INTERVIEW: Magdalena Bors

Magdalena Bors' surreal and fantastical works tell tales of creation, nature and hidden places. Her labour intensive environments seem to harken back to her roots in architecture and conjure up reflections of natural environments from household materials.

While preparing for her exhibition at Galleri Image in Denmark, she took time to answer my questions and was very sportingly, the first to submit to a "pictaview" style question for which I am delighted with the response.

First, here is her artist statement:

"My practice to date has predominantly explored the idea of the sublime in the everyday. I have done this by constructing, then photographing fantastical landscapes in domestic spaces. Our connection with the natural world is the driving force behind my work. I am fascinated by the simultaneous strength and fragility of this connection as we go about our lives, spending most of our time within the confines of the small compartments we call home.​

The images in Homelands can be seen as snapshots of daydreams conjured in a moment of distraction while performing everyday tasks. While the landscapes are staged in familiar spaces and use familiar objects, emotive, sometimes dramatic lighting leaves room for ambiguity about whether the scenes are ‘real’ or imagined. Homelands was born out of my own desire to be in, and to photograph the kind of landscapes that were out of my reach in the real world.
​
The characters in my latest series of images The Seventh Day have been overtaken by a seemingly uncontrollable compulsion to create complex environments from materials found in the domestic realm. The processes undertaken to create the landscapes are extremely labour intensive and involve repetitive, painstaking tasks. Food scraps and remnants of materials seen in the images allude to the passing of time and the physicality of the processes involved. The resulting scenes resemble familiar, sometimes iconic natural landscapes.​"

You studied Architecture in Brisbane before studying photography; do you apply any of this architectural background to your current work? And did it help in any way to develop your photography and if so, how?

I don’t apply my architectural background consciously, but I’m sure many of the decisions I make in a design sense stem from what I learnt during that time. Looking back, I did spend a lot of my time as an architecture student producing meticulous models of my designs… The designs themselves were quite average, but the models were impressive! Architecture definitely did develop my passion for photography.  It became my preferred medium for documenting everything to do with a potential project, from site and material studies, to macro photographs of those carefully constructed models. I was obsessed with recording light. One time, I stayed at a site for 24 hours to record how light fell on a wall every 15 minutes. It was also my introduction to a darkroom, where I spent many, many hours… So really, I guess Architecture more or less helped me find my medium – construction and photography. It also taught me a great deal about patience, perseverance and problem solving.

What would you say is the significance of "hidden worlds" to your work?

Hidden worlds and hidden spaces fascinate and excite me. ‘Homelands’ explores hidden worlds in both the physical sense (behind cupboards, under tables), and hidden in the psychological sense (existing only in the imagination). I’m intrigued by the duality of our public/private selves, and the level of privacy that our homes afford us, particularly in inner city areas with dense populations. Isn’t it extraordinary that you can live somewhere for years, but have no idea what goes on just a couple of meters either side of you? The scenes of ‘The Seventh Day’ are portraits of very private moments. It is only through the voyeuristic eye of the camera that we are given the opportunity to view them.

What is it about German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich that attracts you? And do you have a favourite among his work?

I’m drawn to Caspar David Friedrich’s deeply moving depictions of ‘moments of sublimity’, something I aspire to portray in my own images. I think there is a similarity in the attitude of contemporary society and that of the society of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which is perhaps why there is an apparent resurgence in the popularity of romantic art. There seems to be a growing undercurrent of disillusionment with materialistic society, a renewed interest in spirituality and a need to re-connect with the natural world.

"Some of the sets in ‘The Seventh Day’ actually took months to make..."

It’s difficult to choose, but I would have to say ‘Two Men Contemplating the Moon’ is probably the image of his that affects me the most. Do you remember as a child, looking at the moon and standing still enough and for long enough to see it move? I recall it being quite a ‘magical’ moment, but it wasn’t until I was quite a bit older and understood the mechanics of the universe better, that the same exercise offered quite a profound, humbling experience. When I occasionally remember to pause and do this now, it still takes my breath away. To me, this is what the two men in this image are experiencing; a moment of realisation of the magnificence they are witnessing, as well as their relative insignificance to it.

You've described the process of developing props as taking several weeks to complete and two days to set up and shoot; is there a particular reason you only produce a single image from each concept?

Some of the sets in ‘The Seventh Day’ actually took months to make, but the length of time it takes me to make them is beside the point. Even if an image took me years to construct, there would only be one resulting photograph. If I ever felt the need to take ten photographs of one set, that would be the time to move the set into a gallery and call it an installation. I think my images would significantly loose impact if I were to photograph several versions of one concept. Why water down a good idea? I have little interest in producing ‘large’ bodies of work in a commercial sense either, which I guess is sometimes an expectation of photographic artists. That’s not to say I won’t ever produce larger numbers of photographs, but just not without good reason.

"I wouldn’t completely rule out doing installations in the future..."

What was the last revelation you've had in regard to your work?

I think I’m too close to my work at the moment to have any significant revelations… Maybe that is a small revelation in itself. If I were less involved in the ‘making’ process, perhaps I would create images that were stronger conceptually.

Aside from photography, what other arts do you practice and have you ever considered making any of your works into installations?

It’s a question I get asked a lot, but I just don’t think my current concepts work as installations. The context of these images is so important, not to mention the meticulous lighting, posing of subjects and the precise expression during that critical 1/60th of a second. A few years ago, a gentleman contacted me to enquire about purchasing ‘Woodland Scene’, but as I proceeded to give him print size information, he interrupted to explain that he wanted to purchase the ‘Woodland Scene’. Of course I had to explain the elements of the set and the moment was long gone, but to this day I am fascinated with this desire to possess what was represented in a physical sense. I wouldn’t completely rule out doing installations in the future, but I think it would involve something site specific and unlikely to be in a traditional gallery space.


Are you working or developing anything new at the moment?

I’m stepping outside the domestic realm for my new body of work, which I’ll begin working on later this year.

PICTAVIEW: Below are three images. Please comment on them in any way you see fit. You may comment on each individually or as a group and your reply may be anything from a description of what they mean to you to a fictional narrative or poem. There are no rules except that which you put down should in some way have been instigated by one or more of these images. It isn't a critique of the image but rather a free form reply/reaction.

Ashes, ashes, ashes, orange. I have an early childhood memory of being on a rural property with some older kids; we were playing with the smouldering remains of a large bonfire. There were no adults present, and although my memory of the circumstances surrounding the event are vague, I distinctly remember an exhilarating feeling of rebellion as we poked and prodded the dying fire, daring it to come to life again. I also vividly remember the cave-like little scene created by the glowing embers, and the hissing sounds as one of the older kids rolled an orange into the ‘cave’, followed by the incredible smell of slowly burning orange. Since then I’ve always associated ashes with oranges.


Thank you, Magdalena.


Links:
Magdalena Bors
Magdalena Bors (Facebook)
Magdalena Bors Interview (Blanket)

INTERVIEW: Reed Young

I discovered Reed Young's work through his series Las Pajas and the Luck Haitians. The series works extremely well as a series of portraits in their own right but as a documentary series along with the accompanying text, it is sublime. My personal favourite is Chi Chi (above). His works cover broad and eclectic subjects. You can see more of Las Pajas and the Luck Haitians and other series on his site and blog.

After attending photography school in 2002, graduating from Brooks Institute in 2005, and a yearlong residency at FABRICA, the Communication Research Center of Benetton Group in Treviso, Italy, Reed has done work for a variety of publications including National Geographic, TIME magazine, and The Guardian. His works span a wide range of subject matter, locales and working conditions. He is currently based in New York.

Mr. Young took his time out to answer my questions which you can read below.

First, here is Reed's statement on Las Pajas and the Luck Haitians...

"Lost in the vast sugarcane fields of the Dominican Republic, there are hundreds of small villages called Bateys. These underdeveloped towns were established in the beginning of the 20th Century to house migrant Haitian workers during the sugarcane season.
The Bateys were intended to be seasonal towns. But in the last 40 years, the Dominican Republic has become a symbol of hope and prosperity for the Haitians. Because of this, more and more Haitians have discontinued going back to Haiti after the season and have started families in the Bateys.
In theory, this sounds ideal. But the infrastructure for a permanent population remains unmet in the Bateys. The schools have little to no funding; there’s no running water or plumbing; and trash collection is obsolete. Another problem plaguing these small communities is the lack of legal documentation of citizenship. Without the basic rights as a citizen, most of these people are denied education and healthcare. This has created significant social status issues, which will only improve with the help of humanitarian organizations.
At the time I took these pictures, my friend Rachel Gottesman lived in this small Batey called Las Pajas. Rachel invited me to stay with her for a few days, and it was an eye-opening, unbelievable experience. Even though the problems plaguing the Bateys are similar, each person had a unique story to tell.
In the end, I was the biggest beneficiary of all. I was honored to learn about their lives. Despite having nothing but each other, they’re more content than most people I meet in the more developed world. I also discovered that money alone isn’t the solution to helping impoverished people. What they need more is education, healthcare and correct nutrition.
I was struck by how these Haitian people view themselves as extraordinarily lucky compared with their families back home. Although the conditions of the Bateys are deplorable, they’re nothing compared to those that exist in Haiti where the current food crisis affects 60 percent of the country’s people.
Who would think that people with no education, no access to healthcare and terrible sanitary conditions would consider themselves lucky? These are the lucky Haitians."

In your series Las Pajas and the Lucky Haitians, you seem to have made a strong connection with your subjects. Would you outline how you approached this series and what you feel made it a unique experience from a photographic perspective?

Most of my personal work consists of a going to a place and finding complete strangers to help me tell a story. It's much more difficult without having a contact within the community. I was fortunate to have a close friend living in Las Pajas and this was a huge help in gaining immediate trust with my subjects. When I arrived I realized that the residents were far more impoverished than I could have imagined.  Most of the stories I see from developing countries have a sad, empathetic approach. So I made an immediate decision to portray these people as the strong and proud people they are—and I think that's what makes this story unique.

"...they did it with a grace and trust that I rarely get to see."

What would you say have been the biggest risks you've taken in your york both practically and artistically?

The most difficult and rewarding thing I've done in the last few years is consistently committing to personal projects. It's a huge challenge both financially and artistically. It's expensive and always difficult to find an original story that I'm passionate about. It's a big risk to travel to a place without knowing anyone, hoping to leave with a piece of people's lives that will create some kind of narrative. It's a risk that I'm becoming more and more comfortable with, but someday I may come back with nothing.

How has your residency at FABRICA influenced your work?

Fabrica was an incredible opportunity. It allowed me to take time to find my voice and learn from my mistakes. Benetton often takes a social interest approach, and it would be difficult to deny that this had an influence on the subject matter I pursue. Meeting other young artists from all over the world was also an invaluable takeaway.

"...we're at a very interesting turning point in media."

Have any friendships developed between you and your subjects and are there any subjects who linger in your memory?

There are so many people who come to mind, but one family sticks out: A year ago right now I was in El Paso, Texas, doing a story about life in America's safest city, a town that shares a border with one of the world's most dangerous cities: Juarez, Mexico. It was there that I met the Delgado family. They invited us into their home and we spent 4 hours talking at their kitchen table. As breakfast turned to lunch, they told us everything about their lives. When speaking about the things that weren't exactly favorable, they did it with a grace and trust that I rarely get to see. We still had a week to go before leaving and often returned just to hang out and listen to their stories. We've spoken by phone five or six times over the last year. The El Paso story should be out in the next week or so.

Would you describe your typical/preferred kit and your favourite lens to work with and why?

I shoot a Canon 5D mark iii. When I was working at FABRICA my boss called me into his office and said that he had a gift for me. It was a cheap 50mm lens. He said that if I shot with anything other than the 50mm he'd fire me. So for the next year I only shot with that fixed 50mm lens. It taught me to move around to find the best vantage point instead of just zooming in and out. As far as photographic craft goes, this was one of the most important things I ever learned.

Which photographers of your generation have earned your respect/inspired you? And artists in other mediums? 

I love the work of Nadav Kander, Edward Burtynsky, Alec Soth, William Eggleston, Philip Lorca Dicorcia and Stephen Shore.

"I've always been more interested in my subjects and their story..."

How do you approach an assignment with a tight timeframe and big ambitions such as your recent shoot with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? 

I planned as much as I could beforehand, and then when the time came we had about half the amount of time we were expecting. But for anyone who's ever shot high profile people, half the expected amount of time is still better than usual.

What are your goals as a professional and an artist? Are they the same? Why or why not? 

I've always been more interested in my subjects and their story than the medium of photography. If I had another way to go about meeting these people and documenting their lives, while still making a living, I'd be happy to try it. I love journalism and think we're at a very interesting turning point in media. If things go the right way and quality content prevails, I'd love to begin working on more topical issues. I think we're living in a very exciting time and I hope that journalism takes the path that The New York Times did. It's the success of news outlets like the Huffington Post that really scares me.

Many thanks, Reed.

Links:

Reed Young

Reed Young (blog)

Permission for usage of the images in this article kindly granted by Reed Young.

Paul Murphy's SENTINELS

Something to contemplate for Sunday. Paul Murphy has been kind enough to grant permission to post these images from his series Sentinels.

Links:
Paul Murphy
Paul Murphy (Behance)

Dominik Śmiałowski

I am impressed with Dominik Śmiałowski's portraits which have subtle hints of narrative that spill through into his more conceptual works. His body of work is prolific and this is difficult when I'm trying to put forward a representative sample of an artist's work. His site is full of diverse works divergent from the sample you see here and I highly recommended browsing through his site.

Dominik also was kind enough to hurdle language barriers and time to answer a few questions for me below.

Describe your equipment and your favourite camera/lens combination?
Equipment is the least important thing. For each project I choose a camera which suits the project.

What is your typical workflow and which part of the process do you find most difficult and which do you find most enjoyable? 
I like to press shutter button. I hate working in Photoshop, it's boring.
But I love the moment when the project begins to form a whole idea from its birth in my mind.

What non-photographic arts inspire you? And which photographer in the last 10 years inspired you?
Maybe it's weird but literature is for me the most inspiring thing. My books are all highlighted. I point out sentences that give me ideas.

Photographer whom I value most is Mariusz Hermanowicz. Three words about his photos: power of simplicity.

Which photograph or series of photos are you most proud? And which photograph would you mark out as a turning point in your development?
Difficult choice:) I like single photos, below 3 of which I am not ashamed.

ONE
TWO
THREE

The photography by which I knew that I was gonna be a photographer, my first conscious photos are HERE.

What catches your eye, makes you press the shutter button, sparks your imagination when you're wandering with your camera?
Deviations from the norm.

Links:
Dominik Śmiałowski
Dominik Śmiałowski (Behance)

All images used with the kind consent of Dominik Śmiałowski - All images © Dominik Śmiałowski 2013

INTERVIEW: Guy Batey

Prior to the hiatus of SiouxWIRE back in 2010, I had a list of artists whose work lingered in my list of subjects to feature. One in particular, Guy Batey, inspired me greatly with his "portraits of the objects" in his series The Melancholy of Objects which highlights his ability to evoke so much character from objects (and places) to the point that I feel like laughing out loud. To me, many of his images have a narrative quality pregnant with metaphor yet subtle enough to linger in the sublime. He very graciously spared me some time to answer a few questions.

Describe your equipment and your favourite camera/lens combination and explain why you choose to use this setup.

My colour work with The Melancholy of Objects and A Fragile Hold was all taken with a Rolleiflex T with Fuji Pro400H film.

The black and white 35mm of the on-going Memento series is taken mostly with a Olympus OM-1, usually with a 28mm lens and Kodak Tri-X.

I always thought I could never see photographically in B&W, even though I've always admired other people’s B&W work enormously. But I began to realise a couple of years ago I didn't always want or need the descriptive resolution of medium format, and I wanted to force myself to see differently. So the B&W 35mm is a way of reducing this extraneous information, and concentrating on the mood and atmosphere of what I'm seeing – not the details.

I also wanted to concentrate far more on the quality of light itself as an active part of the photo – and B&W film is astonishing for the way it can cope with both extreme density and contrast and also delicacy of light. Colour for me was neutral and descriptive; informative, not expressive. I always preferred to work in quite low flat light, without direct sunshine or harsh shadows, whereas with B&W I can now use much higher levels of light and contrast.

The Rolleiflex had a still static quality; while the OM with a wide angle is much more dynamic. The wide angle lens is a way of connecting things – this thing with that thing, or this thing and that place. It can link things literally and metaphorically; whereas the Rolleiflex tended to isolate and fix.


What is your typical workflow and which part of the process do you find most difficult and which do you find most enjoyable? 

I've been working in Berlin for a couple of years now, and it’s an amazing place for the sheer density of memory and history – perfect for me. I do less aimless wandering than I did in London, and more planned trips these days, as I found I was just getting much better material from an organised focused trip.

At the moment, I'm looking for marks and tracks, memories and elegies, traces of human intervention and presence. I've always tried to depict human life by its absence, by the marks of its absence, and then trying to make this absence solid.

When I was a painter, I felt sometimes I was making the same painting over and over again – and I have the same continued obsession in photography with these linked oppositions and connections of absence and presence.

I don’t take a lot of shots – even with 35mm I’ll spend a lot of time working with the subject and trying to get it right – I don’t like endless editing and choosing between multiple shots. One of the many reasons I like film is that you can’t instantly see what you've done – you have to imagine it, so you can’t switch between taking and editing. You have to stay in the picture-taking mode, and only put on your editing head once you've developed the negatives.

I'm a pretty slow photographer too, and I've realised I just don’t work well with fast moving or time-based situations – I prefer to look carefully after the action or event.


Which photographer in the last 10 years inspired you? 

Anders Petersen I love, though I could never work as up-close with others as he does – maybe that’s why I like what he does so much. So many others – Vanessa Winship, Jason Eskenazi, Joakim Eskildsen, Michael Ackerman – I seem to like photographers who focus on people, even though they almost never appear in my own work.

I have also been very influenced by the work of many of the East German photographers working in the ‘70s and ‘80s – Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Harald Hauswald, and Manfred Paul.

Which photograph or series of photos are you most proud? And which photograph would you mark out as a turning point in your development?

I think Piano was significant, because it was at that point I got the feeling something was trying to tell me to change. It was like – you can have this one, but no more. It took a couple of years before I found a new way of working, but I realised I just couldn't rely on serendipity for ever.

I think Chairs was significant, because it was my first B&W 35mm shot I liked, and even though it seemed at the time to be the same sort of object-based imagery as the Melancholy of Objects series, I thought there was something new going on.

What catches your eye, makes you press the shutter button, sparks your imagination when you're wandering with your camera?

It’s a feeling of recognition – something just jumps out at me, and demands to be taken. It’s a combination of a particular thing in a specific place in a certain light – all these things have to work together in one moment.

Links:
Guy Batey
Guy Batey (Flickr)

All images used with the kind consent of Guy Batey - All images © Guy Batey 2013

OFER WOLBERGER

Ofer Wolberger has a varied and consistent portfolio as well as an engaging blog. I found him via Conscientious where Jörg M. Colberg has a wonderful series on collage art.

"Ofer Wolberger (b. 1976) is an artist who lives and works in New York City. He is the recipient of The Humble Arts Foundation Spring 2008 Grant for Emerging Photographers. He was a finalist for both the BMW Paris Photo Prize in 2008 as well as the Prix HSBC pour la Photographie in 2009. His photographs have been collected and exhibited internationally. In 2009 his project Life with Maggie, was exhibited at Michael Hoppen Gallery in London and at C/O Berlin. Next year Life with Maggie will be exhibited at VU in Quebec. He is currently working on a series of 12 self-published artists books collectively known as The Photographic Book Project.

Ofer is a member of the POC Project."

Links:
Ofer Wolberger
Horses Think
Ofer Walberger (Conscientious) SOURCE

MICHIO YAMAUCHI

Michio Yamauchi's work has a brilliant off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment quality that's chock full of flavour and depth.




Links:
Michio Yamauchi
Michio Yamauchi (Asian Photography Blog) SOURCE
Michio Yamauchi (Facebook)

ANDREAS WEINAND

"My interest in photography arises from an urge for self-expression. It is the
product of my research into the search for identity. In reflection on my own
experience of life, I am moved to ask questions about the meaning of identity.
I ask, for example, how identity is expressed in our lives. I wish to explore the
relationship between the individual presenting his / her personality and the
society to which he / she presents it. As a being in society, I wish to use images
as a means of conveying impressions as I receive them, and open them to
discussion.

I do not see photography as a means of describing objective truth. Rather, I see
subjectivity in selecting and constructing the content. I recognize that photography
always offers the possibility of multiple interpretations. The subjectivity of creating
construction combined with a recognizable reality tempts the viewer to forget the
mediating function of photography. One is tempted to believe that one sees the
situation itself with the help of the picture. But a photograph is a product of artistic
fiction.

For me, the most fascinating capacity of photography is its capacity to portray a
moment as a picture and to capture an essence of the event. My photograpic
series are composed of different fragments of reality put in relation to each other.
While photographing, I watch people very closely. I choose situations in which
I believe people are described in an honest way; but the fact remains that I do
choose the scenes I photograph, and what kind of message I construct by
combining these images. I feel a responsibility to the people I wish to portray,
and therefore I work very carefully, choosing the situations in which I photograph,
and selecting the pictures which I show in public."

Hide all
Links:
Andreas Weinand
Andreas Weinand (Conscientious) source

MOTOHIKO ODANI

Motohiko Odani has an interesting collection of work though I find the titles of his creations tend to fall short.

"Motohiko Odani has been celebrated for his meticulously crafted objects and visions of utopia and dystopia since the late 1990s. A main theme underlying his sculpture, photography, and video work is mutation of humans and animals. In his celluloid-colored video Rompers, a computer-graphic-enhanced mutant girl sings, idyllically, while eerie insects crawl around her. She is indifferent to them and seems to accept that she is becoming something other than herself. The work comments on the mutation of nature in an age of bioengineering while appropriating the innocent setting of the children’s TV program, Romper Room that originally aired in the United States in the 1950s. On the Japanese version that was shown during the late 1960s and the 1970s, toy bees and cute animals frolicked with children.

Motohiko Odani was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1972 and received an MFA from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1997. In his sculpture, photography, and video works, Odani mingles human, animal, and futuristic anatomy, exploring the boundaries of reality and myth, and the physical and the spiritual. Odani’s creations are eerie, yet visually stunning. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Intermedia Art at Tokyo University of the Arts. Odani’s works have been shown in various solo exhibitions, including “SP4 ‘The Spectator’ in Modern Sculpture,” Yamamoto Gendai Gallery, Tokyo (2009); and “En Melody,” Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milano (2001); as well as group exhibitions that include “MI VIDA: From Heaven to Hell,” MUeCSARNOK, Budapest (2009), and “Skin of/in Contemporary Art,” The National Museum of Art, Osaka (2007)."

* Top image: Fingerspanner, 1998, Photo:HIROMOTO Hideki (Takamoto Gendai)

Links:
Motohiko Odani (Phantom-Limb.com)
Motohiko Odani (Tamamoto Gendai)
Motohiko Odani (Go Figure)
Motohiko Odani (ArtNet)

JITKA HANZLOVÁ

"Born 1958 in Nachod, Czechoslovakia, Jitka Hanzlová is currently resident in Essen, Germany. She studied photography at Essen University and has since worked as a photographer on her own projects. She was awarded the Otto Steinert Photography Prize in 1993 and European Photography Prize in 1995 and was shortlisted for The Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize 2000 and 2003. Hanzlova's work on “Rokytník” depicting the small Czech village where she grew up and her portraits of women in various countries in “Female” have won her acclaim in Europe and America. "

Links:
Jitka Hanzlová (Sutton Lane)
Jitka Hanzlová (Conscientious) source
Jitka Hanzlová (Steidl Books)
Jitka Hanzlova (Artforum/BNET article)
Jitka Hanzlová (ArtNet)