FINE ART PHOTO - No. 32

1. Jonathan Abbou

Jonathan Abbou photographs in silver on baryta paper, while sepia toning is done through sulfurization to ensure the durability of the image over time. Once the photographer has completed the process he moves on to coloring the image, which is still done manually with watercolor and acrylic paints.
Thanks to the mastery of these traditional techniques, used in an atypical way, Jonathan Abbou alternately alienates and mixes the different photographic processes to create a unique expression in his productions. These ancient techniques support the themes chosen by the artist, often linked to the world of psychoanalysis. The theme of deviance of fetishism, a very controversial topic in the history of psychopathology, becomes one of the regularly treated topics in his work. Sigmund Freud's seminal article on fetishism becomes the starting point of his reflections.
The psychoanalytic aspect is complemented by references to art history. Jonathan Abbou's art world is strongly inspired by two great art movements of the 19th century: realism and symbolism. For the artist, "realism" is the essence of so-called classical photography. Realism allows witnessing, while "symbolism", achieved through the use of various techniques, expresses a mysterious atmosphere. This "symbolic realism" can be found in every contemporary production by Jonathan Abbou.

abbou jonathan jonathanabbou@yahoo.fr
www.jonathanabbou.com

2.    Betina Samaia

Betina, born in 1964 in Sāo Paulo, tries to capture images from the subconscious. She does this by traveling with her camera, moving freely between past, present, reality, and fantasy. In the early 2000's she began to immerse herself in the Amazon forests, focusing her gaze on the desolate fields, the scattered islands, and the solitude of the trees. Aided by her bachelor's degree in psychology, Betina created her own version of Amazon solitude. She works in the Amazon, where there is a solitude as dense as the forest. This relentless awareness of the world contrasts with childlike innocence. Unconcerned about the future, the children play, jump from branches, do somersaults, and plunging in water. They show what the future can look like and Bettina using her infrared filter, succeeds in capturing as reality, the shades that are imperceptible to the human eye. A reality beyond the uniform intensity that manifests beyond that of the greens present in shades of pink, yellow, and white. She observes and documents trees and people, and she gazes at the vast water deserts as if she is looking into a mirror and searching for answers. The images develop a wonderful poetry in contrast with the harsher forms of expression often used in Amazon photography.   

betinasamaia@gmail.com
betinasamaia.com.br

3. Joshua Jackson

Joshua K. Jackson left a corporate career to pursue photography full-time but struggled to adapt to the change in routine. He became aware that he had developed an increasingly erratic sleep pattern.
Beginning in 2017, the British photographer spent three years relieving the frustration of sleepless nights by venturing out to capture candid images of the neon-lit streets of Soho, London.

"With insomnia, you're often physically tired but your mind can be racing at a million miles an hour," explains Jackson.
"Street photography requires lots of active observation, which tires the mind quickly."

Jackson found the experience artistically stimulating.
"The unpredictability of the streets, combined with the vibrancy of everyday life and constant changes, presented no shortage of opportunities, with each day bringing something new and unexpected," he reflects.

Over time, the experience began to have a therapeutic effect on Jackson's health.
"I was able to regain some sort of a sleep pattern and eventually overcome the insomnia," he says.

‘Sleepless in Soho’ Joshua K Jackson’s debut monograph  was published by Setanta books in 2020

hello@joshkjack.com
https://www.joshkjack.com/


4. Arkadij  Kurta  

Arkardij is Ukrainian, heart and soul. He started taking pictures in 2005 and has worked professionally since 2010. For the past four years, he worked exclusively in black and white, transposing photography into urban art. Arkadij challenges himself with his street photography, by trying to overcome his own complexes and fears and to achieve a life worth living. He organizes individual and group workshops, however, at the moment it is more important for him to support the Ukrainian people. Arkadij states: "Unfortunately, since February 24 of this year, my life has been completely disrupted. A terrible war has come to my country, the Russian invaders want to completely destroy Ukraine. Destroy the existence of all Ukrainians as a nation. We will do everything as Ukrainians not to let this happen. We see ourselves as defenders of freedom and protectors of Europe and the truth is on our side. "

Currently, Arkady lives in Berlin and is fundraising for the fight for freedom and for medical supplies for his people. Support him. Peace and humanity for all!

https://www.instagram.com/arkadiy_kurta/
https://akurta777.myportfolio.com/work
a.kurta777@gmail.com,
https://www.patreon.com/arkadiy_kurta


5. Pavel Apletin (geboren 1967, Russland, Sankt Petersburg)

Claudio Edinger was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1952 and now he lives in Sāo Paulo. He studied economics in the early 70's and at the same time began to take photographs. He had his first solo exhibition in Sāo Paulo around 1975. Claudio moved to and lived in the United States for 20 years, where he developed personal photographic essays, worked for various magazines, and studied with Philippe Halsmann. Subsequently, he published two books, Chelsea Hotel and Venice Beach. He developed photographic essays of psychiatric hospitals and other similar facilities. For his books, he received the Leica award. Edinger works using a large format camera, playing with selective focus and using South American color, resulting in almost neo-expressionist works. His works are multi-layered and his Photographic series very thematically multifaceted.

https://apletin.ru/
Pavel Apletin pavelapletin@list.ru


6. Claudio Edinger

Claudio Edinger ist 1952 in Rio de Janeiro geboren. Er lebt in Sāo Paulo. Er studierte Anfang der 70er Jahre Wirtschaftswissenschaften und fing gleichzeitig an, zu fotografieren. Bereits 1975 hatte er seine erste Einzelausstellung in Sāo Paulo, lebte dann aber 20 Jahre in den USA, wo er persönliche fotografische Essays entwickelte. Er arbeitete für verschiedenste Zeitschriften und studierte beim Philippe Halsmann. In der Folgezeit veröffentliche er Bücher wie Chelsea Hotel, Venice Beach. Er erarbeitete Essays in Psychiatrischen Kliniken und ähnliches. Seine Bücher erhielten die Leica Auszeichnung. Edinger arbeitet unter Verwendung einer Großformatkamera, spielt mit selektiver Schärfe und nutzt südamerikanische Farbgebung, so dass sich fast neoexpressionistische Werke entwickeln. Seine Arbeiten sind vielschichtig. Seine Serien sehr thematisch sehr facettenreich.

edinger2@me.com
www.claudioedinger.com


7. Gerd Danigel

Gerd Danigel has been taking photographs since he was 14 years old. He grew up in Berlin-Mitte and went to school here. His love of photography began with a small Penti II half-format camera, which was actually intended for his sister. In a photo circle of the Kulturbund of the GDR, he expanded his knowledge. His subject: the everyday life of people. In the beginning he photographed spontaneously, later he worked in themes and series. "My drive was always the joy of photography," he says. In photo volumes by Henri Cartier-Bresson, August Sander or Diane Arbus, he picked up inspiration and additional knowledge. He was employed as a repro photographer, lab assistant and photographer at the Institute for Cultural Buildings. But after the fall of the Wall, his job was eliminated.
Danigel took on various mini-jobs, took care of the local chronicle of Pankow as a photographer, and became a freelancer in 2004.
In 2011, Lehmstedt-Verlag in Leipzig published his first, highly acclaimed book of photographs. Danigel is regarded as a precise observer who excels in subtle humor and compositional skills, and has always been guided by the claim that photos must be authentic. His photographs show people's lives in all their facets. The 63-year-old is extremely critical of the current zeitgeist, pointing to suspicion and resentment and countless rules that have robbed him of the joy of photography.
Anyone who looks at his old photographs will enjoy his powers of observation and his view of everyday life in the GDR.

gdanigel@web.de
https://www.gerd-danigel.de/


8. Walter Vogel

Walter Vogel was born in Düsseldorf in 1932 and has been photographing and publishing since the 1950s. His coffee house pictures, taken in 1961,  are legendary.
His great love is the caffe bar, the place where Italy's soul and heart can be felt most directly, intensely and most beautifully. By following Vogel's career in his books, one can see the Italian soul and its impact on the whole of Europe.
Vogel studied engineering and decided to turn his passion for photography into a profession in 1963 and began training with Otto Steinert at the Folkwang School in Essen.
He became known for his portrait photographs with artists such as Pina Bausch and Josef Beuys. Vogel has never lost his passion for traveling to Italy, where he finds an almost endless and enormous flood of images. His publication Caffé al Italiana documents the myth of the Italian café and takes us to an earlier different world.


9. Anne-Marie von Sarosdy

Anne-Marie von Sarosdy ist eine Fotografin und Fotokünstlerin von internationalem Rang, bekannt für ihre Porträts, Aktaufnahmen, Bodysculptures. Erste Anregungen, sich mit dem menschlichen Körper auseinanderzusetzen, kamen aus dem kunstsinnigen und in der internationalen Kunstszene vernetzten Elternhaus. Und aus dem Geschichtsunterricht. „Die Kunst der Antike“ stand am Beginn, muskulöse, unbekleidete Körper in Perfektion und Schönheit, die ihr Geschichten erzählten. Später waren es die Skulpturen von Auguste Rodin in Paris, die das junge Mädchen in ihren Bann zogen. „Sie hatten Kraft, Anmut, eine eigene Seele“, erinnert sie sich an eine prägende Erfahrung. Eine weitere steuerten die Werke von Michelangelo bei. Anne-Marie von Sarosdy  studierte visuelle Kommunikation in Düsseldorf. Dem folgte dank eines Fulbright-Stipendiums ein mehrjähriger Aufenthalt in Kalifornien, wo sie am Brooks Institute of Photography den Master of Science Degree erwarb und sich mit Ansel Adams, Penn, Newman und anderen Meistern ihres Fachs vertraut machte. Ausgestattet mit dem Heinrich-Huss-Preis, vielen Erfahrungen, dem Master und einem Meisterabschluss als Fotografin, gründete sie 1991 ihr eigenes Fotostudio in Düsseldorf. Es ist bekannt für hochkarätige Aufnahmen für Werbe- und Modefotografie ebenso wie für  eindrucksvolle Porträts. Parallel zu ihrem Tagesgeschäft hält sich die Fotografin Zeit und Raum frei für die freie Kunst, für Projekte, deren Auftraggeberin sie selbst ist. Für ihre beeindruckenden Akt-Aufnahmen. Für die Werkreihe „Bodysculptures“ arbeitet sie besonders gern mit Tänzern zusammen. „Sie arbeiten an und mit ihrem Körper, haben keine Scham ihrer Nacktheit wegen“, erzählt sie.  Sie verstünden es, Körpersprache bis in den kleinsten Zeh mitzuübersetzen. Für Anne-Marie von Sarosdy ist Fotografie „eine Form der Kommunikation, bei der ich versuche, Gefühle sichtbar zu machen und den Moment festzuhalten.“
Im Keller ihres Studios wartet ein komplettes Schwarz-Weiß-Labor darauf, wieder in Betrieb genommen zu werden. Es wird wohl noch eine Weile warten müssen.

info@sarosdy.de
https://sarosdy.de/


10. Dan Hecho

danhecho.pro@gmail.com
https://www.danhecho.com
https://www.blurb.com/user/DanHecho?profile_preview=true


11. Anna Uchiyama – Muse and Model

In this wonderful illustrated book, the internationally known artist Anna Uchiyama, who now lives in Paris, is portrayed by fellow artists. Anna acts as an erotic model and muse, for photographs, paintings, and prints which are documented in this international artist collaboration.
 
The co-editor of the book, Aki Norton, is impressed by Anna's natural and authentic expression. Her poses and her eroticism are so convincing, he says, that the artists working with her felt that the inspiring time was a gift. In those moments, Norton said, Anna's artistic journey coalesced with those of the artists. The photographs and other artworks lead the viewer to unique and extraordinary insights into Anna's essence, and this multi-layered being takes shape in the works on view. Anna Uchiyama is muse and model, in the best sense of the words and the limited edition reflects this beautifully.

Anna Uchiyama: Muse and Model
Herausgeber: Felix Ackermann, Aki Norton.
120 Seiten durchgehend mit Aktfotos in Schwarzweiss- und Farbe, Text in englischer Sprache, 24 x 31 cm, Dissenhofen 2021, gebunden, Preis EUR 40.00

Bestellung bei Lindemanns Fotobuchhandlung unter www.lindemanns.de


12. Boris Bethge: Shades of Light
With his nude portraits, Boris Bethge shows his very personal view of women. Authenticity and mood are very important to him in his visual language. He is always on the lookout "for the image in between", which, even if subject to staging, appears as if incidental.
Shades of Light is the tenth publication within a collection series of Fine Art magazines in which Boris publishes his work with different emphases ((and perspectives)). He is a storyteller. "From the beginning, I've been thinking in terms of picture spreads and stories." So it's no surprise that Shades of Light, in addition to ((numerous)) individual images, includes 9 unique picture spreads. There is storytelling with a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces, genres, and moods, image ideas and different viewpoints but all images are in his usual handwriting. Through the intense closeness that his images build, the viewer has the feeling to be there. However, he leaves enough space and open questions for their own mental cinema. The women are always the focus of his pictures. They touch the viewer because Boris understands that in many of his pictures, their essence, their vulnerability, and their strength is equally captured.

Despite its softcover, Shades of Light is in no way inferior to a coffee table book. It combines both the lightness and spirit of a MAG and the feeling of holding a high-quality coffee table book in your hands.

Trotz Softcover steht Shades of Light einem Bildband in nichts nach. Es kombiniert sowohl die Leichtigkeit und den Spirit eines MAGs als auch das Gefühl einen hochwertigen Bildband in Händen zu halten.
100 Seiten, 88 Schwarzweiß- und Farb-Bilder FineArt-Pigmentdruck auf 170g matten Bilderdruckpapier 24x32cm, auf 250 Exemplare limitiert, Preis EUR 32

Erschienen im Eigenverlag, zu beziehen unter www.borisbethge.de