N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A,
a blog about photography by Sofia Silva
caption: image illustrating an article @ Time.com, entitled TIME’s 25 Best Photobooks of 2018. The first sentence of the article reads: “As an antidote to your unyielding Instagram feed, consider the photobook.” I’ve been thinking about photography’s relationship with digital design in the twenty-first century. After some considerations and discussions with colleagues and students I…
Read More
caption: Exhibition View. Novo Banco Foto at Museu Colecção Berardo, 2016. Mónica de Miranda. Photography David Rato. The Novo Banco Photo prize has become one of the key moments of the year in Portugal for the consecration of an artistic practice. […] The artists selected for this exhibition are: Félix Mula, Mozambique; Mónica de Miranda, Angola and…
Read More
caption: © Pierre Gonnord, “Ali” 148 x 125 cm. Color photograph under plexiglass, framed. I’ve had this portrait hovering in my desktop since November. From then on, I kept avoiding identifying the author and seeing further work, already suspecting my enthusiasm would be cut to shreds. It was and it wasn’t. I’m clearly not…
Read More
Searching the web for author Glorija Lizde (b. 1991, Croatia), whose work Persona(L) I came to know in December due to Parallel Review, I was surprised to find a particular essay accompanying her project F20.5 (2016-2018). That particular text, published at Hulu-Split, is an excerpt from Ana Peraica‘s Culture of the Selfie: Self-Representation in Contemporary Visual Culture. But before…
Read More
Right before the year comes to an end, every online platform rushes to publish their best-of lists. Excited, editors exchange reviews and debate on their conclusions. The most this, the most that, the best photographs, best exhibitions, best books… It’s guaranteed that the photography market will be alive and kicking for another year. As for…
Read More
It’s a new year and I’m back at Nihilsentimentalgia with the usual suspects: photography and death. No surprises there. My oldest dog, Ghost, died last week. To be fair, I killed him. As I made the choice I thought I’d have to assist him in his last breath. That decision led to the creation of…
Read More
I’ve started this post two months ago and since then Nihilsentimentalgia has been as slow as it gets. I’ve been wondering whether this blog should take a break. Being its tenth year, I thought I’d be motivated to write with a certain cadence, but the opposite has happened. I’m feeling overwhelmed by images and I’m…
Read More
My understanding of one history of art is just not there. There are many reasons for that and no need to address any of them. Now I find myself discovering Ewa Kuryluk’s work (via books and internet) and I fail to make sense of this late encounter. Why not sooner? I arrived at Kuryluk’s work…
Read More
I first cross paths with Jordan Baumgarten‘s Good Sick at bjp online and one of the photographs stroke me, not for the best of reasons. I kept thinking about it. As I went back to have a proper look at the project, I came across Pete Brook’s writing on that same work and that finally…
Read More
nãooriginais Igor’s statement nãooriginais proposes a quasi-purist exercise of photography (realism), to the point of expanding Duchamp’s proposal of readymades – taking into account that his work is fundamentally photographic, analyzing through photography as a trait of a real and the pragmatic of the index of R.Barthes – and to make the image of the…
Read More
STILL… Philip’s statement The girl has a question for the boy: “How much do you love me?” He thinks for a moment, then quietly replies, “As much as a train whistle in the night.” She waits in silence for him to go on. Obviously there has to be a story there. – Murakami Haruki, Feb…
Read More
SATELUCO Dante’s statement A self-referential photographic analysis of middle-class suburban Mexico City, based on past relationships with people and urban space, that seeks to establish a visual dialogue with them in the present day. I examine social stratification of the Mexican culture in Sateluco. This project, which received the acquisition prize of the XII Photography…
Read More
ZONA – An Investigation Report Fabio’s statement After the housing crisis caused by the economic and political power, the housing authority decided to open an investigation to assess its consequences. Given that previous reports were ambiguous, fieldwork was needed. Thus an investigator was sent to ZONA with the specific aim of preparing a visual report on…
Read More
By now, those who follow ASX will have probably come across Brad Feuerhelm’s passionate article about the femicide and drugs in Mexico and d’Agata’s Codex: Mexico 1986-2016. It’s a strong piece of writing, you won’t regret taking the time to read it. When I first saw the title I suspected I would end up writing about…
Read More