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
© Henrik Duncker, Untitled #3, from the series Intiankatu 20, c.1990 © Henrik Duncker, Untitled #4, from the series Intiankatu 20, c.1990 “This series of mine is an early example of interactive, staged and acted documentary by students of the University of Arts and Design in Helsinki. These are collaboration portraits of people in…
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© Hiroyo Kaneko, Untitled #7, from the series Sentimental Education, 2005 © Hiroyo Kaneko, Untitled #2, from the series Sentimental Education, 2005 “I have seen this artist’s work for years and to find this flower from a rich harvest is a surprise. Many say that all essences of an artist can be seen in…
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© Elina Brotherus, Le Printemps, from the series The New Painting, 2001 © Elina Brotherus, Scène Domestique, from the series The New Painting, 2001 “Elina Brotherus begins from her own experience: herself, those close to her, and the landscapes she knows. For her, photography’s ‘decisive moment’ is not a split second alignment of people…
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© Duarte Amaral Netto, Growing Into © Duarte Amaral Netto, Rumor “In the new photographic series of works by Duarte Amaral Netto, the end of time seems near, doom and gloom awaits. Demolished office furniture in ruined interiors, by the hands of vandals maybe, or lvacated bya company now bankrupt or having moved to better…
Read More© Sarah Faust, Pink Sleep © Sarah Faust, Chicago Bedroom, 2002 “The human body is a beautiful and fragile form. In photographing myself, and loved ones, in particular, my mother, I investigate it’s vulnerability, even it’s mortality. My images are moments of transition; memories of what may have been and artifacts of the ephemeral. In…
Read More© Matthew Shain, Miscellaneous Debris, 2005 © Matthew Shain, Father/Son I, 2005 “Identity, relationships, distance, reflection, elegy, and humor are some of the themes in my work. I began thinking of these ideas while photographing my father for a project designed to portray our relationship, or rather, the implied distance on which it hinges. I…
Read More© Jennifer Loshaw “Throughout history, the desire for beauty has been used as a tool to help establish selfidentity. Through the drifting dreams of William Shakespeare to the concepts taught by the Dali Lama, we can see how society defines the self through a search for beauty. Since beauty cannot be positively defined, I find…
Read More© Amy Montali, Martin, Palmer and Nora, 2003 © Amy Montali, Erin in the blue room, 2004 “These portraits and narrative fragments are produced with a large-format view camera, which requires a slow and formal approach. However, I try to shoot spontaneously as though I am on the street or at a birthday party. I…
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© Ben Gest, Chuck, Alice & Dale, 2003 © Ben Gest, Alan & Noah, 2002 “My pictures describe tenuous moments between people sharing their lives together in their homes. These ambiguous narratives of personal and simple everyday activities describe the way people sometimes disengage from those closest to them. They are an outgrowth of…
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© Jessica Todd Harper, Self Portrait with Christopher, Papa and Ah-Choo, 2003 © Jessica Todd Harper, Self Portrait with Christopher and my future In-Laws, 2003 “I grew up copying paintings. My mother gave my sister and I first crayons, then charcoal, and finally pastels and watercolors as she plunked us down on the floors…
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© Holly Lynton, Untitled #8 (pouring), from the In Between series, 1999 © Holly Lynton, Untitled #15 (in the basement), from the In Between series, 1999 “Someone shouts to me from across the street that I look too young to be driving. At the airport, a woman thinks I am waving goodbye to my…
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© Birthe Piontek, Untitled, from the Terrain Vague series, 2006 © Birthe Piontek, Untitled, from the Sub Rosa series, 2006 “Similar to numerous other photographers my first take on photography was rather journalistic. Inspired by artists like Jeff Wall, Philip Lorca DiCorcia, Anna Gaskell and the work of David Lynch my pictures became increasingly staged…
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© Tina Barney, Marina and Peter, 1997 © Tina Barney, Moya and the Peach, 1996 “Tina Barney is best known for her ongoing documentation of the lifestyles and relationships of her family and close friends, many of whom belong to the social elite of New York and New England. Barney’s style is part candid, part…
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© Cecil Macdonald, Fresh Linens, 2006 © Cecil Macdonald, Deflecting the Obvious, 2005 “On first viewing, Cecil McDonald Jr’s images of his three daughters, his wife and himself appear to be snapshots – everyday moments caught on film. But nothing could be further from the truth, as McDonald seeks to reinvent mundane events that occur…
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© Melissa Ann Pinney, Kanaha State Beach, Maui, 2006 © Melissa Ann Pinney, Kihei Shower, Maui, 2006 “My photographs are grounded in attentive observation of the world. I have come to understand that such mindfulness is rewarded by pictures more authentic and more mysterious than any I might have imagined beforehand or manipulated in PhotoShop…
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© Kelli Connell, Private Conversation, 2003 © Kelli Connell, Sunday Afternoon, 2002 “This work represents an autobiographical questioning of sexuality and gender roles that shape the identity of the self in intimate relationships. Polarities of identity such as the masculine and feminine psyche, the irrational and rational self, the exterior and interior self, the motivated…
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© Zanele Muholi, Being series, 2007 © Zanele Muholi, Being series, 2007 to view more about this work click here
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© Barbara Nitke, Mitch and Tiffany Clark, 1983 American Ecstasy – 1982-1991 “For many years I shot stills on hardcore porn shoots in New York City. I thought it was the most exciting, stomach-turning, heart-warming subject I could ever hope to photograph, and I felt honored to be among the few who got to do…
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© Helen Van Meene, Untitled (#77) © Helen Van Meene, Untitled (#141) © Helen Van Meene, Untitled (#119) “The central theme in my work is photographing girls who are at the point of budding into maturity. Girls who are in that stage of their lives in which they become a woman. This theme actually came…
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© Richard Billingham Untitled, from Ray’s a Laugh, 1995 ‘my father raymond is a chronic alcoholic. he doesn’t like going outside, my mother elizabeth hardly drinks, but she does smoke a lot. she likes pets and things that are decorative. they married in 1970 and I was born soon after. my younger brother jason was…
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© Malerie Marder Untitled (fron the Inland Empire serires), 2004 © Malerie Marder Untitled (fron the Inland Empire serires), 2004 “When I was eighteen I was asked to take pictures of a woman named Laura and her lover. She had been having an affair for ten years with a very powerful man. They had learned…
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