Photography

This exhibition celebrates the ugly beauty of transformation

By in Photography

This exhibition celebrates the ugly beauty of transformation

TERMINAL opens at Datsuijo Gallery Space later this week, featuring photographers Siam Coy and Yuka Hirac

4June 2024

The disappearance of a “third place” distinct from home and work has led many curators to acknowledge the need for spaces that foster community and creativity within the accelerating rhythms of everyday life. The upcoming exhibition Terminal, produced by Galen Bullivant, is a collaboration between nomadic gallery Satellite and Datsuijo project space – “a ten-foot hut” in Yanaka, Tokyo. It brings together the visions of Siam Coy from London and Yuka Hirac from Tokyo. Through a blend of street and portrait photography, prosthetics, make-up artistry, and puzzle pieces, the exhibition offers a moment of calm, inviting the audience to reflect on ideas of dystopia, metamorphosis, and the strangeness of the mundane.

Siam Coy began his journey as a street photographer at 15, evolving into a multidisciplinary artist known for his poignant portrait photography, which has been featured in numerous magazines. For Terminal, Siam revisits work created with Noa Senderowicz, who contributed prosthetics and creative direction. Initially titled Dystopia, the project depicts figures drifting around dreamlike urban spaces, post-industrial landscapes, and dimly-lit corridors. “I was looking for a hobby to go along with skating and just being outdoors,” Siam recalls. “Street photography spoke to me the most because I didn’t feel limited and I could make mistakes.” His tone is understated, even casual, matching his effortlessly cool portraits that burst with quiet tension and eroticism.

Siam’s influences stem from friends who share his passion for photography, as well as other mediums. “I make music on the side and often try to incorporate it into my work. Sometimes my work contains references to music; for example, the title Death makes angels of us all… is a lyric from a song by The Doors, which I thought was apt for the image.” Notable recent subjects include John Akokmfrah for Plaster Magazine and Klein for Interlope Magazine.

“Strange things stimulate my imagination,” says Yuka Hirac. Her work is characterised by her “ugly beauty” aesthetic, finding allure in discomfort and imperfection. Growing up in Fukuoka and living in London from 2006 to 2013, it wasn‘t until she returned to Tokyo that she noticed the strangeness of the big city. ”Tokyo is grey, complicated, and eerie,” she says. “As someone from the countryside, it looks like a strange cell, and within this environment, fantasies of artificial beauty and traditionally ‘human’ ideas of beauty overlap.”

The exhibition features work from her latest photo book, Metabolism, which explores the blurred lines between reality and unreality. Its subtitle, ‘The Beginning of Hallucinations’, reflects her concerns about the indistinguishability of truth and fantasy. “I am scared that the distinction is becoming increasingly blurred”, Yuka explains. “It also delves into the spiritual, expressing our daily struggle with memories and trauma, as well as our desire to escape them through inner and outer transformation.”

Yuka enrolled on a make-up course at the London College of Fashion in 2006 and, upon graduating, connected with photographers she admired and collaborated with them. “I was really into performance art and inspired by events held in clubs, churches, and by the club kids,” she recalls. She believes that the people she encountered during that time continue to influence her work.

Her perspective on beauty is deeply influenced by the Buddhist concept of ‘impermanence’ (mujō), which emphasises that all things are in constant flux. Yuka‘s fascination with metamorphosis, online and offline, is also reminiscent of her childhood fascination with insects. “I don’t know if it’s because of where I‘m from, but I love nature. When I was little, I wanted to be an insect researcher, and I would watch insects all day long. The way they change in order to survive is both brave and beautiful,” she concludes. “There is no such thing as one ‘beauty’, and my view of beauty changes every year. I find beauty in things that never retain the same form twice.”

TERMINAL runs Friday 7 and Saturday 8 June at Datsuijo Gallery Space in Yanaka, Tokyo.

Intimate photos that spotlight London’s creative community

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Intimate photos that spotlight London’s creative community

This week will see the BFC take over the ICA, for an exhibition of photography by Dani d’Ingeo, Stephen Akinyemi and Tami Aftab

4June 2024

Next week (June 7), London Fashion Week June will see the BFC take over the ICA for a celebration of the London-based cultures that help shape British fashion. Shining a spotlight on the diverse communities and individuals at the forefront of the scene today, the takeover centres on an exhibition of photography by Dani d’Ingeo, Stephen Akinyemi and Tami Aftab, built out into a full cultural programme by a panel of guest curators.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of LFW, the programme is selected by huge names from across London’s creative industries, including poet (and Dazed 100 alum) Kai-Isaiah Jamal, award-winning broadcaster Clara Amfo, and writer and speaker Simran Randhawa. Taking Black culture, South Asian culture, and queer culture as its three starting points, it will respectively explore themes of Black self-love; South Asian textiles and craftsmanship; and queer culture, with a focus on young voices from the trans community.

Rooted in London, these intimate stories will be traced outward to follow their global impact, often catalysed by events like LFW, and the rich international histories that they’re built upon. Aftab’s vivid photos, for example, “highlight the profound impact that South Asian fabric had, and continues to make, on British fashion,” note the exhibition’s organisers. “Whether it’s tie-dye, embroidery, colour-dyed cotton, paisleys or silk, we see textiles from South Asia in all aspects of the British fashion industry. This photo project joyfully celebrates these fabrics and the cultural relevance they hold both historically, with roots often buried by colonialism, and personally, as a connection to culture within the diaspora.”

A series of photographs by Dani d’Ingeo titled On Inès, meanwhile, takes a more concentrated look at the practice of painter Inès Michelotto, following her around her studio and home. “The images highlight the emotional resonance Inès shares with her subjects,” says curator Nimco Kulmiye Hussein of the work. “Her lived experience as a trans woman is central to how she sees the world – her brushstrokes are gentle on the canvas, and her paintings timestamp the existence of the people around her… On Inès celebrates the bonds that fuel the most profound exploration of our queer identities and the cultural changes they inspire.”

Rounding out the exhibition is Akinyemi’s Where the he.art is. “The black experience is one of abundance and nothing but monolithic through the lens of Stephen Akinyemi,” says the curators of the series, which celebrates the beauty of individuality and self-care as it relates to Black identity, and how this is woven into Britain’s cultural fabric. “It is necessary to protect and amplify this work,” they add, “as while history has shown us that these contributions can be misappropriated, we also know the life changing impact that comes with telling our stories through garments, sound and photography and the importance of passing this on to the future generations.” 

“Providing a moment to celebrate our community and tell our story is crucial. This is a love letter to our imagination, our raising up of one another and the powerful way if manifests itself.”

The exhibition of Dani d’Ingeo, Stephen Akinyemi and Tami Aftab’s work, in collaboration with the British Fashion Council, will run at the ICA from June 7 to June 9.

Bring Photography in House with This $40 Bundle

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Bring Photography in House with This $40 Bundle

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

Photography has become valuable in the age of content creation and social media. Whether you are looking to start a lucrative side hustle as a photographer or make yourself capable of producing high-quality work for your company’s website and social accounts, studying photography could be a good idea.

The Complete 2024 Photography Master Class Bundle is on sale for only $39.99 (reg. $190) for a limited time. This comprehensive e-learning resource features ten courses and just over 27 hours of content.

In the How to Become a Nightclub Photographer course, you can glean valuable insights from an educated resource on how to lock down and master a real side hustle. You can also acquire applicable skills for other photography situations like shooting in low light. This course features an hour and a half of content across 23 lessons.

In Introduction to Studio Portraiture, you’ll get lifetime access to 29 lessons on how to take a stunning and flattering portrait. This can go a long way when developing content for social media accounts, team pages on your company website, and other assets.

These courses are taught by instructors from SkillSuccess, which is a verified online learning provider that’s been featured by CNN, Entrepreneur, and Mashable, among other notable publications. SkillSuccess also features individual instructors like Charlie Borland—a professional photographer and lighting master with an average instructor rating of 4.6/5 stars.

Don’t waste any more time outsourcing photography to costly freelancers and underwhelming stock sites.

Remember that The Complete 2024 Photography Master Class Bundle is on sale for only $39.99 (reg. $190) for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Pro kit: Landscape photographer, educator and YouTuber Nick Hansen reveals what’s in his camera bag

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Pro kit: Landscape photographer, educator and YouTuber Nick Hansen reveals what’s in his camera bag

For Nick Hanson, the greatest sense of purpose comes when carrying his camera on a shoot in the wilderness. Based in the UK he’s a regular visitor to Wales, the Peak District and the Isle of Skye, where he runs workshops alongside a team of other professional photographers.

Nick wasn’t always a full-time pro, but a lucky workshop encounter on Skye enabled him to join the fold and become a teacher of sublime and scenic photography. He’s driven by a desire to exceed his expectations, rather than anyone else’s, believing that you can always find your own take on a landscape – even when it’s appeared on social media hundreds of times before.

Nick’s images are characterized by moody elements, strong contrasts between light and shade, and an eagerness to show the landscape in all its drama. We learn about his Canon kit, camera settings, and creative outlook…

A headshot of photographer Nick Hanson
Nick Hanson

Nick specializes in workshops, prints and aerial commissions, and is part of the Skye Photo Academy – an experienced team offering guided photo workshops and holidays on the Isle of Skye and in Scotland. He’s also on the team of its parent company, Mc2, established by Marcus McAdam and James McCormick.

Nick has been shortlisted in many prestigious wildlife and landscape photo competitions and was Highly Commended in the Classic View category of Take a View, Landscape Photographer of the Year. He’s also been featured in the UK’s most popular photo publications.

Hey Nick. Have you always been a photographer?

My interest in photography started around 37 years ago when I was 14. I wouldn’t say I have always seen myself as a photographer, as it was more of a hobby turned passion for me, and I never saw myself making a living from it in any way. As a teenager, I wanted to work outdoors. I never knew what that would be, or how to take that forward, so I ended up in IT but it wasn’t until 2016 that it all changed for me.

What changed?

In August 2015, I was going to the Cairngorms for some wildlife photography and decided that, as it had been several years since I had visited Skye, I would book a day’s workshop with Marcus McAdam.

Towards the end of our workshop, Marcus mentioned that he didn’t know why I was in the workshop. He liked my approach to photography, and how I
went about capturing an image. On the back of that, he asked whether I would be interested in moving to Skye and joining the team (which was two people at the time). This was a dream come true and, of course, it didn’t take very long at all for me to say yes.

The branches from this beautiful mossy tree reach into an autumnal woodland in the Peak District (Image credit: Nick Hanson)

He obviously liked your style. How would you describe it?

I have never really considered myself as having a style and it’s not something I have gone out of my way to develop. For the most part, what I look for when shooting landscapes is mostly down to the conditions, in that my preference is for mood and atmosphere. When it comes to the capture and processing stages, I like my finished photograph to be true to what I saw.

What are your top spots on the Isle of Skye?

In particular, the Quiraing and Trotternish Ridge, especially for sunrise and morning photography. One of the most amazing parts of Skye is its landscape and features. I am also lucky enough to live just 15 minutes away. The Quiraing and Trotternish Ridge offer so many compositional possibilities that even though I have been on Skye for eight years now, there are still shots that I am waiting to capture.

Great conditions up at the Needle (Quiraing), on the Isle of Skye, watching a winter storm move across the landscape (Image credit: Nick Hanson)

Talk us through your gear…

My main camera is the Canon EOS R5, which is the camera that is always in my bag. I have also recently purchased the EOS R6 Mark II as a backup camera and started doing my YouTube videos again and at a better quality than what my Canon EOS M50 produced. 

I always take the Canon RS-80N3 remote control, especially when shooting seascapes, because the timing of the capture of the shot is critical and isn’t as easy to achieve when using the delay of the two-second self-timer.

The Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art and the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L lenses make up everyday landscape lens setup. Finally, I have the RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro for close-up landscapes.

“In my early days of photography, I was more interested in photographing wildlife, as in some ways I found it easier” (Image credit: Nick Hanson)

What’s your approach to camera settings? It is Manual mode all the way?

I like to have full control over the capture stage of my photographs, so I use Manual mode, as it enables you to dial in all three components of the exposure triangle – ISO, aperture and shutter speed. When in Aperture or Shutter Priority modes, you are almost in Manual mode anyway, as to get the exposure ‘correct’, you use exposure compensation, which changes the shutter speed and aperture respectively. However, I prefer to use Manual mode as it works for me.

When shooting on a tripod, I first set my ISO to 100 for the majority of the time. Then it’s a case of choosing the appropriate aperture for the lens / focal length I am using and what I want to be sharp within my composition. Finally, my shutter speed is mostly dictated by getting the histogram to be correct. Of course, for the likes of seascapes, I may have to add filters to allow me to get the slower shutter speed I want. 

What are your hopes for 2024?

To keep fired up and motivated for my photography, which in turn will come across when I’m with my workshop customers. It has been around 10 months since I last uploaded one of my own YouTube videos, so I hope to start filming and publishing more in 2024.

A longer version of this interview originally appeared in Issue 213 of Photo Plus magazine. Click the link below to see our latest special subscription deal!

World-famous photography platform returns to Cyprus with double exhibition

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World-famous photography platform returns to Cyprus with double exhibition

Photography lovers rejoice! Another edition of the GuruShots exhibition happens on the island this June, featuring a series of stunning images from around the world. Taking place once again at 6×6 Centre for Photography in Limassol, the GuruShots exhibition happens for the fourth consecutive year on the island on Friday.

GuruShots is the world’s greatest photography game that connects, inspires and educates photo enthusiasts around the world. Two exhibitions will run in parallel at 6×6, both in print and digital. The Art of Photography exhibition received 62 million votes and includes 57,000 photos from 39 countries with 511 members exhibited. The Dramatic Lighting exhibition, with 39 million votes and 28,000 photos has 288 members exhibiting their work. Visitors can browse the photos in Limassol all weekend long until Sunday evening when the exhibition ends.

GuruShots is built to give people a platform to show and nurture their talent. More than just a photography ground, GuruShots transformed the art of sharing stunning images into a game packed with plenty of opportunities to showcase the craft of photography. Through the platform, members can receive feedback on their work and even exhibit their images in galleries and magazines around the world. This month, images from around the world and by diverse photographers are reaching Cyprus.

GuruShots

Two international photography exhibitions. June 7-9. 6×6 Centre for Photography, Limassol. Opening night: 7pm-9pm. Saturday-Sunday: 10am – 6pm. Tel: 25-354810

June Book Bag: from a book of night photography to the latest instalment of the Andy Warhol catalogue raisonné

By in Photography

June Book Bag: from a book of night photography to the latest instalment of the Andy Warhol catalogue raisonné

Night Fever: Film and Photography After Dark, Shanay Jhaveri (editor), Cornerhouse, 424pp, £39 (pb)

More than 40 scholars, artists and curators go under cover of darkness for this analysis, exploring how artists, film-makers and photographers tackle nighttime as a subject. Jhaveri, the book’s editor and head of visual arts at the Barbican in London, says that the publication reflects “how the experience of the night can be represented and communicated and translated”. Tenebrous images by the Indian photographer Dhruv Malhotra show people bedding down after the sun sets in Noida, a New Delhi district, while the US artist Ming Smith captures the pop star Grace Jones performing at New York’s Studio 54 club in 1978. Other artists featured include David Goldblatt, Dayanita Singh, Gaspar Noé, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Derek Jarman, Kenneth Anger and Chantal Akerman.

The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné: Paintings and Sculptures mid-1977–1980 (Volume 6), Neil Printz (ed), The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./Phaidon, 804pp, £500 (hb)

The Andy Warhol art machine rolls on with the publication of the latest volume of the Pop artist’s catalogue raisonné, the last of four volumes dedicated to Warhol’s works of the 1970s (the tome is the third to document the paintings that Warhol produced at 860 Broadway, the studio he ran until 1983). The volume includes 741 paintings and sculptures, including Shadows (1978-79)—one of Warhol’s most celebrated abstract works—and the Retrospective series (1978), which includes the famous Electric Chair screenprint. Other key works featured include Warhol’s headline-hitting BMW Art Car (BMW M1, 1979) and his famous, epoch-defining portraits of celebrities such as Liza Minnelli (1978).

Queer Art: From Canvas to Club, and the Spaces Between, Gemma Rolls-Bentley, Frances Lincoln, 240pp, £25 (hb)

Queer theory is currently a publishing trend, covering areas such as trans history, queer photography culture and the places that shaped LGBTQ+ pioneers. In this overview, Gemma Rolls-Bentley “mixes the high-brow with the low, blue-chip artists with Instagram creatives, and the racy with the fabulous”, according to a publisher’s statement. Artists featured include Nina Chanel Abney, Leilah Babirye, Elmgreen & Dragset, Amy Sherald and Paul Mpagi Sepuya. Rolls-Bentley adds: “Two years in the making, my book investigates the role of queer art today and acknowledges the history-defining impact of our communities in the cultural landscape.”

Vilhelm Hammershøi: Silence, Felix Krämer and Florian Illies (contributors), Hauser & Wirth publishers, 106pp, £25 (pb)

Hauser & Wirth inaugurates its new gallery in Basel this month with an unusual choice of artist— Vilhelm Hammershøi, the 19th-century Danish painter who was heavily influenced by the Old Masters. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue focus on 18 works made between 1883 and 1914, including Landscape, Gentofte (1903). The German art historian Florian Illies writes in the catalogue: “[Hammershøi] anticipated the atmosphere of René Magritte’s mysterious interiors as well as Oscar Schlemmer’s chiselled back views. The magic of the forlornness in pictures by Andrew Wyeth or Edward Hopper, too, seems to derive from Hammershøi’s works, even if these artists can hardly have known him.”

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