Author Archive for burn magazine

Page 2 of 17

michael weintrob_instrumenthead

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Michael Weintrob

INSTRUMENTHEAD

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INSTRUMENTHEAD is a photographic series created to tell the story of the musicians in a surrealistic style without showing their faces. This is a project five years in the making with over 150 musicians to date. Some of the artists that have participated in this project to date are: Bootsy Collins (James Brown, P-Funk), Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), King Sunny Ade, Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club), Zakir Hussain (Shakti, Masters of Percussion), Lenny White (Miles Davis, Return to Forever), Bill Summers (Herbie Hancock and The Head Hunters), Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers Band), Peter Asher and many more.
“Over the last 15 years I have met a lot of working musicians and I want to turn people on to the artists I have come to know and respect,” says Weintrob about the project. “I am humbled that all of these talented musicians have come forward to par- ticipate in the project; the response has been incredible.”
Weintrob has taken this project on the road, having shot por- traits at legendary venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheater, Preservation Hall and Tipitinas in New Orleans and Mama Rosas Blues Club in Chicago.
The project will culminate as a coffee table book and travelling exhibition that will be a who’s who of modern musicians.
For more information and updates about this project visit the website: www.instrumenthead.com

 

Bio

Michael Weintrob’s clients benefit from his ability to consistently produce intimate photographs under a variety of conditions. Whether it is a candid portrait, a live performance, or a cultural event, Michael aims to capture both spontaneity and clarity in his subjects.
“I like to bring out the personality of the people in my photographs,” Michael explains. “For example when I shoot musicians in the studio I try to create a relaxed vibe and let people be who they are. I move really quickly and try to improvise with my camera.”
The skill and ease of Michael’s technique has resulted in a growing reputation both in and outside the music industry. Born in Birmingham, Alabama and currently residing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Michael’s images have appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, Newsweek People, Spin, Mojo, Billboard, Relix, Jazz Times and Downbeat.  Michael has photographed album images for renowned artists he has photographed include Bootsy Collins, Burning Spear, Taj Mahal, Gov’t Mule, Charlie Hunter and many others.

Michael’s work—which is well-known in musical circles—is now expanding into new avenues. Along with working for corporate clients (Sony, Blue Note, EMI, Carefusion, Loews Hotels), Michael has donated his time and effort to raising money for the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation and his photography was auctioned off by Sothebys to help provide musical instruments to children affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Michael continues to work as the principal photographer for several music festivals (he is Staff Photographer for the 2011 Barcelona International Jazz Festival) and as a house photographer (Feinsteins at the Loews Regency Hotel). He is also developing a major publishing project that will highlight his unique “anthropomorphic photography” featuring musicians posing with their instruments.

Exhibiting the ease and skill of improvisational jazz player, Michael’s photography continues to explore the depths of the human soul in all its complexity.

 

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Michael Weintrob

Instrumenthead

Published on October 24, 2011 by burn magazine. 22 Comments

lorenzo meloni – moonlight yemen

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Lorenzo Meloni

Moonlight Yemen

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Walking around the streets at night gives the feeling of travelling back in time, to a place where time has stopped.

The infrastructures here are few and the electricity is scarce – at night it is possible to see the stars on the horizon.

Mountains shield from the scorching desert wind and the muezzin’s chants from all the minarets strike you with strength and melancholy, reminding you that you are in a place where religion still dictates ordinary, everyday life.

Yemen is a Muslim country, a charming reality which goes un-noticed when reading about terrorism and kidnapping related chronicles in the newspaper.

During Ramadan, before dawn, you can still eat and smoke a cigarette on the misty tops of the Haratz mountains or in the Gulf of Aden, gazing at the red sea.

At sunrise everybody goes home to shelter from the heat. People stop chewing khat in order to halt the amphetamine intake, otherwise sleeping would be difficult.

At sunset, everybody gets together again – the streets are now filled with people. Jobs are few and staying at home means dealing with screaming kids and bossy elderly. It is more pleasant to be outside and meet someone to eat Salta with, or to chew khat, or to complain about the
president.

When Ramadan ends, daytime activities return as do daily issues – young adults looking for employment to support their children and wife; wives walking miles to fetch non-existent water; a man going to the market to buy an AK-47, angry because things never change.

 

Bio

Lorenzo Meloni was born in 1983 in Rome, studied at the “Scuola Romana di Fotografia” for three years, focusing his interests on the Middle East and the Italian youth underground scenarios. H
e has reported on major world issues such as those regarding Palestinan refugees and Yemen. Other works include retrospectives on the Italian techno-rave and hip-hop youth scenarios.

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Lorenzo Meloni

Published on October 19, 2011 by burn magazine. 22 Comments

Buy BURN.02 LIMITED EDITION

Buy BURN.02 LIMITED EDITION

USA, Canada, MexicoAdd to Cart Rest of WorldAdd to Cart (For volume puchases (over 10 copies), please contact
Diego Orlando directly at diego@burnmagazine.org) 

Some of you were on hand September 1 in Perpignan for the launch of Burn 02. By all accounts, the buzz on Burn and Burn 02 was palpable. In all my years in the business, I never saw quite this sort of “big warm”. Was it the slide show? Was it the new in print magazine? Perhaps those things helped. But it was way more than a function of display. It was about YOU. This audience. This audience who supported new and original work by Paolo Pellegrin and Alisa Resnik and Bruce Gilden and others to be seen now first in Burn 02.

Burn 02 is not a repeat of Burn online. Burn 02 is its own original work. A 1500 copy limited editon. Online is terrific, but when you hold 02 in your hand, you will know what photography is all about from our perspective. I am not published in it. I wish I was. The place to be published for sure.

Yes, 02 was a collaboration. But there is always one person who is THE driving force. Diego Orlando, our special projects editor, is that person for 02. Anton and I were in the background on this baby. Designed and printed and bound with loving care in Italy by the very best, you will quickly see why there is pride all around.

I am proud of this magazine/book…I can say this in a way I could never say with my own work. That requires silence. But I can say that this feels like my best effort so far  as the director/coach and not in it as a direct “player”…Yet  I made something happen..Put the talents of others to work..Gave them all the rope they could handle. Kept an eye out..Mostly to set a standard….And to push everyone just a bit further than they wanted to be pushed..I knew they would thank me later …laughing…I will say no more now. On the front flap I wrote:

We are the photo equivalent of the garage band. Can this last/should this last? No. There is a curve on any creative endeavor. We are not at the peak yet. When we get there, then we will do something else and start the whole process over again. Could be an evolution, or could be a revolution. So let’s enjoy this moment. Now is the time to appreciate what we have, seek out new ways of doing things, celebrate our mutual language and push it just as far as we can possibly go.

-dah-

 

Published on October 19, 2011 by burn magazine. 1,002 Comments

sebastian liste – urban quilombo

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Sebastian Liste

Urban Quilombo

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This work is a witness about a place that no longer exists.

I lived there almost everything that one can live.

I learned there the dark secrets of the human condition through which our survival and I also learned there that love can exist in ashes and chaos.

I learned there what a family is.

Eight years ago sixty families occupied the “Galpao da Araujo Barreto”, an abandoned chocolate factory in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Before that, these families lived in the dangerous streets of the city until they decided to come together and occupy this factory in ruins and turn it in a home.
Every human being needs a space to feel safe and build their identity. After all this years of convivence and resistence these families have created strong comunitarian feelings to make possible the survival in this environment. In this community, the people helps each other keeping safe the shacks, babysitting the kids or sharing the food.
In spite of the strong relationships between the families, the social discrimination continues marginalizing these people. After eight years of occupation, despite having left the street, the living conditions are similar; the problems that they suffered in the streets, drugs, prostitution, and violence, are now present in the factory.

I have been working in this project since 2009, living with the families and their daily dramas. Documenting the daily life inside of this community, where the life moves between the universal bipolarity of harmony and chaos, hope and despair.

In March 2011 the goverment moved all the families to a new buildings placed in a dangerous neighborhood 30 km from the city. Now I want to come back to the new place to document how the community will manage their relationships to build their dignity, to build a new world around their and just live.

The aim of this project is to create a document of a place where the tragic decomposition of human life combined perfectly with the magic realism of Latin America.

 

Bio

Sebastian Liste (1985, Spain) graduated in Sociology and MA in Photojournalism. Since 2005 Sebastian has concentrated to mixed his sociological knowledges with his visual skills to explore personal and intimate stories, as well as the roots of social structure issues now facing many countries around the world when they want enter a new economic system. He is also interested in the profound cultural and identity changes that occur in our contemporary world.
Recently, Sebastian was selected to participate at the 2011 Joop Swart Masterclass. His work have been also recognized worlwide at Sony WPO, Lucie Awards, Antropographia, CENTER Awards, Fotovisura Grant, Onward, Reinassance Prize, Terry O’Neill Award,  Ian Parry Scholarship, among others.
His photographs have appeared at TIME, The Sunday Times Magazine, PDN, British Journal of Photography, FotoVisura, and other publications.
His projects have been exhibited in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Barcelona, San Francisco and Tokio.

 

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Sebastian Liste

Published on October 15, 2011 by burn magazine. 105 Comments

marc davidson – saudade

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Marc Davidson

Saudade

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Saudade: A Brazilian (Portuguese) word describing a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for someone who was loved and will never return.

As I explained to my daughters the morning after their mother’s death, “Mommy went for a walk in the woods and something happened that we can’t explain right now, but Mommy went back to nature… Mommy died.”

Picking up my camera and trying to making meaningful images has been impossible since Sylvia lost her battle with depression but the urge to express has been strong.

Using existing images which I printed on aluminum, I created these sculptures as a way of honoring my wife and our life together.

 

Bio

I am a recent widower with two your daughters making images and art when I can to express and to try and make sense of my new life. Before my wife died, I was a freelance photographer working on personal documentary projects with the occasional commercial client however my current focus is my two daughters.

 

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Marc Davidson

Published on October 13, 2011 by burn magazine. 34 Comments

frederique menard-aubin – artist’s portraits in their workshop (studio)

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Frederique Menard-Aubin

Artist’s Portraits in their Workshop (Studio)

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During the few last months, I visited Montreal visuals artists in their workshops. I wanted to know about their creative process. After I took a photograph, I also asked them to write a few words about the way they see their personal creativity. It was important for me to see their workshop and to engage a good conversation before I started to shoot. I let the subject come to me, I let their ideas and their environment inspire me.

 

Bio

I was born in 1984, Québec, Canada.
I studied in visual arts (baccalaureat-2010), Università du Québec, Montrèal (UQAM).
In 2008, I did a training course at Visa pour l’image (Perpignan).
I work for Festival International de Jazz de Montréal as a concert photographer since 2009.
I’m a (dark room) photo instructor (CEGEP Edouard-Monpetit) since 2010.

 

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Frederique Menard-Aubin

Published on October 9, 2011 by burn magazine. 14 Comments

gabrielle revere – life magazine

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Gabrielle Revere

Karlie Kloss – Inside Her Life, For LIFE Magazine Special Issue

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Joining the ranks of iconic fashion models Veruschka, Suzy Parker & Naomi Sims, Karlie Kloss appears on the cover of LIFE magazine in a special printed issue in celebration of New York Fashion Week, as photographed by Gabrielle Revere. Revere went on a whirlwind journey with the leggy stunner to capture the fleeting and intimate moments from her suburban St. Louis home to the Haute Couture shows in Paris.

 

Bio

Revere’s solo exhibitions at preeminent galleries include: Sotheby’s, New York – “I Remain, You Desire”, and Milk Gallery, New York – “I Only Have Eyes For You”. She also participated in several group shows, with her photographs gracing the walls alongside works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Damien Hirst.

Most recently, Revere appeared as a guest judge and featured photographer on Australia’s Next Top Model. She has also been profiled by FTV Fashion Television, and featured on E! News Entertainment Television.

 

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Gabrielle Revere

Published on October 6, 2011 by burn magazine. 61 Comments

giulio di sturco – war at the edge of heaven

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Giulio Di Sturco

War at the Edge of Heaven

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In August 2008, thousands of Muslims filled the streets of Srinagar, the capital of Indian-ruled Kashmir, shouting “azadi” (freedom) and raising the green flag of Islam. That was the start of a new revolution In Kashmir.
The Indian government’s insistence that peace is spreading in Kashmir contradicts a report by Human Rights Watch in 2006 that described a steady pattern of arbitrary arrest, extrajudicial execution and torture by Indian security forces.

In 2005, a survey by Doctors Without Borders, who provide basic health care and psychosocial counseling to the population, traumatized by over 20 years of violence, found that Muslim women in Kashmir, prey to the Indian troops and paramilitaries, suffered some of the most widespread sexual violence in the world.

Over the last two decades, most ordinary Kashmiri Muslims have wavered between active rebellion. They fear the possibility of Israeli-style settlements by Hindus-reports of a government move to allocate 92 acres of Kashmiri land to a Hindu religious group are what sparked the younger generation into the public disobedience expressed of late.

Hindu nationalists have already formed an economic blockade of the Kashmir Valley. In 1989 and ’90, when few Kashmiris had heard of Osama bin Laden, hundreds of thousands of Muslims regularly petitioned the United Nations office in Srinagar, hoping to raise the world’s sympathy for their cause. Indian troops responded by firing into many of these largely peaceful demonstrations, killing hundreds of people and provoking many young Kashmiris to take to arms and embrace radical Islam.
A new generation of politicized Kashmiris has now risen, and the world is again likely to ignore them – until some of them turn into terrorists.

 

Bio

Giulio di Sturco is a 30-year-old Italian photographer currently dividing his time between Milan and New Delhi.

He studied photography at the European Institute of Design and Visual Arts in Rome, and has covered North-American and the South-East Asia issues for many magazines such as L’espresso magazine, Vanity fair, Io Donna, The Daily Telegraph magazine, Time magazine, Marie Claire, Geo magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, Newsweek.

Since 2008 he start a closer collaboration with some of the most important international organization such as Greenpeace, MSF, Unitaid, United Nations, WHO and Action Aid.

In April 2009 Giulio Joined the VII Mentor Program.

 

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Giulio Di Sturco

Published on October 1, 2011 by burn magazine. 21 Comments

tom hyde – after the fall

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Tom Hyde

After the Fall

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As the moist air rolls off the Pacific Ocean to first encounter the North American land mass it slams headlong into the Olympic Mountains, rises up, cools off, and dumps. Of all the regions in the lower 48 states, this is wettest and this is where I live. Nearly 10 feet of rain has fallen here since the Fall.

The Satsop River Valley is sparsely populated. Nearly 95 percent of the land is in commercial timber production and of that, 70 percent are trees aged 35 years, or younger. I live among some of the most productive industrial timberlands in the world fed by this relentless rain. Gone are the massive mixed old-growth native forests of fir and cedar and hemlock with trees that could count not decades, nor centuries, but millenia with trunks that could reach 16 feet across. In their stead are rows of perfect soldiers of the master race who march obediently across fertilized and pesticide-sprayed fields to their efficient end in just a few short decades. This is a cornfield, we say, a mine of “sustainable” forestry. We build our homes and wipe our asses with this wonder of modern silvaculture.

Here it is all about timber, and paper, and fishing. Product. Extraction and subjugation in the industrial landscape of a forest. The towns here were built around the mills and the salmon canneries in another century. Aberdeen lies downstream along the Chehalis River and like many such American towns based on resource extraction and production, those towns that fueled expansion and built a nation, its best days are seemingly long behind it.

This place has its own wonder, though, a dark humor for two-thirds of the year, and a brilliant blinding splendor for one. The winter here is temperate, and long. We crawl slowly from its long embrace bleary-eyed, blinking, stunned again by the impossible blue of summer only then to realize, we were asleep. With this work, I am exploring the intersections between man and nature, industry and the natural world, policy and practice in my own backyard.

 

Bio

Tom Hyde is a photographer living in Washington State. His background includes work in conservation, environmental policy and journalism. He is a member of Statement Images.

 

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Statement Images

Published on September 25, 2011 by burn magazine. 73 Comments

leeor kaufman – sabras – the story of wadi fuqin

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Leeor Kaufman

Sabras – The story of Wadi Fuqin

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Wadi Fuqin, a small Palestinian village, carries the inconceivable complexities of the current Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The village is a well preserved model of a traditional agricultural way of life, developed thousands of years ago. The community has harnessed the water flowing from the valley’s eleven springs to nourish their fields. Kilometers of canals direct the spring water to storage pools and onwards to the many fruit and vegetable fields. Currently, the agricultural way of life and natural landscape is endangered by many threats. To the east, the massive development of the Beitar Ilit Settlement is posing an immediate danger to the springs, to the west, the planned separation wall threatens to harm more springs and close the village in between the wall and the settlement.

The villagers are not permitted to cross to Israel nor are they allowed to cross to the settlement. Some of the villagers, left with no other income possibilities work in the settlement’s (with special permission) construction site. Building the threat to their village themselves. As an Israeli I approach this story with great passion. A known saying in Hebrew determines that a person is the scenery of his childhood. Wadi Fuqin is part of the scenery of my childhood. The smell of the fresh vegetables, the clear water are a good part of my memories, I grew up in a country mixed with Jews and Arabs and no walls in between. Its true that the atmosphere was not always welcoming on both sides but is still part of my memories, part of who I am. I document the beauty of the place, the significance of the scenery and produce the land brings to its owners, the villagers. I pay close attention to the joy and love the place and produce bring to the villagers, it is important for me to document it, before it might change, for them and for myself.

 

Bio

Leeor is a filmmaker and a photographer. A graduate of the Tel Aviv University’s Film department and the International Center of Photography Documentary and Photojournalism program.
Leeor has worked on independent films and commercial television programs as a cinematographer, film editor and director. His short and feature length films were screened in film festivals and television channels world wide. Currently based in New York, working on film, photography and multimedia projects and teaching at the International Center of Photography.

 

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Leeor Kaufman

Published on September 21, 2011 by burn magazine. 36 Comments

rowan james – trespassers will be shot

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Rowan James

Trespassers Will Be Shot

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This body of work is a photographic survey of the American landscape. It weds traditional documentary photography and my own inclination toward cinematic, or dreamlike, imagery. The project was inspired by years of traveling throughout the country, particularly in the southern United States.

These photographs were shot spontaneously. They demonstrate an intuitive appraisal of their subject matter. While the narrative structure of this work is intentionally abstract, it also presents themes that steadily develop as the series unfolds.

 

Bio

Rowan James is a photographer currently residing in Tennessee. He received a B. A. from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and an M. A. in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design. His new body of work is a meditation on the American landscape.

Rowan’s photographs have been exhibited throughout the United States including San Francisco, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York.

Published on September 3, 2011 by burn magazine. 57 Comments

heat advisory by panos skoulidas

A fan against intense heat for a heart patient... no air conditioning in apartment - SA Texas

Or a few minutes in the swimming pool is ok as long as he stays protected by the sun, 110F - SA Texas 2011

 

Panos Skoulidas

Heat Advisory

assignment

The US drought of 2011 will go down in history as one of the most severe natural disasters in decades. Beyond the financial impacts to farmers and ranchers, there is also a more far reaching impact to the overall quality of life to the inhabitants of the affected regions. As temperatures soar to over 100 degrees day after day for months on end, daily tasks become physical dares made between yourself and the heat. Pets, children, even the young and healthy struggle.

Shane Azar is 43. He is not healthy. Diabetic, overweight and recovering from recent open heart surgery, Shane has become a prisoner to the heat. Doctors have advised him to avoid the scorching sun because of potentially fatal reactions with his medications. His world is limited to the bed, a treasured fan, and a 5 minute daily dip in the pool in an effort to preserve his sanity.

Published on September 2, 2011 by burn magazine. 218 Comments

lucia herrero – tribes

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Lucia Herrero

Tribes

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‘Tribes’ is a social analysis, a raw portrait of occidental society.

Groups of families and friends set themselves up by the sea equipped to spend a day in the sun. All this, harmoniously juxtaposed, seems like a poem of customs that reveal with humor, color and tenderness, the profundity of a whole society.

This series represents the human condition in a moment of peaceful holiday, pride, honesty and vulnerability. The objectively limited surrounding offers a complete extract of the essential. The photos are inspired by the studio portraits of ancient tribes who proudly posed in traditional costumes next to their prized possessions. The sky and the sea become the painted backdrop of the studio and the sand seems as if it were sprinkled on the studio floor. The lighting and the theatricality of the groups add an element of fantasy to the portraits of real people in their natural surroundings.

The photos were taken along the Spanish coast and people were asked to participate on the spot: ten minutes for a flashing set up, balancing color, shapes and hierarchies. All that gets dissolved afterwards leaving as the only witness a group portrait, a poetic painting, a human allegory.


Bio

Lucia Herrero (Madrid, 1976) studied Architecture at Polytechnic University Madrid, Photography CEV (Madrid), FOTOGRAM (Amsterdam), IEFC (Barcelona), and Physical Theatre -Jacques Lecoq Tech.

In 2010 Lucia’s work was successful in various photographic competitions: winner at the SFR-Jeunes-Talents which led to exhibit at Rencontres d’Arles; Group ‘Discoveries PhotoEspana ’10′ and among 10 best portfolios in Barcelona Photomeeting and Month of Photography in Bratislava. She has been  finalist in Magnum Expression Awards, Scoop Photo Festival and Honourable Mention at Viewbook. Her work has been exhibited in the Photography Festival of Pingyao (China), SCAN Festival in Tarragona, Lille 3000. In 2011 she’ll exhibit in Fotoseptiembre (MexicoDF), Belfast Photofestival, Montpellier and Toulouse and hall “Manege”, St.Petersburg.


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Lucia Herrero

Published on August 28, 2011 by burn magazine. 31 Comments

darshan by manjari sharma

 

Manjari Sharma

Darshan

Historically considered a mechanical device to keep record, photography didn’t even start to find a place in galleries until the 20th century. It’s no surprise then that paintings and sculptures of Hindu deities were the dominant way to experience Indian mythology. As an Indian traditionally raised in Mumbai, despite my extensive exposure to Hindu temples, I had never seen a photograph of a deity created from scratch. Most Hindus have seen the use of painting and sculpture but rarely photography taken to the level of exacting measures with respect to showcasing deities, this is how “Darshan” was born. Darshan is a Sanskrit word that means ‘sight,’ ‘view’ or ‘vision’. My project Darshan aims to photographically recreate 9 classical images of gods and goddesses pivotal to mythological stories in Hinduism.

I grew up in a Hindu home to parents who were quite spiritual. I visited countless temples, shrines, and discourses as frequently as my parents wanted. These discourses circled around attempts to unravel the mysteries locked in chapters of mythological enigma and tales of deities, reincarnations and astrology. The roots of Hindu mythology run deep; my own experiences as a child ranged from being fascinated and enlightened to lost and still seeking. I moved from India to the United States in order to pursue an undergraduate study in Fine Art Photography. The frequency with which I visited Hindu temples in what felt like my previous life, gradually got replaced with visits to art galleries, museums and studios, where creativity in all mediums of expression was revered and placed on a pedestal to honor. The museum in my life had now became the temple. As I dug deeper, I saw a lot of parallels between the museum and the temple. As devotees, as students, as artists we frequently visit what we regard our own temples of worship. We take our aspirations and desires to these places. We hope that a piece of art or a symbol of God will speak and send us a message.

This communication inspires us and helps show us our path in life. Sometimes our expectation filled visit disappoints us, but ultimately it’s our faith that keeps us going. While making the first image I discovered that what this project bridges for me, is that be it photography or spirituality, both need practice, faith and devotion.

Aside from stretching the boundaries of photography as a medium, Darshan showcases the ability of a photograph to evoke a spiritual response. This project also highlights and culturally preserves the heritage and artifacts from one of the oldest religions in the world. The nine deities that will be photographed are are Maa Laxmi and Lord Vishnu, Maa Durga and Lord Shiva, Maa Saraswati Lord Brahma, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman and Maa Kali.

The first image created as a proof of concept is Maa Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and fortune. The creation of these photographic icons requires the most laborious and detail oriented study. It involves a 14 person crew that includes set & prop builders, makeup artists, art directors, painters, carpenters, jewelry experts and assistants. September 2011 will be spent in Mumbai creating four more images in the series. I encourage you to look at the link below to view a three minute video showing you the making of my first image.

Related links:

www.manjarisharma.com

Published on August 25, 2011 by burn magazine. 12 Comments

brian shumway – true men

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Brian Shumway

True Men

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Gender can be a perplexing thing. Despite being flexible and malleable, it defines and confines who we are and how we express ourselves, especially through behavior and dress. Men in particular are bound by the dictates of gender. To be a “real man”, being manly and masculine (or at the very least not outwardly effeminate) are tantamount. Expression of one’s manhood, especially in public, must remain within a narrow range of acceptable social norms. Little boys are conditioned as such from birth, almost as a universal absolute. But this ignores the full story of male identity. There is a large spectrum of male experience that is deemed off limits by popular society. The men in this portrait series fall outside traditional notions of manliness and masculinity. They possess an effeminate manner, dress, or look, a “girlishness” that is as much a part of being male as weightlifting and football. They boldly embrace expressions of male identity which flaunt the confines of conventional conceptions of manhood and what it means to be a man.

Thus far, True Men has only been photographed in New York City, and has not been published. If i can secure some funding, I will be broadening the project’s scope and reach. To be more inclusive and provide a wider perspective on this fascinating area of male identity, I’d like to photograph men in other regions of the United States from many racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. The idea is to show the universality of this hidden side of male experience. I hope to deepen the viewers’ understanding of manhood and to remind men who may identify with those photographed in this project that they too are true men.


Bio

Brian is a Brooklyn based photographer whose work blurs the line between portraiture, documentary and fine art photography. He has worked for Reader’s Digest, Smart Money, People Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, XXL, TV Guide and other publications. His work has appeared in American Photography, Communication Arts, Shots Magazine and the Photo Review. His controversial essay Black Girl was published on Burn Magazine in 2010


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Brian Shumway

Published on August 19, 2011 by burn magazine. 103 Comments

victor cobo – behind the smoke colored curtain

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Victor Cobo

Behind the Smoke Colored Curtain

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The images that I collect are often as much about myself as they are about the subjects being photographed.  A broad exploration of real and imagined journeys, which often entail not only a physical displacement but also a psychological and emotional passage.

The act of seeking out characters of interest has become a therapeutic process by means of escapism, yet it is also an addiction whereby I can express who I am and delve into my current state of mind.  A deeper representation of my relationship to this vast world we live in.

I am both an actor and choreographer in my photographic diaries and similarly to the subjects I work with, I live on the fringes of society between dreams and memories. For me, the search for my subjects makes me realize they are my reflections and my companions, each one a Dante within a personal inferno. They are the renegades, outsiders and survivors.  In the end, their trials represent all of us and define these moments of solitude that we all experience in our lives.


Bio

Victor Cobo (b. 1971) is a Spanish American photographer based in New York City. His works explore our evolving isolation through memory, dreams, sexuality and the translucency of the psyche. Cobo is a self-taught photographer who was originally trained in painting and life-drawing.  His work has been featured in the New York Times Magazine; Newsweek; Time; Surface; the San Francisco Chronicle; Ojo De Pez; Burn Magazine; Leica World; Courrier Int’l.; The Advocate; Private; Foto8; American Suburb X; Idomenee and Eyemazing.  In 2007 he was the winner of the Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer’s Fellowship. Cobo’s photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally and his work is featured in many private and public collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Akron Art Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive and the Amon Carter Museum, as well as numerous private collections.


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www.victorcobo.com

Published on August 12, 2011 by burn magazine. 92 Comments

chloe borkett – east of nowhere

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Chloe Borkett

East of Nowhere

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The frozen conflict zone and ex-Soviet enclave of Trans-Dniester, is a narrow slither of land located along the Eastern Moldovan border – a disputed sovereignty, which for 20 years has been de facto governed but also unrecognized by the UN. This came about in the Soviet Union’s dying days as alarm grew in the Dniester region over growing Moldovan nationalism and the possible reunification of Moldova with Romania. A 1989 law, which made Moldovan an official language added to the tension, and Trans-Dniester proclaimed its secession in September 1990.

So what does it mean to grow up in a country that doesn’t exist? So called independence, was seen by many as a triumph that should have secured a better future, but the PMR government has only made time stand still in this little known region, where its people are subjected to living a poverty stricken, isolated and somewhat entrapped existence. Preserving a deeply Soviet hyper-reality, Lenin continues to stand proud on every town square. Political allegiance to Russia is safely guarded seemingly at a cost to its people as the day-to-day reality of maintaining such cultural and political heritage becomes the complete opposite of preservation. Compared to the west we are spoiled by choice, so what western teenager could imagine living in a landscape absent of entertainment, modern facilities or endless consumer possibilities? Where parental presence is limited, and travel or escape is economically and politically restricted.

To date there has only been a modest response made of the territory. Carrying out an on-going exploration pieces together fragments of history and politics to create a contemporary portrait of the new generation to become a fresh contribution to an under-documented region. Interior spaces and landscapes echo psychological states and social concerns, whilst a non-linear narrative leaves individual stories open to interpretation.


Bio

Chloe Borkett was born in southeast London and has been based in a number of cities around the UK and overseas. After graduating from LCC, she embarked on a 5-year career in the music industry, specializing in online marketing. In early 2003, Chloe retrained as a teacher and moved to Thailand for a period of 3 years.

During her time in Thailand, Chloe had the opportunity to work on various charitable projects. It was here where Chloe began to take photography seriously, cementing her decision to return to the UK to study concerned photography where she is soon to graduate with a degree in documentary photography from the renowned course at Newport School of Art.

With the reoccurring theme of isolation present within all Chloe’s work, subject interests have centered on social issues concerning minority groups and the young, as well as the exploration of underground or alternative cultures.


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Chloe Borkett

Published on August 8, 2011 by burn magazine. 32 Comments

emile germiquet – visions of diepsloot

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Emile Germiquet

Visions of Diepsloot

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More than 150 000 people live there; 150 000 people under the shadow of sickness, cold, violence, hunger, unemployment, survival.

Diepsloot, 30km North of Johannesburg, is a mass of shacks, dirt and people. Consisting of both formal and informal housing, it started in the mid 1990′s as a transitional resettlement area. While the relocation to the site was at first planned, it increasingly became a dumping ground for housing problems in the region. Most of these people were forcefully removed without due process and barely any warning. The recent waves of immigrants, many of them illegal, have added further complexity to the already difficult situation.

Inside Diepsloot, people are generous, most are poor, some are cruel, others kind, some use drugs, others alcohol and still many don’t touch either. Some go to church, others don’t believe in God, many don’t care much either way. Some people commit crimes, all are victims. Ordinary folks don’t go outdoors after nightfall and if they must, they hurry, worried they will fall prey to the lurking shadows. Some areas are too dangerous to venture into, even during the day.

Sickness is rife and death is common, but that doesn’t make it easier to deal with.

Streets run with the overflow from blocked toilet pipes and dirty wash water.

Ethnic tension, like a current running beneath the skin, is always present, ready.

Work is hard to find.

Money is scarce; food, paraffin, clothes are all expensive.

Diepsloot means “deep ditch” in Afrikaans, a ditch from which it is difficult to egress.


Bio

Born in South Africa in 1981 to a white family, I grew up in the suburbs of Pretoria and witnessed from the distance of a child the last years of apartheid and the early years of the New South Africa; with all the hopes and fears that accompanied the change.
At the age of 17, I left a changing SA for France where I accomplished my tertiary education. In 2009, after having decided to pursue photography, I returned to SA in order to better understand the profound changes that have occurred over the past years. In 2010, I went to Diepsloot to investigate the reality of a large sub-population of the country; the neglected people of the Diepsloot.


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Emile Germiquet

Published on August 4, 2011 by burn magazine. 83 Comments

paul s amundsen – a memoir of a boy

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Paul S. Amundsen

A Memoir of a Boy – In Search of a Normal Life

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“I was born a boy, but I want to die as a woman”, she says, sitting in a taxi, nervous about the upcoming appointment at a sex change clinic in Bangkok.

It was a true moment of no return. She was nervous, but at the same time ready. “It’s my life and there are no other real options, even though I am sacrificing a lot. But I want a normal life, and people should accept my past, she said.”
Transsexuals, especially from South-East-Asia, are living on the edge. It’s hard to get a normal job. Many are working as prostitutes or in the entertainment industry.

“It is sad to see how people are treating transsexuals as a group, rather than individuals,” she says.
She searched for better opportunities outside her home country and chose to live far away from the Philippines. She moved to Norway in 2008, married a man and began working as a nurse. However, the relationship did not last, and the couple divorced in less than a year.

After the break up, a lot happened in her life in a really short time. She began cross-dressing part time, and a few months later she began injecting hormones. After one year on hormones she got breast implants. The operation triggered her to live as a woman full time. However, after some months she did not like being in between genders and considered sex reassignment surgery. In February 2010 she underwent a sex change operation in Bangkok.

As the journey moved on, from the first pictures were shot in January 2009 until May 2010, something happened with her. An identity, a body and a personality changed and took shape.
After the operation she got her new passport. Her old name was history. Her new name was Aira, and her new life could begin.

However, four months after the sex reassignment surgery she caught pneumonia. Her general health was not so good and her condition took an unexpected turn for the worse. She got critically ill and she died on the 25th of June 2010.

She herself gave the project the title “A Memoir of a Boy”. She wanted me to document her process and her struggles to become a normal girl. I hope this project will give people insight into how everyday life is for persons struggling with their gender identity.
“A Memoir of a Boy” is still the title for the photo essay, but now it is also “A Memoir of a Girl”.


Bio

Paul S. Amundsen, born 1976, is a freelance photographer based in Bergen, Norway. He has no formal photographic education, but started photographing very early in his life. He has been producing his own projects for more than ten years and has both an artistic and photo journalistic approach to storytelling. He has been a full time independent photographer since 2004, and his clients include daily newspapers like Bergens Tidende, Dagbladet, Dagens Naeringsliv and The New York Times, among others. He is currently working on several independent long term projects.


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Paul S. Amundsen

Published on July 28, 2011 by burn magazine. 27 Comments

chloe dewe mathews – caspian

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Chloe Dewe Mathews

Caspian

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When viewed from space, the Caspian has a distinct outline, like an upside down map of the British Isles, and roughly the same size. But the Caspian is no lake, nor is it an ordinary sea; surrounded by vast tracts of desert, hovering half way between Asia and Europe – though belonging to neither, the Caspian is a sea almost lost in the land. I set out to capture the spirit of the illusive region; picking out unusual, poetic and often humorous aspects of everyday lives.
Over the centuries, nearby Empires have come and gone, each leaving its mark: first the Ottomans, then Persians, Mongols and finally, the Russians.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1993, an oil boom brought fresh prosperity to the area. Ports such as Aktau sprang up on the coast of Kazakhstan, where in the cemetery migrant workers now construct elaborate tombs for a new oil-rich middle class.

Across the water in the semi-desert of Azerbaijan, in a sanatorium town called Naftalan, people bathe in unique, chocolate-brown oil, which is believed to have therapeutic properties. It was startling to see an industrial substance so associated with international politics, power and wealth, being used for health and relaxation.

While the economic relationships between Europe and Asia change and ecological conditions on our planet mutate, so do the fortunes sift of the disparate communities who live around this strange sea. Even today, the lives of these people are tied to the landscape as never before.

 

Bio

My work is a hunt for moments of potency; when the clutter of day-to-day existence falls away to reveal something uncomplicated, something essential.
After a degree in Fine Art at Oxford University, I worked in the feature film industry for four years. Although it was an exciting world to be part of, I found myself questioning its extravagance. I wanted to work on something quieter, more economical, where I had room for spontaneity and intimacy with my subject.

In 2010 I traveled overland from China to Britain, hitchhiking and camping, in an attempt to experience and capture the cultural shift that takes place as one moves from Asia to Europe. During that time I shot projects on the Uighur minority in Western China, the returning waters of the Aral Sea, and the Caspian.
My work has been published in the Sunday Times Magazine, the Independent, Foto8, Vision China and Dazed and Confused magazine, and exhibited in London, Birmingham, Buenos Aires and Berlin.

 

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Chloe Dewe Mathews

Published on July 23, 2011 by burn magazine. 73 Comments