LIVED SPACES Ryan Dodd's project about 'lived' spaces is designed to pose questions...What happens on these streets? What happens inside these homes? LIVED SPACES March 22, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Ryan Dodd INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Every day, all around the world, billions of people are living their lives without us ever noticing. Photographer Ryan Dodd has set out to capture these overlooked moments and to tell the stories of the unseen inhabitants in a series of photographs. Unlike many photographers, Ryan chooses not to impose his presence but instead allows the moment to unfold in front of him naturally. His photos aim to make us ask questions: what happens on these streets? What happens inside these homes? Through his thoughtful observations, Ryan focuses on the small details that are so often overlooked in our everyday lives. Capturing these fleeting moments, he hopes to bring attention to the people living within these ‘lived’ spaces, allowing the audience to discover something new and to appreciate the beauty in the ordinary. Join us as we explore the captivating work of Ryan Dodd and his ongoing project about 'lived' spaces. “I am interested in the urban places where most people live. I find that there is a kind of energy to those areas that draws me in. In England, these city spaces can look similar, but I find there’s a lot to observe if you take your time. Right now I’m finding plenty to interest me locally.” IN CONVERSATION WITH RYAN DODD THE PICTORIAL LIST: Ryan please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? RYAN DODD: I was born in the South of England, where I still live. Photography wasn’t the first medium I engaged with creatively, I actually have a background as a graphic artist. Nearly ten years ago I had a graphic novel published. At some point I found that drawing was too slow and could no longer do what I wanted. So I pretty much quit doing that. I picked up a camera one day and decided why not, what could there be to lose in trying it? I liked the way it felt to take photographs so I’ve continued it ever since. I still do sketches sometimes but it’s extremely sporadic. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration? RD: I draw my inspiration from what I discover out in the field. TPL: What is it that you enjoy about 'banal' photography? What happens when you walk the streets with your camera? Explain your technique? Have you ever had a negative encounter? RD: I take inspiration from the spaces and objects I encounter when I am out taking photographs. Essentially I spot something that I want to investigate further with the camera. If the area is busy I’ll walk around the block until it isn’t. Sometimes the area is fenced off and I have to find some way to get creative about getting the photograph. Or I’ll come back and explore the same area taking a slightly different route. Quietly observing and waiting for something to reveal itself to me is at the heart of my process. I can recall a somewhat funny negative encounter. I was photographing an aerial on top of the roof of a house. I thought the way the wispy clouds in the sky framed this object was kind of interesting. Anyway, the owner of the house didn’t take kindly to me standing there taking photographs, and opened a window up ready to shout at me. I explained that I was an artist and that I was just capturing the thing on their roof against the sky, and they actually seemed quite pleased after that. TPL: When you go out photographing, do you have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just 'come to you', or is it both? RD: I sometimes go out with a plan, having thought about some aspect of a photograph I have taken or seen, or some idea that I want to be able to convey using the medium. But once I’m out in the field, no matter what my plan was, something else always presents itself to me and I have to go with it. TPL: Do you have a favourite quote, lyric or saying that especially resonates with you? RD: I’ve been a fan of Slavoj Žižek for a while. Admittedly some of his writing is borderline impenetrable. But unlike a lot of academics of his standing he has a very cheeky sense of humour which makes him much more relatable and entertaining to listen too. I’ve liked the notion that ideology guides or constrains so much of our thinking and Žižek has a pretty humorous allegory for this. “I already am eating from the trash can all the time. The name of this trash can is ideology. The material force of ideology makes me not see what I am effectively eating.” - Slavoj Žižek Žižek mentions this in an analysis of John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’, which just so happens to be one of my favourite movie directors and films from my teen years. It’s in this same piece of analysis that Žižek talks about “pure ideology”. Which is probably what he is most known for in terms of internet memes. I like the idea that something can be revealed through a photograph that otherwise you wouldn’t have thought of or even noticed. Where possible I like to incorporate chance and the accidental into my work. TPL: What has been the best advice you have ever received in photography? RD: I went to meet with a mentor at the Aspex Gallery to discuss my work. It was suggested to me that I take a look at William Eggleston and Martin Parr’s photography. I had come across their work before but had never owned any of their books. I started to seriously invest in photography books after that. I had studied for a Bachelor degree in Web Science at the University of Southampton before, and it was suggested in this same meeting that I go on to pursue a Master’s degree in Photography. That is what I’m currently studying. TPL: Does the equipment you use help you in achieving your vision in your photography? What camera do you use? Do you have a preferred lens/focal length? RD: My approach relies on the technological limits of the camera not restricting my ability to respond spontaneously. So the camera will inevitably get in the way at times, and of course light conditions are always a factor. I have used a rather outdated Pentax K-x DSLR that I find can add in some rather interesting grain and grittiness to some photographs. But I’ve also had the chance to use a Nikon D3400, a Fujifilm XF100, and a Canon EOS 5DS. An 18-55mm, or 24-70mm lens has been my favourite for the ability to quickly switch between different compositional possibilities. There is also something to be said to restricting yourself by using a fixed 23mm lens as was the case with the Fujifilm I used. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? RD: Eggleston’s work helped give a feeling that what I was doing in photographing mundane, everyday scenes had some purpose behind it, even If I couldn’t understand what exactly that was. I look outside of photography as well, some of my favourite artists are Emil Nolde, Pieter Bruegel, Maurice Utrillo, and Tom Roberts. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? What are some of your goals as an artist? Where do you see yourself or hope to see yourself in five years? RD: I’m right in the middle of putting together a body of work in the banal genre, building it, refining it. I’m hoping to find the right space for it once it’s finished but there is still a little way to go. And eventually putting together a photography book of my own. When it comes to the specifics of how to reach these goals, I don’t tend to think as far into the future as five years. I feel it’s a distraction to think beyond exactly what I’m trying to do right now. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… RD: I’m constantly thinking about ideas. I’ve had the opportunity to engage with some of these ideas in my Master’s degree. I also enjoy walking and daydreaming. In my down time I enjoy watching slightly outdated cheesy TV dramas like ‘Lost Girl’. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.

18 >> 20 Elsa Arrais composed a simultaneously artistic, emotional, poetic and imagery portrait of her city in a predetermined period of time. 18 >> 20 October 18, 2023 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Elsa Arrais INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Elsa Arrais is a photographer living and creating impressive work in Leiria, Portugal. Born in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Elsa has become a beautiful thread in the tapestry of Portugal. With a background in Engineering, her attraction to visual arts emerged almost imperceptibly and gradually photography became her means of expression and artistic object. Elsa is married and the mother of two beautiful children, living and being inspired by the intricacies of the city of Leiria. Here Elsa has forged a path for her photography by embracing the artists and writers that bring life and character to Leiria in new and exciting ways. In 2021 began an important journey in photography contributing to the collaborative group Fotographar Palavras, and becoming an integral part of their project. Fotographar Palavras is a group founded by Paulo Kellerman, that combines the talent of writers and photographers, engaging them to collaborate on translating words into photography. Elsa shares her inspiration. “Since 2021, I have contributed to the Fotografar Palavras project, where I often search the self-portrait for the defining elements of meaning. With a predilection for minimalist black and white, my visual exploration is guided by local and temporal ephemera, transforming the peculiarities of the details that I find, in the streets I wander, into brief windows, fragments or reflections of memories and personal essences.” Despite all these years living in Leiria, Elsa never felt a real connection with the city. As a mother of two children, it can be hard to find time to call your own, to focus on what inspires you as an artist, and to commit to making the time to create work. These disconnections became the motivation for the photographic base concept of this project ‘18>>20’, which was conceived to embrace these challenges, and create meaningful work. Elsa shares the creative and critical thinking processes that helped her breathe life into her project and give it a powerful direction. “This project emerged with the intention of connecting me with the city and naturally with myself. The use of a 28mm lens served to reinforce this aim of proximity and intimacy with the city, both metaphorically and technically. From this reflection of my relationship with the city, capturing both details and subtleties as well as the city's identity marks, at the end of this project I came across a series of images that subtly lead to a city-shelter. This theme ended up being as personal as it was universal and will therefore serve as the basis for a cycle of reflective conversations developed in partnership with the municipality of Leiria, publisher of the book.” With critical thoughts and ideologies in place, the creative process becomes the focus. Elsa was driven to make the commitment to create this work in a meaningful way. “During one year, always at the same time of the day (between 18 and 20 o’clock), I wandered around the city and photographed Leiria freely. I created a collection of hundreds of images, composing a subtle and emotional portrait of the city, capturing details and subtleties, permanence and mutations, the subtle identity marks that define the soul of constructions and nature, of spaces, of people. From each weekly selected photograph by Paulo Kellerman, he created a brief text (amalgamation of fiction, philosophical reflection and poetic narrative) that offers new possibilities of reading for those images. The aim of this collaborative work (52 weeks, 52 photos, 52 texts) was to compose a simultaneously artistic, emotional, poetic and imagery portrait of the city in a predetermined period of time, in an intimate relationship between emotion and reflection, urbanism and privacy, collective and individual, space and time, image and word.” One can make a significant statement through their personal work, while sometimes the power can be amplified by combining artistic energy and vision from another artist to create an entity larger than oneself. This was the dynamic and inspiration for both artists to produce this relevant work together. Elsa explains the relationship between her and Paulo Kellerman, and how effective they have become at exchanging artistic concepts and visions through photography and word. “Fascinated by the various readings, interpretations and meanings that are normally attributed to my photographs by observers, already collaborating at the time in a project that combines literature and photography and being an avid supporter of multidisciplinary and interconnection of various artistic expressions, the partnership with the local writer Paulo Kellerman came naturally. Mutual respect and trust in individual works allowed us both to be free in the process of creating images and texts. And it was from this freedom, trust, interconnection of interpretations, individual complicities with the city and complicities between photographer and writer that a new vision as collective as personal was born, created week after week. This process culminated in the publication of a book where growth and discoveries are shared.” Paulo Kellerman shares his experience collaborating with Elsa on this project together. “The project 18 » 20 was an amazing creative experience, based on the complicity between writer and photographer. We had time for this project, and that was very important to us: to have the opportunity to think about and discuss the project, to experiment, to see how it slowly materialized. Elsa is very enthusiastic, very determined, very challenging, very cooperative, very generous; it was an enormous pleasure to work with her and I think it shows in the book. I'm very proud of the work we achieved and also of the way we did it, the process in itself. It was a perfect example of co-creation: sharing and creating together, harmonizing points of views and aesthetics, learning with the other, putting the best of each one in the pursuit of a common goal.” Elsa has created new pathways she follows through the streets of Leiria with her photography. She has embraced a philosophy and vision that inspires her to utilize photography in meaningful ways to create important work. As an artist and photographer, she works with clear vision, and an open mind to learn more and to be influenced in creating new ways of seeing and understanding the world around her. “We exist in a present where photography is as accessible as it is conditioned. Accessible to everyone at the touch of a cell phone but restricted in many contexts to those who want to use it in the shared space as a form of artistic expression. Based on this dichotomy, Elsa Arrais searches in the commonplace of everyday life for a voice that many times echoes beyond the expressiveness of a face; her search for notable physical expressions, as well as places' identity details, seeks to establish words capable of awakening emotions and imaginary (and imagery) interpretations in external observers, usually keeping the identity and intimacy of those portrayed intact. The result of this balance between technique, emotion and delicacy is the creation of an ambivalent language dictionary, as complex as it is simple, which oscillates between light and shadow, geometry and emptiness, being and its outer contour, the concrete and distortion; between what remains immutable and what continues under construction; between freedom and repression. As an existential metaphor, this dictionary continues its quest for permanent growth and mutation, in the hope that one day it will become extinct or transformed into a grammar that, complete in itself, forms part of the universal language of images of the present in which we exist. The present where photography is as accessible as it is conditioned, and therefore needs dictionaries.” The Pictorial List asked Elsa some questions about her as a photographer, and co-creator of project and book ‘18>>20’. “I truly aim for the viewer to be drawn into the city of Leiria and walk in it, along with us, having a temporal journey and identifying the subtleties we came across during the one year. I wish this work can make them question their own relationship with this city and with their home cities. And also hope that, amplified by Paulo Kellerman’s words, the viewer can get carried away by imagination and create their own stories and interpretations around the shared pictures projecting this skill to others' photos.” IN CONVERSATION WITH ELSA ARRAIS THE PICTORIAL LIST: Hello Elsa, thank you for your insight into your inspiring project. Tell our readers a little about yourself and the important role that photography has come to play in your life. ELSA ARRAIS: I come from a typical middle class Portuguese family. For as long as I can remember, photography has always been present in our lives. In my parents' house I could always find framed photographs on dressers and walls. I remember my father showing photo-slides of significant family moments, seeing organized family photo albums and, later, seeing my brother experimenting with slow shutter speed or printing his photographs in an improvised darkroom at my parents' house basement. I was about sixteen years old when my brother gave me my first camera, a film point and shoot, easy to use but with a significant dimension in my ability to immortalize moments. I suppose I've always had a part of me connected to the visual aspect of the world around me, but at that time I still couldn't recognize it. This legacy of keeping significant moments in the form of photography continued to accompany me over the years and with the birth of my first daughter it was amplified, challenging me to explore and improve the photographic technique. With the arrival of Covid-19, and with it the first lockdown, the impossibility of visiting my parents and them going out led me to document the small hygienic walks, with the aim of bringing them a little of the beauty of a world they were prevented from seeing. In the beginning, they were photographs of small details that captured my attention, but as people returned to their daily routines, I began to become interested in including the human figure in my images, finally discovering my interest in street photography. On this trip I met extraordinary people with common interests, who helped me shape the artistic path I have been following. Today I can no longer imagine going out without a camera and, although there are many moments when I go out objectively to photograph for projects, it is still in the most unexpected moments that I manage to see and find the most special images. TPL: How hard was it to devote a commitment of time to balance your creative work in photography and your love for your family and the unsurmountable work that can be 24/7. Do you think it is essential for women, or men that care for their families to make this time for themselves, and if so, why? EA: It is definitely essential for anyone to have the possibility of using time for themselves in order to maintain an inner balance that allows them to remain persistent, tolerant and kind towards those around them on a daily basis. On a personal note, it was precisely photography that allowed me to balance both worlds, hiding behind the camera and using it as a physical and emotional barrier to create brief moments of detachment from family routines, even while within them. TPL: How have you grown as a person from these two hours a day, as a photographer, as a mother, as a citizen of your community? How has your family grown from this experience? When I walk through the streets of the city of Leiria, I finally feel the sensation of knowing every corner and alleys. The streets now have names, images, many stories and questions associated with them. The city is no longer just a city, it has become mine, both through the moments spent there and through seeing and reviewing the images collected and the texts created by Paulo Kellerman for them. I now understand that to have a sense of belonging, even in the case of a city, personal openness and genuine dedication are necessary. In Portugal, the time range in which we developed the 18 » 20 project includes approximately seventy percent of the year twilight or night light, which means that as a photographer I was able to widely explore low-light environments. The fact that Leiria is a relatively small city forced me to pay extra attention in order to obtain original perspectives and images week after week, making it a demanding exercise that cuts across all my photographic explorations. I often jokingly say that eighty percent of my photographs were taken with someone saying they are hungry, thirsty or need to go to the bathroom, as my children often accompany me on my photographic explorations. This project was no exception. Even so, it was never an impediment to facing it with dedication and rigor, quite the contrary, it proved to be an exercise of patience and joint growth. They were part of my vision, sometimes within the photographs, sometimes forcing me to see what my adult vision often doesn't see. My children are also co-authors of the look that is reflected in the images I produce. Deeply grateful for their precious help, when I make these forays into the life of the city, I also hope to illuminate the path to the possibilities of personal expression and forms of artistic contribution to the community. Despite the reflection on my relationship with the city being something personal ended up proving to be universal. The municipality's interest in holding a cycle of conversations on the topic of Leiria city-shelter is clear evidence of the impact that this work had on the city management responsible and that it will certainly continue to happen on the Leiria community. TPL: Since your work on this project, have you made connections to communities you did not have before, if so, explain what they are and the value or difference they have made in the way you engage your community now. EA: Regardless of having connected myself to the city itself, being a shy person, I still feel that I haven't connected myself to the humans of Leiria community. Hopefully it may happen within the cycle of conversations. Despite this, it has led me to get involved in several different projects, where I have been using all the growing know-how from this project and making me take a next step into the photography world by talking and getting to know the local people. TPL: Can you tell our readers what collaboration and working on projects have done for you, and the importance of setting goals, and committing to achieving them. EA: For me, working on both individual and collective projects is a process of permanent learning. I always try to work on something meaningful, so it becomes intuitive to maintain focus and motivation, and the work flows naturally, especially on long-term projects. Challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone is also something I try to do with each project. This helps me to continue studying and exploring more about photographic techniques, other arts, places and people. When I deliberately challenge myself, I know I'm going to do something I've never done before, I overcome my mental barriers and technical knowledge, which usually results in truly rewarding meaningful images. Working objectively for projects, whether individual or collective, also helps me to establish visual priorities when I go out and to be methodical about categorizing the photographs that I regularly add to my image collection. However, for a project to come to fruition, a certain degree of commitment is always necessary, and the first step is to clearly establish the objectives and methodology. Nevertheless, the biggest benefit I derive from involvement in all projects is undoubtedly personal. They have been a beautiful way to rediscover myself and meet other people. 18 » 20 is a clear example of this and would not have been possible without the complicity created with Paulo Kellerman. Despite the reflection on my relationship with the city being something personal ended up proving to be universal. TPL: What is some advice you can share about working on projects, and working with other people? What are some of the challenges you have come across, and how did you address them? EA: As I mentioned previously, I like to see each project as a learning process. Coming from the science field, I am always aware that the mutation and evolution of objectives throughout the implementation of a project is part of the process. This is essential for work with more significant and better results but, above all, for us to be able to be motivated. From my experience, in transdisciplinary collective projects it is important to maintain flexible thinking, without too preconceived ideas so that we are open to new perspectives and able to adjust to the ideas that emerge from the collaborative environment. This flexibility helps us learn more from individual shares, creating the right environment so that everyone can be surprised by the best of their contribution. The biggest challenge I faced in collective projects was managing individual expectations. This happens mainly in projects that involve several people with equal decision-making power, which is why I emphasize the need not to idealize something too personal and concrete when joining a work group. As an example, I can mention a project in which I participate, and which involves thirteen people. Managing expectations regarding the materialization of the project has been somewhat delicate and the solution we found to speed up decisions was to work in an open manner, where the choices approved by the majority of participants are in force. It's not the perfect solution but it's respected by the entire group, and it works. TPL: If you could work with any photographer for a day, from any time period, who would that be and why? What would you want to learn from them? What would you like to share with them? EA: The history of photography is full of interesting people, with whom I would love to share a day with, so it is very difficult to answer this question in a few words. Having to choose, I will opt for some of the classics and first of all I have to say Josef Koudelka. I am fascinated by his images, by the intimate relationship he managed to create with the gypsy community, by the peculiar relationship he shows with architectural aspects, by the mix of rawness and poetry he achieves in each photograph, by his simpler and complex compositions. I would love to spend a day with Saul Leiter, in a way his magnificent compositions show a certain shyness, with which I particularly identify myself, giving them a touch of intimacy in both his color and black and white work. André Kertész would also be one of those chosen, as I really like the way he used distortions to create surrealist images, decontextualized objects and used small surprise elements in his compositions. The use of small format prints also makes all your work special. As we are speaking of the Masters of Photography, I am positive that if it would be possible, I would rather learn than share. TPL: You are heavily influenced by the written word, what are some of your favorite authors, what inspires you in their words? EA: I confess that a great influence on my way of observing comes from the fact that I am an avid consumer of children's literature. Over the last twelve years I have spent a lot of time collecting and reading stories with my children by authors such as Leo Lionni, Hervé Tullet, Oliver Jeffers, Eric Carle, Jimmy Liao or Ana Juan. In these illustrated books the dynamics of composition, light and color serve a text, often very graphical and minimal. On a page, an image and a sentence, sometimes just a word, sometimes just the image, say it all. And it is in this world of saying a lot with little that I move with my camera and try to portray life. Naturally, it is inevitable to talk about the written word and not think about Fotografar Palavras, as it is a project that keeps me connected with the most diverse authors and the most diverse literary expressions. Being mostly made up of Portuguese authors, Fotografar Palavras, in the form of its founder and coordinator Paulo Kellerman, permanently challenges me to give new meanings to my photographs or create unique images with the aim of significantly filling each line presented to me. Once this process begins, for me, any author or phrase can be the target of inspiration and it is extremely rewarding when the perfect words are found to describe an image and vice versa. TPL: Do you have any new projects you are working on that you can share with us? What is their inspiration? EA: I currently have several projects underway. Mostly collaborative and multidisciplinary, in general they encompass themes that I particularly identify with, such as different areas of artistic expression and relationships between people and spaces. For example, in one of the collaborative projects we are exploring critical areas of environmental value. With a theme that is both current and future, it is perhaps one of the most challenging projects I am involved in at the moment. TPL: Where do you see Elsa Arrais in the next five years, what do you hope to achieve, are there any long-term goals? EA: My path in photography has been very natural and spontaneous. My goals have come to life as opportunities arise, and I like that. But in general, I hope to continue meeting interesting and generous people who I can establish new bridges with, challenge myself, share work and complicities, continue to learn and carry out work with its own identity, interesting and meaningful. TPL: When you are not conquering Leiria with your camera, what would we find you enjoying? EA: When I'm not photographing you can find me playing with my children, dissecting photography books, visiting museums and art galleries (especially with my eldest daughter), listening to music, discovering new places and exploring old places. PORTFOLIO INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.

NEW REALITIES IN VISUAL POETRY Enter Monika Jurga's surreal world, and find out how and ultimately why she creates these fantastical photographic images where her imagination will become your reality. NEW REALITIES IN VISUAL POETRY March 31, 2023 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Monika Jurga INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Monika Jurga is from Poland, living in different areas, from East to West, while residing for a while in the capital, Warsaw. Monika does not work as a professional photographer, giving her the freedom to explore the photographic world in her own artistic ways. She creates uninhibited by the pressures of producing her work for anyone but herself. She is not burdened with photographic equipment, and often her phone is the catalyst for capturing what is in her mind's eye. Monika’s images are playful, toying with exaggerated surreal elements, juxtaposed to photographic visual clues based in reality. She ignites the imagination, asking the viewer to embrace the bizarre, captivating them to enter her world, where the traces of reality are blurred and fantasy becomes the new reality. Monika is a visual storyteller, who finds unique ways of defining the world around her, where anything she can imagine becomes the inspiration that drives her work. She has been described as a “Visual Poetess” translating her imagery into poetic prose. We have the pleasure of presenting the work of Monika Jurga. Enter her surreal world, and find out how and ultimately why she creates these fantastical photographic images where her imagination will become your reality. “Telling stories is what is important to me, because I think to myself that one life is not enough, so I live my life in my stories. When people say that they find themselves in my stories, that they are their stories too, it makes me very happy.” IN CONVERSATION WITH MONIKA JURGA THE PICTORIAL LIST: Hello Monika, please tell us about yourself. MONIKA JURGA: I am from Poland. I do not do photography professionally. Sometimes what I do can hardly be called photography at all. Even my camera is not a camera “Sensu Stricto”, because it is mostly just a cell phone. All that I do is just a hobby. The nicest and most beloved hobby in the world! TPL: What would you say first drew you to photography? What is it about the medium that supports your work? MJ: I grew up in a house full of art. An artist dad and a mom, a woman full of imagination. I was surrounded by paintings, drawings, lots of albums and books on art. My two uncles had photographic ateliers, my aunt meticulously documented my childhood on slides, and my mother developed color films herself in a small bathroom. Something must have grown out of that. I got my first camera when I was 8, but to be honest, I wasn't attracted to it then. I'm not sure what exactly attracted me to photography but I think it was my inability to draw combined with the desire to express myself and show my world...and that's how it started. TPL: How would you describe your photography, and what would you say you are always trying to achieve artistically? MJ: I find it difficult to describe my photographs. Each work is different, because I have a thousand ideas and a thousand ways to express them. In the end it is what satisfies me. I am not trying to achieve anything artistically. I would not dare to call myself an artist. I go my own way and I'm very happy that someone likes my works, that someone can relate with it. That's very nice. TPL: Monika, your work has a surreal aesthetic, can you describe the creative process involved with the capturing of your photographs, and then the inspiration you find in editing them? MJ: The creative process looks very different. For sure, it always starts with a photo and then I play with textures, overlays, make collages, add-on, cut, peel and stick, mix and mix for so long, until something that I like appears. And so, from an ordinary photo a picture or a whole story is made, often surreal. TPL: How have you trained your eye to see the surreal world you portray, making references to reality, emphasizing everyday objects? MJ: This kind of looking is due to my parents, home, books, paintings, exhibitions, thanks to which I have a kind of sensitivity that helps me see more sometimes. Despite my chaotic nature, I am very attentive, both to people and to everything around me, even the simplest objects. TPL: What importance does storytelling or key themes hold for you? MJ: I tell these stories mostly to myself. It often happens that I do a very cheerful and bright job when I am sad and would preferably not get out from under the blanket, and vice versa, when I am gushing with happiness, I do something gloomy. It's all about balance. In my photo bag is: wallet, keys, raspberry lipstick and of course...cell phone because it is my current camera. TPL: Do you have any favorite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? MJ: I have many favorite artists. Sometimes I worship their entire oeuvre, sometimes it is one tiny picture, a few sounds, a few gestures or a detail that impressed me at different stages of my life. I will try to list them in one breath: Klee, Miró, Chagall, Hundertwasser, Eliasson, Zaha Hadid, Lewis Carroll, Leiter, Bruno Schulz, Roy Andersson, Kafka, Calvino, Maria Anto, Steinberg, William Blake, Ueda, Konopka, Batsheva Dance Company, Quay, Koudelka, Narahara, Wes Anderson, Woodman, Satie, Ballen,...uff, I could go on listing like this until tomorrow! TPL: What’s in your camera bag, is your equipment an integral part of your practice? What software do you use to process and visually render your compelling imagery? MJ: In my photo bag is: wallet, keys, raspberry lipstick and of course...cell phone because it is my current camera. My cameras have always been small and did not require special bags, because they used to be either matchbox cameras or Holga medium format, and Lomo, Lomography cameras. In my house, of course, there are the truest and most diverse cameras but I don't touch them, because they are not necessary for me. On the other hand, if I have to talk about software then there is more. I use a lot of programs and applications, but I will let their names remain my sweet secret. I use these programs depending on the need, and as I mentioned I mix and match. TPL: Are there any special projects that you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? What are some of your photography goals? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? MJ: At the moment I am working on the project “Light”, for which I was invited to Amsterdam. It's a big challenge for me but slowly the ideas are coming out of the shadows, brightening up and heading towards “Light”. I hope that by the end of May everything will be clear. I don't have specific photographic goals, I let it all flow. Where would I like to be in 5 years? You'll probably be surprised, but in 5 years I'd like to be exactly where I am, because I feel like this is my happy time and happy place. TPL: If you could just choose one photographer or artist to shoot or collaborate with for a day...who would you choose? And why? MJ: I have so many favorite photographers that I could spend each of the 365 days of the year with each one separately but yes most, most, I would like to wander around the city with Ms. Eva Rubinstein. She is my great love at the moment and I think we would have a great time together. TPL: What is the most rewarding part of being a photographer for you? MJ: What I enjoy most are the kind words and gestures and the emergence of a kind of bond and understanding between us. That is the nicest thing! TPL: “When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… I like London fog, traditional Jewish songs, Czech films, Scandinavian crime stories, French language, Spanish spring, Portuguese wine, Norwegian fjords, Breton pancakes, Scottish tartan and Italian ice creams, but most of all, I love traveling the world.” PORTFOLIO INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.

PICTORIAL STORY OAXACA Where memory meets celebration, Día de los Muertos unfolds — a dance of life and death, illuminated by Tommaso Stefanori’s vision, rich with ritual and connection. October 25, 2024 PICTORIAL STORY photography TOMMASO STEFANORI story MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link In the labyrinthine streets of Oaxaca, Mexico, amidst the intoxicating aroma of copal incense and the vibrant hues of Marigold flowers, Tommaso Stefanori embarked on a journey to document Dia de Los Muertos . Born in Rome, Italy, where he is currently based, Tommaso’s passion for travel led him to photography. Initially self-taught and focused on street photography, his early work captured the raw, candid moments of urban life. Seeking to deepen his photographic knowledge, Tommaso attended a photo reportage course at the Graffiti School of Photography in Rome, under the guidance of photographer and photojournalist Gianni Pinnizzotto. Here, he developed a deep interest for documentary photography, particularly of a social and travel nature, that continues to guide his work today. Tommaso’s transition from street to documentary photography reflects both his growth and a stronger understanding of storytelling. His photographs go beyond visual representation, capturing the human experiences and cultural traditions with an empathetic approach. This evolution earned him recognition in 2023 at the 7th edition of the International Award I Versi Non Scritti for his emotionally resonant work. Today, Tommaso collaborates with photojournalistic agencies ZUMA Press and NurPhoto, while continuing to pursue personal projects as a freelance photographer. His work balances professional assignments with personal exploration. His latest project, Oaxaca - In the Heart of the Day of the Dead , invites viewers into the vibrant celebration of Día de los Muertos . This festival, a vibrant amalgamation of pre-Columbian indigenous rituals and Spanish colonial influences, reflecting Mexico’s rich cultural heritage. Tommaso’s photographs reveal the festival’s intricate layers of symbolism and ceremony unfolding, offering an immersive experience. Día de los Muertos , celebrated from October 31st to November 2nd, honors the deceased in stages. November 1st, known as Día de los Angelitos , is dedicated to children, while November 2nd, Día de los Difuntos , focuses on adults. This schedule highlights the festival’s strong communal and familial connections, as families gather in cemeteries to clean and decorate graves, often maintaining a nocturnal vigil in reverence of their loved ones. Tommaso’s photography beautifully captures this interplay of life and death, the earthly and the spiritual. His images reveal not only the colorful decorations and lively parades but also the moments of introspection and connection that define the festival. Each photograph reflects the meaning of Día de los Muertos into a visual narrative that resonates with both cultural significance and personal reflection. Through Oaxaca - In the Heart of the Day of the Dead , Tommaso Stefanori invites us to explore the festival’s rich traditions and the emotional depth that accompanies the celebration of life and death. His work serves as a lens into the enduring cultural rituals and human connections at the heart of this celebration. Oaxaca, with its small size and local population, becomes a focal point for this ancient tradition. The city is transformed into a kaleidoscope of colors and emotions, where every corner pulsates with life. “ Oaxaca, in the heart of Mexico , has become the main core of the Día de los Muertos celebrations,” Tommaso notes. “For this event, a colorful and complex preparatory and decorative machine is set in motion. Flowers, candles, altars, masks, make-up, and costumes transform the streets of the barrios (districts). The atmosphere is filled with floats, parades, music, and dancing almost non-stop, especially at night. Yet, amidst the festivities, there is a pervasive feeling of respect, reverence, and profound spirituality towards the holiday and its loving meaning: remembering and celebrating the memory of one's muertos (deceased).” Tommaso captures the duality of this festival, intertwining the exuberance of life with the solemnity of death, stating, “These are two very intense days of conviviality between human and spiritual, past and present, earthly and otherworldly, between those who have been and those who still are.” The preparations for the celebrations begin days before the official start date. Tommaso’s photographs document the meticulous preparations — fields of orange Marigolds harvested and crafted into intricate decorations, in almost every corner of streets, houses, and cemeteries. “The streets are adorned with festoons and decorations — sometimes enormous —of skeletons and skulls. Local inhabitants, with skill and imagination, equip themselves with chairs and make-up kits in the street, transforming the faces, sometimes entire bodies, of locals and tourists into skulls and skeletons. The skeleton woman represents a strong icon of this tradition and takes the name of Calavera Catrina,” Tommaso explains. Over the decades, the Calavera Catrina , or Elegant Skeleton , has grown beyond her satirical origins to become a beloved symbol of the Day of the Dead . Her portrayal, often in elaborate gowns and floral headdresses, encapsulates a unique cultural perspective on mortality. Her origin is closely linked to the visionary artistry of José Guadalupe Posada, whose early 20th-century etchings gave the skeletal figure socio-political commentary. Posada's La Calavera Garbancera , adorned with an extravagant European-style hat, was a piercing critique of the Mexican elite's infatuation with European fashions, a reminder of their neglect of indigenous heritage. In contemporary artistic expression, the Calavera Catrina communicates a deep sense of continuity, identity, and cultural pride, serving as a reminder of the cyclical nature of life and death, a key aspect of the Mexican worldview. “As the parades begin, rivers of masked and made-up people parade from one corner of the barrios to another. Multiple parades occur simultaneously, with music and dances intertwining to form one grand celebration.” As day turns to night, Tommaso’s images transition from the lively parades and joyous dances to the intimate and spiritual moments shared in candlelit courtyards and bustling cemeteries. Here, he captures the raw emotion and reverence as families gather to honor their deceased loved ones, highlighting the contrast between celebration and solemnity. The illuminated tombs, offerings, and quiet conversations between the living and the dead are shown through his lens, offering insight into the festival. “The emotion becomes even stronger in the cemeteries, which seem to come to life. Countless family members gather and camp around the tombs of their deceased loved ones, illuminated by the bright and warm lights of lit candles. Spending the entire night there, equipped with chairs, blankets, and a few drinks, the looks and eyes of these people convey an enormous sense of spirituality and respect. This is an intimate moment, and they don’t seem to be bothered by the presence of strangers — in fact, they sometimes invite you to join them. Around some tombs, there are numerous family members, sometimes with children, while around others, there are solitary individuals, often elderly, and some tombs remain dark and solitary.” As the sun rises, the new day begins with the first parades and musical bands moving through the streets of the barrios. Tommaso captures this scene, reflecting the idea that “it's only up to us to decide how to live the eternal game between life and death.” His photographs portray this interplay, offering a vivid portrayal of the duality that defines the Day of the Dead — a celebration where life and death coexist in a harmonious, vibrant dance. © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori © Tommaso Stefanori Tommaso Stefanori’s work reveals the layers of Día de los Muertos , a festival where the material and spiritual worlds converge, where memories are rekindled with each flicker of a candle, and where the living embrace the departed in a dance of life and death. His photographs do more than document; they invite us into a world where every face painted as a skeleton, every altar meticulously arranged, and every parade that fills the streets speaks of a culture's deep respect for its ancestors and a fearless acceptance of mortality. Through Tommaso’s eyes, we see Oaxaca not just as a place but as a living canvas of tradition, emotion, and timeless celebration. view Tommaso Stefanori's portfolio Website >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. UNDER THE CLOUDS Giordano Simoncini presents a visual ethnography of the interconnectedness of indigenous cosmology, material life, and the ecological balance within the Quechua communities of the Peruvian Andes. NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy — strangers lost in thought in a world before digital distractions took hold. THE GHOST SELF Buku Sarkar stages her refusal to vanish. Her photographs are unflinching, lyrical acts of documentation, mapping a body in flux and a mind grappling with the epistemic dissonance of chronic illness. WHISPERS On Mother’s Day, Regina Melo's story asks us to pause. To remember. To feel. It honors the profound, often quiet sacrifices that mothers make, and the invisible threads that bind us to them. BEYOND THE MASK By stepping beyond the scripted world of professional wrestling and into the raw terrain of mental health, Matteo Bergami and Fabio Giarratano challenge long-held myths about masculinity, endurance, and heroism. FRAGMENTS OF TIME Each of jfk's diptychs functions as a microcosm of the city, allowing viewers to experience urban life as constant fragmented glimpses, mirroring the unpredictable nature of human interactions.

PICTORIAL STORY THE GOLDEN HOUR OF HAITI Inspired by the relationships she’s formed, Vanessa Cass has become gently woven into the fabric of life in Haiti — each connection adding depth to her journey and hers to theirs. November 5, 2021 PICTORIAL STORY photography VANESSA CASS story KAREN GHOSTLAW POMARICO SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Vanessa Cass is a single mother of two that has been living and working in Haiti for over twenty years, who has an outrageous passion for street photography. What brought Vanessa to Haiti, was an unfortunate set of circumstances. Vanessa was seven years old when she came to live in Haiti with her mother, older sister, and brother after her mother and father’s abusive marriage ended in a difficult divorce. Vanessa’s mother uprooted her three children and moved from Silver Spring, Maryland in the United States, to Haiti where her grandmother took them in. It has not always been easy assimilating into the culture, Vanessa was viewed as an outsider for many years, still feeling at times she is a square peg in a round hole, Vanessa has softened those corners and has found inspiration in the connections she has made, becoming a lovely thread in the colorful tapestry of Haiti. The Caribbean Island of Haiti has had a turbulent past, much like Vanessa’s. Originally inhabited by the Taino Kingdom, history changed on the then Island of Hispaniola when Christopher Columbus landed on its shores on December 6, 1492. Over the years of European exploration and exploitation, Spanish, French, African and American influences, it wasn't until 1804 that the Haitians took their independence back. Haiti has been plagued throughout history with natural disasters causing catastrophic destruction, combined with the political unrest creating many challenges for the people living there, poverty being one of the many effects they face. In spite of all of these harsh realities, Vanessa sees another country, one that enchants her and inspires Vanessa’s dramatic photographic style of work. Vanessa says, “Haiti is a country bursting with art, culture, music, food, a lot of faith, with a little bit of Voodoo.” A Jack of All Trades , Vanessa has found herself adapting to the changes in her country and it has actually given her the opportunity to explore many different career paths. She grew up in her family's antique business, and as an antique dealer she learned many things that helped to shape her future. Vanessa dabbles in painting, writing, curating, graphic design, and most recently opening a gourmet finishing salts and small batch hot sauce business. All of these passions bring Vanessa a great deal of pleasure. Vanessa told me “One day it dawned on me that I didn't have to limit myself to just doing one thing, art, photography, cooking, curating, writing, graphic design, I realized I could actually do everything all at the same time, and so I do!” Vanessa believes it helps to stay busy. So where did Vanessa find her passion for photography? Vanessa started studying art and was classically trained by the painter Roland Dorcely, who was himself trained by Pablo Picasso. Dorcely told Vanessa, “Painting is not your milieu, you do have talent but there is another part of the art world that is better for you, and everything you have learned with me will serve you when you find it.” Vanessa did find her art through photography. The inspiration for Vanessa’s work is reflected in her statement, “Faith is what gives the people of Haiti an incredible resilience to rise above and deal with a life that is difficult for anyone to understand that has not experienced life’s hardships. It shows in their impeccable starched and pressed clothes for church on Sunday mornings. It shows in the care they take in setting up their makeshift shops, shoeshine stands, and much more. This is the time of Golden Hour , when I like to walk the streets and observe. The shadows at this time of day are amazing and seem to have a life of their own. They tell a magical story that can't be heard but is felt. It shows you how strong, beautiful, and wild the people of Haiti are.” After looking at her mentor Roland Dorcely’s paintings, I saw a familiar quality in Vanessa’s work. The contrast in images, the hot bright light of the sun, and the deep darkness of the shadows, the faceless people are often reflected in Vanessa’s photographic work. Looking back on it she realizes the impact he had in her life. Vanessa’s first camera was from a friend and street photographer, and her first workshop was with Eric Kim. Once she had an eye for the street, there was no turning back. Historically Haitians really don't like to be photographed. Vanessa respects their beliefs and traditions and has developed her own style of shooting, stepping back to take in the larger view and to allow her subjects respectful space. Vanessa photographs her subjects in stride against textured walls of light and shadow. Vanessa admits, “Sometimes I get caught, get yelled at, but with a smile and a compliment, I usually get let off the hook, and they don't mind so much.” Vanessa’s photographs embrace the contrasts reflected in life on the street. The bright angelic white, not only familiar but comfortable with the darkness, not afraid of it, the darkness is as much a part of them as is the light. The mood changes in Haiti to reflect current events in the country. “When things are going well you can see it,” says Vanessa, “Everyone is smiling, there’s a pep in everyone’s step. When there is unrest or a catastrophe, the mood is very gloomy, but their resiliency is the strength that keeps the Haitians marching on”. Vanessa has lived, seen and photographed many things in the streets of Haiti. Being a single mother raising two children in Haiti has had its difficulties. Her family has witnessed horror, and tragedy, but they have found their own strength and resiliency from the people that have become their home and community. © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass © Vanessa Cass Haiti has made Vanessa tough, wise, empathetic, yet at the same time strong, and determined to fight for change. Photography and the Haitian people have been a constant source of inspiration for Vanessa and is why she is proud to call Haiti her home. This is not an ending to Vanessa’s story, there are many chapters to come. Vanessa is currently getting her degree in art history with a concentration in postmodern photography and will continue to share her art and unique style as an inspirational woman artist and photographer. view Vanessa's portfolio Read an interview with Vanessa >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. UNDER THE CLOUDS Giordano Simoncini presents a visual ethnography of the interconnectedness of indigenous cosmology, material life, and the ecological balance within the Quechua communities of the Peruvian Andes. NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy — strangers lost in thought in a world before digital distractions took hold. THE GHOST SELF Buku Sarkar stages her refusal to vanish. Her photographs are unflinching, lyrical acts of documentation, mapping a body in flux and a mind grappling with the epistemic dissonance of chronic illness. WHISPERS On Mother’s Day, Regina Melo's story asks us to pause. To remember. To feel. It honors the profound, often quiet sacrifices that mothers make, and the invisible threads that bind us to them. BEYOND THE MASK By stepping beyond the scripted world of professional wrestling and into the raw terrain of mental health, Matteo Bergami and Fabio Giarratano challenge long-held myths about masculinity, endurance, and heroism. FRAGMENTS OF TIME Each of jfk's diptychs functions as a microcosm of the city, allowing viewers to experience urban life as constant fragmented glimpses, mirroring the unpredictable nature of human interactions.

PICTORIAL STORY HISTORY IN THE MAKING What happens when history is not just remembered — but staged, lit, and reimagined to confront the present? Dean Goldberg recreates historical pictorials to reflect on the rise of hate crimes and the ideologies behind them. August 19, 2020 PICTORIAL STORY photography DEAN GOLDBERG story KAREN GHOSTLAW POMARICO SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Hate Crimes are crimes that are motivated by prejudice and biases against, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. Globally we are all challenged by the rise in these crimes. These crimes are perpetrated by extremist collectives that engage in intimidation and violence to eradicate who they feel are inferior or contradictory to their beliefs. We bring to you a special photographic series created by photographer, filmmaker, writer, director, and educator Dean Goldberg. For the past twenty years Dean Goldberg has been living in Woodstock, New York, an upstate hamlet that has become synonymous with the mud-trenched festival that actually took place fifty miles away. His move to Woodstock meant a career change to Academia, where he developed the film and media program for a small liberal arts college in Newburgh, New York. Teaching gave Dean the freedom to work more creatively and develop his love for photography as a storyteller. This led Dean back into the studio to create what he first termed Mise-en-scenes . Dean directed actors, set to a historically correct well-constructed stage, utilizing props that define the time and create tension and create the language for his visual storytelling. Dean shares his inspiration for his journey back through history. “I am still obsessed with manipulating light and dark – using negative space to help the visual, but I wanted to do more, not just produce an image, so my Framing History series was born, and still inspires and directs my work today.” Dean has created a powerful series that depicts hate crimes of the past that speaks loudly to current affairs in the United States. When I went to see his exhibition at the Newburgh Jewish Community Center, Dean had footage of the insurrection on the Capitol that took place on January 6, 2022. There was an obvious overlapping of history, and the language as well as the images confirm we don’t seem to learn from our tragedies and atrocities of our past but repeat them as we move forward into the future. Dean shares his insights and motivation for creating this work. “The Trump presidency hit me hard, as someone who fought against the War Mongering of our post-cold war presidents, who saw the poverty, anger and fascism across America as I thumbed my way cross country when I was 18 years old. The link between The Night of the Broken Glass , and the January 6th insurrection was for me, a bloody chain of rusted steel. The elements were the same; a charismatic leader that spewed hate and prejudice, a population that’s lost self-respect through unemployment, frustration at those in power, and a need to have a scapegoat in which to point their vitriol. While the photos are frozen in aspic, the violence and hate they represent lives again in America. I had played Lily Marlene and other German music during the shoot. I used that as my metronome while editing to present images of the past and present. The video is an essential part of my installation; it is the beating heart of the images hung on the gallery wall.” KRISTALLNACHT Kristallnacht is the most current of Dean’s series of historical photo-narratives that confront the struggles humankind has faced and continues to face today. These series depict true events that reflect the myriad portrayals of human justice. Dean tells us what drives this powerful inspiration for his works. “In this time of light vs. dark, good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, we have a responsibility to speak out against all forms hate and violence and use the magic and majesty of the human spirit to push back against those that spread the malignancy of hate, for the sins of the past have now come back to haunt us.” For those of you who are not familiar with the story known as The Night of the Broken Glass , let me share with you this tragic event in history. On the night of November 9th, 1938, the Nazis decimated the Jewish quarters in Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland. So much damage was done that broken glass littered the streets, and that night was then known forever as The Night of the Broken Glass . Dean found his inspiration to recreate a fictional interpretation of events that took place that infamous night of terror. Dean explains his directives to create the chilling photographs. “ Kristallnacht tells of a fictional meeting of two young lovers who grew up together outside of Berlin, one Christian and one Jew. They meet for the last time in a small out of the way Cabaret for a last dance and champagne. Proud in his uniform he will go on to kill, while she will go to the camps to be killed. The story is fiction. The reality is not. One of the most challenging aspects of creating Dean’s stories was that he became his own art director, prop person, casting director, and set dresser. Dean became a regular Ebay customer, searching for various period pieces, clothing, etc. For example, the doll carriage in Kristallnacht was period true – late thirties and took him a month until he finally found exactly what he needed. Makeup and makeup effects were extremely important, and Dean tried to work with the same people when he could. He shares his process with us. “I don’t use actors for my stories, I pick artists, they seem to be more chameleon-like and without too much artifice. I also like to include real art–in Kristallnacht , the woman who plays the young German girl, New York Artist Erica Hauser painted the Aryan Poster.” Erica adds what it was like to work with Dean and create the painting for this work. “His excitement for the project made me want to contribute. For the Kristallnacht shoot, he commissioned me to make another painting, this one based on a Nazi propaganda poster, Like this . I want to put it on the wall of the cafe. Can you, do it? That's how I ended up making a painting of a young Nazi soldier, my first and hopefully my last; but he was right, it glowed on the dark wall, a piece of background telling more of the story.” Equally important to Dean is the environment he works in and the small crew he devotes his artistic direction to aid in the collaboration that together create the image and body of work. Dean shares why this way of working inspires him. “I like the collaboration; it mimics a film set. I always have music playing that’s relevant to the story and I work to create excitement on the other end of the lens. Ironically the shoot becomes more like a theater piece than a film because of the abstractness of the set. Lots of negative space, theatrical spots, no attempt at verisimilitude. While the Kristallnacht is the first of the series to be installed, all my installations include the props and paintings used in the studio as well as video and audio.” Dean began this series in 2019 and had finished the first three, when he was stopped short by the pandemic. At the time Dean was shooting with a Nikon 6z mirrorless camera but has stepped up to a Fuji Medium Format digital camera to ensure that his prints, when installed are at least 53 inches high at least not lose resolution. Dean uses film lighting, studio grid as well as free standing lights, ensuring the correct exposure, color for his photographs. In Kristallnacht Dean rigged a chimera on the grid to light the dance as well as freestanding Arri lights to illuminate specific areas. Dean has created a series of historical photo-narratives, The Pictorial-List gives you a glimpse into Dean’s world and his direction for his series The Joan Vollmer Murder . Dean tells us what motivated him to create this intriguing photographic series. THE JOAN VOLLMER MURDER “William Seward Burroughs was born 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri. Although related to the Burroughs empire, after graduating from Harvard, Burroughs was given a modest trust that basically paid his rent. He set out to write, drug and screw (boys and men only please) his way through life. But his marriage to Joan Vollmer was at least a true friendship; but drugs were the glue that bound them. Burroughs quickly became a major force in the Beat movement that included Allen Ginsburgh and Jack Kerouac. The beats were the original outcasts; they produced bold new literature while hanging out with thugs and petty thieves in Times Square. In this installation, I wanted to create visuals that did not reveal any of Burroughs’s wit or charm, instead unveiled the bitter truth of the Junkie’s life and the inevitable ghost of death that shadows each fix.” As with all of Deans installations, The Joan Vollmer Murder starred Hudson Valley artist Jackie Skrzynski, turning her from female to male seemed for Dean to be perfect for this work. The installation includes the props and posters in the photographs as well as video clips of Burroughs and other hipsters. Dean found inspiration in the American culture of the 1960’s and the hate crimes that existed in that iconic time in the USA. Dean created a colorful series and shares with us his vision. “The Kennedy era brought with it an air of breezy freedom, new music and new, cool, colors — the Rat Pack, the Cold War, a strong KKK and laws to keep segregation strong. Artist Sienna Martz was delightfully fun as the beautiful reflection of the decade that revolted against the stoicism of the 50s. These interesting events in a critical time in American history, led me to create the series I titled 1961 .” These images do not just hang on the wall, but Dean recreates history once again through his diligent research, acquiring all the special props needed to create the important instantly recognizable characteristics that define that time period and aid in This visual storytelling. Dean explains, “This series will be supported by a video that will show the other side of Camelot , the killing of civil rights volunteers as well as the demolition of poor neighborhoods to make way for Urban Renewal.” I asked Dean what was the match that ignited the fire, to develop these poignant works of art. What was the defining moment, the image that sparked the idea? “Like so many other artists during the covid lockdown, I had to find another way of expression in photography. We have lovely gardens, so I found myself peering down to earth on the most elemental level–from seedling to bud to flowering. But like the beauty of this country, we have been scarred by the poisonous diatribes of those who need power, and have the power destroy souls. So, in the end, I made these flowers drenched in blood. The beauty is still apparent, but the flesh is still wounded.” Dean’s work does not stop here with his historical pictorials. Dean has begun research and has written a narrative for a piece he hopes to produce in the future, The Assassination of Leon Trotsky . The Assassination of Leon Trotsky is in pre-production, featuring artist Norm Magnusson, and a guest appearance by artist Sienna Martz as Frida Kahlo. Dean wants to bring these theatrical pictorials to stage. I look forward to buying a ticket and holding the playbill in my hand! Kristallnacht © Dean Goldberg Kristallnacht © Dean Goldberg Kristallnacht © Dean Goldberg Kristallnacht © Dean Goldberg Kristallnacht © Dean Goldberg The Joan Vollmer Murder © Dean Goldberg The Joan Vollmer Murder © Dean Goldberg The Joan Vollmer Murder © Dean Goldberg The Joan Vollmer Murder © Dean Goldberg 1961 © Dean Goldberg 1961 © Dean Goldberg Flesh & Blood © Dean Goldberg Flesh & Blood © Dean Goldberg Flesh & Blood © Dean Goldberg Flesh & Blood © Dean Goldberg The Assassination of Leon Trotsky (new project) © Dean Goldberg It is an important time in our history to reflect and remember our past. To create work that creates awareness and engages one to think about how we walk into our future. The Pictorial List is grateful to Dean for sharing with our community the important reminders of what we have done in the past, to redirect our energies to create a better future. We look forward to his next series of insightful creations. I personally thank Dean for sharing his time and history with me, reminding me to make a change. view Dean's portfolio Website >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. UNDER THE CLOUDS Giordano Simoncini presents a visual ethnography of the interconnectedness of indigenous cosmology, material life, and the ecological balance within the Quechua communities of the Peruvian Andes. NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy — strangers lost in thought in a world before digital distractions took hold. THE GHOST SELF Buku Sarkar stages her refusal to vanish. Her photographs are unflinching, lyrical acts of documentation, mapping a body in flux and a mind grappling with the epistemic dissonance of chronic illness. WHISPERS On Mother’s Day, Regina Melo's story asks us to pause. To remember. To feel. It honors the profound, often quiet sacrifices that mothers make, and the invisible threads that bind us to them. BEYOND THE MASK By stepping beyond the scripted world of professional wrestling and into the raw terrain of mental health, Matteo Bergami and Fabio Giarratano challenge long-held myths about masculinity, endurance, and heroism. FRAGMENTS OF TIME Each of jfk's diptychs functions as a microcosm of the city, allowing viewers to experience urban life as constant fragmented glimpses, mirroring the unpredictable nature of human interactions.

PICTORIAL STORY 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. February 8, 2026 PICTORIAL STORY PHOTOGRAPHY Mohammed Nahi STORY Mohammed Nahi INTRODUCTION Melanie Meggs SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link 4320 Minutes Without Color is a photographic and written work by Algerian photographer Mohammed Nahi that examines perception at the moment visual certainty begins to falter. Structured around a defined duration, the project does not advance a narrative of loss or recovery. Instead, it maintains attention on a suspended interval, one in which seeing becomes unreliable and experience must be renegotiated in real time. Developed following a temporary corneal injury, the work marks a deliberate shift in Mohammed’s photographic approach. The camera is no longer employed to stabilize the world or to confirm what is visible. It functions instead as a means of negotiating instability. Images resist clarity, favouring partial focus, tonal ambiguity, and spatial hesitation. These decisions are not stylistic deviations, but methodological ones, aligned with a period in which vision itself could not be assumed. By removing chromatic information, Mohammed foregrounds the fragility of visual interpretation and the psychological weight carried by contrast, shadow, and proximity. The images hold moments of suspension, where recognition remains unresolved. The accompanying narrative neither explains nor contextualizes the photographs; it extends their internal logic. Time is treated as elastic rather than sequential. While the title asserts numerical precision, the experience described unfolds in durations that expand, contract, and lose coherence. 4320 Minutes Without Color positions photography as a practice of attention when visual certainty withdraws. What follows is Mohammed’s own account — an unfolding of images and words shaped by duration rather than event, written from inside the interval itself, where perception loosens, time shifts, and seeing must be relearned moment by moment. I did not lose my sight abruptly. There was no single moment to point at, no dramatic fracture. Vision withdrew quietly, almost politely, as if it did not wish to alarm me. At first, I distrusted the experience. I blamed exhaustion, light, dust. But soon, color itself began to hesitate. Reds softened. Blues thinned. The world did not vanish, it became uncertain. Those 4320 minutes unfolded slowly, pressing their weight into every ordinary gesture. When sight weakens, the body learns to listen. Footsteps grow louder. Air gains texture. Light is no longer something seen, but something sensed against the skin. I began to move carefully, measuring space with memory rather than confidence. Familiar places lost their authority. Distances stretched unpredictably. Walls appeared where I did not expect them. The certainty I had always assigned to vision dissolved. Photography entered this moment not as a profession, but as a necessity. I was no longer photographing what I saw. I was photographing what I could not fully trust. Time, during those days, abandoned its logic. Minutes expanded into long corridors of waiting. Nights felt endless, while days slipped by without form. Appointments, silence, and internal negotiations replaced routine. I became acutely aware of how much our sense of stability depends on uninterrupted sight. When vision falters, identity trembles alongside it. The camera, once an extension of my eye, became an extension of doubt. I stopped seeking clarity. Sharpness felt dishonest. Instead, I allowed blur to enter the frame, not as an effect, but as a condition. Shadows grew dominant. Subjects drifted out of focus or escaped the frame entirely. These images were not meant to explain my experience; they were meant to inhabit it. Black and white emerged naturally, almost inevitably. Color felt excessive, even intrusive. Its absence mirrored my internal state, a world reduced to essentials, stripped of decoration, governed by uncertainty. Contrast became emotional rather than optical. White was not hope. Black was not despair. They coexisted, uneasy and unresolved, just as fear and resilience coexisted within me. I chose not to photograph portraits. The body appears only indirectly through movement, through traces, through spaces left behind. This absence was deliberate. During those minutes, I did not recognize myself. I existed somewhere between before and after, fragmented and suspended. To show a face would have been false. Instead, I photographed thresholds, corridors, light barely held, figures dissolving into motion. These were not metaphors. They were realities. What unsettled me most was not the possibility of permanent blindness, but the realization of how unquestioningly I had trusted sight. Vision had always been my authority. Without it, I felt exposed, stripped of certainty, forced into vulnerability. Yet within that vulnerability, something unexpected surfaced: awareness. I began to notice how the world reveals itself beyond sight. Sound, rhythm, texture, memory all stepped forward. Silence gained weight. Darkness carried information. I learned that seeing is not the same as perceiving, and that perception is never neutral. It is shaped by fear, expectation, and desire. In this context, photography became an act of resistance. An insistence on remaining present when presence itself felt fragile. Each image in 4320 Minutes Without Color functions less as a photograph than as a pause. A hesitation. A question left deliberately open. The work refuses narrative closure because the experience itself offered none. Recovery, when it arrived, was gradual and uncertain. Color did not return triumphantly. It crept back cautiously, as if testing whether it was welcome. Even after vision stabilized, something remained altered. I no longer trust clarity the way I once did. Sharp images feel suspicious. Certainty feels temporary. This project is not solely about loss, but about what emerges in its aftermath: a slower gaze, heightened sensitivity, and a deeper respect for fragility. The 4320 minutes named in the title are both exact and meaningless. They measure something that cannot truly be quantified. They mark a suspended state, a liminal space where identity, perception, and time loosen their grip. In naming them, I do not seek control over the experience, but acknowledgment of its weight. This work invites the viewer not to look harder, but to look differently. To accept discomfort. To remain ambiguous. To recognize that seeing is not an absolute right, but a fragile privilege. The images ask for no sympathy and offer no resolution. They stand as quiet witnesses to a moment when the world slipped out of focus and revealed its most honest form not as it appears, but as it is felt. 4320 Minutes Without Color is a testimony of presence during uncertainty. A visual echo of a body learning how to inhabit the world again. It is not a declaration of strength, but an admission of fragility and within that fragility, a deeper kind of awareness. © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi © Mohammed Nahi 4320 Minutes Without Color leaves us with a sustained awareness of perception as something provisional, shaped by interruption, memory, and adaptation. Mohammed Nahi does not reclaim vision as authority; he approaches it with caution. Clarity is no longer neutral. Sharpness no longer guarantees truth. What lingers is not the absence of color, but the knowledge it produced. A slower gaze. A heightened sensitivity to what is partial, uncertain, and unresolved. In this sense, 4320 Minutes Without Color does not conclude an experience; it marks a shift in how experience is held. It asks the viewer to carry that attentiveness forward, aware that vision is never guaranteed, and that perception, once unsettled, is never entirely restored to innocence. view Mohammed Nahi's portfolio Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List. read more stories >>> ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. UNDER THE CLOUDS Giordano Simoncini presents a visual ethnography of the interconnectedness of indigenous cosmology, material life, and the ecological balance within the Quechua communities of the Peruvian Andes. NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy — strangers lost in thought in a world before digital distractions took hold. THE GHOST SELF Buku Sarkar stages her refusal to vanish. Her photographs are unflinching, lyrical acts of documentation, mapping a body in flux and a mind grappling with the epistemic dissonance of chronic illness. WHISPERS On Mother’s Day, Regina Melo's story asks us to pause. To remember. To feel. It honors the profound, often quiet sacrifices that mothers make, and the invisible threads that bind us to them. BEYOND THE MASK By stepping beyond the scripted world of professional wrestling and into the raw terrain of mental health, Matteo Bergami and Fabio Giarratano challenge long-held myths about masculinity, endurance, and heroism. FRAGMENTS OF TIME Each of jfk's diptychs functions as a microcosm of the city, allowing viewers to experience urban life as constant fragmented glimpses, mirroring the unpredictable nature of human interactions.

DAYTIME ST. PAULI St. Pauli is incredibly multifaceted and is especially known for its nightlife. In this project, Mirko Karsch documents it's daytime life. DAYTIME ST. PAULI September 30, 2022 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Mirko Karsch INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE St. Pauli is incredibly multifaceted and is especially known for its nightlife. You can find here an immense number of bars, pubs, restaurants and clubs. But St. Pauli is also known for its red light district and there are problems with violent disputes from time to time. The district is also interesting because it is located directly on one of the largest seaports in the world, and this fact still characterises what St. Pauli is today. But what does it look like during the day when the night owls have disappeared? Are the pubs empty then? Who lives in St.Pauli? What does the true soul of the district look like? Sometimes life in St. Pauli seems like a cycle to me: In the evening the tourists come, at night the Hamburg nighthawks, and when the trash is pushed aside in the morning, the neighborhood belongs to its residents again until the next evening. Since the 90s, I have been on the streets of St. Pauli again and again. Deviating from the usual customs, I liked to stay here even during the day. Looking back, I'm not sure it was wise to spend so much time in pinball arcades, but this place has an inexplicable attraction for me. Endless possibilities - even during the day. The people I meet during the day, young and old, have an alternative lifestyle, others seem to have none at all. There are pubs and bars that never seemed to close. Some play hard techno sound, others shanties. In the Summer there are open-air festivals and art projects. There is a huge event area here where folk fairs take place and a large soccer stadium for a professional team is located right next door. And above all this watches a bunker from the Second World War. But this is also where normal life takes place. Children are taken to school, postmen deliver the mail, suppliers deliver to pubs and the laundry is washed in laundromats. St. Pauli is also home to two churches, who care about the well-being of the people of St. Pauli. St. Joseph-Kirche is located in one of the noisiest and wildest streets of the district, which represents a bizarre contrast. The other church, St. Pauli Kirche, is located between the entertainment district and the port. The park-like property is open to all residents. They like to use it - even just to play a game of ball and enjoy a cold beer. How much change is healthy? Of course, gentrification has not stopped at St. Pauli and many cherished things have disappeared. In order to understand this, you have to know that historically St. Pauli was a part of the city where mainly the working class and low-income groups settled. This is still noticeable today, but due to the aforementioned displacement through gentrification, fewer and fewer of the resident population can afford to live in St. Pauli. But the changes on st. Pauli also show themselves in other ways. The local beer "Astra" is no longer brewed here and the commercial sprees seem to be scaling ever new heights, especially in the evenings. On the other hand, people were already grumbling about the new entertainment formats in the 90s. Change is part of the big city. Not only in Hamburg. And the fact that a district is developing is not necessarily negative. An example of this is the public park 'Park Fiction', where young people especially like to spend their free time. Here is played a lot of basketball or it is the lawn just enjoy the view of the harbour. What has remained are many beautiful things, such as the harbor panorama, which I will probably never get tired of. St. Pauli is still the place that attracts many young people. New things are constantly being created. The district never seems to sleep. It is a lot of fun to stroll through St. Pauli during the day. Everything is unstressed and the observations are quite different than at night. “Since the 90s, I have been on the streets of St. Pauli again and again. Deviating from the usual customs, I liked to stay here even during the day. Looking back, I'm not sure it was wise to spend so much time in pinball arcades, but this place has an inexplicable attraction for me.” IN CONVERSATION WITH MIRKO KARSCH From the point of view of Berlin photographer Mirko Karsch, street photography is a contribution to the debate on the documentation of contemporary forms of life in the psychological, ecological and architectural sense. The urban city is both a stage and an object of social conflict, and ultimately a result of social processes. We had the pleasure of interviewing Mirko for The Pictorial List, observing and seeing the potential in whatever has been put in front of him. Lucky enough to photograph regionally and worldwide Mirko shares with you his journey and inspiration. TPL: Mirko please tell us about yourself. How does where you are from influence your work? MK: I originally come from Hamburg and grew up there sheltered. That was quickly too narrow for me and was the reason why I looked for things that deviated from what I found at home. Later I moved to Frankfurt and Madrid. Since a few years ago I live in Berlin. So I've been around a lot in Europe. The interest in new and different things, is of course also reflected in the photography. I like to try out new things. TPL: What drew you to photography? What was that moment that you decided to pick up a camera? Talk to us about your photographic experience in New York in the 1990s and how that mapped your photographic journey to who you are today. MK: I got my first camera as a confirmation gift. I think a camera was a kind of status symbol back then, like a cell phone is today. I took my first serious photos in New York without giving it much thought. I simply photographed what I liked in automatic mode. That was film photography, of course, and it wasn't until much later in Hamburg that I realized that I liked both the pictures and the style incredibly well. And so I began to consciously pursue street photography. TPL: How and why did this project first manifest for you? What was the inspiration? MK: I have known St. Pauli since the 90s and have always been attracted to the district. Even then I was often on the road during the day in St. Pauli and was fascinated by the people who live and work there and the many opportunities they have. I don't think many people understand that St. Pauli is of course also a completely normal place where children go to school, people buy bread and the churches invite people to prayer on Sundays. In addition, I was naturally interested in the contrasts with the "night shift". Actually, St. Pauli exists twice. It wasn't until much later that I came up with the idea of documenting everything photographically. TPL: Talk to us about your method of working and experimentation during the project. What was a daily itinerary for you? Is the project ongoing? MK: I know St. Pauli very well, but I did research beforehand and looked for spots that I found relevant and interesting. Otherwise, I was the typical flaneur, wandering the streets looking for suitable locations. I plan to keep this project going for a while, as I am sure that St. Pauli has much more to offer. There is no final date. TPL: Finally, what do you want people to take away from this project? What do you want them to be asking themselves or to think about? MK: I would like to encourage people to observe things a little more intensively and to look behind the scenes. It is also incredibly important to talk to the local people. So doors open and you get a feeling for the people and their way of thinking and living. I plan to keep this project going for a while, as I am sure that St. Pauli has much more to offer. There is no final date. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? MK: I consider Harvey Stein to be an excellent photographer. I find his long-term series, which span up to 50 years, very inspiring. Ian Howorth is in my eyes an excellent exponent of the cinematic photography genre. Finally, I appreciate Alec Soth for his great documentary work. TPL: If you could just choose one photographer to shoot alongside for a day...who would you choose? And why? MK: I would love to spend a day with Alec Soth. He has published excellent photography books in the last few years and I really appreciate his photographic style. I am sure I can learn a lot from him. TPL: What is it that you love most about street photography? MK: Street photography is diverse and has more to offer than the decisive moment. It has a documentary character about it and shows everyday life. Street photos preserve the present for future generations. In that sense, street photos have a lot in common with wine: they get better and better over the years. TPL: What was the first camera you ever held in your hand, brought to eye, and released a shutter on? What is the camera you use now? Does the equipment you use help you in achieving your vision in your photography? What is on your wishlist? MK: My first camera was the Yashica AF 200 and I'm glad I still have it and use it from time to time. It's amazing how much image quality is in such old cameras. Nowadays I mainly use the Nikon D7500 as an all-round camera and the Lumix LX100 II for street photography. The Nikon allows me to use all angles thanks to the F-mount. In addition, the image resolutions are excellent even at night. With the Lumix, I can go where I would stand out or be disturbed with the big Nikon. Since I'm completely satisfied, I'm not planning a new purchase at the moment. TPL: What are some of your goals as a photographer? What direction do you think you will take your photography? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? MK: I have noticed that I am moving more and more away from pure street photography towards documentary photography. This fits very well with my next project: A documentary about the Berlin skateboard scene. Maybe there will be an exhibition in 5 years (or sooner). TPL: “When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… MK: Spend time with the kids. And skateboarding of course!” PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.

THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY Marci Lindsay is drawn to ordinary people doing ordinary things. To her, it is all extraordinary and hopes her photos remind people of that. THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY August 2, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Marci Lindsay INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Street photography is an art form that celebrates the beauty of everyday life. Marci Lindsay's photographs capture the essence of this in a unique and timeless way. Her eye for emotion, expression, connection and humour allows us to see the world in a new and different light. By looking at the world through a street photographer's lens, Marci is able to appreciate life in all its complexity and joy. Marci’s love for street photography began at a young age, but it wasn’t until 2017 that she went all in and started taking her passion seriously. Since then, her work has been exhibited in major cities around the world, and she has become a part of the Women in Street Collective, the DC Street Photography Collective and the Optic Nerve Collective, all dedicated to promoting street photography. In this interview, Marci shares her story and experience of street photography, and what it means to her. From discovering new streets with her camera to the joys of capturing everyday life, Marci lays open her heart and soul to give readers a glimpse into the world of street photography. Join us as we explore what it means to have a love for street photography with Marci Lindsay. “I got my first film camera when I was maybe eleven. I shot mainly around my suburban neighborhood, which I found extremely boring. All I could do was shoot during walks in the woods with the dog. I even remember shooting our beat up metal trash cans in the golden hour, with their long shadows. I made my own photo album, which I still have.” IN CONVERSATION WITH MARCI LINDSAY THE PICTORIAL LIST: Marci please tell us about yourself. What got you involved in photography? MARCI LINDSAY: I was born in Boston and currently live in Washington, DC. In between, I lived in Virginia, Iowa, St. Louis, and Austin. But I came of age in New York City, where I chose to go to university and then began a short-lived career in urban planning. That may be the place I still feel most at home. I was introduced to photography - street photography, actually - as a young child. My parents had a book from a Museum of Modern Art (NYC) exhibit called The Family of Man. It had photos by Bill Brandt, Lisette Model, and Garry Winogrand, among many others. I was entranced. Of course, I had no idea there was something called “street photography,” and I’m not even sure the genre had the moniker back then (circa 1970). Not long after, I got my first film camera. I was maybe eleven. TPL: What is your perfect street scene? Where do you find your inspiration? ML: Like most street photographers, I love to shoot in places where there are a lot of people and at least some action. And like many others, I often find more inspiration with the change of scenery you get when traveling. But these situations are not always possible (especially in the past 18 months), so I have tried to be open to the challenge of shooting wherever there are any people at all. Interesting street photos can be made anywhere at any time—home and away, protests and everyday life, and in cities and small towns. Because of the pandemic, I am working on opening my mind and thinking outside the box, to find inspiration in new places. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? ML: Maybe it’s because they were the first photographers I was exposed to, but some of my favorites remain the classic, largely black-and-white photographers from the early to mid 20th century, such as Brassaï, Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau, Erwitt, Levitt, and Winogrand. As a poor college student in Paris in 1981, I bought myself a gift of a book of Magnum photographs, which I still have. In addition, I took a lot of film classes in college. I was fascinated by Italian neorealism in particular. This genre was characterized by slice-of-life stories, and non-actors were often used in leading roles. (Everything seemed to be propelling me toward street photography.) Today I still spend time looking at art; I think it’s helpful for photographers to be exposed to the best of other mediums. I’m very much drawn to impressionist painters, especially their composition. It’s almost as if they were street photographers before cameras were widely available. TPL: What were the difficulties you encountered when you first started out in street photography? ML: Although my introduction to street photography was at a young age, and I’ve always loved looking at street photographs, I didn’t know it was a genre until about four years ago, when I got on Instagram. Between childhood and then, I didn’t shoot a whole lot except on the rare trip or taking snapshots of my children. Once I knew there were many people out there doing this thing called street photography and learned more about it, I decided to take up the challenge myself. But being shy, this was a bit terrifying. I was still raising a family in the suburbs at that time, but I started dipping my toe in on trips to New York or to Europe. Those places are good for the newbie - densely populated, many tourists, and people rather laid back about being photographed in most instances. Early difficulties for me were getting close enough to people (still working on that) and learning to use a digital camera (still working on that). I took a few classes back in the days of film, and I would really like to take some workshops now, although I haven’t yet. Then again, we’ve been in a global pandemic for a good chunk of the time I’ve been doing this. I’ve gotten comfortable shooting on the street, but there’s so much more to learn about making good street photos. The process will continue. TPL: What are your thoughts and feelings about shooting individually with a friend/s when out on the streets? ML: Just as I can’t shop with someone when I need to find something specific, I prefer shooting alone. A few days ago I met up to shoot with some DC photographers. It was great because we hadn’t been together in person for quite a while. But it reminded some of us why we prefer being alone when trying to get something done besides socializing. I like to meet other street shooters when I travel, but many times we’ll make it a coffee or lunch rather than a photo walk, just to get to know each other. TPL: What is the most challenging part about being a photographer during the pandemic? ML: It’s been tough not being able to travel. Even in DC, I didn’t want to get on public transportation for a long time, so all my shooting was done on short walks from my home. It was a very sudden change, too. In March 2020, my husband and I cut short a trip to Japan because of Covid. Within a week I went from shooting in Tokyo - one of the best places to do street - to hunkering down in DC and taking photos of empty streets. Soon after, when everything was shut down, my husband and I would take a walk after he was finished working for the day. We called it our “sanity walk” back then and I took my camera. So in that way the pandemic was good for me because it was when I began to take my camera every time I went out. They were short walks, but they were every day. Because of the pandemic, I am working on opening my mind and thinking outside the box, to find inspiration in new places. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let images just “come to you,” or both? Describe your process. ML: If I’m not shooting at an event, I usually let images come to me, or rather I go hunting for interesting things to shoot, without a preconceived idea. I’ve learned, like most of us eventually do, that if you’re out there often enough, you will capture something worthwhile. I would like to find a project to work on, so that I go out with a goal, but I haven’t really done that yet. I have a project in mind, but it involves foreign travel, so that will have to wait a little longer. TPL: Does the equipment you use help you in achieving your vision in your photography? What camera do you use? Do you have a preferred lens/focal length? ML: I currently have a Fuji X-T3 that I bought with an 18-55mm lens. More recently I added a 27mm pancake lens. I guess my equipment does help me in that I have a camera that is small and light, silent, weather-resistant, and with wider-angle lenses. I’m not sure if I’ll ever need anything more than that. I am definitely NOT a gearhead and am not particularly tech savvy. The best camera for me is the one that I will have with me, so it has to be one I am willing to carry all the time. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artists or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? ML: I want to keep shooting as much as possible. I’m not young anymore, so I am definitely starting to internalize that time isn’t endless. But street photography has become more than just a hobby - it’s become somewhat of a mild obsession (and I’ve heard many others say the same). I just want to get better and see what experiences it leads to. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? ML: There’s a project I’m working on with the DC Street Photography Collective, but no personal projects just yet. I would very much like to do that, though - it’s time! TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)…. ML: These days, I’m editing photos, submitting photos, reading about photography, looking at photos, or talking to one of my groups of like-minded photographers. I am in two collectives, the DC Street Photography Collective and the Optic Nerve Collective. I also do occasional writing for Women in Street (Blog, Facebook and Instagram) and I’m curating for @street_macadam (Instagram) and Photographers Under Containment (Facebook.) When I’m not doing photo-related things, I like to travel, the only other thing that I’ve been as passionate about as photography. And then there’s spending time with my husband and four kids, who always come first, but now I bring my camera along! PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.

SIMULATION THEORY Mattia Bullo seeks to explore a very particular and curious feeling: the feeling of slowly losing touch with reality. SIMULATION THEORY November 18, 2022 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Mattia Bullo INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Since the first time I approached photography a few years ago, my relationship with the camera has changed quite a bit. While initially I saw it as a wonderful tool to explore and discover the world around me, photography has slowly become a way for me to explore my own self: my view of the world, my ideas and, most importantly, my personal feelings. This matured artistic approach is what led to my project, SIMULATION THEORY. This series seeks to explore a very particular and curious feeling: the feeling of slowly losing touch with reality. How can I be sure that my personal perception of reality corresponds to how the world actually is? If the idea that I have of the world is based on the information that comes to me through my senses, and the senses are not only filtered, but freely manipulated and corrupted by the brain, will I ever be certain that the things I see and the experiences I live are real? Does it even make sense, then, to place a distinction between reality and illusion, lucidity and hallucination, sanity and delusion? Did Jeffrey Epstein really kill himself? These millenary questions, still explored today by philosophers and neuroscientists such as Nick Bostrom and David Chalmers, have haunted artists and thinkers for thousands of years and inspired some of the most ground-breaking artistic production of the 20th as well as the early 21st century. From Philip K. Dick's revolutionary Sci-Fi literature to the Wachowskis' massive Hollywood blockbusters, countless authors have been captured by this dilemma and used it to build their incredible stories. And for good reason! Who, while watching the Matrix as a teenager, hasn't identified with Neo in his kung-fu themed battle to clear the Veil of Maya that is holding humanity hostage? Well, if there's a Neo somewhere out there, it's definitely not me. Although most likely nobody will ever know the answers to these questions, I still wanted to let myself slip into the doubt and try to tell my journey through street photography. “How can I be sure that my personal perception of reality corresponds to how the world actually is? If the idea that I have of the world is based on the information that comes to me through my senses, and the senses are not only filtered, but freely manipulated and corrupted by the brain, will I ever be certain that the things I see and the experiences I live are real?” IN CONVERSATION WITH MATTIA BULLO THE PICTORIAL LIST: Hello Mattia, it is interesting to hear about your change in direction in how you visualize and translate your photography. Can you tell us about that pivotal moment in time when you and your photography turned a new direction? What was the cause for this? MATTIA BULLO: I wouldn’t really talk about a single pivotal moment for me personally, as much as the slow development of an approach to photography centered around exploration and playfulness, which constantly leads me to seek out new directions for my work. Whether it is in the visual product or in the work method, I try to never stay in the same place for too long. My photographic production changes as I change as an individual, and my work reflects that. However, lately I felt the need to focus a bit less on technical progression and more on making sure my work stays true to me personally, and it seemed right to move away from factuality and realism, at least for a little bit. In these past few years, the more photos I took the more I started feeling the need for continuity in my work, which inevitably led to a more series-driven type of production. When I go out to take pictures, I feel most comfortable when I have a specific plan in mind, or at the very least a feeling that I know I want to represent and have thought about how I want to represent it. I need to know that I’m going somewhere with my pictures, although it might still be a bit unclear where, at the beginning of the process. With Simulation Theory, I wanted to play around with the ways in which a series of images can guide the viewer on an emotional journey, as well as a visual one, and It’s been beautiful to observe my perspective on the images change over the fairly long time that took me to finish the project. TPL: As you have said, we live in an ingenuine world of fake news and fallacy, where the distinction between fallacies and truths are hard to distinguish. How has your investigation through photography helped you to see this more clearly? What has this brought not just to your work, but to you personally. MB: It honestly hasn’t helped much at all, I’m 100% susceptible to fake news, just like anybody else. Fake news is not a novelty, Roman emperors 2000 years ago were doing the same exact propaganda that we are seeing in today’s politics, and throughout history the news have always been manipulated, with bad and good intentions. The difference with today seems to be only the amount of news that hits us every day, which makes any proper fact-checking seem ridiculous to whoever’s not directly involved in research, and what usually arrives to us from the media mechanism very often aren’t even facts but interpretations of facts, and opinions about those interpretations. I mean, even us photographers, what our job is is literally to manipulate images towards specific emotional objectives. We’ve all seen examples on the Internet of how the same space can seem packed with people or almost empty depending on what lens was being used. I feel like it’s a common misconception that photography captures reality. Images and their message are not only manipulated in post-production, but directly in camera as well; anytime we look at a picture, we are looking only at what the photographer wanted to show us and how. And that’s something completely objective. The photographer himself is the first filter. Even the individual with the strongest willpower and the most free time can’t escape this complex maze on his own. The way I see it, is that we can ultimately do two things. The first one is simply being aware that facts are always distorted and the news that reaches us is inevitably filtered to a degree. This step allows us to begin placing the information they receive in a context and test its compatibility with what we already know. The second and most important one is trusting the system and, more specifically, the scientific community and the millions of people in it that committed their lives to fact verification and theory falsification, and whose work now is being discredited more than ever. It almost seems like the message that’s spreading now is that science is just an opinion like any other. And, in all honesty, I can see why. I mean, major control organisms that should in theory guarantee transparency in some of these fiends have undoubtedly disappointed the public opinion in the past. But the fact that science is imperfect shouldn’t discourage us from trusting its progress and continue investing resources in it. After all, it’s as close to the truth as it gets. Right now it seems to me that we really need, as a society, to go back to our foundations and rethink how we want to value education and logical thinking, and make sure we lay the ground for the generations to come to have tools to protect themselves from these issues. TPL: When you step into the street, how do you engage your camera? What is it that inspires the click of the shutter? MB: The answer to that can be so variable in reality. It depends on the day, and on what I want to focus on. Most days I’ll have a project to develop, therefore I’ll be taking pictures that I’ve already thought about a lot; I know in which direction I need to go; granted that in street photography you can never really know what you are going to get out of the day, I generally try to leave the house knowing with clarity at least what I want to communicate. I’ll have ideas, images, which I will then look for out in the streets. Other days I’ll pick up the camera because I feel the need to take some time to think about other things that are going on in my life, in which case I’ll not pose any restrictions to my work and just let the camera be guided by the streets and by my curiosity. I also like to reserve some days for exercising, go back to the basics and focus on very specific photographic elements throughout the day, for instance a specific color, or a texture, or a picture that I have seen someone else do and I want to copy. I personally find copying other artists so useful when it comes to progressing artistically, it feels like learning the grammar of a language, so that when you know the grammar and, more importantly, you have something to say, you can then write it down. More generally, I always seek inspiration in a variety of artists and art forms, the furthest away they are from what I’m trying to do, the better. To put it in legendary jazz musician Miles Davis’ words: “I listen to everything EXCEPT jazz”. Contamination between different ideas, cultures and art forms is essential to produce novelty, at least in my opinion, and it’s kind of what I always try to do myself. Music is a big one for me, I always get great inspiration from it. Sometimes, when I listen to music, read a book or watch a movie, I get hooked to an idea, a concept or an emotion; other times, inspiration can come from different projects that I’m carrying on in other fields. From there, I begin experimenting until I find a clear path, which can also consist of just one or two pictures, that I think will lead me to something bigger and more articulate. Once I reach this stage, it’s mostly about trusting my instinct and my work process until the project feels finished. I love mystery. I love it in pictures, novels, films, everywhere. I feel like building intrigue is essential to storytelling at any level and with any language. TPL: There is a voyeur aspect to your images, you create a disconnection or disassociation to your subjects, making them less human in many ways. Tell us why you have chosen to isolate your figures. MB: I don’t think it’s really a conscious process that makes me isolate my subjects like this, it’s one of those things that happen on their own. I guess it doesn’t really surprise me though. I’ve never been the most sociable person out there. Which is also why street photography feels so intimate to me: I don’t need to interact with anybody if I don’t want to, I can just take the picture and flee. In documentaries, where the relationship with the characters can oftentimes make or break a film, unfortunately I don’t have that luck. Solitude has very often been a theme I connected to in literature, from the works of the earlier Sartre to many of the more recent Murakami best-sellers. Very often in life I found greater connection with stories than with physical people, especially those that were telling me about other people, out there, feeling lonely and finding ways to deal with it. Now, I’m not really sure how much I want to analyze this, but solitude is definitely something I want to explore in my current and future work. TPL: The Film Noir aspect creates a mysterious landscape, tell us about the suspense and intrigue you create in your dramatic imagery? MB: I love mystery. I love it in pictures, novels, films, everywhere. I feel like building intrigue is essential to storytelling at any level and with any language, and in general I’ve found that the stories that have stuck with me the most aren’t the ones that give me clear, direct answers, as much as the ones that leave me with more questions than when I started. For this reason, as I was moving forward with the series, I tried to move away from minimalism and try to build my pictures with slightly more complexity. I’m a huge fan of noir and neo-noir in films, and authors such as Godard, Wells and Wilder have played a massive role in my aesthetic education, and so have many hard-boiled novels that later inspired their films. The oneiric element characteristic of the noir genre is definitely something that I want to include in my work. Moreover, the first photographers to inspire me were primarily black and white photographers. Weegee, Salgado, Cartier-Bresson are the artists that pushed me to photography in the first place, and so naturally I modeled my work around them quite a bit initially. I learnt color for professional purposes, but even now in street photography black and white always feels like it suits more what I try to achieve in my images. TPL: In leaving, please tell our readers what you have planned for the future, and what they should look forward to. MB: At the moment I’m in the pre-production phase of a short documentary that follows the footsteps of two twin contemporary dancers from Argentina who’ve come to Europe to pursue their lifelong dream of a career in the professional dancing industry. Facing the usual challenges that characterize the profession, such as psychophysical abuse by professors and industry leaders, tremendous competition and lack of funding; while working at a call center to support themselves, the two of them are in the process of developing their own personal project, in hope of starting their own dancing company while exploring their bond. This project is due to come out in the next few months, and in the meantime I’m also collaborating in the production of “Babyface”, a documentary on the Spanish professional wrestling industry. In terms of photography I don’t have anything planned out yet, I’ll see what comes up. Although my future after these two documentary projects is a bit foggy, my long-term plans haven’t changed: to do my best to grow professionally and artistically. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.

HER WONDERLAND Mara is an artist that truly speaks to the emotion of film noir. Through her unique style and sound, Mara captures the moody, dark and dramatic atmosphere that is so well-known and loved. HER WONDERLAND February 10, 2020 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Mara INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE The streets are alive with stories and secrets, but few can express them as artistically as Mara. Her unique style of street photography captures the poetic beauty of the city, imbuing it with the mesmerizing atmosphere of film noir cinematography. With her masterful use of contrast and lighting, Mara is able to create an alluring, emotive environment through her photographs - a place where even in the darkness, something beautiful and captivating lies in wait. Her photographs are a window into a world where the depths of the shadows and the highlights of the day meet, coming together to form a tangible, dynamic story within every frame. From the gritty grain of the film to Mara’s use of depth of field, every single photograph is an experience in its own right - one that is both mysterious and captivating. Join us as we take a closer look at Mara’s distinctive style of street photography and discover how her captivating images tell their own captivating stories. “The girl who not exist, from the heart to the mind to the eyes to the click...and is her wonderland.” IN CONVERSATION WITH MARA THE PICTORIAL LIST: When did you first become interested in photography, Mara? MARA: I was 10 years old. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration? M: By my emotions at that instance. TPL: Since you began taking photographs, has your style evolved? M: I have no style. TPL: Who are your favourite artists? M: Vivian Maier, Josef Koudelka, Hirohiko Araki, Ferdinando Scianna, Letizia Battaglia, Roger Ballen but the inspiration is born by life and emotions around us. TPL: Where is your favourite place to shoot? M: On the road, in the sky... where everything is (im)possible Quotes are a plus...pictures speak by their own light. My quotes are mine and depends by the emotions I feel in that instance. Who watch the picture, is free to feel different emotions. TPL: Do you think equipment is important in achieving your vision in your photography? What would you say to someone just starting out? M: What I think is important are the emotions...a tool is just a tool. TPL: What characteristics do you think you need to become a photographer? Do you have any advice for someone starting out? M: Everybody should express themselves in some way. For me, it is photography and music. I do not have anything to teach to anyone, as feelings are what grow up inside people. TPL: Have you ever been involved in the arts before photography? M: Yes TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? M: Will see... TPL: “When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… M: I'm not a photographer...I'm just a dreamer.” PORTFOLIO INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.

RAISING THE BAR Jean Ross was inspired by a group of athletes that she noticed regularly working out on the beach just off the boardwalk at Coney Island. RAISING THE BAR July 15, 2022 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Jean Ross INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Jean Ross is a photographer born and raised in California. Jean has committed much of her career as a public policy researcher and advocate. She is committed to reducing inequality, while expanding opportunities to help promote broad based prosperity in government, philanthropy, and in the nonprofit sector. Jean led California’s premier fiscal and economic policy organization for seventeen years before moving to New York in 2012 and continues to divide her time between public policy and photography. Even with all that hard work Jean never lost her passion for photography and created meaningful work traveling and exploring other countries and cultures. Brooklyn became Jean’s new home when she moved to New York, and she adapted to her new home, transitioning with ease to the east coast. Jeans describes her assimilation and connection to her new community. “I quickly learned that I could hop on the Q train and emerge a short time later at Stillwell Avenue. Coney Island soon became my happy place. A four seasons source of visual inspiration and adventure. A welcome respite from city life. The Coney Island that moves me is New York without the pretension or a high cost of admission. A diverse, quirky, and welcoming community that is a street photographer’s dream come true.” IN CONVERSATION WITH JEAN ROSS Jean has devoted the last eight years to a personal project documenting the diverse communities that give Coney Island that distinct character legends are made of, like Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, the Mermaid Festival, and the famous Coney Island Polar Bear’s New Year’s Day Swim, and of course the Coney Island Amusement Park and Boardwalk. Jean was inspired by a group of athletes that she noticed, regularly working out on the beach just off the boardwalk at Coney Island. Jean describes her seduction. “I began photographing them in 2014, seduced both by their talent and the aesthetics of the well-toned bodies silhouetted against the Summer sky. I found myself coming back again and again.” Over the years, Jean watched the athletes come and go, keeping almost a constant rotation of new energy and spirit. Jean describes what she has discovered through her investigative studies. “There is clearly a system, a rigor, and a rhythm that I’ve never fully understood. And while there’s a core group of regulars, the cast of characters changes based on the season, the week, and the time of day. Visitors are welcomed with encouragement and while the core group skews, young and male, it is ethnically diverse. Some of the most skilled athletes are well over fifty. These images embody all that I love most about Coney Island. sun, sand, and community. For that reason, this is an ongoing project.” Jean’s ability to understand her subject has come from a diligent practice of carefully looking and listening with her eyes. Her public service has given her the gift of not being afraid to approach and engage the community she is inspired by. She has learned to reach other people through being an observer and a listener, as well as a brilliantly talented photographer. We had the pleasure of interviewing Jean for The Pictorial List, making new connections to her photography and here she shares with you her passion and inspiration. THE PICTORIAL LIST: Welcome to The List Jean! Please tell us about yourself. JEAN ROSS: I grew up and spent most of my life in California. Starting in the suburbs of Los Angeles and migrating northward, ultimately living in Sacramento following a bit of time in Washington, DC. I moved to New York City over 10 years ago, after deciding that it was time to shake up my life. New York is a much more interesting place for street photography than Sacramento. While I’m serious about photography, I have a day job as a senior fellow for a Washington-based policy organization with a focus on fiscal and economic policy. I may be an idealist, but I still believe that public policies can build a more just and equitable society. I recently started working three days a week in part to make more time for photography. TPL: In this series you highlight the Coney Island community, tell us more about the inspiration you find there. Has this inspiration changed your photography? If so, how? JR: I wasn’t around for the good or not so good old days of Coney Island. But as a relative newcomer, it still symbolizes classic New York. And as a native Californian, where going to the beach means getting in the car, I find joy in the fact that I can get on the Q train and get off at the beach. What inspires me about Coney Island is the lack of pretension, the diversity, and the communities - such as these athletes - that form the Coney Island community. I came from the ambience and have stayed over the years for the community. It takes a long time to become a regular, but I think I’m finally getting there. TPL: This has been an ongoing project since 2014, tell me about the relationships you have established and the connections you have made to this community. What do you think the advantages are in developing a long term project? What would be a piece of good advice you would share with a photographer beginning a project like this. What have you learned that surprised you? JR: The advantage of a long term project such as this is that I know how to fade into the background and I know how to stay out of the way. I give people some space even if it means that the shot isn’t as tight as I might like. I’ve also gotten to know many of the routines. Some of the moves are quite difficult and I don’t want anyone to worry that I might stumble into the landing. I also have a good sense of which angles and views make for the best image. Showing up during covid brought people together. For all of us, it was one of the few places where people gathered in person. The most important piece of advice that I’d share is to be generous. I share images with any of my subjects if they ask - I’m the photographer for a lot of Instagram profiles - I also share prints if there’s an image that I know someone would really like. What surprised me the most? The core group of athletes shown in this project is a lovely group of people. They take what they do very seriously. They are very good at what they do and it clearly brings a lot of joy into their lives. It’s a very welcoming community - when beginners show up, especially kids and also women, there’s a lot of gentle coaching. The vibe is much more one of supportiveness than jockiness. TPL: Jean, you have lived on both coasts of the United States, and you have traveled extensively, what have your travels brought to your photography? JR: Look for the beauty in everyday life. Photography is the best way to see how people really live. Seek out the backstreets. Tourist landmarks are great, but they aren’t all that interesting in terms of photography. I’m not a great travel companion when I’m photographing. I can spend hours at a bus station or a fishing village. There was a time when I was traveling a lot professionally. Often, the only time I had to sightsee was to get up early and wander the streets. Look for the beauty in everyday life. Photography is the best way to see how people really live. TPL: When you are out photographing - how much of it is instinctual versus planned? JR: Almost all instinct. I have a weakness for flat light and cloudy days, but beyond that I’m a wanderer not a planner. TPL: Do you have any favorite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? JR: I’m a big fan of looking at other photographers’ work and have a serious photobook habit. I love and am inspired by the work of Betsy Karel. We were in a workshop together in 2010 in Salvador, Brazil. Her work displays a wicked sense of humor. I keep going back to the Mexican photographers, especially Graciela Iturbide and Flor Garduno and, of course, Manuel Alvarez Bravo. Josef Koudelka and Raghubir Singh. I’m in awe of Alex Webb’s ability to organize chaos. I could keep going. TPL: What was the first camera you ever held in your hand, brought to eye, and released a shutter on? What is the camera you use now? Does the equipment you use help you to achieve your vision in your photography? Anything on your Wishlist? JR: Oh my, that was a long time ago. Definitely Kodak - a Brownie or an Instamatic? My first SLR was a Minolta SRT 101 in high school. I’m currently using a Nikon Z7ii. I’m not a ‘gearhead’, but I do love (and use) fast lenses. There are some mirrorless-specific lenses on my wish list, but most of what I do is with a 24-70 zoom. TPL: Are there any other photographic projects you are working on, or have planned in the near future? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? JR: In the Winter, I photograph the Polar Bears at Coney Island. Another wonderful community. I’ve started a small project on the wild birds of Coney Island. I’m not a bird photographer. During the pandemic I started walking and biking the city with a camera. While I do traditional street photography, I also return to certain subject matter and places over and over. I’m looking forward to traveling again. In five years? Who knows! I have a number of projects and collections of images that I’d like to put in book form. I like images that speak to each other and that tell a story. TPL: “When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… JR: I love my work. I’m a devoted exerciser (I also like to eat). Spending time with friends. There’s so little time and so much to do.” Jean has studied at the International Center of Photography and her work has been featured in solo shows at Viewpoint Gallery in Sacramento, California and Gallery 1855 in Davis, California and in group shows at the Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo in Oaxaca, Mexico; International Center of Photography; Los Angeles Center of Photography; Art on the Ave, New York City; Women Street Photographers, New York City; Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition; Art on the Noyes Arts Garage at Stockton University in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and other galleries. Davis, California and in group shows at the prestigious Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo in Oaxaca, Mexico and a number of other galleries. Jean is currently a senior fellow for a Washington-based think tank, research fiscal and economic policy issues and advocating for more equitable outcomes. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated.