Isa Leshko : ‘Thrills & Chills’ (Photography)

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‘Coaster Cables’
gelatin silver print
2008

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‘Coaster Spine’
gelatin silver print
2009

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‘Around the Bend’
gelatin silver print
2009

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‘Ferris Wheel’
gelatin silver print
2008

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‘Zipper Ride’
gelatin silver print
2009

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‘Offering to the Gods’
gelatin silver print
2009

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‘The Claw’
gelatin silver print
2008

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Amusement park rides terrify me, which is why I began photographing them. I am fascinated by what compels people to surrender themselves to these mechanical beasts. The rides seem to challenge the very limitations of being human. We can’t fly; yet these vertigo-inducing machines allow us to soar through the open air. The experience combines elation with fear; thrills with chills.

These images explore the fantastic and sinister place these rides hold in my imagination. With some of these images, I suspend disbelief and embrace the underlying fantasies of these rides. With other images, I examine the tensions that exist between fantasy and reality. I am interested in exploring the range of emotions—from anger to shock to exultation—that people exhibit in pursuit of the amusement these rides are supposed to provide.

I create these images with a Holga camera to provide them with a vernacular feel and a sense of immediacy. The camera’s plastic lens distorts the scale of these rides, particularly when they are photographed against an open sky. I also find working with such an imprecise and flawed camera to be a frightening and liberating experience, akin to being on a roller coaster. [Artist Statement]

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Isa Leshko : Photography

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Krystina Stimakovits : ‘Thresholds’ (Photography Book)

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From the Series : Inside Out 14

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From the Series : Inside Out 01

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From the Series : Inside Out 07

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From the Series : Glimpsed 13

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From the Series : Inside-Out 02

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What is it within the life-less fragments of our physical environment that either stirs our psyche or leaves us indifferent? Is it the underlying patterns of geometric lines and forms as Kandinsky’s theories might suggest? Or is it the angle of fleeting light falling upon surfaces? Alternatively, is it simply whether or not objects and textures depicted manage to catalyse in us significant memories, however sub-conscious? It is these questions which led the photographer to hone in on the layered in-between worlds that materials such as fencing and glass often provide and, in doing so, explore the degree to which ‘straight’ photography may be able to reveal or metamorphose any of their evocative powers.

‘Thresholds’ contains ’38′ photographs chosen from several projects all of which involve glass. Although many months have passed since their beginnings, answers to these questions continue to elude her.

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Thresholds : Book Preview

Krystina Stimakovits : Website

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Miles Davis : ‘Blue in Green’ (Music)

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Brancolina : Photography

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’20052011 14:32′
photograph
2011

‘agitation’
photograph
2011

‘tea for three’
photograph
2011

‘parts’
photograph
2011

‘gehry’s tune’
photograph
2011

‘daydreaming’
photograph
2011

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brancolina : it is what it is

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Trent Parke : ‘Dream/Life & Beyond’ Series (Photography)

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“Parke has one of the most vivid visual signatures in Australian photojournalism. His photographs don’t observe life so much as contain its contradictions within dense, idiosyncratic tableaux.” R McFarlane

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from minutes to midnight
gelatin silver print
30 x 45cm
2003

dream/life & beyond
gelatin silver print
24 x 36cm
2001

dream/life & beyond
gelatin silver print
24 x 36cm
2001

dream/life & beyond
gelatin silver print
24 x 36cm
2001

dream/life & beyond
gelatin silver print
30 x 45cm
2001

from minutes to midnight
gelatin silver print
30 x 45cm
2001

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Trent Parke is considered one of the most innovative photographers of his generation. His exhibition Dream/Life and Beyond is an ongoing document of the streets of Sydney which began when, at the age of 20, he moved from his hometown of Newcastle to live in the capital of New South Wales. In trying to deal with his sense of loneliness at the time, he took to the streets with his Leica camera and began to create a picture of Sydney unlike any other we are accustomed to seeing. As he says of his practice: “I’m always trying to channel personal emotions into my work.

That is very different from a lot of documentary photographers who want to depict the city more objectively.” Dream/Life and Beyond presents a vision of Sydney seemingly peopled with spirits and shrouded in the mythical. What is so striking about the photographs is the way Parke has played with the harsh Australian sunlight, enhancing the dramatic qualities of light and shadow to create a dreamworld that elevates these works beyond the mere document. [Extract : Photofusion]

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Trent Parke : Stills Gallery

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PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke : “This Mess We’re in” (Music)

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The song “This mess we’re in” by PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke combined

with the photography of Trent Parke, from his dream/life exhibition.

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