Using simple but evocative portraiture, Coco captured her subjects in their natural environments. The classroom, the park, the city streets and other quotidian settings form the backdrop for photographs that subtly hint at the thoughts, feelings and passions of the teenagers. Holding their instruments, jumping on their skateboards and posing in their respective uniforms; each subject allows the viewer into their world for a brief moment.

Compositionally, the images are straightforward and neutral, and Coco says this simplicity was key to allowing the audience to compare and contrast each group or individual. “I think the series more or less follows only one rule, which is having someone in the middle of the frame,” she explains. “So you can look at the monk, you can look at the maiko, you can look at the skater kid, and you can see how they are all teenagers of similar age, but their context is so different within the same city.”

Of the many photographs in Ookini, Coco singles out a shot of two girls playing by the river as one her favourites from the series. Their candidness, she tells us, embodies one of the most crucial qualities of adolescence: optimism. “The girls in the picture were unaware of me and my camera and they seemed completely absorbed by their games and fantasy worlds… [This image] evokes in me a feeling the Japanese call ‘seishun’, or ‘spring’ in English. It refers to the ‘springtime of life’ and those years in which everything is new and full of vitality, and the potential that remains present in many aspects of life.”

Since 2015, the Act On Your Future Foundation’s Human Rights Photography Award has been rewarding projects by emerging artists from the contemporary photography scene on themes that are topical in the world of politics and society. A reflection on our society driven by photography not to be missed.

Created in 2014 in Switzerland, the Act On Your Future Foundation, which is recognised as a public utility, aims in its words to promote human rights in an innovative way. According to Keyvan Ghavami, director and co-founder of the Foundation, photography very quickly became the medium that allowed us to highlight in an impactful way the current major issues of our society in terms of human rights.

“We have always been keen to talk about the major political, economic, social and environmental issues through images, with the idea that to mobilise the younger generation, images are a universal language, understandable by all, which allows us to go beyond stereotypes and to be much more tangible and concrete.

The creation of the AOYF Prize has enabled the Foundation to reward and support the work of photographers in the process of studying or recently graduated, while drawing attention to human rights issues. An educational challenge to raise awareness is thus perceived through all the themes addressed by the Prize, notably freedom of expression in 2015, the representation of the migration crisis in 2016, the rise of populism in 2017, gender equality in 2018, ecology and the climate emergency in 2020 and our relationship with new technologies this year. This desire is expressed in particular by the organisation of a series of round tables, practical workshops and school visits throughout the competition exhibition to raise awareness and make the major challenges of our time more tangible by crossing the views of the artists exhibited.

“Our aim is also to bring together different sectors of society, companies, schools, museums, collectors, major donors and NGOs based in Geneva, the world capital of human rights. All these people would not necessarily tend to meet and exchange on these major current themes carried by the still and moving image.

In partnership with six European art schools, ECAL Lausanne, HEAD Geneva, ENSP Arles, Royal College of Art London, HGB Leipzig and Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, as well as five renowned institutions including the Centre de la Photographie Genève, Christie’s, Human Rights Watch, the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights and MAPS, the Prize selects via an interdisciplinary jury the work of five artists which is exhibited at the Centre de la Photographie Geneva for one month, before offering CHF 10,000 to the winning artist. CHF 7,000 goes towards the production of an exhibition related to the winning project, and CHF 3,000 to the artist’s discretion. According to Keyvan Ghavami, “the idea here is to keep a link with the artist, to give continuity to his or her project and to enhance the network of partners and professionals working around the Foundation and the Prize.

In order to keep track and reach the widest possible audience, a retrospective catalogue has also been created for the 5th edition of the Prize and distributed to a good number of municipal libraries, schools and art schools. It includes all the human rights themes addressed in previous editions, the projects of the photographic artists in dialogue with the reflections and comments of the members of the jury each year.

While Keyvan Ghavami reminds us that the Foundation acts independently and without bias, its commitment is to remain as neutral and inclusive as possible, and it is up to the artists and the public to take up the issue addressed and to draw a reflection on it.
“Today more than ever, art has the responsibility to question current events and enrich our understanding of the world, allowing us to face the great challenges of our time with more optimism.”

Marie Pellicier
17 May 2023

The 2023 AOYF Award Exhibition
Until 28 May 2023
Centre of Photography Geneva
Centre of Photography Geneva
Bac – Contemporary Art Building
28, rue des Bains,
CH – 1205 Geneva

Nominees: Rodrigo Alcocer de Garay (special mention of the jury), Yue Cheng, Thaddé Comar (winning project 2023), Luisa Tormenta and Yingying Zhang.
Winner: Thaddé Commar

More information

“La photographie du portefeuille” is the result of a photographic collection carried out by Anne Delrez at the Conserverie, un lieu d’archives (Metz) en 2013.

“It has the shape of slightly fleshy buttocks, blunt corners, bits of tobacco sometimes stuck in its center, large scratches, a particular smell, annotations that have become illegible, miles of walking and travelling. This is the photograph from the wallet.
The one that, one day, was given to you and which, by necessity, forgetfulness, “like that” never left you. It’s in your bag, in your pocket, on your phone’s wallpaper so you can look at it and show it off. This is the opportunity.”
Anne Delrez

La photographie du portefeuille – Anne Delrez
May 20 – July 16, 2023
L’Enfant Sauvage
Rue de l’Enseignement 23
1000 Bruxelles
www.enfantsauvagebxl.com
www.instagram.com/enfantsauvagebxl/
www.facebook.com/LEnfant-Sauvage-Bxl

Exhibition in collaboration with La Conserverie – a place of archives (Metz, France), Belgian photographer Vincen Beeckman will present the work “ANNEESSENS” at La Conserverie from May 27 to July 15, 2023.

La Conserverie, un lieu d’archives
8 Rue de la Petite Boucherie
57000 Metz, France
http://laconserverieunlieudarchives.fr/

MEEKER | Whether you consciously observe the peace, animal life, and operations of the White River Valley, or have become used to it offhandedly, it is unique. Kaysyn Chintala knows this, and works to highlight that through her photography.  

“I love sharing the western lifestyle, and the stories behind people.”

Offering lifestyle, wedding, business and her favorite, equine, photography, it’s safe to say Kaysyn has become one of the most influential photographers of the western lifestyle in Northwestern Colorado. And it all started with a little encouragement from mom. 

In 2019, Kaysyn, Becca Neilsen, and Alan Nielsen (Kaysyn’s mother and stepfather), purchased, and began to run Trappers Lake Lodge in 2019. It was this step that initially led Kaysyn to becoming the photographer she is today. Though she had little experience with any of it at the time, Kaysyn took charge of the marketing, social media management, and website for the lodge. And she found she excelled at this work. As for photography, she has always loved both appreciating and taking photos, and Trappers was an incredible landscape for her to begin experimenting with her talents behind the camera. For these reasons it was in 2021 that Kaysyn’s mother, Becca, encouraged her to invest in a camera. Only two days after getting her first camera, Kaysyn was asked to shoot engagement photos which then led to the same couple booking her for their wedding photos. The rest is the history of a whirlwind success.  

Kaysyn’s business “Kaysyn Krystal Photography,” took off and to this day her schedule is full.  But not only with photography sessions.  As mentioned before, Kaysyn is a part owner of Trappers Lake Lodge, but she is also the mother of two beautiful little girls, and a new member of the Northwest Auto sales and marketing team. 

BY ADRIENNE WIX | Special to the Herald Times

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Harry Aaron is a millionaire.A photographer by trade, his portrait sessions cost hundreds of dollars. But during covid when so many people were out of work, including himself, Aaron had an idea.He created “pay what you can” photoshoots.In other words, if all you have is $2, you pay $2. Aaron says it gave everyone a “new sense of confidence, that maybe something good might come forward.”With the people he met, the stories he heard astounded him, like the chef who survived by selling cheesecakes on Instagram.”He was making them out of his home kitchen and making them through the pandemic. That’s how he kept the lights on,” Aaron said.Aaron says one musician barely made it to his photo session in one piece.Somewhere on the journey from his home to the photo shoot, someone gave him a black eye.Even though the man had a shiner, he posed for the pic with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking exasperated. To Aaron’s amazement, the musician called to say he was using the pic to get gigs.Aaron doesn’t like to get involved in politics but says politics inspired his upcoming photo session. He calls it the truID Project, an opportunity for people to get a portrait-quality picture of themselves in the gender they identify with.Aaron says the gender-affirming portraits will “let someone stand in front of a camera and show who they truly feel they are” instead of “somebody that society expects.” The photo sessions will happen in several cities in the nation, including Orlando, on June 3.Aaron says stylists and makeup artists have volunteered their time so that the portrait “matches who they really are,” and they will “ leave with a photo they can hold on to and really cherish.” Top headlines: Florida man who lost arm in gator attack says it’s ‘not the end of the world’ Man pronounced dead after rollover crash that shut down part of SR-417 Brevard sheriff: Elementary school teaching assistant arrested for possession of child pornography