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Marco Castelli
Marco Castelli
Marco Castelli

Marco Castelli

Country: Italian
Birth: 1991

Marco Castelli lives and works in Firenze, Italy. Both his personal and documentary research move through a deep interest in human environment and life, looking for different approaches to visual art and creative communication. His works have been awarded, published and displayed internationally.

Italian Lockdown - The Forbidden Photographs
2020. Coronavirus is spreading worldwide. Italy is the first european country to enter lockdown. People are forbidden to go outside except for necessity reasons. For the first time, we are facing an historical time during which visual documentation is explicitly compromised, moving in the shadow line of imposed prohibitions. What legitimates the photographer's role, apart from a press pass? Is the narrative eye able to reclaim its right to a conscious analysis, without relying on law interpretations and self-employment bureaucracy? Moreover, what draws the line between the duty of documentation and the possibility of it? This and other thoughts, together with the overwhelming need to visually describe an unprecedented historical phase, give birth to the series "Italian Lockdown - The Forbidden Photographs".
 

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Mahdiyeh Afshar Bakeshloo
Mahdiyeh Afshar Bakeshloo (born 1995 in Tehran) is a professional photographer in the category of fine art and concept from Iran. Afshar has been studying photography professionally for 2 years in an academy since 2014 and is currently working in Tehran. Mostly she deal with human issues by referring to inner feelings that combined them with the inanimate environment. The starting point of her works have always been his surroundings and personal feelings. Sensitively, she tries to explore her relationship with the world around her today. Afshar held her first group exhibition at Mojdeh Gallery. Her most famous collection is "The light in the city", which takes a look at contemporary Tehran. Reason for popularity of this collection was due to a special technique that was done by manipulating the photo. So far, it has received various awards from world festivals such as IPA, Monochrome photography awards, Fine Art Photography Awards, ND Photography Awards, and Spider Photography Awards. Afshar says about her photos: “Each of my projects describes human emotions such as sadness, loneliness, confusion. I try to make viewers find their hidden feeling in my photos. Every time I take a photo, my personal feelings affect my work and shape my inner thoughts. I want to have something in common with my audience to talk to them. " Most of Afshar's works are presented in single black and white photos. Her photos has been published in various Magazine such as Float Photo Magazine, Humble Arts Foundation, F-stopmagazine, More Art please. She has participated in many exhibitions in Iran, Greece and Rome.
Gerda Taro
Germany
1910 | † 1937
Gerda Taro, a pioneering figure in the world of photojournalism, illuminated the harrowing realities of conflict through her lens. Born Gerta Pohorylle on August 1, 1910, in Stuttgart, Germany, she would later adopt the pseudonym "Gerda Taro" as she ventured into the tumultuous landscape of war-torn Europe during the 1930s. Taro's journey into photography began as she fled Nazi persecution, seeking refuge in Paris. It was there that she crossed paths with fellow photographer Robert Capa, sparking a creative and romantic partnership that would shape both their lives and redefine the boundaries of photojournalism. Together, Taro and Capa embarked on a mission to document the Spanish Civil War, a conflict that would serve as a crucible for their artistic and ideological convictions. Working under the banner of "Robert Capa and Gerda Taro," they captured the raw intensity of battle, immortalizing the struggles of Republican forces against the backdrop of Franco's fascist regime. Despite the dangers inherent in their profession, Taro fearlessly ventured into the heart of the conflict, often disregarding personal safety in pursuit of the perfect shot. Her images exuded a sense of urgency and immediacy, offering a stark reminder of the human cost of war and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Tragically, Taro's life was cut short at the tender age of 26 when she was struck by a tank during the Battle of Brunete in July 1937. Her untimely death sent shockwaves through the world of photojournalism, serving as a sobering reminder of the risks faced by those who bear witness to history's most tumultuous moments. Though her life was brief, Gerda Taro's impact on the world of photography endures as a testament to her courage, compassion, and unwavering commitment to truth-telling. Her images continue to serve as a powerful reminder of the human toll of conflict, inspiring future generations of photographers to wield their cameras as instruments of social change and justice. As we reflect on the legacy of Gerda Taro, we are reminded of the profound significance of bearing witness to history's darkest chapters and the enduring power of images to shape our understanding of the world and ignite the flames of empathy, compassion, and solidarity across borders and generations.
Paula Aranoa
Argentina
1966
I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1966 and had the privilege of living in cities like São Paulo, Mexico City, and Barcelona. Each of those places has left an indelible mark on me. I love them. They are my second homes. I discovered my passion for photography after exploring studies in philosophy, fashion design, and landscaping. Everything I received back then continues to pulse in my works. Currently, I reside and develop my projects in Buenos Aires. I have actively participated in fairs and exhibitions, both nationally and internationally. The UN has exhibited some of my photos on three occasions. I had the honor of seeing my work published in different internationally renowned books and magazines. I have also collaborated with Sony Alpha Latin seminars. My work focuses on the unnoticed with the intention of making it noticed, and my terrain is the everyday. Introspection and silence are, along with my camera, my best allies when it comes to questioning reality and allowing myself to be questioned by it. I pursue the veiled, not to unveil it, but to point out its mystery. I go after the traces, not the evidence. That which begs to be seen and whose secrets I hear while looking. Photography places me at the threshold of the thousands of half-open doors that I encounter in my routine. Its mystery attracts me for what it suggests as a clue, not for what it holds in darkness. My joy: that the viewer stops at its threshold. STATEMENT I photograph the unnoticed, and my terrain is the everyday. Introspection and silence are, along with my camera, my best allies when it comes to questioning reality and allowing it to question me. My work seeks to capture what words lack. I pursue the veiled, not to unveil it, but to point out its mystery. I go after the traces, not the evidence. That which begs to be seen and whose secrets I hear while looking. Photography places me at the threshold of the thousands of half-open doors that I encounter in my routine. Its mystery attracts me for what it suggests as a clue, not for what it holds in darkness.
Robert Polidori
Canada/United States
1951
Robert Polidori is a Canadian-American photographer known for his large-scale color images of architecture, urban environments, and interiors. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Martin-Gropius-Bau museum (Berlin), and Instituto Moreira Salles (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). His photographs are also included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), New Orleans Museum of Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Château de Versailles, Centre Pompidou (Paris), and Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), as well as many private collections. Described as one of "most esteemed practitioners of large-scale photography," Polidori has photographed the restoration of the Château de Versailles since the early 1980s. He has also recorded the architecture and interiors of Havana, the inner-city habitats of Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, and Amman, the post-Hurricane Katrina devastation of New Orleans, buildings emptied by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and shelled structures in Beirut. At the time of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal retrospective exhibition in 2009, curator Paulette Gagnon described his work as a "photographic account that invites us to share the historical moments it portrays, making them part of the collective memory." Where you point the camera is the question and the picture you get is the answer to decipher. -- Robert Polidori Robert Polidori was born in 1951 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a French-Canadian mother and a Corsican father. At age 9, Polidori’s family moved to the United States where his father worked as an engineer at Air Force bases and NASA installations. He grew up in Seattle, southern California, New Orleans, and Cocoa Beach, and first attended university in Florida in 1969. During his freshman year, Polidori saw Michael Snow's film Wavelength (1967 film) and, inspired to study filmmaking, moved to New York City. The following year, he was hired by the legendary Jonas Mekas and worked as the theatre manager of the Anthology Film Archives. During this time, Polidori worked on four experimental films, exhibited in 1975 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1980 he graduated with a Masters of Arts in film from State University of New York (Buffalo). Polidori became interested in still photography while editing film frame-by-frame. Inspired by Frances Yates' description in The Art of Memory of mnemonic systems requiring the memorization of empty rooms, he purchased a large-format camera in 1982 and photographed abandoned and apartments on New York's Lower East Side. In 1983 he moved to Paris and, interested in how empty spaces revealed history, began to document the restoration of Château de Versailles as a symbol of "society’s superego". In the late 1990s, Polidori was engaged by The New Yorker to photograph Havana’s decaying architectural heritage and joined the magazine as a staff photographer in 1998. Images from his Cuban series were later published in Havana (2001) by Steidl Verlag. Also interested in inner-city habitats or "auto-constructed" growth, Polidori recorded the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the urban sprawl of Brasilia, the construction boom in Dubai, and the slums of Mumbai. In May 2001, he photographed the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant and nearby ghost town of Pripyat, Ukraine, and these images were later published as Zones of Exclusion – Pripyat and Chernobyl (2003). In 2002 Polidori was commissioned to photograph Detroit's Michigan Central Station for Metropolis (architecture magazine). Described by editor Martin C. Pedersen as "a keen observer of the built world", the magazine later published his urban images as Robert Polidori's Metropolis (2005). In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Polidori photographed the damaged homes and buildings of New Orleans, and documented the city's early restoration in 2006. Published as After the Flood (2006) by Steidl Verlag, many of these images were also exhibited at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art as New Orleans after the Flood, a popular and well-attended exhibition. Exhibitions of After the Flood were also mounted in London, Venice, and Toronto, as well as in New Orleans. During this time, Polidori continued to document the restoration of Château de Versailles and these photographs, published in the three-volume Parcours Muséologique Revisité (2009), were included in his retrospective exhibition at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. Polidori returned to Beirut in 2010 where he photographed the damaged rooms of the famous Hotel Petra, abandoned during Lebanon’s civil war. The following year, he traveled to Paris to photograph the stored art collection of Yves Saint Laurent (designer), and to Venice to photograph the fashion label Bottega Veneta's fall 2011 campaign at the Palazzo Papadopoli. From 2011 to 2015 Polidori also revisited and rephotographed Rio as well as Mumbai, including Dharavi's industrial street facade in a series of tracking shots. Exhibited as composite panoramic murals at Paul Kasmin Gallery (New York) in September 2016, these images were also published in the accompanying volume 60 Feet Road by Steidl Verlag. Since 2015, Polidori and his family live in Ojai, California.Source: Wikipedia My photos are physical graphic records. A lot of the places I’ve photographed simply won’t exist – many have already ceased to exist in the state that they were photographed in. They’ve been bulldozed over. Photography is collective memory – that’s its nature... -- Robert Polidori
Chris Rainier
Canada
1958
Chris Rainier is a National Geographic Society EXPLORER and documentary photographer/filmmaker - who is highly respected for his documentation of endangered cultures and traditional languages around the globe. In 2002 he was awarded the Lowell Thomas Award by the Explorers Club for his efforts on cultural preservation, and in 2014 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society of London/UK -specializing in cultural preservation He is the Director of The Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation - a global program focused on preserving Biodiversity and Traditional Cultural Knowledge. During his continued tenure with the National Geographic Society he has been the co-founder and co-director of both the Enduring Voices Language Project and Director of the All Roads Photography Program, designed to support indigenous groups with modern technology desiring to document their traditional culture and create sustainable solutions to preserve the planet in the 21st Century. In addition as a NG Fellow he was an Editor for NG Traveler focused on documentation of traditional culture. Rainier has completed photographic projects for the United Nations, UNESCO, Amnesty International, Conservation International, the Smithsonian Institution, Time Magazine, the New York Times, LIFE Magazine, and the National Geographic Society. Rainier has photographed global culture, conflict, famine, and war in such places as: Somalia, Sarajevo/Bosnia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Iraq for TIME Magazine, - and for NPR Radio. In the early 1980's Rainier was Ansel Adams last photographic assistant- during his tenure with the noted photographer- he worked with Mr. Adams to amplify the use of Art Photography as a social tool - helping to preserve threatened wilderness areas and National Parks. Rainier went on to collaborate with UNESCO and IUCN on a Global Project using photography to preserve endangered wilderness areas around the world. Rainier's photography and books have been widely shown and collected by museums around the world, including the Australian Museum in Sydney, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the International Center of Photography in New York, the George Eastman House International Museum in Rochester, New York, The National Geographic Society, and the United Nations.
Daido Moriyama
Daido Moriyama is a major photographer of the 20th century. Born in Osaka in Japan, he continues to work mostly in Tokyo. He studied graphic design before he learned photography with his first mentor Takeji Iwamiya. In 1961 he moved to Tokyo and became the assistant of Eikoh Hosoe and worked also with the writer Yukio Mishima on the series Ordeal by Roses. It is only in 1964 that he became an independent photographer. He gained recognition quickly with his first book Japan a Photo Theatre (1968) and later Farewell Photography (1972), Hunter (1972), Mayfly (1972), Another Country in New York (1974), Light and Shadow (1982), A Journey to Nakaji (1987), Lettre à St Lou (1990)... We will stop there as we cannot list his 200 books! In 1968 Daido Moriyama became a member of the Provoke movement. He describes his work as been "are, bure, boke". He gave birth to a new kind of street photography. His work was shown in 1974 at the MOMA in an exhibition called "New Japanese Photography". Since then we have seen his work all around the world in majors exhibitions and museums. In 2012 he won the ICP Infinity Award. After studying graphic design, Daido Moriyama first explored photography under Takeji Iwamiya. He moved to Tokyo in 1961 to become an assistant to the great Japanese photographer Eikoh Hosoe while he was working on his famous series Ordeal by Roses with the writer Yukio Mishima. Daido Moriyama began to work independently in 1964. His first monograph, Japan, a Photo Theater (1968), was immediately acclaimed by the artistic community and was followed by several books that became references in the history of photography, such as Farewell Photography (1972), Hunter (1972), Mayfly (1972), Another Country in New York (1974), Light and Shadow (1982), A Journey to Nakaji (1987) and Lettre à St.Loup (1990), to name only a few. Daido Moriyama has published over 180 books to date. As a member of the Provoke movement, which he joined in 1968 for the second issue of the eponymous magazine, Daido Moriyama delivers rich, dense and versatile photographs. His work, often described as raw, blurried and troubled (or, in Japanese, the "are, bure, boke" aesthetics), gave birth to a new street photography practice in which the artist roams the street, confronting and being confronted by public spaces. Daido Moriyama started manipulating silkscreen printing in the seventies, using the technique for his books as well as his exhibition pieces. The Japanese artist also organized interactive events and installations as a way to adapt his discourse to different spaces and situations. Through several autobiographical texts, such as Memories of a Dog (1984 and 1997), he explains how his artistic practice is inspired by the heritage left by the likes of Eugène Atget, Jack Kerouac, William Klein, Nicéphore Niépce, Shomei Tomatsu, Andy Warhol, Weegee, and Garry Winogrand. Daido Moriyama's work has had a radical impact on the artistic communities both in Japan and abroad. In 1974, the MoMA in New York presented his work as part of the first Western exhibition focused on Japanese Photography. His pieces have since been showcased in many major exhibitions: at the TATE in London (William Klein + Daido Moriyam, 2012); at SFMoMa in San Francisco and at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (Stray Dog, 1999); at the National Art Museum in Osaka (On the Road, 2011);l at the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain (Paris, 2003); at FOAM in Amsterdam (2006); and, more recently, at the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d'Arles (Labyrinth + Monochrome, 2013).Source: Polka Galerie Articles: Book Review: Quartet
Gary Wagner
United States
1950
Born in Chicago, Gary Wagner developed an early passion for photography during his high school years. He went on to study at Indiana University and later at the Brooks Institute in California. Now living and working in the Pacific Northwest, Gary is widely recognized for his expressive black-and-white landscape photography. His work has been featured in magazines and exhibited in galleries across the country. In addition to his photographic career, he is an accomplished author, with books published by Amherst Media as well as independently. Through his images, Gary continues to engage viewers and collectors, driven by a lifelong dedication to conveying the essence of the natural world. Artist Statement: Seascapes, landscapes, and the world around me serve as my studio. Within these ever-changing environments, I find both freedom and inspiration, allowing me to create personal interpretations of nature’s elements and scenic vistas. The landscape is a dynamic and challenging subject, constantly transformed by shifting light and the changing seasons. I often return to my favorite locations throughout the year, discovering them anew each time. The sand along the shore, the depth of water in streams, and the way light strikes the rocks are never the same twice. This continual transformation fuels my excitement and passion for creating art. I choose to work exclusively in black and white, a medium that distills the landscape to its essential shapes, lines, and tones. By removing color, I am able to reveal the true character of a scene and convey the emotional resonance I experience in the moment. Today’s photographic tools offer endless creative possibilities, enabling me to further explore and share my vision. Through my work, I strive to honor the natural order and beauty of the earth while expressing my own emotional response to land, sea, and light. I hope this perspective encourages viewers to experience these landscapes in a new and meaningful way. AAP Magazine AAP Magazine 54 Nature
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