagging your images #wearegrryo or #grryo. We hope to see you there!
I shot this picture at the ‘Attentive Now’ light show by Gerry Hofstetter, on 03.12.2015 at Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris.
A lot of pictures were projected onto the building walls but this eyes’ infinity was the most striking to me, and I focused on this child unintentionally echoing the statue that she pulled herself up on to look at the show. I was surprised by the way their silhouettes were looking so familiar sitting next to each other, both looking elsewhere while all these eyes and the show itself seemed to stare at them.
Living and non-living are mixed up in this scene where the omnipresence of the human’s image is mere window dressing. This picture is all about the look, in both senses of the word : how we look at things and what they look like. It wonders about the illusion of seeing reality and the chimera of human being ; so I consider it more like a trompe l’oeil.
Behind the story I made this photo or this photo series because my wife likes to use striking red lipstick, and it is very evocative of my eyes when I saw her, so, that’s where the initial idea emerged as a concept. And to make this photo more interesting, I’m planning to create a photo series with a different implementation on each photo.
For shooting and editing, first of all is the makeup of the models face, facial skin is covered with white paint, so that the red lips look more striking. After completion of makeup, I started taking pictures with ProCamera application. For editing to get the paint splash effect, I use IColorama. In addition I also use other applications for final editing like blending the image, sharpening, or changing color tone with Superimpose, VSCO Cam, PhotoPower, Afterlight and Phonto.
For the image title, Lippen is a German language, it means Bibir in Indonesia or lips in English. I used that word because I just like it.
I shot this photo near the end of this year’s edition of the 24 Hour Project, an annual worldwide real-time street photography event. Over 2000 street photographers around the world participated this year, walking the streets of their cities and posting a new photo every hour from midnight to midnight on March 21st. For more info, please see their website 24hourproject.org, or, instagram.
This is one of my favorite shots of the day. I had been shooting about 15 hours straight when we found ourselves in the West Village in NYC. We’d lost the light, making it more challenging to find the hour’s photo. I had noticed the marbled glass of this restaurant’s windows earlier and had spent some time trying to capture a different couple at a different table to no avail. Wandering about within the half-block radius (as the day goes on, you tend to move less and less), I thankfully spied this couple and finally got the shot.
Saul Leiter’s work clearly trained my eye to see this shot, though referencing his work was not conscious; I saw the similarity only after, when several commenters pointed out this obvious inspiration. I shot the image using Oggl, with some very minor editing in Filterstorm.
It’s a funny photo for me because I do so little in colour, but this one just screamed out to me of course. I was waiting at this Subway station so I was just looking for a few relaxed photos, and also found others waiting like me. I was lucky that one of my subjects decided to lean against the wall in the corner like that, sort of at the collection point of all the colours on the wall.
The tiles echo Toronto’s fantastic cultural diversity, and they actually form a mosaic of faces. If you get back far enough and squint you can see them. It’s quite clever really, because from most angles you don’t see that at all.
It’s always a good day when you can bag a photo before you’ve even started really shooting! Although I guess in fairness, who ever really stops?
Pure play. I love those nights when time stops and I can lose myself in this kind of creative flow. It all started with an image of a stray cat in Spain… and it turned into a whole new story.
I liked this new story, and when I found the words from Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott, it felt so right.
“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time,
was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write,
which was due the next day.
We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears,
surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds,
immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead.
Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said,
“Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”
This image is created by layering some old photos in Image Blender, iColorama and Repix.
The uncertainty principle, one thing secure, the rest in chaos
From an original pic by @another_eye using #mdpatterns by @motiondoom #decosketch and #unionapp
I’m interested in abstract art as it can have many interpretations, depending on the person viewing it.
I also had just been reading about quantum physics and the uncertainty principle and was intrigued that the more sure you became about one thing, the more other things became not so sure (or that was how I interpreted it)
When I saw this shape it looked strong and transformative, and I thought it could show how circles, entering through the eye of perception, could maybe become less certain and chaotic and so it is with many truths’.
Times had been hard in the little family shop on 9th street in South Philly. No one seemed to appreciate the deep resonating tones of the tubas his brother refurbished anymore. That meant the family was cutting corners any way they could. So on an unusually hot night in September the decision had been made. Roberto, as the oldest, knew he would be the one to take the old renovated bus behind the shop, load it with all the big horns it could hold and travel from town to town, peddling his instruments. Taking I-95 all the way to Miami he had stopped here and there in big cities and small towns and was now on the way back home. He had learned some things while out on the road: eat more than you can at cheap buffets, be careful who you trust, you can take free showers at public health centers, and you should never take family for granted. Now it was almost Christmas and he had one tuba left. It would be a hard one for him to sell. He was only about 200 miles from home and in Fredericksburg, Va. Open for business for only an hour, it began to snow. He was glad and began to smile, because he took it as a sign to keep the last tuba. This horn was the one he had played growing up as a boy and as a most precious gift, it would now be handed down to his son, Roberto, Jr.
After many years of being a slave to the masses, Santa packs it in and moves to SoCal. After many failed attempts at trying to make friends with the local surfers he decides to pack up his pet crab and head north.
Franco’s back was hurting worse than usual today. Stress, for certain, but today his back was complaining even before Franco climbed the 4 flights of stairs to the room that had been his office, his place of work for the past 4 decades. The empty box in his hand already felt weighted by the books, papers and assorted detritus he was about to fill it with. His boss, a man young enough to be Franco’s son’s son, had just told him to clear it all out – today. A grown man’s entire career, reduced to a jumble of piles of files. Jumbled like Franco’s feelings, his thoughts, and in ruins like his life. “How did I get here?” he asked himself, as he reached the bottom of the stairway that had a path worn down by 40 years of his own footfalls.
When Ellsworth drifted off mid sentence, Bill and the fellas didn’t really notice, Ellsworth had a habit of it. Sometimes he’d stop gnawing on his customary bologna and mustard sandwich part way through a bite, the crust left to bob on his lip like a limp, over-chewed stoogie. Bill knew one day a seagull would swoop down and steal the damn crust before Ell ever got back to chomping. Goddamn, Bill yearned for the day. He was half tempted to bait the sidewalk just to get those birds worked up before Ol’ Ellsworth even opened his lunch pail. Today it wasn’t a slipping of well-worn mental gears that commanded the pause, Ellsworth was grinning like a goddamn Cheshire cat, eyes twinkling like daytime fireworks. Bill followed his gaze, soon the other fellas did too. Across the street in front of Maelene’s Hairport Mrs. Cheryl Tompkins stood at the curb, head tipped back shaking out her freshly blessed curls, her back arched back as it was, her majestic chest was displayed boldly up to heaven itself. It was common knowledge in at least a three county radius that Mrs. Cheryl Tomkins hadn’t worn a bra since 1971. It was equally well understood that were she to live to 127 her otherworldly large, firm breasts would likely never need one.
Grryo believes that mobile photographers/artists tell stories through the photographs/images and art that represents their families, their environment, themselves. This is important because of the level of communication that is portrayed in imaging today. We want to support the mobile arts community by having a place for artists to share, discuss, and critique (if requested by individual). These dialogues help the individuals and the community to grow. We look forward to you and your art. We thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/arts community. Join us by tagging your images #wearegrryo or #grryo. We hope to see you there!
The Handlers
Darren Nicholls
These two security personnel supply safe passage for an interstellar collective known as “the other people place” who dimension shift between alternate realities manipulating society for their own success and reaping the rewards throughout the ages via mass exploitation. To cut a long story short in our society they may go by the names of illuminati or jesuits aka secret societies……. print at your own risk.
I live in the province of Venice. Not too far from the beautiful island called Burano. I recently decided to start documenting life in this beautiful fishing village using a different approach from the past. I pay more attention to detail than the usual panoramic postcard, and I try to focus more on the connection between the locals and the unique architecture of this place. Then I started a series on the clothes lines in Burano (details) and a series of photos on everyday life in Burano (connections) – ‘Let’s play’ is a part of this.
The photo was taken at 12:22pm. I used vscocam (C5 preset) to make the light more soft and warm. I also used a new app by Pixite (shift) to emphasize the light. I usually try to focus on a single subject: I like simple and effective images. That’s why I tried to keep this image, with a group as a subject, as clean as possible.
Our perception is not shaped with only our five senses but also by learning, memory, personal expectations and attention. Our beliefs or knowledge of the world affects our ways of seeing. So do we see what is really there?
The original photo was captured with the native camera of an iPhone5, which belongs to my Mannequin series.
While editing I used many apps such as Snapseed, Repix, Deco Sketch. I uploaded the edited photo to AddLib app, which automatically generates three different images. The colliding spheres reminded me the dilemma of perception. I edited the text in the app to resemble the four dimensions – time and space. Then I used one of my favorite formulas in Mextures to achieve the final image.
This image captured both a feeling and a moment in time. It was the proverbial dark and stormy night and the cold weather matched my own sombre mood after a long day with numerous obstacles that I couldn’t seem to overcome; I was taking the long way home to clear my head. I try not to take for granted the many beautiful small moments and places here in my adopted land (Italy) even when feeling very ‘blue’. When I heard footsteps and saw a young woman walking ahead of me, I hurriedly took this photograph with my phone.
In looking at the picture later that night I was struck by the feeling of movement, the illusion her arms made of wings and the way the archway and the light framed the composition. I tried to highlight these elements and the feeling of mystery such a moment creates. To me this picture is about how one’s perspective can change–well, if not everything– “enough”. Like Jimmy Page allegedly once said: ‘I’m just looking for an angel with a broken wing’. Aren’t we all?
I shot it with the Camera+ app (it tends to do fairly well even at night), and then edited it at home later that evening using the Stackables, Effexy and Filterstorm apps.
The first night of carnival in Barcelona, accompanied by drums, people dressed as giants, singing children, masks and of course plenty of ear-shattering fireworks.
Welcome to our fifth themed Instagram 1000 words showcase! There are many talented artists on Instagram and we wanted to tap into their creativity and showcase their work here. Fun combo theme this time! My Favorite Things and I SPY. Remember those books? Each one of these images has a hidden element, a little surprise, something beloved to the artist and a great story behind it.
Grryo believes that mobile photographers/ artists tell stories through the photographs/ images and art that represents their families, their environment, themselves. We want to support the mobile arts community by having a place for artists to share, discuss, and critique (if requested by individual). These dialogues help the individuals and the community to grow. We thank you for your contribution to the mobile photography/ arts community.
Korea’s second city has become known for its dazzling skyscrapers, film festival, and popular beaches, but Busan’s hills are not to be missed. To the southwest of the trendy Haeundae district and the sights and smells of the old harbor’s Jagalchi seafood market, the colorful ‘village’ of Gamcheon beckons with its maze of public art and narrow stepped-streets leading to pocket plazas and views of the sea.
The steep terrain was mostly uninhabited until refugees pouring into Busan during the Korean War (1950-1953) began to seek somewhere to call home. Followers of an indigenous religion, called Taegukdo, settled as well, and as they built, they made sure to not block anyone else’s light or view. The result was a poor but vibrant neighborhood of stacked houses that has been compared to Rio’s favelas, Greece‘s Santorini, and even Machu Picchu; due to its colors, Gamcheon has also earned the nickname “Lego village.
In recent years, artists have moved in, setting up impromptu galleries and installations in abandoned homes, along with boutiques and cafés. Photogenic murals and sculptures abound, but this is still very much a working neighborhood, where you may well come upon grandmothers washing vegetables in the street. Visitors are requested to keep their voices down, and to leave by dusk so that residents can enjoy a quiet evening…
I took the photo with my iPhone5s. I used Snapseed for some initial processing, and then the Hipstamatic TinType app for finishing.
I shot this image out the front of the Palace Hotel in Broken Hill, a remote town in the Australian outback. Several scenes in the wonderful Aussie feature film “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” were filmed inside the hotel, it’s main feature being wall to ceiling Australiana slash Renaissance style murals. I took this image just before we walked through the door, so I was full of excitement. It’s interesting to me that the white conservative exterior does not give away any hints as to what lies behind it’s doors. I also enjoy the connection here between the figure on the inside and the person striding by.
The wall in this picture is a thing of optician. The optician is a shop my wife go well. And I had much wanted to take to photograph the beautiful wall sometime inthe best possible way. One day, I went to the optician with my wife and son. When my son stood in front wall, beautiful sight was spread in front of my eyes. Beautiful shades of the wall complemented his charm! I took a photo, engrossed. And I finally got the work convincing!The scene in this photo is a moment of the common everyday life, but a moment like treasure of my life.Time is everything to me.For you?
Title: Buddy
Device is iPhone5s
Taken with iPhone 5S Hipstamatic ( G2 Lens , Ina’s 1969)
No edit
I titled this photo “Museum Series: Interactive Light”. This was part of a number of photographs I took while touring the Denver Museum of Art. The exhibit consisted of beams of light streaming from the ceiling and shown on a screen. These beams were dormant until a figure enters the room and interacts with the artwork. The man in the photo is my husband, who I had dragged to the museum as a reluctant participant. He is shown bathed in light, reluctance forgotten, becoming one with the art, illuminated as both subject and object. As he moves the ropes of light ripple and sway in reaction, a complex web, leading to a total acceptance of his presence.
I was wandering around Sutro Baths with my friend when this pair caught my eye. Their clothes matched their bikes so I quickly took a photo. I only took one photo and it happened to be when they stepped exactly in line.
I had taken this shot with my Lumia 1020 of these two old TV sets at an abandoned shoot a few weeks back. After a little editing and cropping in Snapseed I didn’t do anything with it. They were kind of boring. I wished I’d had someone to put in the scenes at this shoot to make it more interesting.It was valentine’s Day and I’m thinking about how to do something a little extra for my sweetie. Hmmm…why not put us on TV? So I pulled up those televisions in PS Touch, found our anniversary photo from a few months back, and layered it over the front set, and blended it into the dust and shadows. Now we are a romantic comedy appearing in our 33rd Valentine season!
This photo was taken in Bolinas where I spent an unusually warm. January morning watching my son surf. I really like the two torpedo-shaped silhouettes mirrored here–the guy and his surfboard walking in the background and this unlikely beach-bum dachshund in front of me. It was taken with Hipstamatic (Lowy lens, BlacKeys Extra Fine film, no flash). I warmed it up a bit in Snapseed after.
I took this picture at the M. C. Escher: The Mathematician exhibit, currently mounted at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa until May 3. In the picture is my daughter, Maia – running around as usual no matter where we are or what we are doing, and another museum goer, in front of one of the exhibit walls.
Maia and I visit the Gallery fairly frequently – it’s a beautiful place where there are things for each of us to do. She loves doing arts and crafts, running down the Grand Hall to her heart’s content (I have a couple of photos of her running down this hall on my feed), and simply just wandering with me from exhibit to exhibit – she particularly loves Janet Cardiff’s 40-part motet in the reconstructed chapel (photo on my feed).I of course enjoy the artwork, but am also fascinated by how others ‘interact’ with the artwork and the space, and how they interact with other visitors… Here, an almost 4-year-old was ecstatic to spend a day with her mommy. It didn’t really matter what we were doing – she was happy just running around, stopping when she spotted something of interest to a 4-year-old which was frequent. (The artwork in this exhibit in particular are smaller and therefore hung above her height so they didn’t capture her attention in the same way as the much larger pieces.) At her age, the things that are of interest are other kids, ice cream, lollipop, and shiny, sparkly things, etc. In this instance, she spotted the shiny red motorized scooter. And she wanted to get her hands on it. She ran toward me and asked if she could play with it. To her, it was a a shiny ‘car’. It is not much different from her car toy at home, except her car toy is made of plastic and lacks that sparkle of shiny metal, and she has to ‘walk’ her feet to ‘drive’ it along. This shiny red car drives on its own.
To her, the vehicle looked like fun and absolutely fascinating. To the man, that scooter is a necessity, a must-have in order for him to wander the Gallery freely and take in the artwork – something most of us take for granted. Unlike my daughter, the man slowly and methodically made his way from one room to another (the exhibit comprises several rooms), looking at each of the displayed work. To me, there is a variety of opposing ‘motions’ at play in this shot.
My Name is Pia, I’m from Germany and I’m 35 years old. The story behind the “selfie” of my dog and I – I saved him and he saved me:
Since I was little I wanted to have a dog at my side. There was always something that spokes against having a dog: Parents, time, landlords, money.
Early in 2011 was diagnosed with depression. I had a difficult time. So I thought about my life and about what my heart is longing for. It was a dog. So I started searching for a new apartment where I could have a dog, I found one, too expansive, but I didn’t care. I reduced my working hour from 40 to 30 hours a week. And didn’t care. Then I visited the local shelter in April 2012 and totally felt in love with Cody #herrkotmann. He was a one year old, wild, chaotic, had no manners and is supposed to be dangerous just because of his breed – it is called “Kampfhund” in Germany. But I didn’t care. He taught me, and still teaches me, lessons in patience and confidence and makes me smile so much. He still helps me through my bad days, when I totally wanna isolate myself from the rest of the world. I took this picture in 2013 on a rough autumn day in the fields, with my smartphone and edited it in Snapseed and VSCOcam.
Silhouette Friends – This photo was taken end of January, the first day of winter, when there was snow and beautiful sunshine at the same time. Cody and I met our friends Noma (a ten year old sheepdog mix-breed) and her human Kati for the first time in 2015. We had a great three hours walk together, talking, giggling and playing. Cody adores Noma and she’s is so patient with my big chaotic boy. I took this photo with my Olympus OM- D E-M10 + M.Zuiko 45mm 1:1.8 and edited it in Snapseed.
We traveled to west coast of Florida and were able to catch the last few seconds of the sunset.
My husband -the one with the hat in background ,said-‘we missed it ‘.
I had no clue what he was talking about because from my POV- this was good enough.
I loved the way the water and sand contrast and the remnants of sunlight.
This photos does not justify the actual scene. However, I was pleasantly surprised in the heavy contrast of land and humans.
It wasn’t my intention to capture people. Their presence was the benediction of keeping my eyes open.
There is no edit on this other than a crop to fit IG. Taken with a Samsung Galaxy S4.
Photo credit: 
