Valentina Sergi (1997) is a fashion photographer with a passion for pastel colors, bold contrasts, and the vibrancy of images. Her professional work has led her to photograph a variety of subjects in exclusive locations, and her photographs have become a constant presence in many well-known fashion publications. However, what truly sets Valentina Sergi apart is her ability to craft an emotionally compelling narrative through the lens of her camera. Colors, the interplay of light and shadows, patterns, people’s hands, the warmth of an embrace, places steeped in nostalgia, and the hidden stories behind a wrinkle are all elements that Valentina Sergi seeks to capture in order to create a pure aesthetic composed of images that oscillate between the real and the surreal.

The A-Mors Series: A Deep Exploration of Love

One of Valentina Sergi’s most significant projects is the series titled A-Mors. This series delves into the theme of love in a profound and provocative manner. It revolves around genuine love, a love that has been eagerly anticipated, yet so strong that it overcomes the fragility of a tender heart. The intriguing wordplay in the title, where “A-Mors” appears to derive from the Latin “a-mors” (without death), underscores the eternity of this sentiment. In this series, Valentina Sergi explores the concept of an eternal love that transcends temporal boundaries. Her photographs capture moments of passion and affection, while simultaneously evoking a sense of transcendence.

Sergi’s works are emotional and surreal, with a strong conceptual underpinning. Valentina understands that photography is not merely the recording of an objective reality, but rather the presentation of stories, concepts, and worlds as she perceives them through her personal experiences, culture, and sensibilities.

Her connection between cinema and photography is evident, and this cross-pollination of the arts allows her to bring innovation to her work. The photographer leaves us with a famous quote by Vincent Peters, who states, “A photograph is not just made with a camera; it is brought to the act of photography with all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.“

‘Tis the season for senior pictures. Katy families and photographers have a great selection of beautiful and historical places right here in Katy to capture the perfect picture of your soon graduate or family images.

From posed family pictures to fun action shots, these Katy locations offer families and photographers the perfect angle to capture the best photography. Remember to have fun but always respect your surroundings. Keep these popular spots pristine for all to enjoy.

Katy Heritage Homes

You’ll Love Katy Mural

Paul D. Rushing Park

The Katy Train & MKT Railroad Park

Exploration Park

Cardiff Rice Dryers

Woodcreek Reserve

LaCenterra Courtyard and Mural

Care for Katy’s Photo Spots

Peter Beard, American, A BEND IN THE RIVER AFTER THE DIE-OFF, 1976

Edward Burtynsky, Canadian, MORENCI MINE #2, CLIFTON, ARIZONA, USA, 2012 (FROM THE CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION)

Imogen Cunningham, American, MAGNOLIA BLOSSOM, 1925

Photographs Auction

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, April 30, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Waddington’s is pleased to announce the 2024 edition of Photographs in Partnership with the CONTACT Photography Festival, held online May 11-16, 2024.

Featuring works by important Canadian and International artists, this auction includes a significant collection of photographs from the archives of the former Deja Vue Gallery in Toronto, including masterworks by Edward Weston, Richard Harrington, and a rare portrait of Joan Baez by Yousef Karsh. Other highlights drawn from important private and corporate collections include a unique collaged gelatin silver print by Peter Beard, a portfolio of five self-portraits by Chuck Close, signed works by Imogen Cunningham, mammoth prints by Edward Burtynsky, and two unique behind-the-scenes portraits by Jorge Zontal from the personal collection of provocative rock musician Carole Pope.

Peter Beard (1938-2020), American
A BEND IN THE RIVER AFTER THE DIE-OFF, 1976
Estimate $25,000-$30,000

“A Bend in the River After the Die-Off,” 1976 is one of the artist’s most iconic and well-known images, depicting the few surviving elephants of the Tsavo River National Park drought of the 1970s. In this particular work, Beard personalized the print by annotating the photograph with recollections and collage elements from his time spent in Kenya.

Edward Burtynsky (b. 1955), Canadian
MORENCI MINE #2, CLIFTON, ARIZONA, USA, 2012 (FROM THE CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION)
Estimate $10,000-$15,000

Burtynsky writes about the subject of this photograph, “open-pit mines are wounds we’ve inflicted, and the wonderment they excite easily becomes tinged with pangs of remorse or dread.” Burtynsky calls this storm of feeling ‘‘a reversal of the sublime. In the beginning, ‘the sublime’ meant us in fear of nature,’’ he explains. “We would look up at a thundercloud or mountain, or across a heavy sea, and be ‘“awe-struck” or powerless. But fast forward to the Industrial Revolution, and 150 years after that, and now we are the awesome and fearsome force that’s reshaping the planet.’’

Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976), American
MAGNOLIA BLOSSOM, 1925
Estimate: $15,000-$20,000

Cunningham’s initial interest in floral photography began in the late 1910s. Occupied with raising her children, she was tethered to her home, which sparked an interest in gardening. Far from impeding her artistic practice, this newfound passion led her towards a new vein – her floral works. “Magnolia Blossom,” 1925, is the result of her many experiments, and is a detailed and modernist picture which echoes Georgia O’Keeffe’s celebrated paintings.

Lynne Cohen (1944-2014), American/Canadian
UNTITLED (WINDOWS), 2011
Estimate $10,000-$15,000

Cohen has long focused on photographing “found environments”: empty spaces bereft of human presence, yet purpose-built for human needs. While early in her career Cohen would label images with more specific titles, these were soon pared down in favour of more vague and concise titles. This evolution of her titles is reflected in the two works on offer in this auction, one from 1977, “Indoor Swimming Pool Display, Swimming Pool Store, Ottawa,” and her very large work “Untitled, (Windows)” from 2011.

Jorge Zontal (1944-1994), Canadian
“AVOID FREUD” ALBUM SHOOT – SALUT, 1980
Estimate: $7,000-$10,000

Bursting onto the music scene in the late 1960s, Canadian rock icon Carole Pope unapologetically surpassed boundaries and advocated for LGBTQI+ visibility decades before the acronym existed and before sexual orientation was included in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Throughout her career, as half of the musical duo Rough Trade, and as a solo new-wave vocalist, Pope’s lyrics have always been provocative and sex-positive.

Waddington’s is honoured to offer two never-before-seen photographs from the Rough Trade “Avoid Freud” album cover shoot photographed by Jorge Zontal, a member of the famed Canadian art collective General Idea – “Salut, 1980,” and “Crossed Arms, 1980”.

Chuck Close (1940-2021), American
SELF PORTRAIT PORTFOLIO, 2002
Estimate: $6,000-$8,000

Chuck Close is well known for his portraits and self-portraits; he made more than a hundred works of his own face during his career. Face-blind since his youth, it is this incapacity to remember a face that motivated this part of Close’s practice. This “Self-Portrait Portfolio, 2002,” a suite composed of five self-portraits shows the artist at the age of 62, attempting to capture different angles of his face from one side to the other, forming a sort of topography of his head as if to keep track of his face and features.

ABOUT THE CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL

Launched in 1997 in Toronto, Canada, the CONTACT Photography Festival is the largest photographic exhibition in the world. This annual, city-wide festival includes 36 curated exhibitions, public art installations and programs that feature the work of local and international lens-based artists, presented in partnership with institutions across the Greater Toronto Area.

According to Darcy Killeen, CEO of CONTACT, unlike other festivals around the world, CONTACT is very community-based, supporting and uniting artists of all backgrounds. While other festivals are highly curated, often invitation-only, and exhibit only a few artists at a time, CONTACT is a festival that links first-time photographers with some of the biggest names in the world, all on the same stage, all in the same catalogue.

All proceeds from the sale of CONTACT lots in this auction will benefit the organisation and its dedication to exhibiting, analysing, and celebrating photography and lens-based media.

AUCTION INFORMATION

This auction is offered online May 11-16, 2024.
View the online gallery and downloadable digital catalogue on our website at https://www.waddingtons.ca
Previews are available Sunday, May 12 to Tuesday, May 14, and by appointment.

ABOUT WADDINGTON’S

Canada’s oldest and most diverse auction house, Waddington’s offers the very best across a wide range of categories, including Canadian, Asian, International, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Art, Decorative Arts and Design, Fine Jewellery, and Fine Wine and Spirits.

With a broad global network, our team of experienced specialists assists clients with virtually everything you may want to sell, buy or have appraised. We are also the go-to auction company for unique estate and specially curated auctions. Every item offered is carefully researched, catalogued and presented, and our specialists are always pleased to assist you in your buying or selling journey.

TESS MCLEAN
Waddington’s Auctioneers
+1 416-504-9100
tm@waddingtons.ca
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It’s never smart to turn your back on a wild animal.

That’s because you can’t ever know for sure how they are going to act. The only real guarantee that you have when you encounter a wild animal is the fact that you have no idea how things are going to go down. Because of that, there are plenty of rules and guidelines to help humans who find themselves in sticky situations like this one.

First off, if you can stay away from the wildlife, that’s the best way to stay safe. The National Park Service recommends that tourists stay at least 25 yards away from animals that are considered non-violent, like elk and moose. For bears, wolves, and other predatory animals, the NPS suggests (and emphasizes) that people should stay at least 100 yards away.

Secondly, if you do find yourself in a close encounter with a wild animal, backing away slowly and making sure not to run is the best way to retreat. Running away could result in an animal’s chasing instinct to kick in, so that’s why the photographer in this video was trying to stay calm and refrain from making a run for it.

Though the man was handling the situation as best as he could (though we don’t know how he got himself into this in the first place), it didn’t stop this curious bull moose from bluff charging him a couple of times. The only mistake the guy made was turning his back to the young moose from time to time, and that could have ended poorly if the moose had decided to go for a full-on charge. I mean, he’s got quite the lens on his camera, does he really need to be that close? I don’t think so, but I’m not a photographer.

Eventually the photographer gets out of the pickle he got himself into, as you’ll see in the footage below:

That’s a close call right there.

Everything ended up okay for this photographer, but those on social media that watched the video seemingly wish that the moose would have been able to teach the guy a little bit of a lesson:

“Has a three foot lens and needs to be two inches from it. More money than brains.”

“Good thing it wasn’t a female with a calf.”

“People always look surprised when wildlife acts like wildlife.”

“I was hoping he’d end up in the river with that fancy camera.”

“Why do these people do this? Please tell me.”

A question that we would all love to know the answer to…

David Winegar has been a staple in the Park City photography world for a few decades now, seen around at local art shows, the Park Silly Sunday Market, posts on Nextdoor and work adorning Elevated Interiors.

A retired Air Force-turned-Delta Airlines pilot, Winegar focused that same methodical, patient self-discipline that pilots develop to his photography, creating a name for himself and his own company, Park City Photography. 

Over the years, Winegar has earned awards for his wildlife and landscape images in various prestigious competitions.

“When I kind of started down this road, what was going through my mind was ‘How do I differentiate myself from all the other photographers?’” he said. “A separator would be to put my work in front of critics and master judges and see if I could win in these competitions. So I’ve been a competitor pretty much for 20 years, with a lot of humble pie in there.” 

Most recently, his awards have included his image “Leap of Faith,” a photo of a fox leaping over a stream with two ground squirrels in its mouth, winning International Best of Category Wildlife in 2007 at the Art Wolfe Environmental Photographic Invitational; “Better,” a photo of a man looking up at a huge poster of a woman, winning First Place for Outstanding Achievement in the ninth annual International Color Awards Professional Division People Category; “Final Pass,” an image of a DC-10 tanker fighting the Parleys Canyon fire, helping him earn the 2022 Intermountain Professional Photographers Association‘s Photographer of the Year Award.

And he just doesn’t stop. This spring, his piece titled “First Snow On Fall Leaves – La Sal Range – Moab Utah” was one of the 276 pieces out of 1,450 submissions chosen for the 100th Annual Spring Salon exhibition at the Springville Museum of Art.

Being selected for his exhibit, which runs through July 6, further validates Winegar’s eye and process for developing the perfect image, in part natural gift and dedicated study.

“From the beginning, I’ve always been a big consumer of training. So I’ve been to probably over a thousand courses that I’ve taken, from weekend lectures and seminars, to my participation in the Professional Photographers of America, and then the Intermountain Professional Photographers Association, where they have annual competitions,” he said.

He also got a formal education and graduated from the New York Institute of Photography in 2015, always interested in making wildlife and landscapes his subject.

While it’s rarely a lucrative art, pursuing landscape photography is worth the long hours, early mornings and challenging natural elements, Winegar said.

“I love what God’s created, and I like to bear witness to it and capture it through the lens and then make a beautiful art piece out of it,” he said.

Part of his natural talent involves pre-visualizing a scene he intends to capture, and then it’s practice, practice, practice.

“You can spend all of that time in lectures and seminars, unless you get behind the camera and have a complete command of both the technical operation of the camera and to deliver your artistic vision, … it’s getting behind the camera on a regular basis and that means multiple times a week, going to field and shooting with purpose,” Winegar said.

For him, this can mean going out to the same place, shooting the same tree over and over until the light is just right. An example would be his series of photos titled “Ancient Lonely Bristlecone at Dead Horse State Park,” which depicts the same tree under a moonless sky, or in the dim light of dawn.

The piece that will be shown at the Springville Art Museum was a combination of this right place, right time coincidence, and his methodical forethought. 

“This was October of ’21, big snowstorm, and the leaves were all in the trees on the La Sal loop which is a loop road that goes through the La Sal mountain range,” he remembered. “And I thought that night, ‘Man, this is the first big snow, and those leaves are going to be informed by those first snowflakes, and that is really going to be pretty.’”

He got up before light and drove up to Warner Lake, where aspen covers the hillsides. Four inches of fresh snow had fallen, untouched by wind.

“It’s a short time period between when you lose those leaves and rare to get that first snow and not have lost the leaves,” he said, and spent hours that day taking photos.

The result was a tangle of branches, juxtaposed with bright snow and the yellow of autumn leaves. Once Winegar chose his best shot, he sent it in to be made as a chromogenic print, pioneered by photographers like Ernst Haas.

“When you see it, it’s like you can walk into the forest. And that’s what I love about the Chromogenic process,” Winegar said. “It’s a museum quality look that, when you see it … there’s a difference. It’s absolutely three dimensional.” 

The printing process is long and expensive, he said, but worth the money for many of his photos. Some of the images displayed at Elevated Interiors are printed in this way, adding emphasis to their already striking scenes.

With his acceptance into the Spring Salon exhibit, Winegar’s years of learning and hard work continue to pay off. Now, starting his Park City Photography School, Winegar hopes to pass on his knowledge to others.

“I’ve just started doing some private instruction,” Winegar said. “I have a syllabus that I’ve worked up and the classes are anywhere from three to six hours depending on what my client would like to focus on.”

Winegar also participates in the Park City Photography Club, which meets for monthly lectures, usually at the Park City Library.

“You get to associate with people that are passionate about photography and anybody with any skill level can come and we keep the lectures so everybody can understand them,” Winegar said.

He continues to search for the next photo, planning to photograph ospreys and burrowing owls on Antelope Island in the coming weeks.

“You get where you have a knowledge of certain animals and the time of year best to photograph them. Pretty much there’s always a month that there’s something cool that you can go out and use as your subject matter in the wildlife kingdom,” he said.

“First Snow On Fall Leaves – La Sal Range – Moab Utah” and other works by Utah-based artists can be seen at the Springville Museum of Art daily, except Sundays, through July 6.

Meanwhile, Winegar will keep pursuing what he loves.

“What my goal was back then, and continues to be, I’m always trying to learn more,” he said.

A photographer has recalled the “emotional” story behind how he managed to take some portrait images of Alex Turner on a train.

The anecdote was shared by photographer Chris Blood, who took to social media last night (April 29) to recall the time he bumped into his “hero” – Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner – and managed to get some portrait shots of him on a train journey.

Taking to Instagram, the photographer shared four images of the Sheffield singer, and used the caption to recall both how the moment arose, and what it meant for him to meet the singer.

“Met my hero on a train,” he began.

“It’s 2005, a band explodes on MySpace. They’re dressed like you and their lyrics are a mirror to your life. Bleeding heck, who the fuck are the Arctic Monkeys? After 19 years on repeat it’s now 2024. Myself and @conor_bloodfilms are travelling back from Paris.

“We arrive at Gare Du Nord and Duffy stops in his tracks. He whispers to me ‘I think that’s Alex Turner.’ ‘F**k off!’ I immediately reply. I gaze over at a guy wearing a leather jacket with long brown hair, his face adorned with aviators. We should probably stop staring as it’s getting weird, sexually and aggressively weird. Turns out it is bloody Alex Turner, the man who’s provided the soundtrack to my life! He strolls past and disappears into the Parisian platform crowd. A missed opportunity.”

He continued, going on to explain that the two coincidentally ended up on the same train journey back to London, where he finally built up the courage to talk to the singer-songwriter.

“We look to our left and there’s Alex. Sitting in his seat accompanied by a notepad. He’s probably writing the next Arctic Monkeys hit ‘Two gawping pricks on a train’. We really need to stop staring,” he explained.

“I tell Duffers I’m going in, he stops me. Reminds me that I’m a fully functioning adult and not to create a scene. Christ, he’s right! I feel like I’m 15 years old again, someone get me a Strongbow and whack Dancing Shoes on, kin hell lad!

“Eventually myself and Con engage, it’s a surreal experience. Alex is polite and returns conversation in a soft friendly manner. The whole situation is just bloody lovely. I awkwardly ask if I can take his portrait, fully aware that it could result in an awkward exchange and destroy this wonderful moment. He smiles and obliges, he’s effortlessly cool, asks for direction and I take a few snaps,” Blood added.

“We disembark the train, I felt quite emotional and that’s embarrassing to admit. Maybe it was the jet lag, the caffeine and croissant overload? Or maybe it was just the rekindling of my youth.

“This all might sound trivial, however, for me these portraits are deeply personal serving a reminder that life is a series of fortunate events and when fully appreciated can conjure up some pretty awesome memories.”

Check out the shots of Alex Turner in the post above.

In other Arctic Monkeys news, the Sheffield band wrapped up the final night of their world tour last October by bringing out James Ford and Miles Kane as special guests.

The moment took place at their show at the 3Arena in Dublin, as they played the final night of their global tour, celebrating the release of their latest studio album, ‘The Car’.

Their last album dropped at the end of 2022, and was given a glowing five-star review by NME, who described it as “a swashbuckling, strings-fuelled epic”.

“‘The Car’ goes some way to addressing some of the last record’s flaws. While growing in stature once the initial shock wore off and proving to be wildly entertaining live, there were still some nit-picks to be had with ‘Tranquility…’: perhaps it was too slow and one-note, perhaps the full band were under-utilised as performers, perhaps it felt more like a Turner solo record,” it read.

“On ‘The Car’, though, Jamie Cook, Nick O’Malley and Helders are present and powerful; guided by Turner’s songwriting and delicate vocal performance, but never ceding to it: ‘Body Paint’, a swaggering ‘70s-inspired epic, features the full band at their most ferocious-sounding in years. If ‘Tranquility…’s monochrome palette boxed Arctic Monkeys in, here they’re flourishing in full colour.