Cris Bierranbach’s website here.
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The need for historical consciousness: the artist and the political conditioning of art
Caption (image above): untitled, Sofia Silva. From time to time I go back to this issue. It’s inevitable. With no surprise, the modern art world (at least what is made visible) has always been contaminated by the capitalist relationships that structure our societal living. This month, I came across some events, news and debates about…
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She has character
Caption (image above): Agfa Optima Sensor Electronic (1982). When I picked up the camera again, in 2018 – after a troubled period regarding my relationship with photographic equipment, in general, and cameras in particular -, I bought some easy going cameras: light, simple, with built-in flash. My first purchase was an Agfa Optima Sensor Electronic,…
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“The Brazilians” and the political other
Caption (image above): © Lianne Milton, portrait of Juliana Marinho, 25, owner of AfroAtitude salon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ‘White Brazilians are uncomfortable with the ascension of the black woman. I own my business and I’m a business owner. And they don’t believe it. My salon tries to transcend. There were no options before. It…
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The Death Tape
I’ve been thinking about this documentary – Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle – ever since I saw it a couple of weeks ago. Some images just got stuck in my mind. Writing about it seemed like a natural thing to do, but I guess it took some time to digest it and today, while listening…
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Some life in Diaries (trying to make sense, part I)
I’ve kept diaries since I was 12 and for some time now I’ve been trying to gather them all. Some are definitely missing: some might have been gifted, some might have gotten lost and some I’ve destroyed. Anyway, for therapeutically reasons and to help guide what I’m working with now (in terms of image-making), I’ve…
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The importance of restlessness and pleasure in the process of image-making
A couple of weeks ago I joined some colleagues of the university I teach at to present work to our students. It’s an annual event, created by the director of the course with the intent of allowing professors to share their own experience with the process of image-making and research in the visual field (something…
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A new adventure: TIRA-OLHOS
Caption (image above): A large anthotype photograph made with chlorella and blue dye (120x55cm). View from the lab at Tira-Olhos (by Alexandre de Magalhães). So in March 2018 a group of four – myself, Paula Lourenço, Alexandre de Magalhães and Miguel Duarte – started a series of conversations about setting up a photography lab where…
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Try walking in my shoes
Caption (image above): Glasgow boots (by Sofia Silva). I’m trying to stop walking in my shoes, but finding myself unable to fulfill that wish. I’m not one to get attached to material stuff – don’t remember it ever being any different -, but there’s an exception: shoes. I never have more than 3 or 4…
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Syria: this is what a genocide looks like
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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Robin Cracknell on memes, propaganda, animals and fake news
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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Photographs of animals and fake news
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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Class, privilege and photography
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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Life as soap opera (not everything is instagramable)
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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Therapeutic Photography (part I)
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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Experimental work and printing techniques (part X)
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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Experimental work and printing techniques (part IX)
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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Experimental work and printing techniques (part VIII)
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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Experimental work and printing techniques (part VII)
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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Photography and awe (photographs not taken)
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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N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A, 