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’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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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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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…
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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…
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Before advancing, I feel I must apologize for this confessional note. Really, if you haven’t been a reader of Nihil, do yourself a favor and stop reading; this exposure of the private life of Nihil will make little sense in any case. I’ve been suffering from a strange set of headaches that bring along an…
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Dating from mid 90’s, Richard Billingham‘s project Ray’s a Laugh is still a reference to me and I always show it to students whenever we address the art of documenting intimate stories and domestic environments. Ray’s a Laugh is a project about Richard’s father Ray and his mother Liz and their life indoors. If what Billingham…
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As Nihilsentimentalgia’s early readers know well, at the core of this platform is an interest for the idea of phototherapy and, consequently, different approaches to the idea of self. Throughout the years, I’ve done my experiments using photography as a personal therapeutic tool and I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t really work for…
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Some years ago, while attending a PhD class, I was introduced to the artwork of Terike Haapoja and the impact of that encounter led me to a post here. Last year, I ended up having a conversation with that same lecturer, Rogério Taveira, and he told me her recent work was very different, probably closer…
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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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So much has been said about Leif Sandberg‘s project Ending that words fail me. Still, the quality of his work and the importance it has for those, like me, who embrace photography both as a means of artistic expression, but also as a therapeutic tool, brought me here. At Lenscratch, Aline chooses to stick to…
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A portrait of me taken by my 5 years old niece forced me into this theme. As I stared into the photograph I wondered “do I really look like that”? The question is as simple as it is complex. I’m aware that the word “really” in this sentence is just a figure of speech, so…
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© Spencer Rowell, from the project Pathography of An Artist, 2013-14. Description: Session II (Ibid.) Rejecting the mother’s milk, perhaps the ‘feed’ is poisonous or unpalatable – yet what is rejected is full of light. (Eb., II. xx.) A triptych, religious-looking but based on a very non-sacred, commonplace piece of furniture. A dressing table, where…
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© Adrain Chesser, Juliann (left) and Julia (right), from the series I Have Something to Tell You. excerpt of Adrian’s statement: When I tested positive for HIV and was diagnosed with AIDS, I had an extreme physical reaction whenever I thought about having to tell my friends and family. Looking at this reaction more closely,…
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© Ochi Reyes, all photographs from the series Mother “I have gone through the traces my mother left behind since she passed away almost a year ago now: her clothes, her shopping lists, the notes she wrote on her medication, her unfinished pieces of sewing and her photographs. In this search I have been using…
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Part I of essay here © Duarte Amaral Netto, Ambient 4 (#3 e #5), 2004 48×130 cm. Lambda Print on Fuji Fine Art. Ed. 3 + 1 AP Before going on to explore Duarte’s recent exhibitions – The Polish Club Case (2011), Z (2012) and Selective Affinities (2013) – I’d like to take a brief…
Read MoreAll reproductions of Hannah Wilke’s work were removed due to copyrights issues. Here’s the link to her virtual home. © Hannah Wilke, My Country tis of thee, 1975 “Lil Picard: I see you are a collector of Art Deco objects. Why? Hannah Wilke: I’ve always collected things. Objects have always been important for me. But…
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© Kathleen Robbins, Untitled, from The Hostess Project “In an effort to further inhabit my grandmother’s memories as a young wife, I began an autobiographical, photographic record of my experiences with her recipe journal. This ongoing project is as much a social experiment as a nostalgic experience. I dress in her clothing, prepare meals based…
Read More© Jo Spence, Untitled, from the series In the Picture of Health, 1982-1986 © Jo Spence, Revisualization, from the series Remodeling Photo History, 1982
Read MoreAll reproductions of Hannah Wilke’s work were removed due to copyrights issues. Here’s the link to her virtual home. © Hannah Wilke, Brestplate, 1981 © Hannah Wilke, Self-portrait with floer, c.1958 and Hannah and Chaya, 1984
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N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A, 