Growing Pains

26th August 2015 | Alice Taylor

An interesting essay taken from the April 2013 issue of Dazed, as part of the Last Shot archive series:

Israeli-born, NYC-based artist Rona Yefman loves to flirt with the line between reality and fantasy. In the mid-90s her youngest brother Gil became her muse as she embarked on an intimate documentation of his unique adolescence, during a period of struggle and recovery for both of them. Isolating themselves from the conflict zone in which they were raised, the siblings created a private dream-world, fuelled by dress-up and psychological games. As they rejected societal and familial norms, their lives became a real-life version of Jean Cocteau’s infamous tale of sibling love and poison, Les Enfants Terribles. Yefman’s project spans 14 years, and includes an intimate look at Gil’s sexual transformation into life as a female, and his eventual re-transformation back to life as a biological male. A chronological photobook of the images, Let it Bleed, published by Little Big Man soon.

“This picture was taken around 2001 in our garden, while our parents were on vacation. As far as I remember, out of boredom we spontaneously took our clothes off and took naked photos under the grapefruit tree – a favourite spot. The  picture was taken with a cable release – it’s hiding under my feet! 

The project, “Gil and I”, is largely about relationships, inventing oneself in the world, and not accepting reality that you don’t feel you fit in. It’s about the connection and the difficulty of growing up. There’s a lot of confusion when you’re young because you’re not sure exactly what you’re doing or how it will turn out. But I’ve learned from Gil that no matter what you can still dance and play and  be together. We created a fantasy world that actually became the reality of our existence. The camera is really a good tool for learning self awareness, and through taking pictures we were discovering ourselves, creating characters, and telling a story. It was about creating a tension between the image and the viewer. For as much as this project is a personal representation of our lives, it’s also about the viewer’s mind and imagination.

The first images were shot in a tent made of bedsheets, where Gil and I spent much of our time. It was like a womb, the start of our journey. Some of the project was shot when during a time when it was not safe to do what Gil was doing – to live as a woman in public – especially in Israel. But our parents just accepted the way she was and supported her.

I’ve never been sure what it means to be a female – I’ve always resisted the traditional gender roles and aesthetic – so I related to Gil and supported her to fulfill her fantasy. But the transformation process doesn’t happen in one day; you have to live through it. The way Gil put it during an interview that we did then was: , “…It’s a bit like breaking apart everything you’ve been raised on, and everything you’ve understood, to really achieve a state of basic chaos, of not knowing anything, even who you are”…

After a while, Gil decided to make the journey back to living life as a male. Ultimately he told me that the prison of the female body is no different than the prison of the male body. 

As a protagonist Gil is a natural. I feel immense appreciation for his braveness, the greatness of his talent and inspiration, his generous collaboration and his endless support. Thanks to our close relationship and continuing dialogue all those years, we managed to do this work. Today, through his life and work as an artist, Gil continues to search for ways to live life outside of this prison.”

Via: Dazed

Reality Project

26th June 2015 | Alice Taylor

Some beautiful photographs from the Reality Project, a project by Alma Photos who promote natural, real life beauty and celebrate the variety of the human form.

Here are some self-portraits taken in a photo booth at Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, 2014.

See the full selection here.

Via: Reality Project

Quite Lovely

1st May 2015 | Alice Taylor

Photography by James Wigger in Quite Lovely, the second issue of the The Quite Delightful Project’s luxury erotic magazine.

To see the full essay, pre-order a copy of the magazine; which, along with its accompanying publications, you can enjoy a pre-publication discount if you order online (which you can do here).

Maurice Beck

24th March 2015 | Alice Taylor

Maurice Beck (1886 – 1960) was a photographer and designer. During the 1920s he was head photographer, along with Helen MacGregor, for British Vogue and created a number of photographic magazine covers.

Beck and MacGregor worked together in a studio in Marylebone. There was something nonchalant about the lack of direction or rules with which they placed their lights: their haphazard effect often caused shadows with which other more professional photographers would have probably dispensed. However, their results were often notable.

Via: La Petite Melancolie  & National Portrait Gallery

The Full Body Project by Leonard Nimoy

2nd March 2015 | Alice Taylor

Leonard Nimoy, who died Friday at the age of 83, was known by fans for his iconic character in Star Trek, Mr. Spock.

Those fans may not have known that Nimoy was also a photographer who championed full-figured women.

Via Mashable:

In 2007, Nimoy published The Full Body Project, a collection of photos featuring nude women of many shapes and sizes.

Nimoy’s previous book of photographs captured images of nude women as well, though the models’ slim bodies hewed closely to the conventional standards of beauty.

The inspiration for The Full Body Project struck when a full-figured woman approached Nimoy and asked if he might photograph her and her friends.

Natalie Angier, an author who wrote the introduction to The Full Body Project, told Mashable that Nimoy was deeply troubled upon hearing that most women felt some degree of body shame.

“It really disturbed him that women who considered themselves overweight had this terrible feeling about themselves,” Angier said. “He wanted to show the world that there’s beauty to be found in different body types.”

Nimoy’s images portrayed the women as powerful and engaging, qualities that moved Angier.

“I admire the way he presented the women as standing there looking the viewer full in the face,” she said. “Saying look at me — I’m entitled to stand here and present myself to the world. I don’t have to be ashamed and cower in the corner.”

Despite Nimoy’s efforts, Angier said that the book did not find a broad audience.

“It was too bad, because I think it was a good idea,” she said. “He considered this as a mission, that he thinks women should feel good about themselves and their bodies.”

Via: Mashable

Leonard Nimoy, we Vulcan Salute you.

Jan Saudek

24th January 2015 | Alice Taylor

Today I came across the work of Jan Saudek, a Czech art photographer and painter who has been image making for over sixty years. He has a distinctive painterly style to his work and covers a wide and sometimes controversial subject matter. His chronological portfolio of work can be seen here.

Some interesting Wiki information on Jan:

His early art photography is noted for its evocation of childhood. Later his works often portrayed the evolution from child to adult (re-photographing the same composition/pose, and with the same subjects, over many years). Religious motives or the ambiguity between man and woman have also been some of Jan Saudek’s recurring themes. His work was the subject of attempts at censorship in the West during the 1990s.

I have found these images from various sources on Tumblr.

Araki

23rd January 2015 | Alice Taylor

Following the little Twitter conversation on Tuesday evening, we’re added some blog posts to highlight the photographers that our followers admire most as erotic photographers.

The Quite Delightful blog has quite an affection for Nobuyoshi Araki. This is one of Dee Elegia‘s favourite erotic photographers. Dee tweeted the first image on the right, and we’ve added some more striking examples below.

“ Araki. One of the few who has mastered all mediums. Plus, the best artists are always cat people.” – @iamelegia

Via: Pinterest, Live Auctioneers, The English Group,

Zbigniew Łagocki

6th October 2014 | Simone Aagaard

Just a few examples of the work of Polish Architect and photographer Zbigniew Łagocki.

He took photographs all his life, set up solo and group exhibitions and entered photografic contests. During the International Biennal Art Exhibition in Sao Paulo in Brasil Łagocki was awarded gold medal for the photographic series “Aerotica”. In 1968 he was an organizer, inviting Zbigniew Dłubak as his collaborator, of the famed exhibition of Polish Subjective Photography.

Via APA