Anna Lehmann-Brauns

The focus of Anna Lehmann-Brauns' images are interiors which were often once glamorous but now past their peak. The lack of human occupancy within the space concentrates the viewer upon the interior itself and allows thoughts to travel to times gone by and evoke memories or imaginings of a previous era.

The interiors are often of real locations such as hotel lobbies or casinos but Lehmann-Brauns also constructed imaginary spaces of dolls house proportions which evoke personal memories of people or places.

The faded grandeur of these interiors is recaptured or reconstructed by the artists use of vibrant colour and dramatic lighting while the remarkable use of geometric design engages the viewer and transports them into the space and beyond.

Anna Lehmann-Brauns' images have a melancholic aspect to them. There is an element of desertion and loneliness about them that expresses the abandonment of a style and also a lifestyle long passed. Born in 1967 these images representative of the 1960's and 70's are illustrative of the artist's childhood era.

These images are about preserving moments in life, retaining memories of transient tastes and of exploring and recalling previous existence.





More photographs by Anna Lehmann-Brauns
can be found in her book Sun in an Empty Room

Arkadius Zagrabski

Düsseldorf based photographer Arkadius Zagrabski produces images that portray an essence of tranquility and reflect what he describes as the peace and quiet of the photographers way of mind.

Five Stones 2

Using a very minimalist style Zagrabski manages to emphasise the finer points of the scene before him which is further enhanced by his use of monochrome.

Traffic Light

Following from a passion for photography since childhood and having honed his technical skills it was then to the masters of photography that he turned for inspiration. By studying their photographs and asking himself questions as to the reasons why the artist had chosen to depict a scene in a particular way and what they may have been trying to portray Zagrabski has developed his own personal style.

Verticals 6

The superb technical qualities of the images owe something to Zagrabski's employment of the zone system developed by Ansel Adams allowing for the final results to actually reflect the way the photographer visualised the subject.

Pont de Normandie at Night

Using a Hasselblad film camera and minute attention to detail it may take several visits to the chosen location before conditions such as light and weather are as the artist would want them. He then calls upon his own emotional influences and most of all music to create the framework for his inspiration as to the style he will use for a particular image. 

Canal Grande Study 2

More of Arkadius Zagrabski's work can be found here on his website

Deborah Parkin

Deborah Parkin's work is about exploration. The exploration of photographic techniques which could be regarded as being outside of the mainstream whether in her use of Fuji’s instant black & white film in a 4 x 5 large format camera or her recently adopted interest in the wet plate collodion process. But these are merely the vehicles for her real exploration, that of the emotional impact of childhood experiences, whether from her own memories or by observing her children and others around her.

The power of the images is in their ability to engage the viewer and elicit questions and emotions. The style and processes of production give a timeless element to the subject and therefore encompass childhood sentiments that can be acknowledged even by those without personal experience of all the emotions portrayed.

Memory:

This series is particularly poignant and personal and probably best left to Deborah Parkin's own words for explanation:

As the title suggests these are a series of images drawn from my memories of childhood. According to Freud ‘the feelings of childhood remain with us throughout adult life but they are only perceptible … The foggy remembrance of a sensation that can no longer be grasped but still affect our emotions in ways that we cannot explain ourselves.”

One of my prime aims is to depict the chasm that can exist between a child’s world and that of an adult. If we are to believe what Freud says that as adults we cannot look back as childhood as a child, then inevitably a chasm must exist. This is something I am particularly interested in as I remember the isolation I felt as a child, particularly at school.

My work is about exploring these feelings of abandonment, isolation, loneliness, longing, waiting and ultimately disappointment.
 

 

September is the Cruellest Month:

The series "September is the Cruellest Month" was produced as a response to the realisation of how fleeting precious family time can be and that summer holidays come to an end and family members go back to their own lives away from each other. Deborah Parkin has captured moments during the holiday that will trigger memories of the emotions of the event rather than the event itself

Time Passes:

Deborah Parkin describes the images in the series "Time Passes" as “snapshots” from a family day out. They evoke memories of the day and through them she hears her children’s voices but referring to the photographs she also believes anyone can relate to these, either as a parent or the child they once were. An apt summation of her entire body of work.

Deborah Parkin's approach to her photography, stories behind her images and her recent collodion venture are chronicled in her fascinating and very personal blog and more of her work can be seen here on her website

Dariusz Klimczak

The surreal images from Polish photographer Dariusz Klimczak present us with an unbreakable relationship between artist and viewer. His highly manipulated pictures lead us into a world of both his and our imaginations. These photomanipulations are sometimes vehicles for contemplation pulling the spectator into the frame to become involved in the experience of the subject.

Although preferring black and white images Klimczak will use colour when he feels it necessary for the image. His imaginative work suggests influences from the surrealist painters of the 20th Century such as  Dali, Magritte and Chirico with their unexpected juxtapositions of the elements and moments of surprise and sometimes humour.

Klimczac's intention is to create moods and emotions using universal symbols while exploring metaphysics to explain what is in the world and what it is like but it seems in the broadest of terms.

More of Dariusz Klimczak's work can be found here

Tom Chambers - Dreaming in Reverse

Photomontage is the way that graphic designer and photographer Tom Chambers expresses his own view of the world. His images are striking and intriguing and cannot fail to invoke emotional enquiries from the viewer.

 

 

Winter Dog, Summer Solstice

 

 

Using Photoshop, the painstaking process of creating the images involves piecing together elements such as sky, landscape and figures from his photographs into a pre-designed format, a process that can often take a month or more.

 

 

Presumptuous Guests

 

 

The painterly style of his work is witness to the strong influences of the art genre Magic Realism that Tom Chambers employs in his series Dreaming in Reverse. The realism of the scene is counteracted by objects and situations that reveal mysterious components but without being explicitly supernatural.

Caging the Songbird

 

 

Dreaming in Reverse is a response to what Chambers has identified as a transformation in Mexican culture due to modern economic and socio-political change.

 

In his words:

Sensing that little time remains to photograph the beauty of Mexico, I have created the series "Dreaming In Reverse" to express both my concern for cultural loss, as well as my appreciation for the inherent loveliness of Mexican life. …………. I have attempted to create images of Mexico which seem true and believable, but also perhaps improbable. These photomontages illustrate my dreams for the Mexican people that they are able to retain the authenticity of their culture.

 

Cobblestone Commotion

 

Unfamiliar Melody

Tom Chambers has a solo show at the Photoeye Gallery , Santa Fe in August where a limited edition set of prints will be launched. Tom will be attending the Artists Reception on Friday, 5^th August 2011

In the Autumn (or should that be Fall), the Modernbook Gallery in San Francisco will be publishing a 120 page book of his work in conjunction with another solo show.

More of Tom Chambers work can be seen here on his website

Adrian Davis

What I find appealing about Adrian Davis's images are their understated nature where often the line and composition are perhaps more significant than the subject matter itself.

Orchestral Winds

Windswept

His use of large skies and sometimes long exposure techniques add drama and interest to what otherwise may have been routine landscapes

Close Encounter

I find it difficult to view Close Encounters without cunjuring up memories of mashed potato sculptures and extraterrestrial melodies à la Steven Spielberg. It is therefore apt that the Sun burst adds so much to the iconography of this image.

Horse & Sky

Adrian Davis specialises in warm toned vintage style photographs, a skill he has honed over many years and infuenced by his time as a staff photographer at the Ansell Adams Gallery where he was introduced to the inkjet printing process which he adopts.

Bandon Beach, Study 2

I asked Adrian Davis if he could offer me an artist's satement to which he replied:

I make photographs of what I like to see and wish to remember

A concise sentiment and one that allows us to also remember what he likes to see.

One Tree Hill

More of Adrian Davis's work can be found here on his website

Andrea Star Reese - The Urban Cave

When New York based photographer Andrea Star Reese enrolled in a photojournalism program at the International Centre of Photography in 2007 her first assignment was to be “New York Underground”. Taking this literally Reese headed for the train tunnels and knowing that evictions had previously occurred there she was curious to find out if anyone had returned to inhabit them.

Lisa and Chuck at the entrance of their home in the tunnel     

Having entered she began to find clues of occupancy such as bags, clothing and shoes but it took a while before the residents guardedly made themselves known. This was how Reese met Chuck and Lisa who had been living in the tunnels for over seven years and together they gained a mutual trust enabling The Urban Cave series to begin.

Chuck, while waiting for Lisa, reads a book

Lisa, living on the street for more then twenty years, collects metal scrap and usable garbage to sell   

Andrea Star Reese describes the project -

The Urban Cave, photographed primarily in Harlem, New York City is a story about the resilience and humanity of people who live "homeless" on the other side of conventional society. It is about a group of individuals and the spectrum of their lives, rather than their deprivations. The images are in response to the beauty of a place, a people, and the dignity, determination, and perseverance of that particular long-term homeless culture.

Willy has lived in a box on New York City streets since 2004

It is one thing to produce images that record our surroundings and the people who inhabit them but what Andrea Star Reese has achieved in this series is to get right to the heart of the situation. Months and years of interacting with the inhabitants, gaining their trust and friendship in an environment that is often hostile and always suspicious has enabled Reese to not only document these lives but to allow the viewer a privileged visit and deeper understanding. The highly contrasted light and shadow of the images preserves the ambiance of the environment and the spontaneous nature of the captured moment reinforces our belief. These are people who are fully aware of their predicament and keen for their story to be told.

Country watches the river waiting for the return of the whale that he says has visited before

Snow White

Chuck and Lisa have recently been evicted from the tunnels along with other residents of the area and many including Country and Snow White are now living in housing projects.

Chuck, evicted by Amtrak train company authorities accompanied by New York City Police
 from his encampment in the train tunnel says he is now "truely homeless"

Further images from The Urban Cave can be viewed here

An essay by Andrea Star Reese relating to The Urban Cave can be read in Visura Magazine

Andrea Star Reese has recently embarked upon a new project investigating the stigma of mental illness in Indonesia and can be previewed here at NYT Lens