invited guest: Yola Monakhov (part one)

Since I have been a photographer, I have been consistently drawn to Russia. It has a personal connection for me, in that, not only am I also a Russian, but in that the debate about Russia’s past and ongoing present frames my understanding of my subjectivity and relationship to history.













I am of the school that says that not only is everything in Russia political, but everything in the world is political. There is always political content in any piece of information, whether image or a text, and, of course, the history of art is replete with examples of images whose meaning is couched in the political exigencies of their time, ie: the Renaissance.








So I do not think about extricating my work from politics. On the other hand, I do not wish to be didactic. If I thought I could offer a critique or commentary about the political situation in Russia in a well-articulated essay, I would certainly do that. Instead, I make pictures that I hope will pose questions.

Text and pictures by ©Yola Monakhov (courtesy of Sasha Wolf Gallery)
(invited by ulf fågelhammar)
For more by Yola: www.sashawolf.com and www.yolamonakhov.com

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DOCU-08 (1)

date: 5.01.08

place: The Hot Water, Varna, Bulgaria

note: -12C

photographer: Christo Stankulov

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Trees (38)

photographer: Jacek Gąsiorowski

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Photographer: Gyula Fazakas

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Photographer: Virginia Ascione

Face to Face (28)

photographer: Marcin Górski

Bird

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photographer: Jacek Gąsiorowski

Trees (37)

photographer: Christo Stankulov

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sao sebastiao, brazil, december 2007
photographer: Marcin Górski

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Östra Nordstan (ÖN) summer 1970
Photographer: Per-Arne Andersson

looking for the roots of photography

“The treasure of images from the early years of the 21st century is in jeopardy, caused by heavy digital manipulation and Pictorialist trends. The classic photographic image is not dead but it is suffering badly. Digital illustration with photo-realistic 3D illustration and visualisation etc. is a direct threat to the photographic image.”

Well, these are harsh words from the founders of the group Dogma-07. They are Bengt Björkbom (you know him already from The F Blog) and Johan Ericson.

"Dogma-07", is looking for the roots of Photography. The focus is the image, not the technique. To upload pictures to this site (a section of the Swedish Fotosidan), there are some tough rules. For example:

-You may not use a flash, or any equipment that reflects the light. Only available light is permitted.
-No tripod
-Only one brand of film or one setting for digital cameras, Colour OR Black and White is allowed.
-Only basic settings in the digital camera and only one lens (for example 50mm) if it is a zoom lens you must use a single focal length. You may only use lenses with a maximum focal length of 90mm
-No cropping after exposure.
-No manipulation in Photoshop or hocus-pocus in the dark room. You may adjust contrast and colour balance but only in order to make the picture look like you remember it from the moment of exposure. Dust and dead pixels may also be removed.


You must declare what camera etc you will use for pictures to the Dogma-07 site. Here are some examples:

1. Ricoh GR-Digital II, image format 2:3
2. Equivalent to 28mm
3a. Colour (S-RGB)
3b. ISO 200
3c. Colour depth=normal, sharpness=0, contrast=normal

1. Nikon Fe
2 Nikkor 50/1.8
3. Kodak Tri-X film and D-76 developer

1.Pentax MZS
2.Pentax FA 35mm f/2 AL
3.Ilford HP5 film+ D-76 developer

So why not have a look at some Dogma-07 pictures? You will find them here. It´s a brave project and I will certainly keep an eye on their progress. /Ulf
Pictures by ©Bengt Björkbom

Trees (36)

photographer: Per-Arne Andersson

Trees (35)

photographer: Ulf Fågelhammar

Do You still live there..?

1976

Trees (34)

Photographer: Tatiana Bitir

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Photographer: Walter Neiger

Trees (33)

There is no insurmountable solitude. All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence, in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance and sing our sorrowful song - but in this dance or in this song there are fulfilled the most ancient rites of our conscience in the awareness of being human and of believing in a common destiny. Pablo Neruda (1904 - 1973)

photographer: Rhonda Prince

Trees (32)

"Tree on wall - Tommarp. Sweden 2007."
Photographer: Nils Bergqvist

Trees (31)

photographer: Łukasz Kuś

Face to Face (23) for Jeanne

Jeanne, nothing can stop you now!

with my private wishes to you Jeanne...

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Photographer: Mikaela Lundin

nuevo

Could it be ...?

Invited guest: Nadia Baram (part two)

The second part by our guest Nadia Baram is in black and white. I like the entire collection a lot, but there are two pictures that have hypnotized me. Yes, the one above...and the third one in this post with a balloon on the floor. Fantastic. Thanks for being with us Nadia and we hope to hear from you again. /Ulf




































All pictures © Nadia Baram

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Photographer: Łukasz Kuś