a blog about photography by Sofia Silva
I won’t pretend to understand the full history of what’s happening in Syria. Even attempting to understand the historical, political, sociological and geographical conditions that led Syrians to their current situation, I would still fail to grasp the brutality of what’s been happening there since the uprising back in 2011. A genocide is happening…
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The following post has been created by author Robin Cracknell. A recent post, ‘Photographs of animals and fake news‘, made me sigh. Why do we buy into this relentless stream of memes-masquerading-as-truth? When did we become so gullible? And why do we use these photographs as badges to advertise ourselves as somehow more virtuous, more…
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Animal lovers aren’t a particular type of human beings. Any deviation from this assessment would be, I think, discriminatory. Patterns tend to arise when, in an effort to synthesize, we shorten the analysis phase. Populism gallops this wave: people behave more like irrational animals – reacting and acting on instincts – and less like the…
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Is the condition of being ignorant essential to being privileged? Not exactly. However, most of us, when in a privileged situation, ignore its condition and thus speak about such situation with disregard for the complex web of circumstances that has led us there. We make it sound like it’s simple and say things like anyone…
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Caption (image above): photograph of Bianca Devins found on instagram Photography has been transformed by instagram. I now feel it’s an undeniable fact that I’ve taken a long time to accept. We’ve seen how young students have been influenced by this social network. From the square format to the characteristic seductive quality of their imagery,…
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Caption (image above): untitled, from the project ‘Woman’ (work-in-progress), by Sofia Silva. Collage with passport photographs (blurred for this occasion) and drawings. Belle comme une image (Pretty as Picture), by Emilie Danchin About the project: “Pretty as a Picture, photo exhibition, is the fruit of a series of social and phototherapeutic workshops, conducted by Emilie…
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Caption (image above): Digital offset reproduction of an instant portrait of my mother and her best friend Lena, painted with crayons; 1 of many tests. (by Sofia Silva, 2018). Starting this series of posts about therapeutic photography and authors working with it, I’d like to make some very brief distinctions between phototherapy, therapeutic photography, art…
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Caption (image above): ‘One Love, One Heart #5’, linocut printing on fabric with embroidery over digitized photographs (by Sofia Silva). More about Jennifer West‘s work here. Rita Gonzalez, author of Jennifer West: Across Time and Through Media (excerpts): West came out of DIY media scenes in the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s, where e robust…
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Caption (image above): therapeutic photography + scanography (by Sofia Silva). More about Enoc Perez‘s work here. Enoc Perez’s new photo collages engage with social media, appropriation, and the artist’s consistent and inventive search for new forms. Sourcing images from the internet of minimally dressed or nude women, from amateur selfies to more professional photos, Perez…
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Caption (image above): scanography (by Sofia Silva). More about Deborah Turbeville‘s work here. Deborah Turbeville was one of the most revered fashion photographers working during the 1970s and ’80s, and her legacy has shifted the way we view women in fashion imagery. Beginning as fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar, Turbeville’s entry into image making…
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Caption (image above): lumen/chemigram (by Sofia Silva). More about Ross Faircloth‘s work here. Ross Faircloth about Dark Grandeur (excerpt): This series of works focuses on the darkroom and printing aspect of photography as a means for pure expression, as the camera and act of photographing takes backstage, or a supporting role. This is accomplished by…
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caption (image above): untitled, Sofia Silva (2019). Doing snapshots, I often photograph out of awe. I’m easily dazzled by natural events and living by the sea, on the Atlantic coast, sets the perfect conditions for nature to reveal its sublime impression. Although I’m conscious of the awe effect, I never instantaneously react to it. In…
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photo caption (above): Sofia Silva, ‘Ego support #2’, from the project ‘The Orchestra’, 2011. Fine Art print, 60x70cm. I started teaching soon after finishing an MFA in Glasgow. Since then, I’ve often remember something one of my tutors told me before I came back to Portugal. He warned me that choosing to teach could be…
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Caption (image above): lumen/chemigram (by Sofia Silva) More about William Miller‘s work here. William Miller about Ruined Polaroids: “With its first use I realized the camera wasn’t functioning properly. It sometimes spills out 2 pictures at a time and the film often gets stuck in the gears, exposing and mangling the images in unpredictable…
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Caption (image above): lumen on expired 120 ektachrome film (by Sofia Silva) More about Nobuhiro Nakanishi‘s work here. Nobuhiro Nakanishi: “The theme of my work is ‘the physical that permeates into the art piece.’ In a foggy landscape, we no longer see what we are usually able to see – the distance to the…
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Caption (image above): lumen on expired 4×5” ektachrome film (by Sofia Silva) More about Jacqueline Butler‘s work here. Jacqueline Butler: “Glass and Paper Landscapes evolved from a study of the collection of negatives and prints of the photographer and author Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) held in the Insight Photographic Archive at the National Media…
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Caption (image above): image of filter used for anthotype work (by Sofia Silva) More about Katie Kalkstein‘s work here. … More about Tina Rowe‘s work here. Tina Rowe: “This work in the baldest terms comes from a series of negatives that were found in a bin with other items related to photography. It seems…
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Caption (image above): lumen on expired 4×5” ektachrome film (by Sofia Silva) More about Lesia Maruschak‘s work here. Lesia Maruschak: “ERASURE: Memory and The Power of Politics has three points of departure: A practice entitled damnatio memoriae – a Latin phrase dating back to the 4th century BCE – resulting in the erasure of…
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Caption (image above): lumen on expired agfa fiber bromide paper (by Sofia Silva) More about Almudena Romero‘s work here. Almudena Romero: “Growing Concerns uses plants from former British colonies as a canvas to host images that reflect on the links between plant trade, colonialism and migration, and the legacy of these in modern day…
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More of Timothy Nolan’s work here. In my current work, I start with handmade collages, combining photography of unique geological terrain, outdated scientific graphics, and Art Deco patterns. These are scanned, digitally and manually marked, cut, and re-collaged. The larger works are then printed on aluminum or vinyl (in the case of the recent wall…
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More of Jacob Burge’s work here. “Computers are quietly taking over as our main source of memory back up. Enabling us to store, display and edit our version of reality”, excerpt from Burge’s statement about Recall. … “Japan has got a lot of active volcanoes. The internet tells me there are about 110 of them,…
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photo caption (image above): Intervention on stone by unknown author, Sintra, 2019. * * * More of Marília‘s work can be seen here. * * * More of Ana‘s work can be seen here. * * * A conversation between Marta Romero and Dana Nechman can be read here.
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photo caption (image above): © Alia Ali, BORDERLAND Series, 107 cm x 72 cm. Pigment Print on Cotton Rag 310 gr. 1 AP + 1 EP + 5 Editions, 2017. ALIA ALI “Alia Ali (1985) is a Yemeni-Bosnian-American multi-media artist”. Her work with fabric and thread is present throughout her entire body of work, referencing…
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caption (image above): Self-published box – The Memory of History, by Lewis Bush, 2012. I’ve recently arrive at Lewis Bush virtual sphere (aka blog) and am coming out with that feeling of content and surprise that is often too rare. A friend had sent me a message with a text about Don McCullin’s retrospective @…
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More of Amparo Garrido’s work here. Author’s statement about the project: One day, many years ago, I had a nightmare: The bogeyman came after me. I was in my bed. I jumped and went to the window because I knew that my mother was on the opposite floor. I called for her help,…
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Caption (photo above: image from Kollar’s book Field Trip. Source: STET Photography Editions. More of Kollar’s work here. I’d say this is the exception and not the rule: sometimes authors’ statements about their work really add to it. I think this is the case: a brief and sincere text about the emotional experience that results…
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Campaign posters for the British Army (by agency Karmarama), targeting youth and using the same psychological strategies used in propaganda recruitment from extremists groups, making youngsters believe they need a higher purpose in life and offering the solution: to join the army. Image showing the installation of a photograph in the context of an exhibition.…
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caption: detail from Dioso Simões’ booklet in Propeller Propaganda. Deisgn by Paulo Arraiano. When we asked Diogo to collaborate with Propeller Propaganda, there was a lot of possibilities in the air and no pre-established idea of what he could publish. After some options were dropped, the series of photographs we then published was suggested, but…
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caption: © Elizaveta Porodina, portrait of Lily D. Moore, for Radical Beauty Project. I came across this project through a very complimentary review in the Guardian. The Radical Beauty Project is about “challenging opinions”, questioning perceptions about beauty. It brings together people with down’s syndrome and “40 renowned fashion and art photographers”. In creative director…
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More about São Trindade’s work Dead Inside can be seen here. More about São Trindade’s book Bad Liver and a Broken Heart can be seen here.
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image caption (above): © Margarida Gouveia, Beautiful People #1, poster for Propeller #3 – Propaganda, 2019. More of Margarida’s recent work can be seen here. These black-and-white photographs constitute an imaginary that calls to mind scientific and forensic photography. They are imbued with a sense of strangeness and of a hygienic and strictly functional world in…
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image caption (above): © Soraya Vasconcelos, untitled, digital c-print, 122×163 cm, 2007. More of Soraya’s recent work can be seen here. Models of “territories” are constructed with organic matter and inorganic material: paint, pigments, varnishes, wax, plaster… There is a process of constructionIs it possible to formulate a general theory of artistic collaboration? And…
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