In light of the increasingly concerning news about the imminent fate of the oceans, I find myself contemplating the issue of extinction with greater frequency. In collaboration with artificial intelligence, I dive into ancient waters and capture the inhabitants whose existence was interrupted and whose evidence is preserved in fossils. The aim of this work is to illustrate the fragility of life and to prompt reflection on the current, rapid extinction in which humanity plays a pivotal role.
The project was born at a time when the world stood still in anticipation of the unknown. Suddenly, familiar spaces became motionless, streets emptied, and cities turned into backdrops devoid of their usual human presence. A shift in rhythm changed the way we perceive our surroundings: places we once considered mere backgrounds to daily life became independent narratives, revealing the beauty of silence and the depth of the ordinary.
At its core, this project explores the quiet transformations of the city, shaped by shifting histories. Through a minimalist vision, it captures the subtle traces of change—empty spaces, evolving structures, and the quiet resilience embedded in the urban environment. Rather than focusing on overt signs of upheaval, the work highlights the small, often overlooked details that reveal how cities adapt, rebuild, and redefine themselves over time.
It is an observation of transition, where simplicity becomes a language for memory, continuity, and renewal. The author captures moments when space speaks for itself, when light, form, and the absence of familiar hustle and bustle take on special significance. The photographs transport the viewer into a world where every detail is filled with meaning, where the absence of people reveals unexpected symmetry, the purity of lines, and the hidden rhythm of the urban environment. In these restrained compositions, absence carries as much weight as presence, and the gaps between past and present are felt in the spaces left behind.
The project raises the question of how our perception of space changed when the familiar became inaccessible and the well-known—unexpectedly new. The city is neither a monument to the past nor a vision of the future—it is a quiet negotiation between what remains and what is yet to come. This project serves as a reminder of a time when the world slowed down, allowing us to see our surroundings differently—with attention, with reverence, and with a desire to find beauty in places where it had previously gone unnoticed.
Imagine our planet Earth as an independent living entity, undergoing its own cycles of rest, regeneration, and transformation. Chrysalis explores this idea, portraying the Earth in a state of slumber, where the natural world becomes a cocoon for unseen changes. Through surreal imagery and ethereal blue tones, I delve into the interconnectedness between nature, the cosmos, and humanity, where the natural elements blended with the human presence reflect the Earth's quiet metamorphosis.
By extensively editing the images, I aim to amplify their surreal qualities, blending reality and imagination to evoke a dreamlike, otherworldly atmosphere. The human body becomes a symbol of transformation, mirroring the Earth's regenerative process and the deep connection between humans and the natural world.
This series invites reflection on the delicate cycles of renewal that govern both nature and ourselves. Just as the chrysalis shelters a transformation in silence, so too does the Earth move through its quiet rhythms, inviting us to recognize our place within its continuous cycle of growth and change.
Until the Sun and Moon Go Down | So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing. Whisper of running streams, and winter lightning. (T.S. Eliot)
Landing on Alicudi feels like pioneering an unknown land, where enchantment instantly seduces or repels. The island only received electricity in the 1990s and continues to resist modernisaton, partly due to its unique location and layout. Beyond its status as an extreme destination, this microcosm's nuances and stark dualities reveal a reality rich with allure, shaped by its relationship with the natural elements, profound silences, and the mythology of the Aeolian Archipelago.
"Until the Sun and Moon Go Down" is an analogical tale intertwining reality and fiction, reflecting on the ways we inhabit the modern world while offering glimpses into the realm of night and dreams. The island, with its rugged nature only partially tamed by humans and its direct relationship with everything, invites one to play with perception and rediscover the hidden depths of the mind. www.angelaferrotti.com
BROKEN ROADS | Between 2011 and 2012 I hitchhiked, drove and walked 22,000 miles back and forth across the USA. Each day I got up at dawn and drove until dusk. I stopped only to eat, fill up with gas, swim, climb, look, and photograph. When the light of the day was gone, I drove on until I found a motel to sleep for the night.
The work I made then became about the road itself. The open road. A mass of distant, broken factions of society joined together; a continent connected by a concrete life-vein, pumping oil like blood. The road is a place of its own, a separate entity, though it is everywhere. Its pulse is continuous and constant.
The vehicle must rest and refuel, and the driver also. The road persists though, with wildness too. With all the safety offered by signs and signals, danger is abundant. A risk of imminent death lies round every corner. With an arsenal of loaded weapons and itchy trigger fingers all aiming at each other, it's only a matter of who shoots first.
There is something intrinsically lonely about a life on the road. There are intermittent signs of life; cars, houses, shops, service stations, but often no people to be seen. The driver is locked in, tinted windows up, air con pumping. Pull in, refuel with gas, and drive on. Pull in, refuel with food, and drive on. Pull in, refuel with sleep, and drive on. Only when the destination is reached does life take back on its familiar joys and woes, until the next journey. The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy. Arthur Miller, Death Of A Salesman www.brendanbarry.co.uk
This collection of recent photographs highlights my interest in rural scenes and the connection that rural America has with spirituality and especially Christianity. My interest in this landscape and the communities that live there is informed by my upbringing in the Midwest, being raised Catholic and past work as a journalist where I often covered stories in rural Illinois. Primarily working in black and white, these photographs delve into the vastness, isolation and spiritualism often found in rural America.
These photographs are selections from multiple ongoing series. My recent works focus on rural Illinois and spirituality, collecting masses of photographs to find relationships between them. These images follow themes that I’ve been working with for some time to act as an umbrella for my work made in rural spaces. While I no longer feel connected to the Church, there is always something that pulls me to make photographs about faith and understanding, how these things connect with the places I photograph.
Romantic Lowlife Fantasies: Emerging Adults In The Age Of Hope | Romantic Lowlife Fantasies: Emerging Adults In The Age Of Hope is the first published monograph by Canon award winning photographer Laura June Kirsch. Featuring over 85 original images, the book is a photo exploration of millennials in subcultures during the Obama era. Co-edited by Kirsch and Juxtapoz Editor-in-chief Evan Pricco, the collection examines an era of hopeful hedonism for a generation that came of age between 9/11 and a recession that put the traditional American Dream just out of reach. Featuring an introduction by Pricco and original essays by Darlene “Dee Nasty” Demorizi (comedian, actress and VICE personality), Allyson Toy (DJ Toy), Caitlin McGarry (an astrologist and wellness coach also known as Tarotgraph), Jessica Amodeo (NYU MFA Writing Alum) and a poem by Brooke Burt (NYU MFA writing Alum, formerly House Of Vans). Co designed by Laura June Kirsch and Patrick Carrie. www.romanticlowlifefantasies.com
I exist | I exist. I breathe. I feel.
I have an infinite number of thoughts in my head, which become more and more intelligent as I get older, but at the same time they turn into a continuous stream of thinking, analysing, doubting, fearing, making excuses, feeling guilty, feeling ashamed, and all this goes through my head at an incredible speed, completely disconnecting me from the reality around me. Where am I? Who am I?
When I willfully switch to my sensations and the 'existing' reality around me, I feel truly alive and happy. I become really interested in creating without expectations and analysis, creating because I exist, creating because I can, touching what I have already created and transforming it again. Where is the end result and is it important? After all, time is linear, but energy is not.
The series of self-portraits were created in the moment of total commitment to the process, in different periods of time, in different emotional states, but with one aim - to explore myself and what I like, what I feel and how I can express it. I wanted to physically touch, feel and transform the 'result' of photography, which was not final, but intermediate.
I exist. The purpose of my project was to experience the value of being able to create and live. To live the importance of the process itself, not the end result. To accept my 'imperfection' and enjoy the opportunity to be myself. To be free of my own thoughts and expectations. elutsenkoart.mypixieset.com
OF FIRE, FAR SHINING | I am a photographer / multi-media artist based in Asheville, N.C. Using both personal photographs and public domain archival images as raw materials, my work combines various materials and methods (e.g., physical print experimentation, dramatic recomposition, and rephotography) to transform subtle feelings into tangible visual expressions. Rather than adhering to strict themes or concepts, I view each image as part of an ever-evolving landscape that mirrors the shifting contours of my perception and my emotional relationship to the world.
In 2020, a profound personal experience prompted me to reexamine the metaphysical layers of existence, catalyzing a deep dive into mysticism and a fundamental reevaluation of my ontological framework. At the same time, I began to come to grips with the scope of certain devastating realities of life on Earth: the staggering impact of corporate and consumer greed on the environment, the grisly violence perpetuated by the U.S. National Security State and its Military Industrial Complex, and the insidious reach of the repugnant ideologies that sustain these sinister forces.
The images that comprise OF FIRE, FAR SHINING marked my path as I waded through these bewildering experiences and events. While I did not enter the creative space with a predetermined narrative in mind, I am confronted with a sense of anticipation, unease, and foreboding when I view these pieces in retrospect, as if an unseen presence lurks within them, just out of reach, and threatening to emerge at any moment. Ultimately, OF FIRE, FAR SHINING explores what it feels like to be trapped within our highly strange, cataclysmic, and inevitably transformational moment — what Terence McKenna aptly referred to as “the end of history”. A monograph of this work will be published in September 2024. It is currently available for order from Zone. jayoung.work
Beyond| "Beyond" is a photographic project about the deepest corners of rural life. It explores various aspects of the countryside: from ancient houses preserving their history and soul, to portraits of residents who daily work in the fields and practice traditional crafts. Each frame reveals the uniqueness and distinctiveness of the village, its culture, and community. The discussion includes ethical, cultural, and ecological aspects of our coexistence with nature. "Beyond" is a place where time slows down, where nature preserves its wisdom, and people continue to live in harmony with their environment. Allow yourself to discover new perspectives on rural life and immerse yourself in its unique world. It is a true journey into a culture where every event, every object has its own history. "Beyond" points to what lies beyond what we usually see or understand in a village. Its goal is to uncover and analyze the emotions, thoughts, and internal states that may be hidden or not immediately apparent. Rural life is quite closed and stigmatized. Revealing the essence and showing another side, the depth of images is my task. "Beyond" indicates a search for identity and self-definition among village residents. It examines how the village influences personality development and relationships between people, as well as how residents perceive themselves and their surroundings. It serves as a means to explore the cultural and social aspects of village life that usually go unnoticed. Traditions, rituals, ways of life, and community values that form in the shadow of the widely recognized aspects of life.
Our Scattered Parts | This series is about memory and remembering. Plates are figurative of memory mechanism. The parts which appose beside together to make a substance (memory) and some parts are absent sometime. On the other hand plates are memory frangibility and susceptibility indication. Old photographs in the series are selected from family album of common people about 1940 to 1970 in Iran. There was a profession which called “Band-zani” in old Iran until some decades ago, and a person who called “Band-zan” (tinker) repairs broken porcelain or pottery dishes such a plate, bowl, pot , … “Band-zan” usually goes like a tinker from a quarter to another. He makes two tiny holes in both sides of crack or flaw in back of dishes and punch top of two thin and small iron or brass wire inside holes then rubs special glue made from lime and albumen on crack and stick broken parts together. Dishes will be ready again to use after repairing.
Plates had bold and usual presence in ordinary life, either in individual area and personal area is used. The plates which have used in this series all are from sample of usable and popular plates at Iranian house between about 1900 to 1970 that some made in Iran and some from abroad. One of the most well-known plates which had special popularity between Iranian families was called “Gol-e-Sorkhi” (Red flower); its pattern was several red rose and blossoms between green leaves on white background. www.saeedrezvanian.com and www.farzanehradmehr.com
Facade | The problem of the searching or losing of national identity is exacerbated during the war’s and crises periods. Tarusa has been considered for a long time as a power place for the Russian intellectuals who came here in the 19th and 20th centuries. The image of Russia has been created here in painting, prose and poetry for years. What is left now? Facade of empty destroyed houses. Commercial banners with folk ornaments, covering what needs to be carefully hidden from the eyes of tourists.
When a city becomes a museum, the artificially created image of “Russian culture” hides the problems of the present. It becomes an escapism, an attempt to close one’s eyes to reality. The very concept of “Russianness” becomes a construct that the state skillfully manipulates. Walking around Tarusa, I asked myself one question: “Where is the line between imposed, propagandistic and real?” perfilieva.com
“Hause” spiele | The aim of this project is to express through photography the adaptation to new conditions and to a foreign home. The war in Ukraine and the circumstances of today, the loss of home and surroundings, the attempt to adapt to a new place of residence and living conditions, the desire to feel protected and free - all this is happening now and with us. Playing "in the house" It is like penetrating into the living organism of the house through the furniture, walls, floor, as an acceptance of our new changing world with other rules and conditions. At the end of this "game", will we be able to integrate, will we be able to feel this "house" as our home? https://www.instagram.com/natali.agryzkova/
Soapbubble Studies | In *Soapbubble Studies*, I explore the fragility and beauty of nature through the lens of surrealism, using giant soap bubbles as metaphors for the shifting realities of our world. These ethereal, floating bubbles hover in tranquil landscapes, symbolizing the delicate balance between nature’s serenity and the instability of the modern era.
Each bubble represents the fragile yet captivating moments we live in—where climate change looms like an invisible force, threatening to burst the illusion of stability we have long clung to. The fleeting existence of a soap bubble parallels the fragile state of our planet and ecosystems. Just as a bubble can disappear with the slightest breeze, our natural world is at risk of collapse from environmental degradation and climate change. Through this series, I aim to capture the tension between beauty and vulnerability, inviting the viewer to reflect on the consequences of inaction.
Beyond environmental concerns, *Soapbubble Studies* also speaks to the economic and social "bubbles" we navigate—moments of unsustainable growth, rising inequality, and the ever-present uncertainty of global systems. The bubbles floating through serene landscapes are visual reminders of how, in unstable times, reality can shift in an instant. Economic bubbles, much like the ones in these photographs, are temporary and fragile, eventually bursting and reshaping our sense of security. These delicate structures mirror the instability in which we live—caught between the allure of progress and the hidden forces that may upend our lives.
In this body of work, the soap bubbles serve as symbols of transience, echoing the impermanence of both our natural world and societal structures. They remind us that despite the beauty we can create, we must also be mindful of the fragility of the systems we depend on. My hope is that *Soapbubble Studies* serves as a portal for reflection—on nature’s resilience, our collective responsibility toward preserving it, and the precarious nature of the times we live in. www.marliesplank.art
L’Ailleurs | L’Ailleurs (the Elsewhere in french) is what cannot be grasped, the place of my loneliness where emptiness and silence reign. It is a disillusioned escape, anchored in the unconscious. It rarely brings satisfaction because it is the result of a state of isolation, whether it is suffered or imposed, towards the flight from reality.
L’Ailleurs was a nickname I gave to my dream world a few years ago. Out of cowardice and shame, I was silent in front of everybody. My reality had become blurred and my lack of appetite for life was unmentionable. This utopian place is a bitter freedom that poisons and freezes the mind. L’Ailleurs is rooted in me, I painfully get rid of it. It is the abstraction of a space that feeds and creates itself from my fears, my doubts and my sadness. The greater the loneliness is, the wider the Elsewhere becomes.
After surviving a trauma in 2017 that impacted my body and my mind as a young girl, the months that followed turned into years. Time was suspended. I remember very little of my reality during this period. The only images I have left are those of my introspective landscapes and of my body as an empty envelope. I needed to (re)find and to value myself as a young woman to process this painful event. This project allowed me to come back to the transition from the girl I was to the woman I became. https://lenabuehler.com/work
Plume | Plume explores the human quest for meaning in the face of impermanence and existential nihilism. The project was born from a personal realization of the transient nature of life, spurred by the story of my paternal grandfather, Ansu, who passed away when my father was just a baby. Confronted by the impermanence of life at a young age, I began questioning the permanence of all that we hold dear.
The series delves into how individuals reconcile the inevitability of loss with the desire to find beauty and purpose in the present. Through a blend of philosophical, literary, and personal reflections, Plume examines how different cultures and belief systems grapple with these existential questions. The project invites viewers to contemplate the value of their own experiences, even as they recognize that everything, ultimately, fades away. www.jamilfatti.com
Pages | Every page is blank until we start writing our stories. They permeate us, reminding us of our victories, failures and growth
"Pages" emphasizes that every stage in our lives is valuable and invariably important for our development and hardening. This series gives you the opportunity to discover the pages of your own stories and celebrate the significance of your personal experiences.
I want to inspire you to look at your own achievements and feel grateful to yourself for everything you have already lived and overcome along the way. This series promotes inner reflection and understanding that every page of our story is important and valuable. iamsavka.com
Reigning Toward Aries | In ‘Reigning Toward Aries’ Stephanie O’Connor explores the emotional oscillations of impending parenthood through dusk-drenched scenes that she observes safely from the wings. Visions of goats, thick-fleeced rams, and faceless figures haunt deserted parks and dimly-lit stages, presenting a theatre of quiet chaos. Throughout the ages, the constellation Aries has represented a pocket of space rich with stars, symbolising the cardinal sign of the zodiacal ram and elemental fire, and now also corresponding to the predicted astrological sign of her child.
In women, there is an expectation of fertility—of being ripe, red, and fecund. Simultaneously, there is a sense of shame regarding their blood. O’Connor confronts the contradictions of being female, which are entwined with her own ambivalence surrounding an unplanned pregnancy: does her gratitude merely reflect her learned currency regarding worth? Or, like the ram, does it signify new beginnings, strength, determination, and, at the same time, sacrifice? The visual theatre that O’Connor constructs acts as a guide, leading us through these multifaceted confrontations of self and body, never quite landing on a steady foundation. Instead, she invites us to dwell in the dissonances, to allow space for the coexistence of joy and trepidation surrounding a monumental shift in identity. www.stephanieoconnor.co.nz
Johannesburg in Colour | Hi, my name is Arnold Manda (b.1994, Zambia). I am an independent photographer, writer, and consultant based in uMhlanga and Johannesburg, South Africa. I enjoy making and sharing my own prints, and managing my own photography studio. I am a self-taught photographer with a minor background in drawing and painting. I am interested in using photography to explore ideas concerning creative expression and personal heuristic healing methods.
Johannesburg in Colour is an ongoing project of pictures that were made during spring 2019 through spring 2021 in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng, that mark my return to photography and help me to evaluate the conflation and metonymy of person, place, and pain. www.arnoldmanda.com
A Balkan Pray | In a world that every day hopes tomorrow will be better, in a world that remembers, perhaps mistakenly, that the past was better, in a world that is speeding every second now, hope is the only thing that is lasting. I grew up and live in a city of the Balkans, Thessaloniki, Greece, and I see everywhere a nostalgia for the unknown past. For the past of others. In ‘’Balkan Pray’, I’m trying to capture that. Any actions that seek something more than the givens of the time lose their meaning. The resource to a past we did not live in but imagined, the anticipation of a dystopian future. "Balkan Pray" seeks and recalls human's lost love with life.
-Kostis Argyriadis-A.I.
"I just wanted a backpack full of everything necessary for sleeping, shelter, food, cooking, basically a full kitchen and bedroom, right on my back, and to go somewhere, find absolute solitude, study the absolute blank mind, to be completely neutral to any or any ideas. I intended to have, in fact, prayer as my only activity, to pray for all living creatures I saw that this was the only decent activity left in the world.
- Jack Kerouac, from the book ''The Dharma Bums''
"The transformation of Nature from a divine creation into a performance, into a simple content of the senses, into a passive and amorphous material destined to be questioned and submitted to the plastic will of the Spirit, into a spectacle and image, - Heidegger characteristically defines the modern era as the The 'age of the image of the world' leads us to the decidedly modern experience of the gradual stripping of the world of all divine presence.''
- Kostas Papaioannou, The man and his shadow, Alternative Editions publications.
