Cristina Vatielli – Le Donne di Picasso

Cristina Vatielli

Le Donne di Picasso

(opening picture: Françoise Gilot was a French painter and best-selling author. She was a young painter when she met Picasso in 1944, was his lover and muse until 1953. Picasso and Gilot never married, but they had two children together, Claude and Paloma. After spending ten years with the painter, she was the only one who, sick of Picasso’s relationships with other women, decided to leave him. She is the author of the book Life with Picasso)

How much pain can a woman bear? How much of herself can she renounce for love?

Cristina Vatielli’s work delves deep in the sickness and suffering of the women who have loved Pablo Picasso, and ultimately reveals a feeling common to all women have loved badly.

The artist’s research is an outcry denouncing physical and psychological abuses, and at the same time, an historical, biographical account of one of the absolute protagonists of twentieth century painting.

Eva Goeul is the most elusive of Picasso’s eight women. Her real name was Mar- celle Humbert, but the painter called her Eva, since she was for him the symbol of the First Woman. The painter was devastated by her early death from tuberculo- sis in 1915. Picasso professed his love for Eva by painting “I Love Eva” on some of his works.

Marie-Thérèse Walter met Picasso in 1927 when she was still underage. She was fascinated by him, even before knowing his fame. She was the greatest sexual passion for the painter with whom he broke all the sexual taboos. Marie-Thérèse was simple, not demanding and quite devoting. The relationship was kept secret, both because of her young age and to keep her away from Olga’s rampage (his first wife). It was a long-lasting relationship which led to the birth of their daugh- ter, Maya Widmaier-Picasso. She lived in the hope to become his wife, but they actually never married. She died suicidal 4 years after Picasso’s death.

Gaby Depeyre worked at a cabaret where she sang and danced. Unlike most of Picasso’s women, she challended the painter, refusing his wedding proposal. From the beginning, she never let the painter steal her soul. She weighed pro and cons of a possible relationship with Picasso and in the end chose the affective certainty of another man, Herbert Lespinasse. However, she was quite conscious of what she was giving up when she refused Picasso’s marriage proposal, and this makes her choice even more courageous.

Jacqueline Roque was Pablo Picasso’s last muse and second wife. When they first met, she was 26 and he was over 70, they stayed married for 11 years, until his death. Jacqueline saved him from loneliness and old age. She inspired the master, who continued to work with her until the end. He painted more portraits of her than of any other woman. When Picasso died, Jacqueline was so jealous of his previous lovers and children, that she forbade them to attend his funeral. In 1986 (13 years after Picasso’s death), Jacqueline shot herself.

The work provides an inclement analysis of the pyschology of women who are protagonists in devastating relationships, seeking with brutal sincerity the fine line between suffering as victims and as silent accomplices. After years of careful research to document the stories of Olga Khokhlova, Eva Gouel, Fernande Olivier, Marie Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, Francoise Gilot, Gaby Depeyre and Jacqueline Roque, the author has chosen to represent them through theatrical identification in a series of self-portraits to respond to the urgency of dressing them in their own clothes and giving them a new voice.

Olga Khokhlova, Pablo Picasso’s first wife and mother of his son Paulo. She was a Ukrainian ballerina from the high Aristocracy. They married in 1918 and spent most of their time together attending aristocratic salons and sharing the life of the élite. When Olga discovered the unfaithful nature of the painter, she went mad, and began to threaten Picasso and the women he frequented. She died of cancer in 1951, alone.

Dora Maar (Henriette Theodora Markovic) was an independent and anti-con- formist woman and photographer. She met Picasso in 1936. The painter kept her away from photography and pushed her into painting (a field in which he was the unquestioned king). Living in the shadow of the greatest artist of the time, Maar suffered from self-doubt and depression throughout her nine-year liaison with Picasso. The painter defined her as the most intelligent of all of his women and the one that made him laugh the most. Despite this, he always pictured her as the crying woman. Maar found herself abandoned by Picasso, and for this reason suffered of a nervous breakdown; she subsequently undertook electroshock therapy for three weeks in a psychiatric hospital. Upon recovery, she pursued art and religion with equal verve until her death in 1997. She said “after Picasso there is only God”.

Living in the shadow of a powerful and seductive mind, and nourished by the pride of being inspirational muses, all the women ask for is the atrocious compromise of giving up their freedom for the privilege of being “Women of Picasso”, before being Women.

These images tell with powerful sadness the beauty imprisoned by morbid attentions and the talents crushed by the obsessive jealousy of a man who has betrayed, deluded and ruined many young women from destiny, and in most cases, they are marked by loneliness, depression and suicide.

Victims or accomplices, condescending or rebels, faithful wives or concubines, the eight women of Pablo Picasso are heroines without a story clamoring to be told.

One eye on the forehead and one on the cheek, the nose split in half by a vertical wound,

the mouth bruised a shade of blue that transmits pain.

Asymetric, disrupted, fragmented, discomposed, torn apart,

not only in the images imprinted on the canvas,

They are the Women of Picasso.

(text by Veronica Gabbuti)

Fernande Olivier french model and artist, was the first lengthy relationship by Picasso, from 1904 to 1912. Together, they led a bohemian life in extreme economic hardship, making use of opium and other substances. Fernande was a woman of refined tastes, loved perfumes, clothes and jewelry. Posed for many artists of the time, but once entered into relationship with the painter, he forbade her to lend her image to others. Fernande enjoyed acting in the role of women or the subject of Oriental odalisque, but over the years he got tired of that game because of jealousy and in some cases of violence. After their separation Fer- nande published some memories that infuriated Picasso. She died alone and poor in 1966. In 1988, many years after the death of both, the book Loving Picasso was finally published.

Short Bio

Cristina Vatielli was born in Rome in 1983. She graduated at Scuola Romana di Fotografia. Since 2004, Cristina has been collaborating with Paolo Pellegrin, Magnum Photos photographer. In 2006, she worked at Magnum Photos digital department in the Paris office. Since 2006, she has worked as a photographer in various fields, advertising, portraiture, and documentary. Her works have been published in main international magazines and her projects have received recognition by IPA, MIFA and Sony awards, among others

Jost Franko – Farming on the Frontline

Khalil Zaanin and his cousin Jamila are walking on their farmland in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, on Oct. 28th 2014. Jamila’s home was bombed and completely destroyed during the war in 2014. Her family was forced to move to her relatives.

Jost Franko

Farming on the Frontline

[ EPF 2017 – SHORT LIST ]

In the land from where the eyes can see the Israeli border, Palestinian farmers try to make their living producing agricultural goods such as strawberries, oranges, grapefruits, olives, etc. The war in 2014, that lasted almost two months, has left the majority of Gazan farmers living in the buffer zones with their houses demolished or their land bulldozed – in worst cases, both. In 50 days long war that Israel called “Operation Protective Edge” more than 2,200 Palestinian lives were lost and about 17,200 homes totally destroyed, after 20,000 tons of explosive had been dropped on Gaza.

After the war, I decided I should return to Gaza, to work with the same farming families I’ve worked with in 2013, and the comparison was devastating. Some neighborhoods were unrecognizable, leveled to the ground. Almost all of the families I knew have lost their home. They were forced to move to United Nations schools and live in overcrowded classrooms, or other shelter homes. “I’ve been through dozens of wars, I’ve witnessed everything. Our home was always affected, but not to this dimensions,” Mohammed Abu Daqqa recalls. “But when I hear stories from others, I’m just thankful my family is alive,” he says.

A rubbled farm and demolished mosque are seen in Khuza’a, Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Palestine, on Nov. 3rd 2014.

Hunting equipment for birds is seen inside the 300m buffer zone in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Nov. 3rd 2014. In spite of risk of getting killed by sniper fire, farmers hunt birds inside the 300m buffer zone, that Israel established as a tampon zone between Gaza and Israel. The farmers say they have nothing else to lose and that they have to live on something.

Khalil Zaanin is seen in his living room, in his home in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, Palestine, on Nov. 7th 2014. Khalil Zaanin’s farm was hit several times by an F-16 missiles and bulldozed completely by the Israeli army, during the war in 2014. His water well was destroyed and it took him a month to repair it. His house, which is located directly at the Erez border crossing, the only border crossing with Israel, was partially ruined. Khalil says that it is a life of no guarantees what so ever, you cannot plan anything. In 2008 he decided not to invest in the house anymore, because during every conflict, the houses located at the buffer zone get affected.

Jihan Abu Daqqa, checks her children’s homework, before they go to school, in their home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, on Nov. 3, 2013. Jihan Abu Daqqa is checking her children’s homework before they go to school. She finished studying Law, but stays at home and helps her husband with the farm. Jinan and Mohammad always help kids study.

Daughter of Mohammed Abu Daqqa is seen on the playground on the roof of their house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, on Nov. 5, 2013.

Azmi Qudiah’s wife is seen making coffee in their damaged home in Khuza’a, Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Nov. 2nd 2014. Their family house was damaged for the 7th time. During the war, they evacuated to Khan Younis and upon return, found that their rabbits, chicken and sheep have been killed and their land was bulldozed. – they’re only left with 10 pigeons. Because most of the rooms a rubbled and completely damaged, they rented a house, so they can live together again.

A TV set in a resting area on a farm in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Nov. 2nd 2014.

Ms. Abu Rauk is burning the overgrown bush on her farmland in Khan Younis on Nov. 3rd 2014.

Donkey in east Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine, on Nov 9th 2013.

A tree in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine, on Nov. 6th 2013.

Khalil Zaanin’s farm was bulldozed and hit several times by F-16 missiles. His water well was ruined and it took him a month to repair it. During my 2013 visit in the same time of the year, Khalil and his workers were already harvesting the plants. This year, they had nothing to harvest. “It’s a life with no guarantees what so ever… whether you have plans or not, it doesn’t matter,” says Khalil.

During this period of a year (November), it’s olive harvesting season. This year, instead of harvesting, Samir Al Daberi from Rafah, had to hire workers to help him cut and remove the completely destroyed olive tree plantation from his land.

Farmers from Gaza, are an example of the collateral damage of every conflict – civilians trapped in between the two fighting sides.

Khalil Zaanin is seen with his nephew Meera in his home in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, Palestine, on Oct. 28th 2014. Khalil Zaanin’s farm was hit several times by an F-16 missiles and bulldozed completely by the Israeli army, during the war in 2014. His water well was destroyed and it took him a month to repair it.

The only remaining of a farm is seen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Nov. 2nd 2014.

Samir Al Daberi is seen walking in his bulldozed land near the buffer zone in Rafah, southern Gaza, Palestine, on Nov. 6th 2014. Samir got his leg amputated during the second war in Gaza. His farm in Rafah was bulldozed during the war in 2014, so he had to hire workers to remove ruined olive trees. Al Daberi family used to live in the farm, but their house was destroyed during the last war, so they had rent another home.

Kemal Abu Rauk and his wife are seen burning the overgrown bush in their farmland in Khan Younis, Palestine, on Nov. 3rd 2014.

A farmer is seen working in a green house in Khuza’a, Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Oct. 31st 2014.

Hala Abu Daqqa is seen eating her lunch in the family’s farmland in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Palestine, on Nov. 3rd 2014. The Abu Daqqa’s house was rubbled, the family has been living in a shelter home in an United Nation school in Khan Younis for three months now.

Azmi Qudiah stands in front of damaged home in Khuza’a, Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Palestine, on Nov. 2nd 2014. Their family house was damaged for the 7th time. During the war, they evacuated to Khan Younis and upon return, found that their rabbits, chicken and sheep have been killed – they’re only left with 10 pigeons. Because most of the rooms a rubbled and completely damaged, they’ve recently rented a house, so they can live together again.

Khalil Zaanin and his nephew Meera are seen walking in the rouble of his relatives home, next to his house in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, Palestine, on Oct. 28th 2014.

Sami Qudiah is seen in his severely damaged home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Palestine, on Nov. 1st 2014. They evacuated the house during Ramadan in July, after three of his kids were injured by an Israeli tank shell, that was fired at their house. Sami says, the kids still have shrapnel in their bodies. Their house and their belongings were destroyed for the 4th time. His farmland was bulldozed and used as a military base camp for Israeli ground operations. Sami Qudiah and his family spend their daytime at their damaged house and stay with their relatives during nights.

Palestinian children and a farmer gather near a greenhouse at the farm in Msabbah area in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, on Nov. 6, 2013.

Short Bio

Jost Franko is a young documentary photographer born in Slovenia in 1993. His work is mostly focused on long-term projects exploring domestic and international social issues, and his themes often touch on the loss of traditional values in the modern world. After reaching his legal adult hood, Franko started travelling to conflict and post conflict zones to examine and document the impact and consequences of war on civilian population.
Franko’s work has been, among others, published by TIME, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Sunday Times Magazine, Washington Post and Al Jazeera America.

By the age of 16, Franko won the Slovenia Press Photo reportage of the year award and later on joined VII Mentor Program, as the youngest member ever to be affiliated with VII.

In 2014, Franko was awarded a Watchdog prize (special achievements in journalism) for his work by Slovenian Association of Journalists. He was also selected as a 2015 TED Fellow, as one of the 20 change-makers from all over the fields.

Terje Abusdal – The Forest Finns

Terje Abusdal

The Forest Finns

[ EPF 2017 – FINALIST ]

Finnskogen – directly translated as The Forest of the Finns – is a large, contiguous forest belt along the Norwegian-Swedish border, where farming families from Finland settled in the early 1600s. The immigrants – called Forest Finns – were slash-and-burn farmers. This ancient agricultural method yielded bountiful crops but required large areas of land as the soil was quickly exhausted. Population growth eventually led to a scarcity of resources in their native Finland and, fuelled by famine and war, forced a wave of migration in search for new territories.

The Forest Finns’ understanding of nature was rooted in an eastern shamanistic tradition, and they are often associated with magic and mystery. Rituals, spells and symbols were used as a practical tool in daily life; that could heal and protect, or safeguard against evil.

This photographic project draws on these beliefs while investigating what it means to be a Forest Finn today, in a time when the 17th century way of life is long gone, and their language is no longer spoken.

Many of the settlers ventured northwest and tried their luck in the Nordic wilderness. At that time, much of the land had been reclaimed by nature following the Black Death, which wiped out more than half of the population. Throughout the next decades, the Forest Finns spread across Scandinavia in a constant search for new soil to sew. The journey was an essential part of their existence, as mobility was an integral consequence of slash-and-burn farming. Furthermore, the Forest Finns’ understanding of nature was rooted in an eastern shamanistic tradition, and they are often associated with magic and mystery. Rituals, spells and symbols were used as a practical tool in daily life; they could heal and protect, or safeguard against evil.

In its original form, the Forest Finn-culture no longer exists, and yet more and more people feel a connection to it. Today, the Forest Finns are considered an official minority in both Norway, and yet there are no statistics on their numbers. In fact, the only official criterion of belonging to this minority is that, regardless of your ethnic origin, you simply feel that you are a Forest Finn.

Short Bio

Terje Abusdal (1978) is a visual storyteller from Norway working on independent projects in the intersection between fact and fiction. In 2017, his story on the Forest Finns – Slash & Burn – won the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and the Nordic Dummy Award. Two years prior he published his first photographic book Radius 500 Metres on Journal. His work was recently exhibited at Jaipur Photo Festival in India, Fotogalleriet in Oslo and FOTODOK in Utrecht. Abusdal lives in Oslo.

Lukas Vasilikos – Uncanny

Lukas Vasilikos

Uncanny

In the beginning there is emptiness and darkness. The light seems to be hovering over the the surface of this formless void. Light is ordered to descend, for light is said to be good. It is a blow which separates the light from the darkness and, thus, the first day is born.

The first day carries bleak landscapes – interchanging, rhythmically throbbing, composing a wistful symphony to then orchestrate a cacophonous pandemonium of disconnected sounds: the roaring waves crashing against the shore, openly flaunting their white crests
the deep-rooted tree stands still
branches are winging their way upwards, perchance that they might gently be touched by the light

The 2nd day unveils those dark, yet familiar figures, who give the impression of being suspended in thin air. They are not smiling nor are they raising one corner. They are merely staring at something which is there – however not visible to the naked eye. They are unaware of the very next moment they are being consumed by. Some figures are ghostly, disintegrating with the passing of ruthless time, while others are breaking up. A couple of them are falling into an endless embrace. Some of them strive to remember, whereas others strive to forget. There are some who have not arrived yet; and there are those who have secretly vowed to return.

Light and shadow are being resigned to a seemingly dreadful fate; through their tender play they blend, carried away by the whispering wind.

The figures still remain oblivious to what is occuring.
The 3rd day gives way to the music; it rises in a whirling crescendo, hungrily seeking its way through the leaves. Landscapes still interchange, yet it is of little importance now.

The family tree is being uprooted so as to be regrown into a tree of life; the roots now deeper, the branches ramifying into eternal life anew. Fear is a robust mother who longs to climb up that very tree and find the most mysterious paths to transcendence within this mortal world.

Short Bio

Lukas Vasilikos was born in 1975 and raised in Crete, Greece. In 1996 he moved to Athens, where he has lived and worked since. He embarked on photography in 2006. His photographs have been published in both Greek and foreign magazines and included in a number of publications. Among his artistic endeavors, Lukas has participated in ?Depression Era?, a collective storytelling experiment, documenting untold stories in a mosaic of images and texts. In March 2014, the exhibition was displayed at Palais de Beax Arts (Bozar), Belgium, following a second display in DUPON gallery, Paris, in November 2014. Lukas is a member of the Burn My Eye Collective and the ?Photography Circle?, a Greek non-profit cultural society.

Emerging Photographer Fund – Call for Submissions

Emerging Photographer Fund – call for submissions

The Emerging Photographer Fund 2018 is now open for submissions!

This year we are proud to offer two awards: the Emerging Photographer Grant for $10,000 and the Fujifilm Young Talent Award (25 or under) for $10,000. For more information, follow the link below.

Enter here

The deadline for entry is September 30th, 2018 (6pm PST).

The Jury for 2018 (in alphabetical order):

Adam Broomberg (artist, professor of photography, HFBK & KABK)
MaryAnne Golon (director of photography, Washington Post)
Sohrab Hura (photographer, Magnum Photos)
Azu Nwagbogu (founder and director, African Artists’ Foundation AAF)
Fiona Rogers (global director of business development, Magnum Photos)

Hole, Coober Pedy, Australia – © Antoine Bruy

My grandmother 1938, 18 years old – © Sarah Pabst

Cupcake Head, Charlottesville, Virginia – © Matt Eich

On the fifth anniversary, 2016, I invited my uncle, parents’ friends and neighbors to where the photo studio used to be. We were able share our pain and sorrow. The photo seems to show the ?hope? of candlelight, but also it seems like the spirits of the dead are coming back to our town – © Mayumi Suzuki

Staircase – © Mariya Kozhanova

Once inhabited by Mormons, in 1849 Nauvoo was settled by followers of French utopian socialist ?tienne Cabet. His ideas attracted many people who saw him as a political messiah and sought to implement his ideas in a practical setting. In Nauvoo they created a theoretically egalitarian commune that was forced to disband in 1860 after it endured a loss of about 40% and ran into financial difficulties – © Marta Giaccone

A bear’s skin is crucified on a house. It is the skin of the insomniac bear that came at night and ate the dogs, attacked people, and got into the house through the window. A married couple climbed the roof in panic and waited until the morning to neutralize the beast. They waited until morning because it is pitch-dark at night. There is only electricity in this settlement for 14 hours a day, in the morning and the evening. There is no central power supply service, only a small diesel-driven station. Katangsky District, Irkutsky region. Russia, 2016 – © Elena Anosova

Andriy, 27, astronomy graduate, picture was taken after he spent 9 months in the war zone, March 2015, Ukraine – © Wiktoria Wojciechowska

Children run around with sweets inside the house during New Year holiday season. Lip of the moose is a traditional New Year meal and delicacy. Defrosting meat straight on the table is very typical here. Katangsky District, Irkutsky region. Russia, 2015 – © Elena Anosova

Dogs live outside the houses in dog kennels all year around. Locals crossbreed dogs with best hunting qualities and keep genealogical track of each animal. There is a waiting list to get one of such dogs. Katangsky District, Irkutsky region. Russia, 2016 – © Elena Anosova

Melissa (mascara running), Charlottesville, Virginia – © Matt Eich

Burn Magazine revolves around the EPF. It is our most important curatorial contribution to the oftentimes chaotic landscape of photography today. By choosing a jury whose lifetimes have been spent in looking at photographs and making photographs, we try to give our Burn readers a distilled version of the best work of all that flows before their eyes everyday.

Most importantly our mission is to give recognition to the finest emerging authors out there and to provide some funding to at least a few to keep going and to continue making a mark. $10,000 is given to the recipient of EPF to move forward in their work. This is made possible with a generous donation by Michael Loyd Young through the Magnum Foundation. Our previous winners prove this is not in vain.

In addition, Fujifilm is partnering with us to offer an award, open to all photographers who are 25 or younger at the time of the deadline. All you need to do is enter into the EPF… and if you’re 25 or younger, you’ll be automatically eligible for the Fujifilm Young Talent Award. Fujifilm also offers a cash prize of $10,000 to the winner.

Of course we are immensely proud of this partnership… and hope in this way we can give back to the young emerging ones amongst us… who just might need it more than we can ever imagine.

Naëlann with a snake skin. He has never been to a formal school, a practice called 'unschooling' – © Neha Hirve

Previous EPF Winners

The 2008 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to Sean Gallagher for his essay on the environmental Desertification of China.

The 2009 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to Alejandro Chaskielberg for his 8×10 format essay on the Parana River Delta ‘The High Tide’.

The 2010 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to Davide Monteleone for his essay ‘Northern Caucasus’.

The 2011 Emerging Photographer Fund grant was awarded to Irina Werning for her essay ‘Back to the Future’.

In 2012 three Emerging Photographer Fund grants were awarded: one major to Matt Lutton for his essay ‘Only Unity’ and two minors to Giovanni Cocco for his essay ‘Monia’ and to Simona Ghizzoni for her essay ‘Afterdark’.

In 2013 four Emerging Photographer Fund grants were awarded: one major to Diana Markosian for her essay ‘My Father The Stranger’ and three minors to: Iveta Vaivode for her essay ‘Somewhere on Disappearing Path’, Oksana Yushko for her essay ‘Balklava: The Lost History’ and Maciej Pisuk for his essay ‘Under The Skin; Photographs From Brzeska Street’.

In 2014 two Emerging Photographer Fund grants were awarded: one major to Alessandro Penso for his essay ‘Lost Generation’ and one minor to: Birte Kaufmann for her essay ‘The Travelers’.

In 2015 the Emerging Photographer Fund was awarded to Danila Tkachenko for ‘Restricted Areas’, and the Fujifilm Young Talent Award to Sofia Valiente for ‘Miracle Village’.

In 2016 the Emerging Photographer Fund was awarded to Annie Flanagan for ‘Deafening Sound’, and the Fujifilm Young Talent Award to Aleksander Raczynski for ‘Views’

In 2017 the Emerging Photographer Fund was awarded to Antoine Bruy for ‘Outback Mythologies’, and the Fujifilm Young Talent Award to Aleksey Kondratyev for ‘Ice Fishers’

Entries are now open

The Emerging Photographer Fund 2018 is now open for submissions!

Enter here

The deadline for entry is September 30th, 2018 (6pm PST).

—

Editor’s note:

Many thanks especially to my EPF team Anton Kusters, Diego Orlando, and Mallory Bracken. First off, they must deal with me!! Never easy. In all seriousness, they all show amazing dedication to the spirit of doing something which just feels good. To provide a platform for the up and coming.

Special thanks to Susan Meiselas of the Magnum Foundation. Nobody on the planet is more dedicated to allowing new talent to develop.

Special thanks also to Michael Loyd Young, EPF funder and BURN Magazine board member.

FujiFilm_Basic-Black

A heart felt thank you also to Fujifilm for the Fujifilm Young Talent Award… making it possible for the EPF to keep focus on the future generations, the young ones, the ones with a vision already making a mark now… and just might make another jump soon…

-dah-

The Emerging Photographer Fund was created and is directed by David Alan Harvey,
curated and produced by Anton Kusters & Diego Orlando.

Published on September 4, 2018 by burn magazine. 0 Comments

Pauliana Valente Pimentel – Quel Pedra (THAT STONE)

Pauliana Valente Pimentel

Quel Pedra (THAT STONE)

There is a legend in Mindelo, in the island of São Vicente, which says that those who sit on a specific stone in the neighborhood of Font Flip will became gay. It was in this neighborhood that I met Steffy and seven of his friends: Edinha, Gi, Elton, Sindji, Susy, Henio and Jason. These boys, aged between seventeen and twenty-five years are transgender, inasmuch that they like to wear women’s clothing, make up, and to be called by women`s names. Faced by this specific situation in Cape Verde, and the significance of this stone, I decided to entitle this work Quel Pedra, which is Creole for “That Stone.”

There is a high degree of intolerance towards homosexuals in many African countries, in some cases motivated by religious beliefs, others out of ignorance. Many Africans are forced to immigrate to Europe due to their inability to live their sexuality freely. Sexual relations between persons of the same sex were only legalized in 2004 in Cape Verde. Until then, it was a crime to have a homosexual relationship. In twelve years, the law has changed, but the discrimination persists. In 2013, a year before I met this group of friends, the first Gay Parade was held in Mindelo.

Given these facts, I was interested in living in this community, in order to understand their dreams, frustrations, hopes and fears. Where their courage and attitude came from. I was with them in two separate moments; one in late 2014 and in March 2016. It was interesting to see how much has changed in the lives of these Cape Verdian youngsters, and in what manner.

The idea of this work is to confront the viewer with their own prejudices, challenging the conventions and standards concerning the identity of the human being. Simone de Beauvoir once said: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Perhaps the aim of this work is to unveil what it means to be woman today.

Quel Pedra has been published as book in 2017.

Short Bio

Pauliana Valente Pimentel, 1975, based in Lisbon. As a visual artist and freelance photographer, she has been producing and exhibiting photo essays extensively since 1999 in Portugal and abroad. In 2005, she took part in the photography course of the Gulbenkian Creativity and Artistic Creation Program. She was member of the [Kameraphoto] agency from 2006 until its extinction in 2014, and a founding member of the N’WE collective in 2016. Pierre von Kleist Editions published her book “Vol.I” in 2009, and in 2011 “Caucase, Souvenirs de Voyage” was published by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

She is also director of several films. In 2015, she won the prize for the best photographic work of the year by the Portuguese Author Society, and in 2016 she was nominee for the Novo Banco prize, the most important prize in Portugal for Contemporary photography. Nowadays she collaborates with several galleries in Europe and part of her work belongs to private and institutional collections.

The work Quel Pedra was reviewed by Aperture in 2016.

Rachel Cox – Shiny Ghost

Rachel Cox

Shiny Ghost

In this project I have documented the final years of my Grandmother’s life as she was suffering from a degenerative brain disease. The images were made during moments of conversation, gesture, and experiences of death. The variety of photographic approaches towards the subjects are representative of a frantic need to record all aspects of my knowledge of her (whether performative or candid) in a hopes that these moments could be pieced together again, attempting to construct a more accurate portrait of how I would remember her. My Grandmother and I had a tumultuous relationship, never thoroughly understood, and missed connections of tastes and values flourished throughout our entire lives. Looking back on this project, the photographs reveal a deeper language we had been sharing for years, constituted of mutual vulnerability and trust, acted upon even in death.

Bio

Rachel Cox has shown work recently at Museo de los Artes in Mexico City, Baijia Art Museum in Nanjing, China, The Musee del’Elysee in Switzerland, Museo Amparo in Mexico, and at PHOTO London 2016. Cox has shown work nationally at the Houston Center for Photography, The Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, and the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center.

In 2016 Cox’s project Shiny Ghost was awarded 1^st place by Lensculture Magazine for their International Portraiture competition. Additionally, her work was nominated for the Paul Huf FOAM award by the Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam, an international photography prize for artists under 35.

Cox’s work has recently been published in Vice Magazine, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and The British Journal of Photography. Cox’s monograph, Shiny Ghost, was published December 2016 through Aint Bad Editions.

Rachel Cox is an Assistant Professor at The University of Iowa and is represented by Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas, TX.

Cristina Vatielli

Le Donne di Picasso

Short Bio

Related Links

Jost Franko

Farming on the Frontline

[ EPF 2017 – SHORT LIST ]

Short Bio

Related Links

Terje Abusdal

The Forest Finns

[ EPF 2017 – FINALIST ]

Short Bio

Related Links

Lukas Vasilikos

Uncanny

Short Bio

Related Links

Previous EPF Winners

Entries are now open

Pauliana Valente Pimentel

Quel Pedra (THAT STONE)

Short Bio

Related Links

Rachel Cox

Shiny Ghost

Bio

Related Links

Photo Essays

In the spotlight

Road Trips

Recent Comments

Search