‘I feel like far too often projects involving queer and trans people revolve around trauma,’ says Alex. ‘This project is all about celebrating and embracing our transness, our bodies, and our babies. In addition, participating in this with another pregnant transmasculine person was the most affirming experience I’ve ever had. Men can give birth’
Photography after sunset becomes rising trend in Chinese cities 【Voice_over】 This is Zhong Loujie, one of the busiest commercial streets in Taiyuan, capital of northern China’s Shanxi Province.Dating back a thousand years, the street has undergone a dramatic renovation of late, making it a favorite spot for young people. Couples like 22-year-old Le Xinxin and her fiancé find the traditional style of the place captivating. 【Sound_bite】 Le Xinxin, local resident: “The beauty of the nighttime light is just stunning. Day and night offer different views, but I personally prefer the fashion and allure of nighttime photos.” 【Voice_over】 Photographer Wang Meng says many young people have developed a fondness for nighttime photos, especially in places with traditional architecture. 【Sound_bite】 Wang Meng, Photographer: “Take Zhongloujie Street, for example. It used to have outdated décor, but after the renovation more young people come here to take photos. Their love for old-style architecture has been growing.” 【Voice_over】 Photographers make the most of the nighttime view, as backdrops for young couples on the hillside in the city’s suburbs.The use of sparklers, a special prop at night, not only adds flair to the photos but also an element of fun. 【Sound_bite】 Cao Yin, Resident: “The sparklers make our photos more colorful and interesting. I really like it.”
Like the spiders they are commonly confused with, opiliones too have eight legs – mostly long and thin in contrast to their bodies. They are living fossils, the original ‘Daddy Longlegs’, having remained unchanged for millions of years. On a rainy night, the young photographer spotted this opilione sheltering in a crevice, raindrops glistening on its limbs
Photograph: Arnav Deshpande/2023 Nature inFocus Photography Awards
Cinematic photographer Ser Baffo has seen the tiny details of life. Since his breakout opportunity on a popular music video in 2017, Baffo has perfected his intimate, cinematic style, capturing the grace of a storied legend, the intensity on the gridiron, and the unspoken intimacy of love. His brilliant play on composition and color story is what makes every shot not just sophisticated but familiar, lived-in, and completely captivating.
“Through lights, shadows, and my eye, I create feelings, stir emotions, and set a vibe,” says the Brooklyn-based shooter. “Whether I’m shooting a celebrity, big scenes on a set, or action on the field, I use my gift to capture something amazing.”
Baffo credits his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, for his raw approach to storytelling through imagery, which has become a passport of entry into other cultures, no matter the differences. “I can be in a country where there may be a language barrier of some sort, and I can still use photos as a way to communicate.”
The lensman’s craft has helped bring him ease and comfort—his definition of luxury. In many ways, it has unlocked a lifestyle many may never get to enjoy. He’s wielded his camera along the vibrant coasts of Ghana and in Cuba’s charming, colorful streets. And after a few months of all work and no play, Baffo can treat himself to luxurious, serene experiences to relax, recharge, and realign—like driving the INFINITI QX60.
But not only is he afforded life’s luxuries of travel and rest, but Baffo’s work has also allowed him to witness the expansiveness of Blackness in a myriad of spaces. “We are ultimate trendsetters, and we’re everywhere, which makes it even more beautiful.”
As Baffo continues elevating life’s most precious stories with his compelling perspective, he approaches his dreams humbly and strives to be the best.
“[Dreams keep] you grounded if you’re really serious,” he says. “When I think of “slay,” I think of, at the very end, there is one standing. I’m in the process, if I haven’t already, of slaying my career.”
Sandra Bullock’s longtime partner, Bryan Randall, died on August 5 at the age of 57 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Bryan’s family confirmed the news to Page Six on Monday, August 7.
“It is with great sadness that we share that on Aug. 5, Bryan Randall passed away peacefully after a three-year battle with ALS,” his family said. “Bryan chose early to keep his journey with ALS private and those of us who cared for him did our best to honor his request.”
“We are immensely grateful to the tireless doctors who navigated the landscape of this illness with us and to the astounding nurses who became our roommates, often sacrificing their own families to be with ours,” it added. The family has asked for “privacy to grieve and to come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye to Bryan.”
Bryan, who was originally from Portland, Oregon, and was a professional photographer. He owned his own company, Bryan Randall Photography, and majorly focused on children’s portraits and outdoor scenes.
Bryan had also worked as a model and even did campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent and Hugo Boss. He was seen in pages of high-end fashion magazines like Vogue Paris and Harper’s Bazaar Singapore. He briefly studied acting at Los Angeles drama school Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop.
Bryan shared a daughter, Skylar Staten Randall, with his previous partner. It is unclear if he was ever married.
Randall reportedly dated Paris St. John, the daughter of late ‘Young and the Restless’ star Kristoff St. John and retired boxer Mia St. John. “He’s funny, light-hearted, a very free spirit, goofy and playful,” Mia previously told Page Six of Bryan. “He’s amazing with kids.”
Bryan met Sandra in 2015 while photographing the birthday party of her son. They kept their romance out of the public eye for the most part, but Sandra appeared on ‘Red Table Talk’ in December 2021 and said that she had “found the love of my life” in him. “We share two beautiful children — three children, [Randall’s] older daughter. It’s the best thing ever,” Sandra said. She had adopted son Louis, 13, and daughter Laila, 10.
“He’s the example that I would want my children to have,” Sandra said during the same interview. “I have a partner who’s very Christian and there are two different ways of looking at things. I don’t always agree with him, and he doesn’t always agree with me. But he is an example even when I don’t agree with him.”
“I’m stubborn but sometimes I need to sit back and listen and go, ‘You’re saying it differently but we mean exactly the same thing,’” she added. “It’s hard to co-parent because I just want to do it myself.”
Speaking of marriage, Sandra had said, “I don’t need a paper to be a devoted partner, devoted mother. I don’t need to be told to be ever-present in the hardest of times. I don’t need to be told to weather a storm with a good man.”
The death of legendary photographer Jerry Uelsmann at age 87 in 2022 saddened the photography world as it did fans and enthusiasts in Gainesville.
Now admirers can celebrate his life and work at the University of Florida’s Harn Museum of Art, which is honoring his work with an exhibition of 37 prints titled, “Jerry Uelsmann: A Celebration of His Life and Art.”
Uelsmann was a professor at the University of Florida for 38 years and worked in a traditional wet darkroom, using up to seven enlargers to print multiple negatives. The resulting fantastical landscapes were lauded as innovative and riveting during the late 1960s and 1970s.
The handmade images now seem even more astonishing, as today’s fine-art photographers rely on highly powerful editing software to create similar work. The exhibit, curated by Dr. Carol McCusker, the Harn curator of photography, includes prints from the Harn’s collection and the photographer’s Gainesville Archive.
“Jerry Uelsmann is part of the University of Florida’s institutional history and memory,” McCusker said in a statement on the Harn’s website. “This exhibition is a comprehensive appreciation of the man through his distinct vision, wry humor and prolific creativity.”
Indeed, the exhibition includes a section illustrating his whimsical frame of mind seen through whirly gigs, toys and visual jokes. He also collected the work of other artists, including paintings and folk art that hung in his Gainesville home.
The Harn opened the exhibit in June, and it will run through Feb. 18.
Fran Towk, 71, a University of Florida graduate, has been following Uelsmann’s work for decades and got the opportunity recently to see Uelsmann’s work.
“It’s just so exciting to see what he does with the visual image. His display, laying things on other things, floating things, it’s always exciting to see,” she said.
Jeanine Tatlock, a visitor services coordinator at the Harn Museum of Art, said that attendance at the museum has seen a noticeable increase in since the exhibit was opened.
“I definitely think people did come just to see the exhibit specifically,” Tatlock said. “I think Jerry Uelsmann had a really strong connection to this community.”
Along with the increased attendance at the museum, the Uelsmann exhibit has had a positive impact on the community, according to Errol Nelson, the assistant of the curator of photography at the museum.
“Beyond being an internationally recognized photographer, I think Jerry Uelsmann has a very deep and lasting impact on the community in Gainesville,” said Nelson, who also serves as the curatorial program coordinator.
“Through his process, through his teaching and through his general involvement in the community, I think he’s made a very lasting impression,” he said.
The exhibit includes plenty of astonishing pieces of photography created by Uelsmann, as well as an overview of the creativity he displayed in life. Next to many of the photos is text that explains the lifestyle he lived, which contributed to the special photography he captured.
Christine Yancy, a museum visitor who stumbled upon the exhibition, said she was astonished by Uelsmann’s work. “I like things that spark my imagination… it’s very thought-provoking,” Yancy said.
This is a common opinion among many fans of Uelsmann, as well as people who became fans after hearing of the exhibit.
George Baxter, another museumgoer, is a fan of photography but had not seen Uelsmann’s work until he visited the Harn Museum of Art. After hearing about the exhibit, he came to view it.
“To me, where a museum is successful, is when people leave and their lives have been impacted, that they just don’t come and go,” Baxter said. “But you can’t look at his photographs without thinking and seeing a depth that normally wouldn’t be there.”
Baxter’s wife of 60 years, Debbie Baxter, was equally as impressed with Uelsmann’s work.
“He’s wonderful,” said Debbie Baxter. “Not only is there a spiritual element to his photography, but he also has humor.”
Uelsmann’s impact on the international scale of photography was solidified decades ago. And now, the Uelsmann exhibit has reminded Gainesville residents of the treasurers left by their late neighbor.
“His career and innovative, creative process will continue to inspire and enrich the lives of generations of university students through the Harn’s permanent collection of his work,” Dr. Lee Anne Chesterfield, art director of the Harn, said in a statement on the museum’s website.
The Fahey/Klein Gallery presents Muses & Self: Photographs by Allen Ginsberg. This exhibition of Ginsberg’s personal photographs balances our understanding of the public, outspoken poet and most prominent figure of the Beat Generation. At his core, Allen Ginsberg was a witness and chronicler of the world; his profound admiration for the beauty of the vernacular, intense observation, and celebration of the present moment guided his photography and poetry. The photographs included in this exhibition are joyful, often tender, sometimes profound while at other times humorous – and capture Ginsberg’s numerous meaningful relationships.
“The poignancy of a photograph comes from looking back to a fleeting moment in a floating world.” – Allen Ginsberg
Ginsberg had two distinct photographic periods, from the early 1950s into the 1960s and then the 1980s until his death in 1997. Ginsberg initially picked up a used Kodak Retina camera to take snapshots of the playful nature of his now-famous friends, including writers Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Neal Cassady. Ginsberg lost this beloved camera, and his photographic tendencies went dormant. Until twenty years later, when his rediscovered negatives and prints ignited his second dalliance with photography. With encouragement from photographers Robert Frank and Bernice Abbott, Ginsberg invested in better photographic equipment and made new portraits of longtime friends and new acquaintances – including Francesco Clemente, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Toni Morrison, and Patti Smith. These subtle portraits are filled with complex realizations about his life that are echoed in the meticulous handwritten captions often incorporated beneath the images.
In conjunction with the exhibition of photographs taken by Allen Ginsberg, the Fahey/Klein Gallery will host a preview of A Picture of My Mind: Poems Written by Allen Ginsberg’s Photographs, a collection of ekphrastic poems generated by an AI-powered version of Ginsberg’s own text corpus in response to specific photographs. Developed in collaboration with poetry collective theVERSEverse, recognized as leaders in the contemporary linguistic avant-garde, and theVERSEverse member Ross Goodwin, a pioneering code poet whose “word.camera” (2018) turns digital image data into text, A Picture of My Mind enacts a dialogue between Ginsberg’s portraiture and poetry, and is supported by the Allen Ginsberg Estate and the Tezos Foundation.
“My poetry has always been a picture of my mind moving.” – Allen Ginsberg, Illuminated Poems
In his creative works, Allen Ginsberg was known to blend text and image metaphorically – as well as literally, by handwriting captions on his photographs. In celebration of Ginsberg’s avowedly experimental impulses, this collaboration utilizes an AI-powered camera to “read” a selection of Ginsberg photographs on view during the exhibition, translating his iconic vision of American counterculture into poetic responses influenced simultaneously by Ginsberg’s own canon, his undeniable presence woven inextricably into the written record of the internet, and parsed by AI. The resulting poems illuminate their companion photographs, transcending obvious interpretations of this towering literary figure to gaze more deeply into his watchful eye, and reveal the subtler echoes of his enduring voice. Just as Ginsberg innovated with automated writing techniques and popular technologies, this collection of AI generated poems taps the contemporary linguistic avant-garde to engage ritualistically, intuitively, and meaningfully with Ginsberg’s visual and poetic vernaculars.
Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was born in Newark, New Jersey, and emerged as a prominent voice in the countercultural movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His most famous work, “Howl,” a powerful and controversial poem that challenged societal conventions and explored themes of sexuality, spirituality, and political dissent, became a touchstone for a generation seeking liberation and authenticity.
Ginsberg’s relentless pursuit of personal and artistic freedom made him an iconic figure, and his activism and advocacy for social justice, including his involvement in anti-war and gay rights movements, further solidified his place in American literary and cultural history. Through his groundbreaking poetry and fearless exploration of taboo subjects, Ginsberg remains an enduring symbol of artistic rebellion and the search for individual and collective enlightenment.
About theVERSEverse:
Founded in late 2021 by the writers Ana Maria Caballero, Kalen Iwamoto and Sasha Stiles, theVERSEverse is a hybrid literary gallery and collective where poem = work of art. Poems and projects curated by theVERSEverse have traveled around the world as well as in the metaverse, garnering international acclaim and the support of visionary cultural figures and art institutions. Learn more at theVERSEverse.com.
Muses & Self : Photographs by Allen Ginsberg
August 10, 2023 through September 23, 2023
Exhibition Reception: Thursday, August 10th
Fahey/Klein Gallery
148 N La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
www.faheykleingallery.com
with a special preview of A Picture of My Mind : Poems Written by Allen Ginsberg’s Photographs
To make the unseen seen has been the kernel of the discipline of photography. In an effort to achieve this, the photographers have manipulated reality as a way to open a composition for a contemplative engagement. The Swedish photographer duo, Inka and Niclas Lindergård’s photography-based art has incessantly offered insights into contemporary perceptions of nature and the interconnectedness between the photographic medium and the stylisation of landscapes. Their captivating works feature bright utopian landscapes that not only captivate viewers with their beauty but also encourage them to contemplate the cultural aspects embedded within. Through the language of photography, they provide an open gateway to the hyperrealistic synthesis of beauty, kitsch, and the visual desires that permeate our world.
Inka and Niclas’s photographic practice, even when perceived as a work of surrealism, for them is more about a fight with the fake realness that is built into the medium. In an interview with STIR, the duo confesses, “Photography is quite sterile and square, which makes it very rewarding when you can break through and load it with this energy. Even if we are thorough, stubborn, and exact, there is always this element of chance involved when we work. We try to create circumstances so that unexpected things can happen. The times we feel we succeed are the times when the uncontrollable forces align and we manage to take photographs that we have not already seen or imagined.” Until now, they have chosen to work in the moment of exposure, in the transition. Moreover, even if they fiddle around too much in the post they risk breaking the spell.
Inka and Niclas’s partnership has been intense ever since they met in 2007 during their photography studies. Synonymous with illusory and surrealist imagery, the duo often spends hours trekking through nature to find the perfect photographic subjects. Waiting in patience they park themselves at a particular spot in order to create an ethereal atmosphere, providing them with a brief window of opportunity to capture the shot. For instance, the night scene or the snow-laden mountains of the photographs even though at first glance seem abstract but on a closer look are an extraction of a lesser-encountered reality.
Throughout their artistic oeuvre, Inka and Niclas have delved deep into our modern understanding of nature, exploring its intricacies through the lens of photography. Their collective notion of what constitutes a picturesque landscape has been shaped not only through immersive travel experiences but compounded by the consumption of nature through the means of technology. Through the lens of the camera and the screens of digital devices the duo partake in the experience of nature, only to validate the existence of humans through this process.
Recently, the duo decided to expand their ongoing series Family Portrait, which originated after the birth of their first child. Swapping trees for children, they now incorporate their sons into the project. The series explores phosphorescent imagery, featuring self-portraits of the family adorned in reflective clothing against lush backdrops. As nature grows, the photographers highlight the significance of observing the passing of time which is attributed to the evolving landscape, growing bodies, and coming of the new family members. The series Family Portrait captures the self-portraits of the artist duo and their children in settings that are not bound to real-life imagery. Their choice of clothing reflects light back into the camera lens, rendering them anonymous while emanating a radiant aura in the photograph. The camera erases them from the composition only to let the bodies of the family leave glowing holes in the landscape. The photographers have been working on it for close to eight years, however, it has recently gained the eyeballs of the audience.
The duo confesses to always spending a lot of time, many a time several months, just rearranging works in a model of the space. “We need to find out how the individual works talk to each other. If we move one piece or change the size, it changes everything,” mention Inka and Niclas. It is all about finding tension and liveliness. “If you find yourself thinking about something you ate yesterday it was probably really good food, you do not remember food of average quality,” continue the photographers. If a good show leaves you inspired in one way or another, leaving the visitor still inspired the day after would be something to strive for. This is what Inka and Niclas aspire for.
Currently both are working hard on their upcoming solo exhibition at Chart Art Fair at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, Denmark, from August 25-27. They are also doing a larger sculpture to be presented at Tivoli in Copenhagen, in conjunction with the art fair, the sculpture premieres the same day as the fair but will be there for about a month. In November 2023 they will have the opening for their solo presentation at Dorothée Nilsson Gallery in Berlin, Germany.
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