In a new and stunningly beautiful coffee table photography book, Magnum photographer David Hurn shares his experiences navigating the world of Instagram as both a photographer and a writer. 

One thing is certain in this day and age: it is almost a requirement for modern creatives to have an online presence, and social media is an effective way to gain eyes on and build a community around your art. For many, though, this doesn’t come easy, and I consider myself among them. 

In On Instagram, David Hurn shares his journey through the platform from posting photography tips to creating deeply personal observations of his experiences of the world.

Much like Instagram, this book is half photography and half text – and is a consolidation of Hurn’s posts since joining the platform in 2016. The chosen format of the book is a thing of genius: much like the platform it is based on, it is easily digestible in small packaged chunks of inspiration and provides equal weight to both Hurn’s images and his words. 

In my opinion, this is a perfect example of a coffee table book, as it enables the reader to dip in and out while getting something new and different each time. But equally, it turns the medium of social media on its head by creating longer-form content from individual posts. 

David Hurn’s career spans over 60 years, and he is part of the elite collective that is Magnum Photos. On Instagram includes images throughout this time, in addition to never-before-published photos (other than on Instagram). From the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and capturing The Beatles in their movie A Hard Day’s Night, to a trip to the local doctor’s surgery for a check-up, all the images are captured observations of the everyday. 

Hurn’s ability to capture the daily lives of ordinary people has cemented him as one of Britain’s most celebrated documentary photographers. The theme of authenticity is woven through the book’s pages in his photographs and his words. 

“It seems to me that in whatever form of communication, be it painting, sculpture, music, dance, photography, even speech, our job is to try to communicate to others as honestly, accurately, authentically, what we saw, felt, thought, at a particular time,” he says.

David Hurn is most definitely a photographer’s photographer, and his generosity in sharing his journey and experiences in the industry provides great value. On Instagram has made me look at using the platform in a new way, and treating it more as a journal than a portfolio of work, and I am excited to start writing entries. 

On Instagram by David Hurn is published by R|A|P (Reel Art Press) and is available worldwide for $70 / £50 / AU$125. This is a beautiful, large photography book from one of the true greats!

You may also be interested in our guides to the best books on photography, the best books on street photography, and the best books for portrait photography. 

Eskimo Kisses Photography in Athens celebrated one year of business with a ribbon cutting on Friday hosted by the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce. Eskimo Kisses Photography specializes in a variety of styles of photography and offers on location and in studio photoshoots for portraits, families, and more. Pictured from left to right are GVCC board member Carrie Henry, Athens Borough Mayor Francis “Skipp” Roupp, GVCC President Kim Mastrantonio, Owner of Eskimo Kisses Photography Jackie Kingsley, GVCC board member Michelle Simonds, Assistant Mackenzie Brown, and GVCC Executive Director Jan Lee. Eskimo Kisses Photography is located at 420 South Main Street in Athens.

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 770 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in Saket, New Delhi, is wrapping up a four-month exhibition of Raghu Rai, titled A Thousand Lives: Photographs from 1965-2005. Rai is a critically-acclaimed photographer, photojournalist and author.

Going through the exhibition is like travelling through a time-tunnel of Indian history, and also experiencing a masterclass on the art and science of photography. See our earlier coverage of KNMA exhibitions here.

The black-and-white images from the ‘analog’ era capture scenes through the mists of time, and reflect the aesthetics and techniques of the pre-digital years. The current exhibition focuses on Rai’s black-and-white collected works.

KNMA has been pioneering shows on modern and contemporary South Asian art since 2010, and has galleries in New Delhi and Noida. It also runs educational and public-focused programmes and brings out a series of publications.

The museum has an in-house collection of more than 10,000 artworks. Its activities are spearheaded by philanthropist Kiran Nadar and supported by the Shiv Nadar Foundation. In 2025, KNMA plans to open its new standalone museum building.

Curated by Roobina Karode, the current exhibition features Raghu Rai, who was born in what is now Pakistan. He studied civil engineering before switching to photography. He was at The Statesman newspaper, Sunday news magazine, and Magnum Photos.

Rai was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his work on the liberation war of Bangladesh and its refugees. Other prestigious awards would come his way from the French government as well.

His works have been exhibited across India and overseas–in Spain, Australia, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Finland. He is currently based in Delhi. In Part II of this photo essay, we will feature insights from Rai and Karode.

From religion and politics to landscapes and daily life, Rai’s camera seems to have covered it all. The photographs are inspiring and endearing in the way that they capture scenes as living theatre.

Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?

(All photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at the exhibition.)

BENTONVILLE — Kristine Potter: Dark Waters, an exhibition of richly detailed black-and-white photographs, opens to the public at the Momentary today.

The photographs, mainly landscapes and portraits, are supported by a video and sound installation and are “inspired by enigmatic terrain surrounding bodies of water that bear names of violence in the American South, places like ‘Murder Creek,’ ‘Deadman’s Branch,’ and ‘Bloody Fork,'” according to a press release.

“These are absolutely beautiful photographs, and you’re going to be swept away by them,” said Alejo Benedetti, Momentary curator of contemporary art.

The exhibition is on view through Oct. 13. Potter, the artist, is the grand prize winner of the 2023 Hariban Award and an assistant professor of photography at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Dark Waters is accompanied by Potter’s second monograph, co-published by the Momentary and Aperture magazine, but isn’t exactly like it, Benedetti promised.

“To translate that from a book you hold and look at into an exhibition that you’re going to experience is … truly a transition,” he said. “It’s an exhibition that you’re not just going to see, you’re going to feel.”

Potter was present during a press preview Friday to introduce her works and kept her comments brief, saying it’s best to experience the art first. Next to the works are numbers, rather than traditional placards, to allow visitors to experience them and let it bring up their own associations before adding in someone else’s, she explained.

The opening area of Dark Waters is meant to feel a bit like an open mic night at a hole-in-the-wall honky tonk, Potter said. Each of the people performing in the video screened are men, and they’re all casually singing “murder ballads,” songs in which women are killed and left in rivers and forests.

“It’s not meant to be anachronistic; it’s mostly to make you think about how much entertainment you actually engage in that recounts a kind of gendered violence,” Potter said, using the example of TV shows, films, true crime podcasts, stories of abuse and violence against women, which she described as a part of our cultural diet. “The work is responding to the cumulative effect of the kinds of stories we tell about place and how particularly for women that contributes to how we experience place.”

Potter is a photographer who typically works regionally, but she’s interested in the mythology of the U.S., the stories Americans tell about themselves, as well as the archetypes of masculinity.

When she began working in the South, she became interested in the history of violence in the southern landscape. Potter oriented herself to the topic by using the bodies of water with ominous names, wondering how something like “Murder River” got, and kept, its name.

Potter began photographing for the project in 2015 and prints everything herself, she said. The resulting works — taken in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina — are not journalistic in answer but rather “lyrical documentary form” and focus on how the settings make the viewer feel.

    An attendee looks on at photographs Friday during a media preview for Kristine Potter’s Dark Waters photo exhibit at The Momentary in Bentonville. The exhibition is a collection of black-and-white photographs inspired by the enigmatic terrain surrounding bodies of water that bear names of violence in the American South, places like Murder Creek, Deadman’s Branch and Bloody Fork. The series of photographs, supported by a video and sound installation, unravels the deeply held associations between land and violence in this area of the nation. Visit nwaonline.com/photos for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)
  

    An attendee looks on at photographs Friday during a media preview for Kristine Potter’s Dark Waters photo exhibit at The Momentary in Bentonville. The exhibition is a collection of black-and-white photographs inspired by the enigmatic terrain surrounding bodies of water that bear names of violence in the American South, places like Murder Creek, Deadman’s Branch and Bloody Fork. The series of photographs, supported by a video and sound installation, unravels the deeply held associations between land and violence in this area of the nation. Visit nwaonline.com/photos for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)
  

    An attendee looks on at photographs Friday during a media preview for Kristine Potter’s Dark Waters photo exhibit at The Momentary in Bentonville. The exhibition is a collection of black-and-white photographs inspired by the enigmatic terrain surrounding bodies of water that bear names of violence in the American South, places like Murder Creek, Deadman’s Branch and Bloody Fork. The series of photographs, supported by a video and sound installation, unravels the deeply held associations between land and violence in this area of the nation. Visit nwaonline.com/photos for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)
  

The sixth edition of the Close-Up Photographer of the Year competition will once again have an underwater category.

The aim of the annual competition is to reveal the hidden wonders of the world through close-up, macro and micro photography.

In addition to underwater, the 10 other categories include:

• Animals (supported by Affinity Photo)
• Insects (supported by Nikon)
• Invertebrate Portrait (supported by Zerene Stacker)
• Butterflies & Dragonflies
• Arachnids
• Plants
• Fungi & Slime Moulds
• Intimate Landscape (supported by FRAMES)
• Studio Art (supported by Retouch4me)
• Young CUPOTY (supported by SIGMA UK) for entrants aged 17 or under.

The final deadline for submissions is July 14th, 2024, while the early bird deadline (save 10% on the entry fee) is on May 31, 2024.

The top prize gets £2,500 (~US$3,131/~€2,906) cash, a trophy along with a universal license for all three Affinity apps.

The total prize fund for this year has been boosted to almost £9,000 (~US$11,272/~€10,460), with each category winner taking home £250 (~US$313/~€291), plus a universal license for all three Affinity apps (Photo, Designer + Publisher) for macOS, Windows and iPadOS.

The Young Close-up Photographer of the Year will receive a SIGMA 105mm F2.8 DG DN MACRO Art lens, a universal license for all three Affinity apps and a trophy.

Software creator Retouch4me will award a Dust, Color Match and Portrait Volumes plug-in to the first-, second- and third-placed photographers in the new Studio Art category. A subscription to FRAMES magazine and community will go to the Intimate Landscape winner.

The Top 100 images selected by an expert jury will appear in the winners’ gallery as a permanent exhibition on the CUPOTY website. The judging panel for CUPOTY 6 (so far) includes world-class photographers, magazine journalists, conservationists and authors: Karine Aigner, Nigel Atherton, Sue Bishop, Tracy Calder, Jaime Culebras, Matt Doogue, Guy Edwardes, Wim van Egmond, Tom Gilks, Viktoria Haack, Brendan “Cygnus” James, David Maitland, Bart “@insectguru” Somers, Georgina Steytler, Rachael Talibart, Tomasz Trzebiatowski and Keith Wilson.

To enter, go to cupoty.com.

(Featured Image © Liang Fu | cupoty.com)