Guide to Unique photography

When you hear, as a young photographer, “You’ve got an eye”, and you know the person speaking posesses taste and knowledge, then it just might be that you’ve got it: talent.

Dark, little romantic picture stories. That is what Annick Ligtermoet (1983, Putten) gives us. The photo’s, on first sight, cause you to falter; what am I actually looking at? The subjects and colours seem mismatched, transported in time. This feeling is heightened by the bygone charisma of the photos, as if they’ve been retrieved from an old, dusty shoebox. This is Annick’s working style, to steer away from reality but still remain personal. Annick graduates this year from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague and has been selected for the prestigious photo festival Recontres de la photo d’Arles (July 7-13, France) for her series ‘The Photos on my Wall’.

Popel Coumou builds two-dimensional collages from paper, carton, fabric and clay, creating the illusion of space by clever use of perspectives and lighting. The end results are deceptively realistic and beautifully dressed miniature room sets, that seem like they are sheltering hidden secrets

Graduating is like brooding and hatching an egg, something quite unique you don’t do every day. You strive long and hard towards your goal and suddenly you’re on the street with the fruits of your labour. And then what? You stand there and realize that earning money as a professional photographer is not going to be easy. They didn’t mention that at school.The first year after the academy is the hardest, you have to prove yourself, and fall on your face before you can get up again. There are not many photographers who can call themselves professional after that year, who depend solely on photography to support themselves. We found four such rare graduates and didn’t want to keep them from you..

Imagine and fantasize. That is what you are compelled to do on seeing her work. For Sofie van Dam (1983, Bruchem) photography is not only about registering what you do see, but also what you don’t. It’s about contemplating content and composition to ultimately bring your own thoughts into being in the photograph. Seen or not (as the case may be), she always attempts to conjure up a thrilling image that calls on the imagination of the viewer. Sofie graduated last year from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague.

Audrey Corregan (1982, Vauciuse, France) never completed her course at the Amsterdam Gerrit Rietveld Academy. But, if she hadn’t stopped last year, we reckon she would have passed with flying colours this year. Before The Rietveld she studied photography in Vevy, Switzerland, but at both academies she felt she was not growing. When she unexpectedly won the jury prize at the prestigious International Festival of Fashion and Photography for her series ‘Obviously’ last April, she could no longer be overlooked. We reckon her series ‘John’ is well solid.

Isabella Rozendaal (1983, Amsterdam) graduated from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague last year. In spite of the fact she majored in fashion and advertising, she chose to research the similarity between people and animals for her thesis and the accompanying photoseries. The photoseries is already published in the successful book ‘On Loving Animals’. In the last year, Isabella has proved her worth as a professional photographer with publications in magazines and for well-known clients. Earlier you saw her website in our section BKMRKS (GUP #12) and now we offer you an overview of her work.

Masha Osipova was born in Moscow and lived there until the age of 11. She then moved to Amsterdam with her mother, brothers and sisters. Her memories of her Russian youth remained buoyant and, for her graduate project for the Photo Academy, she decided to travel to the Russian city of Kolchugino. Kolchugino is a typical Russian town about 100 kilometers North of Moscow, where her mother grew up. Masha’s 82 year old aunt Shura, is her only living relative still there. Shura is not only old, but almost blind and practically deaf. She was never married or had children and all of her brothers and sisters have passed away. For Masha her aunt is a symbol of unconditional love, perseverance and hope, synonymous with the Russian spirit.

With ‘Mental’ Rikard gives artistic commentary about the time he lives in. He shot the images throughout Europe on T-Max 100-400 and Fujicolor Superia 100-400 film. Rikard began photographing eight years ago, never having taken a course. He is completely self-taught and a photographer with his own unique style. Currently he’s working on ‘Steel/work/city’, a series on show from 11 October until 30 November in Gallery O in Oxelösund, Sweden.

Not so much about the image of sex in public spaces as it is about the men that are so entranced by the delirious abandonment of others. It definitely has an animalistic quality about it. Kohei Yoshiyuki frequented three parks in Tokyo in the early 70’s to shoot scenes of homosexual and heterosexual meeting places. Like a predator he pursued his prey in this ‘garden of lust’. He was able to shoot these voyeuristic images from close range using a flash and infared film. If you look long enough you too, become a voyeur. Including an interview with Nobuyoshi Araki.