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
I came across Jordan Gale‘s project It is what it is @ Lenscratch. At first, it was a darkness that grabbed my attention, but then something else triggered a different engagement with his work. In what seems like a statement about It is was it is, Gale mentions that the project “acts as a form…
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Soham Gupta‘s statement: Angst is my reaction to the trials through which some people must pass in our society. This work has its roots in my childhood riddled with severe asthma attacks and in my troubled growing-up years spent trying to come to terms with the world’s expectations. Deep within Angst runs my anger, my…
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excerpt from CLAUDE CAHUN: The Extreme Point of the Needle in: Michael Löwy’s MORNING STAR: surrealism, marxism, anarchism, situationism, utopia During 1936, Claude Cahun took an active part in Surrealist activities: she was present at the Surrealist exhibitions in Paris and London and signed the collective appeal “No Freedom for the Enemies of Freedom” (written…
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all images © Isaac Pereira. Courtesy of the artist. This conversation took place in July 2014, over the virtual space that unites Macau and Lisboa. The original, portuguese version, of this conversation, can be seen HERE. Sofia: We’re having this conversation mainly because of your exhibition, Tree, now held in Macau. Although I couldn’t be…
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© Bruce Weber, Trevon & Maxie, from the commissioned project Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters, for Barneys (Spring 2014). © Bruce Weber, Edie Charles, from the commissioned project Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters, for Barneys (Spring 2014). I was always at odds with my gender. When I was very young, my preference for typically feminine…
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© Wellcome Library, Hearing aid for constant use. Two light cornets of imitation tortoiseshell joined by metal spring forming a head-band. Introduction of this form of instrument attributed to Napoleon’s surgeon D. J. Larrey (1776-1842).19th Century. ‘Authenticity’ is a matter of interpretation which is made and fought for from within a cultural and, thus, historicised…
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© Henry Horenstein, Dolly Parton, Symphony Hall, Boston, MA, 1972, from Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music 1972-1981. © Henry Horenstein, Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, Nashville, TN, 1974. Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music 1972-1981. © Henry Horenstein, Conway Twitty, Annapolis, MD, 1975S, from Honky Tonk: Portraits of Country Music 1972-1981. Describing country music…
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When I first met Isaac’s work, one of my immediate deductions was regarding his very deep use of blacks and whites. After some years, I now know that his work is not defined by the use of black & white, but rather by the absence of colour, which in turn leads to very defined areas/lines/figures…
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This post introduces another invited scribe for this blog: Rodrigo H.. Though it’s not his first post as a newcomer, he has made a singular contribution to accompany his visual work, which is entitled to its own post. From here on Rodrigo will wonder adrift amidst his affair with curiosity and the places it leads…
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© Kirsten Hoving, Birth of the star system, from the series Night Wanderers, 2010 © Kirsten Hoving, Music of the Spheres, from the series Night Wanderers, 2010 © Kirsten Hoving, Cassiopeia, from the series Night Wanderers, 2010 “Night Wanderers is a series of photographs envisioning the cosmos. I photograph objects and nineteenth-century photographs frozen in…
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© Cláudio Ferreira, all Untitled, from the series Space Project nº 1 – Galaxies, 2012 “And yet, the absence of the subject does not have to be interpreted as a deficiency. Quite the opposite, it could indicate a new quality in the revolution, in a henceforth molecular revolution, and the primacy of multiplicity within it.…
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© Scott Alario, all Untitled, from the project Our Fable “I’m in the process of building a folk tale for my daughter. It is a paternal inevitability to make up stories for one’s children, and for me, doing so has recently become the passion in my creative practice. There are two photographs I remember from…
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© Inês Beja, The Roaring © Inês Beja, Untitled #3, from the series Jumping at Shadows Inês is a chameleon or, as she puts it, a shape-shifter. From my point of view what she is now is a creative force: obsessive, eager to learn, aiming for the perfect tool, the perfect dress, the perfect light,…
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© Martin Seeds, from the project I have troubles[…] © Martin Seeds, from the project I have troubles[…] © Martin Seeds, from the project I have troubles[…] “I never set out to document anything. It was more of a search, an investigation. I wanted to understand more of myself. To find others like me. I…
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© Lauren E. Simonutti, Manny and Josephine, 1999 Lauren passed away this April. An homage would be irrelevant compared to what she set off to uncover and offers us. Thank you for the enlightenment! A must see, hear and feel that reminds me of David Nebreda’s work, more than anything else due to the relation…
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© Pierre Dalpé, Manny and Josephine, 1999 © Pierre Dalpé, Saul, Sarah and Johanne, 1998 “Capitalizing on the multiplicity of an individual’s personality and the many selves housed within all of us, Pierre Dalpé approaches each of his subjects with a duplicitous heart: he twins his subjects within the frame to expose the construction of…
Read More@ Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, hood, from the series Flower City (work in progress) @ Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, gray, from the series Flower City (work in progress) @ Noel Rodo-Vankeulen, twin, from the series Flower City (work in progress) In Flower City I’m focusing on the area where I live (Brampton, Ontario), a relative nowhere city transformed by…
Read More© Deborah Luster, Untitled, from the series Tooth for an Eye, 2004 © Deborah Luster, Untitled, from the series Tooth for an Eye, 2004 “The city of New Orleans is a topographical/ architectural/material/cultural phenomenon with a diverse population participating in raucously colorful and fascinating pursuits and rituals. Homicide is a cultural fact of the life…
Read More© Lesley Dill, Face Pull, 2000 © Lesley Dill, Tongues on Fire, 2001 As a young teen, Dill had a vision, one that she had kept hid den until this project, “I grew up in Maine and had a bedroom window that looked out onto some woods. One morning when I was fourteen and was…
Read More© Luke Norman & Nik Adam, Untitled, from the project Ellerker Gardens, 2011 © Luke Norman & Nik Adam, Untitled, from the project Ellerker Gardens, 2011 © Luke Norman & Nik Adam, Untitled, from the project Ellerker Gardens, 2011 “We wanted to focus on the ‘in-between’, the volatile state of mind in which instability manifests…
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N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A, 