The Pictorial List is a global online magazine exploring the beauty and complexity of all things photography. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. Latest features PICTORIAL STORY LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. PICTORIAL STORY A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. PICTORIAL STORY THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. INTERVIEW THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. BOOK TÜRKIYE Rpnunyez offers a thoughtful portrait of a country shaped by history, culture, landscape, architecture, and everyday life. BOOK BETWEEN SEA AND SKY Through walking and flight, Massimo Lupidi reveals Cinque Terre as a landscape shaped by attention, endurance, and the intimate bond between land and human life. INTERVIEW 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. INTERVIEW THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. PICTORIAL STORY 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. INTERVIEW 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. PICTORIAL STORY COLORS OF HUZUN 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. PICTORIAL STORY 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. PICTORIAL STORY 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. PICTORIAL STORY 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. PICTORIAL STORY 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. AUGUST ART SERIES PICTORIAL FOUNDATION FILM FEST August 8 & Repeat Screening on August 9 Preshow drinks & treats @ 7pm | screening begins @ 8pm The Pictorial Foundation Film Festival brings together a curated selection of documentary, experimental, performance, animation, and artist films. Presented within our ArtSpace, the program explores the moving image as a site of artistic inquiry, visual storytelling, and shared experience. Join us for two evenings of contemporary cinematic practice. BUY TICKETS The Foster Portfolio (2017), film still. Courtesy of Danielle Katvan. © Danielle Katvan WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. New York, New York! PICTORIAL STORY NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASTION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy. INTERVIEW FABRIC OF NEW YORK VISUALS Elle Clarke lives NYC — snapping its heart and hustle with her smartphone, one real city moment at a time! INTERVIEW NOD OF RECOGNITION B Jane Levine’s portraits give a playful wink — inviting a nod of recognition to the hidden stories we all carry inside. INTERVIEW NEW YORK IMPROVISATIONS Fast-moving, off-kilter, witty, raw and classic film noir define Bill Lacey's photography. PICTORIAL STORY MERMAID MAGIC AJ Bernstein captures the magic of the Mermaid Parade—where fantasy, freedom, and community come together in a sea of color and joy. INTERVIEW GOTHAM MEMORIES Jeff Rothstein clicks, time unfolds — capturing the heart of the city in timeless frames, from 1969 to today. PICTORIAL STORY TAKING THE PLUNGE Carol Dronsfield takes the plunge with the Coney Island’s Polar Bears, capturing the chill, the thrill, and the heart. INTERVIEW THE AUTHENTIC GAZE Amy Horowitz says “Don’t Smile”— and in doing so, captures the real and wonderfully unscripted faces of New York City. VOLUME ONE- NEW YORK BUY NOW join the Pictorial Community >>> Follow us on Instagram #thepictoriallist @thepictorial.list Load More REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. Interviews you may have missed REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE Camille J. Wheeler documents Austin's streets, with a particular focus on its homeless community. COMEDIANS Steve Best documents the British comedy scene, backstage and on stage, the highs and lows, and the joy of being a comedian. QUARANTINE IN QUEENS Neil Kramer's humorous and compassionate lockdown diary has gone viral. ENROUTE TO THE PINES Robert Sherman shares his documentary series about drag queens celebrating the 'Invasion of the Pines'. SERVICE INTERRUPTION Wojciech Karlinski documented Poland train stations during the pandemic, highlighting their formal and aesthetic side. VOICES OF THE NILE Voices of the Nile by Bastien Massa and Arthur Larie is a project documenting the relationship of Ethiopians with the Blue Nile. BREAKS FROM REALITY The magic only dreams are made of become reality for viewers as they engage in the poetic imagery of Mariëtte Aernoudts. BEYOND THE STORY Through her documentary photography, Christina Simons is compelled to tell the stories of those who are unable to do so themselves. © Russell Cobb Media Partners

PICTORIAL STORY DHARAVI Jimmy McBroom takes us inside Mumbai’s Dharavi, capturing the everyday strength of a community often reduced to stereotype. His photo essay invites us to look closer — not at poverty, but at people, lives lived with dignity, purpose, and quiet determination. July 30, 2021 PICTORIAL STORY photography JIMMY MCBROOM story JIMMY MCBROOM introduction MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Jimmy McBroom is a social documentarian, fearlessly delving into the depths of the human experience to capture the raw and powerful moments that define us. His vivid and honest depictions of life in both Palestine and India have attracted international attention, having been used in political theatre and as part of the Sheffield Palestine Solidarity campaign. Now, Jimmy presents us with a photo essay documenting the lives of the people living in Mumbai's Dharavi Slum. This is a visual journey through the heart and soul of a place too often overlooked and forgotten by the outside world, a place where humanity and resilience thrive in spite of oppressive circumstances. Through his photographs, Jimmy offers an unflinching yet deeply human perspective on life in Dharavi — revealing not just the hardships, but the enduring spirit that defines the community. Dharavi is considered to be one of Asia's largest slums and has an area of just over 2.1 square kilometers and a population of around 1 million. Dharavi is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. I spent three months in Mumbai exploring Dharavi, meeting locals and learning about the industries within. I met some of the most inspirational and resourceful people there. I witnessed happiness and community, Hindus and Muslims living together in one of the poorest and most overpopulated areas of the world. There are a lot of misconceptions about Dharavi. The media portrays Dharavi residents as 'down and outs' in films such as Slumdog Millionaire and Coldplay music videos. This is not what I experienced. I witnessed resourcefulness and community with limited resources. I was overwhelmed with the sense of community, ingenuity and resourcefulness of the inhabitants. With issues such as only having running water for one hour per day, a lack of any sewer system, hazardous obstacles such as live electric cables around nearly every corner of the tight mazes (which make up one of the world's largest slums), I still found Dharavi a warm magical and welcoming place to be. Maybe an example of true anarchy? I also asked myself what has the “Western world” lost or forgotten and what could it learn from Dharavi? The industries here not only support the residents but also help support the rest of Mumbai with rag-pickers cleaning up waste and taking it to Dharavi to be recycled. It is estimated that 80 per cent of Mumbai's solid waste is recycled into usable materials. The UK’s recycling rate was almost half that, with just under 45 per cent of household waste recycled in 2015. Other contributions to the economy of Mumbai and industries include recycling sorting centers, paint, clothing, tools, soap, wood sculpture, leather, including a handbag brand (Dharavi Handbag) sold in fashion outlets in the west, religious ornaments and many others. It's a crucial time for Dharavi; a government development plan is threatening industries and their survival. Through talking with locals, I've learned how detrimental this scheme is. The plan currently suggests that the tower blocks are to be built over the land which currently holds these important industries. The locals are reliant on work to survive, which the slum currently provides, but the government plan does not take this into account. Jobs will be lost. Another concern is that the foundations for the tower blocks would be unsafe as Dharavi is built on an old rubbish tip around a water pipe. There have been recent buildings and bridges collapse in Mumbai due to cheap design and foundation issues. Speaking to many residents and locals, around 95% of people are against the government scheme. Other ways of helping Dharavi would be to allow more than the 2 hours of restricted water per day (5.30am -7.30am) and better sewage and drainage systems for example. Since leaving Dharavi, it has been in my thoughts every day. I will soon return. Obviously Covid has affected us all. Last year WHO (World Health Organization) praised Dharavi's fight against Corona. They managed to work together and flatten the curve of cases. Their strategies and working together as a community worked better than the rest of Mumbai. Door to door testing was done and fast responses to anyone with symptoms. I have remained in contact with Dharavi residents since I was there and keep in regular contact with them. Unfortunately, in recent weeks there has been a huge rise in cases and deaths all over India. Resources are completely stretched to beyond comprehension. This wave leaves Dharavi completely alone to fight an even bigger wave of Covid. Remembering Dharavi is one of the most overpopulated places on earth, with up to ten people living together in a small room, it is a breeding ground for the virus. © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom © Jimmy McBroom The people of Dharavi are the most friendly, welcoming, beautiful, resourceful, and inspiring people I have ever met. They welcomed me into their homes, fed me, educated me, and touched my heart. view Jimmy's portfolio Read an interview with Jimmy >>> Website >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. 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.

PICTORIAL STORY THE CONDUCTORS A LOVE STORY: Robert Sherman shines a light on the unsung heroes of the New York MTA Subway — the train conductors whose steady hands and focused minds guide the city through its daily rush. With care and precision, he captures their quiet devotion to a job that is both routine and vital. December 3, 2021 PICTORIAL STORY photography ROBERT SHERMAN story ROBERT SHERMAN introduction MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Every day, millions of New Yorkers rely on the MTA subway system to get where they’re going. But behind the rumble of trains and the routine of the daily commute are the steady hands and sharp eyes of subway conductors — professionals who keep the city moving with little recognition. New York based photographer, musician, and composer Robert Sherman turns his lens toward these unsung heroes in a compelling photographic series that brings their world into focus. A Chicago native and current columnist and social media manager for the Fire Island News , Sherman has long had a passion for visual storytelling. In this project, he captures the quiet resilience, focus, and humanity of those working in the shadows of the city’s vast underground network. With a keen eye for overlooked details, Sherman invites viewers to see conductors not just as part of the system, but as individuals — navigating the rhythm, pressure, and poetry of life underground. New York City MTA SUBWAY, EVERYDAY: A few years ago, as I exited the middle car on one particularly relaxed subway ride, I noticed a conductor open her window and stick her arm out and point up to the ceiling for what seemed like no particular reason. I thought to myself, what a lovely gesture of reverence and reverie! But it turns out it was neither, as I discovered by asking the next one, I saw later that week. It is actually a required action taken by the middleman conductor at every subway stop. Its purpose is twofold: it shows the roaming MTA platform inspectors that the conductors are alert and paying attention to their job, and, more importantly, they are pointing at a (previously unnoticed by me) zebra striped sign set in the exact center of each platform. This indicates to the watchful eyes of the conductor up front that it is safe to open the doors. This, in turn, protects the passengers from stepping out directly onto the tracks had the train not been aligned properly at the stop. It is a beautiful example of man and machine working in harmony. There may be the technology to do all of this automatically, yet it remains the chosen way to keep this charmingly human engagement alive and well. The zebra signs first appeared as general markers between every two cars around WW1, and the gesture itself originated in Japan, where it was being used for the same purpose, although more elaborately - including voice signals, and the turning of a complex set of switches. It is referred to there as shisa kanko . The MTA adopted and mandated this ritualistic action in the late 1990s after a number of incidents where passengers fell onto the tracks. And the new system has helped quite a bit in preventing that from happening ever since. At any rate, I still choose to see it as simply a beautiful gesture, one that connects me to the perhaps previously unacknowledged, hardworking individuals who help as many as six million riders arrive safely to their destinations each and every day. So, I set out to make a series of portraits in celebration of these conductors. We see them all the time, but perhaps we forget to look. With these images I hope that maybe we can now fall just a little bit in love with them, as well. I know I have. © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman © Robert Sherman Through this series, Robert Sherman offers a rare and intimate look at the often-overlooked world of New York City subway conductors. His photographs go beyond the routine grind of daily transit, revealing quiet moments of resilience, the human stories behind the uniforms, and the rich diversity of lives touched by the MTA. In spotlighting these essential workers, Robert reminds us of the dedication and dignity behind a job that keeps the city moving. Next time you step onto a train, consider a simple gesture — acknowledge the conductor. A thank you can go a long way. view Robert's portfolio Read an interview with Robert >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. 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 Pictorial List was launched in January 2020 as a passion project to inspire and support the diverse community of photographers and visual storytellers. © Bill Lacey we are THE PICTORIAL LIST mission: Our mission is to support, elevate, and celebrate diverse voices through the visual arts, with a particular focus on photography as a powerful medium for storytelling. We aim to foster inclusive environments that inspire, educate, and connect visual storytellers from all backgrounds — regardless of gender, culture, race, life status, neurodiversity, or mobility — on local, national, and international platforms. By nurturing creativity in a supportive environment, we ensure that all voices are heard and visual narratives have the space to flourish. The Pictorial List Inc. is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit arts organization founded by Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico and Melanie Meggs in 2024, following the publication of their first hardcover book, The Pictorial List – Volume One – New York. United by a shared belief in the power of photography to elevate diverse voices and foster meaningful connection, Karen and Melanie co-founded the organization to expand the reach and impact of their curatorial work and to provide a platform for photographers. The Pictorial List began in 2020 as a passion project initiated by Melanie Meggs — a digital platform built to inspire and support a global community of photographers. Over time, it grew into a collaborative space for creative exchange, shaped by a dedicated team. Each member plays a vital role in helping the organization evolve while staying grounded in its founding values. … the goal of art was the vital expression of self. - Alfred Stieglitz WHY PICTORIAL? The Pictorial List was chosen as both a name and a philosophy — a nod to the Pictorialists of the early 20th century who dared to ask, “Can photography be art?” They believed in photography not just as a tool for documentation, but as a means of expression — equal to painting, sculpture, or poetry. Their photographs challenged conventions and opened new pathways for visual storytelling. At The Pictorial List, we carry that spirit forward. Like the Pictorialists, we believe in elevating the photographic voice, and we aim to spotlight those who use the camera as a brush, a mirror, a witness, or a whisper. Through our nonprofit work, we aim to advance the art and science of photography and multimedia by empowering artists — especially those from underserved, marginalized, and diverse communities — to harness visual storytelling as a means of advocacy, reflection, and creative transformation. THE PICTORIAL MAGAZINE Our digital magazine offers in-depth pictorial stories and interviews with photographers around the world. These features move beyond aesthetics, revealing the social, emotional, and personal layers behind each body of work. Whether focused on human stories, cultural shifts, or overlooked places, the photographers we feature share their worlds with generosity, honesty, and heart. At The Pictorial List, we believe in the quiet power of photography to reframe the world — and we are committed to ensuring that all voices have the opportunity to be seen, shared, and celebrated. DISCOVERY + INSPIRATION + COMMUNITY editorial team COFOUNDER + CREATIVE DIRECTOR Melanie Meggs COFOUNDER + EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico EDITOR Karin Svadlenak Gomez EDITOR Bill Lacey COMMUNITY MANAGER John St. COMMUNTY MANAGER Ibi Gowon

I am a Filipino expatriate currently living in Singapore. I have been only photographing for a few months. I still consider myself as a beginner in this journey. I shoot light and shadows, so most my photos are dominated by black, black and mostly black. MICHAEL CAPULONG I am a Filipino expatriate currently living in Singapore. I have been only photographing for a few months. I still consider myself as a beginner in this journey. I shoot light and shadows, so most my photos are dominated by black, black and mostly black. LOCATION SINGAPORE CAMERA/S Sony A6400/A6000 @AVERAGEBALD FEATURES // Contrast to Darkness

I am a street and documentary photographer. I started my career in photography as a hobbyist in 2019 while doing my Masters Education in Marketing. I tried all genres of photography in the beginning, and discovered that street and documentary work attracted me more than any other genre. I do love to travel to find new places and stories. I identify myself as a learner, trying to learn new things from everyone. My work has been featured in National Geographic Photo of the week, and as a finalist in CHIIZ Magazine. My photograph has also been selected for publication in the 5th 35 Awards, and a documentary about Republic Parade Rehearsals has been published in The Fleeting magazine. SANDEEP KUMAR I am a street and documentary photographer. I started my career in photography as a hobbyist in 2019 while doing my Masters Education in Marketing. I tried all genres of photography in the beginning, and discovered that street and documentary work attracted me more than any other genre. I do love to travel to find new places and stories. I identify myself as a learner, trying to learn new things from everyone. My work has been featured in National Geographic Photo of the week, and as a finalist in CHIIZ Magazine. My photograph has also been selected for publication in the 5th 35 Awards, and a documentary about Republic Parade Rehearsals has been published in The Fleeting magazine. LOCATION New Delhi INDIA CAMERA/S Nikon D3300 & Sony A7III @IM_SAADHU FEATURES // Finding New Stories

THE MEMORY OF THE FEMALE BODY: The Archetype of Beauty Lorenzo Vitali's photographic language is expressive with a poetic vein, showing his aesthetic values and his deep respect for women. THE MEMORY OF THE FEMALE BODY: THE ARCHETYPE OF BEAUTY April 6, 2022 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Lorenzo Vitali INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Throughout history, human culture has found ways to capture beauty through art, whether it is in paintings, sculptures or photographs. For centuries, artists have been inspired by the female body as a source of beauty, with the understanding that beauty itself is ever-evolving and subjective. Lorenzo Vitali has continued this tradition, but with a modern twist. Lorenzo is an Italian photographer and visual artist based in Genoa. He has developed his own aesthetic sense by merging traditional elements with innovative approaches to create unique works of art. He pays special attention to shapes and materiality, and frames his works within a conceptual discourse with a strong focus on formal research. One of his latest projects, "The Memory of the Female Body: The Archetype of Beauty", seeks to crystallise female beauty through a series of photographs that hint at the archetype of beauty, much like the frescoes slowly fading away on the walls of ancient residences. In this project, Lorenzo explores beauty and emotionality through melancholic images that capture fleeting moments of beauty before they vanish, as if in a dream. Through his photography, Lorenzo seeks to remind us of the beauty that is all around us, often hidden in plain sight, and to give us pause to contemplate the ever-changing nature of beauty. In short, Lorenzo Vitali presents us with a creative and experimental approach to capturing beauty that is both thought-provoking and visually captivating. “I would like my works to show not only my aesthetic values but also my deep respect for other human beings and in particular for women. What I try to suggest, furthermore, is a different and personal perspective in interpreting the reality that surrounds us. The result is a photographic language that I would define expressive, accompanied by a poetic vein.” IN CONVERSATION WITH LORENZO VITALI THE PICTORIAL LIST: Lorenzo please tell us about yourself. LORENZO VITALI: I was born in Milan and I’ve been living in this large and very stimulating city all my life. I started photographing since I was 8 years old when I was given a Kodak Instamatic with which I took thousands of slides. However, my life was in medicine for many years, working in hospital as a doctor first and then as a director, but I have never neglected photography. However, in recent years, photography has become my main activity. TPL: What draws you to photography and art? How did your journey into photography begin? LV: Since I was a boy, the whole world of visual arts had a great fascination for me: visiting art galleries, Italy is so rich of, allowed me to get to know the work of the great painters and outlined my ideas about aesthetics. Photographic books and exhibitions have brought me into contact with photographers who had made the history of photography. The aesthetic research of shapes sculpted by light has always attracted my gaze in an irresistible way. As a boy I analyzed reality through the viewfinder of my first Reflex (an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic) and this proved to be the trigger which set off most of my ideas. Observing the image projected by my Durst enlarger on the work surface, then seeing it disappear and reappear in the development bath was an intense and unforgettable emotion. My first experiences were in the field of photo reportage and fashion, but I would say that in the course of my life I have explored almost all photographic genres because I am curious. I think this helped me hone my technique. TPL: In your project THE MEMORY OF THE FEMALE BODY: THE ARCHETYPE OF BEAUTY you describe it as "a memory of beauty, which appears and then vanishes like a fresco" blurring the female body as if it is now a part of history. How and when did this project first manifest for you? What is the full story behind the project? What was the inspiration? LV: For some time now the theme of beauty, and female beauty in particular, has been one of the main research fields of my business. However, I have never taken glamorous photographs and, if anything, the study of form was the very center of my interest. In this work, however, I wanted to go further and express more what remained fixed in my mind rather than what I could observe with my eyes at the moment of the shot. The reference to the shadows of Hiroshima or the casts of Pompeii came naturally. The aim was to give a materiality to my memory. So we can say that the inspiration came from my lived life and from my memories which are therefore sometimes sharper and sometimes more nuanced. Overall, I think I have a poetic vision of this theme. TPL: What are any lasting impressions you would like to leave the viewer? What is their 'takeaway'? LV: I think that the viewer in front of a single work can grasp some aspects that I wanted to highlight. The concept of beauty, as an example. If an observer has a different sensitivity, he will have his own personal perception, in the end. And that might be very different from my original one. However, I would like my works to show not only my aesthetic values but also my deep respect for other human beings and in particular for women. What I try to suggest, furthermore, is a different and personal perspective in interpreting the reality that surrounds us. The result is a photographic language that I would define expressive, accompanied by a poetic vein. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists and photographers? If you could just choose one photographer to photograph alongside for a day...who would you choose? And why? LV: Apart from the great authors who made the history of photography, among the contemporaries I greatly admire the work of Gregory Crewdson and his way of interpreting staged photography. Gregory Crewdson would be my choice: I really love his ability to recreate perfect sets that seem at first glance shot like a reportage and are instead the result of the work of many people who spend a lot of time setting up the scenes and shooting. However, I would only photograph with him as long as he paid the expenses. Unfortunately, I know this kind of photography requires a very high budget I couldn’t afford at the moment. There is no causal link between what I write “with light” and what I write “with a pen”. They arise from a single idea that is inside of me. So I can't separate the two because it's just one thing. TPL: What do you think is your next chapter in your exploration with future projects. LV: I have several projects in the process of being set up. As usual, I start by researching the subject and this always takes a long time. So I still don't know which of my projects is closer to the final realization, even if a project that talks about architecture and metaphysics is now in a fairly advanced stage. TPL: Is there a special photographic moment you recall that will always remain with you...one maybe that changed your view of the world in which you photograph in? LV: I think that after having explored various photographic genres, at some point you feel the need to stop and think for a while and then follow a fairly precise path. This happened to me a few years ago and for a year I stopped taking pictures. I resumed when I realized that I had to look at the visual arts as a whole and not at photography and that's it. This broadened my vision of the world to explore. It became clear to me that the important thing was not so much the medium I used to express myself, but only what I had to say mattered. Let's say that therefore I always look at reality with an attitude more aimed at having an outcome in which the technique I use from time to time must never be the first thing that strikes the observer, but only the support that allows me to establish a connection with the viewer. TPL: Is there any advice that you would give yourself if you started photography all over again? LV: Perhaps the only advice I would give myself is to photograph less and think more, but I guess I wouldn't follow that. 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? How much post-processing do you do? LV: Good equipment is essential to maintain high quality standards. However, we must never forget that it is only a means to an end. In the past I have used all kinds of equipment, from rangefinder cameras to classic film Reflex. From 2007 I switched to using digital cameras, always DSLR (Canon in general) with various lenses. Recently I have also very much appreciated mirrorless cameras and in most cases I am using a Canon EOS R5 with both my old EF and new RF lenses. I prefer preferably bright focal lengths in relation to the type of images I have to make. Perhaps I prefer the short and standard focal lengths. Post-production is an integral part of photographic work and must be used in coherence with the type of photography we are making: therefore the processing in documentary works is minimal while it becomes more important when it comes to conceptual interpretive photography. I personally post-produce my photos. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… LV: I like doing lots of things: eating great food and drinking good wine, meeting interesting people and rambling around. But I often end up thinking about what I could photograph. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. 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.

PICTORIAL STORY UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. August 3, 2025 PICTORIAL STORY PHOTOGRAPHY Nasos Karabelas STORY Melanie Meggs SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link In his series Figures , Nasos Karabelas interrogates the human form as both subject and substrate, treating the body not as a static object to be represented, but as a mutable, expressive force capable of evoking the immaterial dimensions of thought and feeling. Born in Pyrgos, Greece, and now based in Athens, Nasos approaches photography not as a documentary device, but as a mode of emotional inquiry. His work unfolds at the intersection of photography, painting, and performance, resisting the notion of the camera as a neutral observer. Instead, it becomes an instrument for articulating the instability of perception, the fragmentation of memory, and the psychological weight of embodiment. Through the deformation of the human figure, Nasos opens a space in which inner states — often ambiguous and unresolved — can be rendered visible. “It started as an emotional need,” Nasos reflects. “I’ve always felt that the way we show ourselves on the outside doesn’t always match what’s going on inside. Distorting the body gave me a way to express that — the confusion, the movement, the moments when emotions feel too big or too unclear to put into words.” Positioned at the intersection of visual abstraction and emotional inquiry, Figures invites a reconsideration of how the body can be represented, encountered, and felt. What follows is an exploration of how Figures mobilizes photographic techniques to construct an image-world where psychological states take visual form and where the instability of perception becomes both subject and method. At the core of Figures lies a formally restrained yet conceptually radical intervention: the deliberate disruption of the human figure as a means of articulating what resists verbal expression. In this series, the body is not approached as a fixed subject to be depicted, but as a mutable site. One shaped by psychological rupture, transformation, and emotional residue. Nasos’ use of long exposure undermines the traditional photographic impulse to arrest time, instead allowing duration and instability to surface. What he captures is not the external likeness of the body, but the lived sensation of inhabiting one. “I think of time almost like a texture in my work,” Nasos explains. “Long exposure lets me go beyond the idea of a single, frozen moment. It brings in movement, which means I can show change, emotion, and instability — things that are always happening beneath the surface.” This reflects key ideas from post-structuralist and phenomenological theory: that the body is not a container of truth, but a fluctuating site of experience and perception. The result is a series of images where limbs smear into the dark, faces dissolve into formlessness, and the figure itself becomes a threshold between presence and disappearance. This conceptual logic is reinforced by Nasos’ restrained yet intentional visual strategies. Across the series, he employs blur, movement, and tonal minimalism to destabilize the body's legibility. His reliance on a monochrome palette displaces the figure from its representational anchoring. Occasionally, subdued color is introduced, most notably in the form of red, which acts not as decoration but as a rupture. “Color is a kind of interruption,” Nasos says. “It pushes the viewer to feel differently… it’s something that black and white alone can’t fully express.” Rather than serving as an index of identity or physicality, the body in these images becomes elusive, disarticulated. His use of darkness as an enveloping visual field further abstracts the body, isolating it within an existential void — a liminal zone where the viewer must fill in what cannot be seen. The material character of the images plays a critical role in this process. The use of grain, evoking analog processes, amplifies a sense of tactility and impermanence. In the black-and-white compositions, tonal contrast is pushed to its extremes: highlights glow, while shadows engulf. The skin is rendered not as flesh but as surface, subject to visual erosion. In this context, grain functions not merely as texture, but as a metaphor for instability: the image itself becomes a fragile membrane through which sensation, memory, and uncertainty flicker into view. The photograph becomes an emotive topology, mapping internal states onto blurred contours. Each composition operates as an autonomous psychic portrait, less about who is being depicted than what is being revealed. As Nasos conveys, “Since I include self-portraits, the work is definitely partly about me. But at the same time, the forms go beyond just one person. They represent feelings and struggles that many people share — like vulnerability, confusion, or change.” In this framework, the self is articulated as both singular and relational, at once introspective and emblematic of broader emotional terrains. The body, rendered unstable, becomes a conduit for shared psychological experience. Building on this, Figures may be understood as a form of visual resistance. One that challenges dominant visual paradigms predicated on clarity and stable identity. Nasos deliberately unsettles the viewer’s gaze, foregrounding the instability of perception and the fragmentary nature of selfhood. By disrupting legibility through movement and absence, the work subverts the photographic imperative to define and contain. Instead, it opens a discursive space wherein trauma, vulnerability, and psychological opacity are given form. As Nasos notes, “If I had to describe what Figures feels like, it would be like standing inside a moment of emotional uncertainty — like being in between clarity and confusion, presence and disappearance. There’s beauty in it, but also fragility.” It is precisely this interplay between formal experimentation and affective intensity that positions Nasos’ work as both conceptually rigorous and emotionally resonant — inviting reflection not only on what is seen, but on how it is felt. © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas © Nasos Karabelas What Nasos Karabelas ultimately offers in Figures is not resolution, but an invitation to inhabit the image as a space of vulnerability and transformation. In resisting coherence, the work does not collapse into obscurity; rather, it opens up new possibilities for how the photographic image might function as a mode of embodied thinking. Figures does not seek to define the human form, but to question the terms by which we have come to understand it. The body, here, is not a conclusion but a question — unfixed, unresolved, and continually becoming. This refusal to settle into recognizable tropes of identity or representation gives the series its critical urgency. As the boundaries between self and other, surface and depth, presence and absence are made unstable, Nasos gestures toward a broader visual ethics, one that privileges emotional complexity over visual certainty. Figures chooses to withhold, to destabilise, and in doing so, to more honestly approach the ineffable contours of human experience. view Nasos Karabelas’ 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. read more stories >>> REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. 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.

PICTORIAL STORY MAKING A SPLASH Carol Dronsfield shares her portraits of the Coney Island Polar Bears, documenting over twenty-two swims while getting to know the bears. April 29, 2022 PICTORIAL STORY photography CAROL DRONSFIELD story KAREN GHOSTLAW POMARICO SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link If you live in New York State in the winter, it is best if you find something fun to do to help the short days go by over these long cold months. Some ski, skate, fish, snow mobile, while others who live in Coney Island in Brooklyn, and the surrounding boroughs of New York have found their own way to enjoy and be inspired through the short days and bitter cold of winter. In 1903 Bemarr Macfadden founded the oldest cold water swim club in the United States, ‘The Coney Island Polar Bear Club’. He was called The Father of Physical Culture , being an early advocate for a nutritional diet along with physical exercise. Bemarr believed training the body to endure the cold elements made you stronger and healthier, in body and mind. He was convinced that the dips in the cold water during the winter months boosted your stamina, virility, as well as your immunity. I spoke to the President of The Coney Island Polar Bears, Dennis Thomas, and he shared the club's member information, and what it takes to be a member. “Currently we have about 170 members on our roster and have around 80-90 members at each of our weekly swims. To become a full member, aspiring Cubs must do 12 swims within a single season and be voted in by the membership. To remain a member in good standing, bears must do at least 4 swims within a season.” While the Bears swim every Sunday, rain, snow, or shine, Dennis believes they are best known for their annual Coney Island New Year's Day Plunge where around 3,000 swimmers take a refreshing plunge in the Atlantic Ocean with an additional 10,000 spectators watching. The event has always been free to the public, but we do encourage all attendees to make a donation to our charity partners. In the past we have supported the Special Olympics, Camp Sunshine in Casco Maine, and recently cultural organizations in the Coney Island community such as the NYC Aquarium, Coney Island USA, Coney Island History Project, Coney Island YMCA, Parachute Arts, Friends of Kaiser Park, and New York State Marine Education Association.” The Coney Island Polar Bears descend upon the boardwalk every Sunday from November through April for a dip in the frigid cold air and freezing temperatures of the ocean at Coney. Photographers and filmmakers from all over like to experience and share the inspiration with the bears and are dedicated to their swim, becoming part of that extended family and Coney Island community. Carol Dronsfield is a photographer currently residing in Brooklyn New York and has committed her Sundays to photographing the Bears. Carol shares her amazing portraits of the Coney Island Polar Bears, documenting over twenty-two swims while getting to know the bears. Carol shares her ideas behind this series of work she has created with passion and respect for the Bears, and for the Coney Island community. These are her observations: “With these portraits, I aim to capture the joy, bravery, determination, and love for the frigid Atlantic Ocean these Bears all possess. Bears may be young or old, male or female, large or small, tattooed or plain, fit or not; most of all they are a dedicated group of swimmers, an eclectic tribe. It’s a Sunday at 1:00pm on the beach in Coney Island. A typical winter day at the height of the Bears’ season: Water temp 38 degrees. Air temp 32 degrees. Wind chill makes it feel subzero. Dress code: bathing attire. The nastier the weather, the happier the Bears are at the beach. Some Bears radiate calm, a healing effect the water has on the individual; they worship the ocean. With some, I capture the exuberant reaction to the cold waters rushing over them. I look for Bears who enter and emerge from the water as a group, as if taking the ocean by storm. I try to give the Bears their space, not to interrupt their Sunday ritual; it can feel like witnessing something sacred. There are close bonds between Bears; I’ve watched some casual swimmers become official Bears at pre-swim ceremonies. Graduating from Cub to Bear is a big deal. I’ve watched as the American Flag and the Polar Bear flags are placed in the sand near the water where they swim. I watch with my lens as the Bears march to the water. The group forms a circle; they chant and warm up. They race into the water, frolicking and forming a circle holding hands. They stay in the water anywhere from 5 minutes to 1/2 hour. I try to capture the mutual respect and camaraderie of the Bears: running into the water together, coming out together, encouraging a novice Bear hesitating at the water’s edge. I savor the surprises that come with every Sunday swim. Whether it’s a Bear arriving in costume, bringing a favorite inflatable toy, doing a dance on the beach, their joy is contagious.” The Coney Island Polar Bears are a uniquely diverse group of people that are connected with bonds that only come close to the ties you make within your own personal family. We usually spend years developing friendships and making lasting connections. Somehow those connections are made in the instant you make that plunge and are determined to become a bear. Your family of experienced Bears, welcome and guide you in, often offering some advice, a warm hand, an extra pair of swim shoes, with a big smile, and eyes full of inspiration. In those few minutes societal and cultural differences are washed away at sea, and they are all just simply Coney Island Polar Bears. So, let’s meet some of The Coney Island Polar Bears. MEET AMR BEAR: Amr El Ghaziri was born and lived his younger years in Alexandria, Egypt. At the age eight Amr moved with his family to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He remembers watching the few American shows on their television, Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch. It was a very impressionable age in a young boy's life. When Amr’s family moved to the United States, he was in his early teens when Amr and his brother Assem decided to become Lifeguards. When Amr was in High School he joined the swim team. In the locker room was a poster for summer jobs lifeguarding at Coney Island. Amr remembers his awakening, “zero espionage, no submarines, no helicopters or jet skis, absolutely nothing like Baywatch.” But it was a life’s dream come true for Amr and Assem. As a lifeguard at Coney you work the famous Coney Island Polar Bears New Years Day Swim. At first Amr thought they were crazy. He could not imagine swimming in the frigid temperatures and icy waters of Coney Island In January. What good reason could they have, wondered Amr. One New Year's Day, he got his answer, when he jumped in to help a struggling swimmer, as he helped the swimmer to safety, Amr was exhilarated and was finally feeling the energy and inspiration he had witnessed in the spirit of the others over the years. It changed Amr, and now it became a New Year’s Day tradition for Amr, his brother Assem, and two other close friends Matt Huff, and Brian Steele. For the next eleven years they would not join the official Polar Bear swim, but would sneak their dip outside the boundaries, coining themselves the ‘Crime Dippers.’ This year a little unexpected bump into a friend on the boardwalk changed the course of his future. Amr explains. “This year 2022 was different. My friend Doug, a fellow New York City union Ironworker Doug Wenz, ran into me on the boardwalk and I noticed he had a Polar Bear jacket on. I asked where I could buy one and he informed me that you have to join. Doug invited Amr to join the Bears. Amr admits to not realizing what the bears really do, when they are out there in the water. He had always jumped in, then ran out. But he learned the very first day, this was not a frivolous act of insanity, but a process of teaching your body to adapt to the elements. The first time Amr almost felt like he was not going to make it out of the water it was so cold, and as the others just stood in the waters, Amr’s body was challenged. An older wiser Bear came to Amr and grasped his hand and offered him to join the five minute circle. All the Bears hold hands at the five minute mark and make a circle, and take turns dipping. If you last you may join the second ten minute circle. Amr said that after the five minute mark, something changed. His breathing slowed down, as did his rapid heart rate. He began not feeling as cold, assimilating to the water. Amr not only made it to the five minute circle, but was welcomed into the ten minute one that day as well. Only forward, never back, and in April of this year Amr was voted into the official Coney Island Polar Bear Club. Amr is a New York City Local 40 Union Ironworker that has a lot to celebrate this year! Not only has he officially become a Bear, and now has his Bear family, but Amr is engaged to be married to his beautiful fiancé Alexandra Avena on November 10, 2022! 2022 is going to be a year that marks a Cornerstone in Amr’s life. Expanding his family and embracing his community in new ways will bring him many rewards in the future. MEET DANIELLE BEAR: Danielle Mastrion has always loved the ocean, and has a warm place in heart for Coney Island. Danielle grew up in Coney Island and she has always swam through fall into spring. The Polar Bears were not unfamiliar to Danielle, they have long been a part of the Coney Island Community. Danielle has participated in the famous ‘Coney Island Polar Bear New Year’s Day Swim’ for as long as she can remember. She always told herself, “One day I will become a real bear, not just a New Year Bear.” This Easter Sunday will be Danielle’s 3rd Anniversary, for becoming a Coney Island Polar Bear. She was voted in on April 17, 2019. Danielle has steady employment as a ‘Live Painter’ on Sundays at ‘Kitchen 21’ restaurant on the boardwalk. ‘Live Painting’ is a form of visual performance art where artists like Danielle complete a visual art piece as, or as part of a public performance. For a few weeks during a season of her ‘Live Painting’ performances, the Bears decided to do their swims at ‘Kitchen 21’ instead of the usual Polar Bear Bay. This is how Danielle remembers the day she decided to become a full fledged Coney Island Polar Bear. “So while I was live painting, one of the Bears, Antoinette, came into the restaurant and started chatting me up while painting. I had seen her at a few art shows, and she was also familiar with my work. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was doing the Polar Bear swims, and I basically screamed that I’ve always wanted to do them. She invited me to do a guest swim the following week. I did about 3-4 guest swims with the bears that season, and Antoinette offered to be my Bear sponsor if I wanted to come back the next season and be a cub. The rest is history. I owe it all to Antoinette!” The Community and the family bonds they have formed keeps Danielle coming back. “It’s not just a Sunday connection, the Bears all really come through for each other. I feel like I’m having a family gathering every time I swim. I also keep coming back for the physical benefits but also the mental challenges. The plunges are really a mental challenge over a physical challenge, and training your mind to breath through the ‘pain’, the challenge of the temperature, that training stays with you. I feel mentally stronger after I swim, which continues all week long.” The Bears bring a sense of belonging, and as a family they are all there to support one another. They cheer each other on, encourage and uplift one another Danielle says, “in and out of the water.” Danielle adds, “It is also super, super fun!” Danielle strives to reciprocate the positive energy back to all of the Bears. Danielle’s murals and art in Coney Island ‘Give Back’ to the Bears and the Coney Island community as a whole. Danielle is a huge advocate for ocean clean ups and ‘How to be a responsible beach goer’. She is an advocate for anything positive for Coney. Danielle has painted murals for almost every major artery of Coney Island: The NY Aquarium, Luna Park, Deno's Wonder Wheel Park, The Coney Island Brewery, Coney Island USA, The Cyclone, The Mermaid Parade, The Coney Island History Project, The Coney Island Alliance, Liberation High School in Coney Island, The NY Cosmos, Ruby’s Bar & Grill, and some local businesses in the neighborhood as well. There is a good chance you will see Danielle at work in Coney Island, often throughout the boardwalk and their side streets. Stop by and say hello and be inspired by her work. Share in the positive energy of the community. You can find Danielle and links to her art and work in the Coney Island on instagram, @daniellebknyc, and on her website. MEET JOHN & LUKE BEAR: John Calandra and his son Luke, bring a special father-son tradition to the Coney Island Polar Bears. John first plunged with the Bears in 2006, but became a member in 2010. Luke has been swimming with John since he was one, John was worried at first about Luke in the cold waters of Coney. John quickly realized Luke somehow knew his limits and thrived with brief swims. But the energy of the club is what really made Luke want to be a member. So it was no surprise when Luke was voted in as a proud new young cub of the Coney Island Polar Bear family on March 20, 2022. John shares, “To see Luke succeed at goals he sets, makes me tear with joy.” The Polar Bears' common interest in cold water binds them closer than real family at times. In summary, for John and Luke the Coney Island water cleanses away all of the craziness they deal with in their everyday lives. It has become a father-son tradition that John and Luke have shared since Luke was just starting to walk. They share their Sundays and fill them with positive energy and inspiration that carries with them home and to their communities that extend beyond Coney Island. LUKE BEAR © Carol Dronsfield MEET CHRISTIAN & KATE BEAR: Christian Molieri is a nonbinary trans masculine radical social worker originally from Philadelphia, living in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. They work for one of the largest AIDS Service Organizations in the country, based in NYC. They have worked for over 20 years in HIV Prevention, Harm Reduction, LGBTQIA2S+ and Gender Diverse communities locally as well as nationally. Christian works relentlessly to break down binaries and subvert bureaucracies and systems of despair and disrepair, which further oppress already oppressed and marginalized communities in order to create and build mindful, intentional, communities. Christian can be found near the ocean year round, occassionally in a tutu, as they says, “always queer as fuck”. Kate O’Donnell is a Coney Island regular living in Brighton Beach, on the border of Coney Island. Kate is a chef that often volunteers her services to help others in need. She has volunteered for Sandy Relief Kitchen, after hurricane Sandy, as well as being a major contributor to the efforts of the Brooklyn Relief Kitchen. Kate shared an experience that stayed with her all her life. “I started swimming with the club because growing up my Dad would take me and my brothers to the beach on Long Island to swim on Christmas Day. For years I only watched them and took pictures. I moved to south Brooklyn to be near the water, just seeing the water makes me happy. To be able to walk on the beach, to smell the ocean air, feel the sun on my skin, watch the sun rise, or set, it is all such a gift.” Kate officially made her 12 swims, and was voted in on March 4, 2018. Kate and Christian met in September 2021, and Kate made it clear from the start that the Bears were her family, and every Sunday from November through April her Sundays were committed to them. Christian saw the inspiration it brought to Kate and knew they not only wanted to experience this for Kate, but wanted to understand and experience the magic for themselves. On November 7, 2021 Christian took that first step and never looked back. Sunday March 20, 2022 Christian became a bear. They instantly felt the love and acceptance of their new family. Christian and Kate relate their world to a Venn Diagram. “Community is what we create and build, and there are communities within communities within communities. It’s how we relate interpersonally with one another, as well as with how we show up, authentically, for ourselves, for each other, and for the world, every day.” Each community has different attributes and contributions and they overlap and draw inward to the heart and soul, and then spread out growing and reaching more people and communities all the time. KATE BEAR MEET ANDREW BEAR: Andrew Samberg is 56 years old, and has been an Engineer with the New York City Department of Education for 30 years. Born in Canarsie Brooklyn, Andrew moved out to Long Island as a child and has lived there since. Andrew shares his inspiration and drive to becoming a bear. “Every year, since I was a kid I’ve always seen the New Year’s Day plunge on television and I’ve always wanted to do it. I looked up the Polar Bear club online, and saw that I was able to take a guest swim with the club, and went for my first dip in February 2010. From the first swim I attended, I was made to feel by members of the club, that these people knew me and that we had been friends for years. After my first swim I knew that this was something that I wanted to be a part of every week. I was able to get my 12 swims in and became a member during the 2010/2011 season.” Andrew is not a religious person, but sees himself as a spiritual person. He describes coming to Coney Island every Sunday as like their Church/Synagogue. It is a personal or spiritual connection that touches the soul. Andrew describes his extended family. “I consider the members of the club as family and a community that I am honored to be a part of. I look forward to the sense of camaraderie every week! People from all walks of life, white collar, blue collar, every race, religion come together with no prejudice, no judgements and have fun together. Everyone is always in a good mood and I forget about anything that might be troubling me at the time. How can you be stressed about anything when you are in 38F degree water?” I asked Andrew about the Shark, and its significance. This was his answer. “A group of friends and I would go to a different Club Med every year starting in my late teens and I brought a 6 foot blow up Godzilla on the trip every year. It was always a big hit during the week and one year I blew it up on the plane on the way down and the stewardess dressed it up. I still have that 6 foot Godzilla and an 8 foot blow up Godzilla as well that I have been taking to the beach with me every time I go to this day. People are always coming up to me telling me how much they love it, how much fun it is and asking to take pictures with it. I have tried to continue that sense of fun with the shark. It too seems to be a hit.” Andrew brings a sense of adventure and fun in his own unique way and shares his positive energy and drive while he conquers the icy waters at Coney Island with his fellow Polar Bears. MEET CARLOTA BEAR: Carlota Wojnar was not from the United States and moved to the Bronx, New York, in 1985. Carlota was only twenty five upon her arrival in New York. She was dreading the cold winters, and winter was approaching very quickly. Carlota came to the realization that if she was staying here, there was no way of avoiding the winter. Carlota searched within and decided, “I better learn to enjoy it!” Carlotta had a process of learning her own way to adapt to her new environment. She started taking cold showers, and took many walks in the freezing mornings. Then Carlota found the Coney Island Polar Bear Club online and made a call. She was invited to become part of their Bear community, and her first season to share the waters of Coney Island was the season of 2017-2018. Carlota was officially voted in that season in February. She has met some amazing people, describing her Polar Bear community, “I have a community that loves not just the beautiful calming cold waters of Coney Island in the Fall through Spring, but their love for Coney Island and caring about the environment in general.” Carlota shares the comradery of her extended family. “I found that jumping in the water on a freezing day, my Bear family gives me comfort and peace. I think we all give something to the community by being in Coney during winter, people enjoy coming to see us and I enjoy them.” Carlota insists, “I would be more than happy taking the one hour ride to Coney just to meet my Bear brothers and sister and clear my mind of all the events in my life.” Carlota shares in the family commitment of being a bear, it has become a part of her, and is something that will remain an inspiration for the rest of her life. MEET RICH BEAR: Rich Realmuto is a husband, father and grandfather. Growing up in Queens, New York, he is a retired teacher in the New York City school system and loved his work. Rich lost his sight at the age of forty. He told me that because of the passage of The Americans with Disability Act, he was able to continue his work until he retired. I quote Rich, “I am now in my seventies and have great vision, but no sight!” Rich vividly remembers his very first plunge. My first plunge was back in 2011, I didn’t know what to do. The Bears all circled up but I wasn’t a bear. So, they went in and I told my wife, I would be OK and would just walk in. Two guys noticed me earlier with my white cane and came over and asked if they could go in with me. I said sure. That was the hook. We walked into the foam as three crazy guys and walked out as the “Three Amigos”. My friendships both old and new bring me back each season. Rich finds inspiration in making things for his family, and his extended Polar Bear family. “I still like building things from wood like toy boxes and chairs and name plates for the grandkids. I make and have a goal of setting up a clam shell with an American flag planted in the top with a gold-colored coin with Coney Island New York embossed on it for all the bears. I ask for help from bears to find shells for this goal.” I found such inspiration in what brought Rich to the Coney Island Polar Bears. He told me, “Being a blind person, I needed a goal that would place me on equal footing with sighted folks. The cold water of Coney Island was what I came up with. I contacted Dennis Thomas and he said that I needed to make 12 plunges between November and April and then the bears would vote on my acceptance. He also told me that the club was only accepting four cubs and there might not be a slot available for me. Luckily, it was a very cold Winter and I made it!” What keeps Rich coming back? “Frustration and self-doubt can mount up during the week. I can come to Coney Island on a cold Winter Sunday and focus on the dip and not my insecurities. When I do this every insecurity drops away like the rain off a duck's back. The ocean has always been that for me.” For Rich when I asked him what his ‘takeaway’ was he joyfully replied,” Well, that is easy. I am a Polar Bear for a few minutes, not everyone can say that. My Sundays at Coney instill confidence in me. And, with all the things that matter, I am OK!” Now that is a takeaway Sunday, with a cherry on top! MEET CAROLINE BEAR: Caroline Quick came to the Bears in September of 2019. She had recently arrived to attend university in New York. Caroline decided to go to Coney Island to see The Warriors at the Coney Island Film Festival, even though she had never been to Coney Island and had little experience with the subway system of the greater metropolitan boroughs of New York. Caroline’s spirit of adventure brought her to Coney Island two hours before the event. Caroline took a stroll down the boardwalk along the beach until she came to the ‘Polar Bear Way’ sign outside of the New York Aquarium’s Education Hall. So this true Texan decides to send an email, intrigued in the cold water swim and the Polar Bears. To Caroline’s surprise she was emailed immediately from the club to tell her she had been entered into the lottery and to come in October, she was a cub. Her fate was sealed and Caroline returned in October again to ‘Polar Bear Way’, but this time as a cub. Caroline kept coming back for more, it was not a one time dip for Caroline, but became a part of her life. She shares with me, “I keep coming back because these are my most favorite people on earth. I love them so much. The water is medicinal, and it rejuvenates my Sundays and balances my life, but the people are truly welcoming, loving, and eternally wonderful. You really become part of a chosen family when you become a Bear, and I think that the inclusiveness and acceptance that they've created makes all who join feel at home. The habit of spending your Sundays whooping and yelling and laughing with these people (despite not being able to feel my feet), is therapeutic to me and to so many others I've spoken with, and I'm forever grateful to be a part of it.” I asked Caroline what do the bears bring to you? “I think they bring a sense of belonging. Everyone has their own lives, and their own worries, and to be able to come to a group where you can just be hugged, and laugh until you worry even just a little less, is a gift. I think that the Bears have taught me how to be kinder, and how to approach life with a certain level of appreciation.” This experience changed Caroline and her new family supported her and taught her new ways of experience and enjoy life by supporting and being a supportive community. Caroline explains, “They've really taught me how to love people, and how to be myself. I think that I owe a lot to the Bears in how I navigate New York, and how I approach opportunity; they love wholeheartedly, and never hesitate to give back to their community, particularly Coney Island, which receives donations raised from the New Year's Plunge. Even recently, when we attended Deno's Phoenix fundraiser for the Ukraine, the Bears were endlessly generous in their donations, and they were vocal about spreading awareness for the event on social media. The Bears are amazing in their ability to love and help other people.” Caroline became an official Polar Bear in November 2021. MEET ROBBIE AND ALLYSON BEAR: Robbie Bailey, a North Carolina Native, moved to New York in 1995. She has led the Coney Island Polar Bears in the past as Vice President of their club. She is even married to another Polar Bear, Robert Bailey. Robbie prides herself as a devoted Yankee fan! I asked Robbie what brought her to the Bears? “As an aspiring photographer, I attended my first Polar Bear swim on Jan 1, 1996. The New Year’s Day attendance back then was comparable to our weekly swims now. It’s been amazing to watch this remarkable tradition evolve and grow over the last 26 years.” Robbie earned her patch on Easter Sunday, 2009, it doesn’t get much better than that! What keeps Robbie coming back every year? “The fascinating people, the enchanting location, and a commitment to one of NYC’s most beloved and bizarre traditions.” For Robbie the Bears provide her with a beautifully diverse, eclectic, and supportive community. As a visual storyteller, Robbie is committed, she says, “to preserving our unique role in Coney Island history while also ensuring our place in its future. Putting the place and the people in a positive light is always top priority.” The Bears have helped Robbie connect to the Coney Island community. Many of the Bears volunteer on New Year’s Day. Robbie shares, “The annual event is a major economic boost to all Coney Island businesses. The money raised helps support nonprofit organizations like the New York Aquarium, the Coney Island History Project, and Coney Island USA.” Robbie was also a big help in gathering contacts and making connections for this article. A special shout out and thank you to a much respected and admired fellow photographer and colleague, for her contribution and collaboration to The Pictorial-List. Allyson became a member of the Coney Island Polar Bears on January 17, 2016. MEET OLEG BEAR: Oleg MaryAces was not a newcomer to the cold waters of Coney Island. Oleg had actually been going into the ocean by himself at the Rockaways, and with friends in Coney Island, Brooklyn for four winters prior to joining the Polar Bear Cub community. In November of 2020, an official member of the Polar Bears, Naum Barash noticed Oleg and his buddies chilling in the waters at Coney. As most Bears do, they reach out to others that they think share the same connections with cold water, and invite Oleg and his friends to join the Bears the following Sunday. Inspired by the invitation, they did! Oleg shares his commitment to the bears. “I am very inspired by the diversity of the Bears. There is such a wide range of ages, nationalities, genders, and backgrounds, proving that humans of all kinds are able to share a deep level of comradery and mutual appreciation.” I asked Oleg what do you bring to the Bears? His response was as inspirational as the rest of the bears. “Clearly the Bears are a very courageous bunch. I believe that I contribute to that energy with undaunted positivity.” When I asked him what do you bring back to your community that the Bears have brought you? “My weekly social media posts bring awareness to the health benefits of breathing exercises and winter ocean dips that often inspire others to join a healthier lifestyle.” Being from the Ukraine in these perilous times, I asked Oleg if his community with the Bears helps him maintain strength and persevere? “ I was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1983. My parents emigrated to New York in 1994. I have always planned that upon achieving success in the USA, I would come back to Ukraine to help the country and its people reach the prosperity that they deserve. That mission has now become more important than it ever was before. It's critical to gather support for Ukraine as a genocide continues to take place there. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club gives me an opportunity to show support and express awareness to a wider range of people. Several Bears have offered support and their time to volunteering with a local non-profit organization ‘Ukraine and Ukrainians Abroad’ that sends essential supplies into besieged cities in Ukraine.” Oleg finds comfort and solidarity from his fellow Bears, and considers them to be his extended family, supportive and loving in the United States. The years come and go, but one is never exactly like the other. There are always new Bears, lifetime Bears, one time Bears, young and old, from all walks of life that bring new spirit and energy everytime they come. They always look forward to seeing what those twenty minutes will bring. One big Happy Family. MARY BEAR - aka Mary Isakson © Carol Dronsfield EDDIE BEAR - aka Eddie Mark © Carol Dronsfield ABI BEAR - aka Abiodun Bello © Carol Dronsfield © Carol Dronsfield JOSH BEAR - aka Josh Kalin © Carol Dronsfield © Carol Dronsfield LIAM BEAR - aka Liam Shea Hartigan © Carol Dronsfield DOUG BEAR - aka Douglas Wenz © Carol Dronsfield KIM BEAR - aka Kim Zirino © Carol Dronsfield © Carol Dronsfield MEET CAROL - Photographer Photo taken by a friend. The years come and go, but one is never exactly like the other. There are always new Bears, lifetime Bears, one-time Bears, young and old, from all walks of life that bring new spirit and energy every time they come. They always look forward to seeing what those twenty minutes will bring. One big Happy Family. We conclude here with Carol’s closing thoughts about Carol's cherished Bear family and beloved community. “I’ve witnessed so much with my camera during the 22°F Sunday swims I’ve attended; maybe one day I’ll dip my own toe into the frigid surf. The Bears have shown me their unique personalities, and I am grateful that my camera and I have earned their trust. The Bears inspire me; they’ve taught me bravery, determination, friendship; how to seek joy while I’m out on the streets photographing strangers. A huge thank you to all Bears who have participated in this project. I look forward to continuing the project next season. Until we meet again at Coney, “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson view Carol's portfolio 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 >>> REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. 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.

FRAMING MY ADVENTURE The street for Casper Dam is an open playground for him where he finds a means of expressing himself in a myriad of colour. FRAMING MY ADVENTURE June 18, 2020 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Casper Dam INTERVIEW Karinn Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Growing up in the rural part of Denmark, Casper Dam now lives in the Denmark's second largest city, Aarhus. Due to a major shift towards visual user driven communication in his job, Casper needed to learn about practical photography fast. This ignited into a full fledged obsession for him. Whilst he started out photographing minimalist black and white street, he has now shifted towards colour compositions. The street for Casper is an open playground for him where he finds a means of expressing himself. “I love to frame something ordinary in an extraordinary way. It is a way of seeing adventure everywhere and keeps me from ever getting bored. These kinds of snapshots align with something within myself.” IN CONVERSATION WITH CASPER DAM THE PICTORIAL LIST: Casper, when did you start getting interested in photography? CASPER DAM: My dad has been photographing for fifty odd years, but I first surrendered 4-5 years ago. I needed to learn about creative photography for my job in Social Media Communications and bought my very first camera. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration? CD: Movies, listening to music, my photography books. Just carrying a camera everywhere in itself is perhaps my biggest inspiration. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? CD: Alex Webb for all the complicated layers. There is a claustrophobic, cinematic feel to them. Trent Parke for his work with the light, in every subject matter really. And fellow Aarhus resident Jonas Rask for life with a camera. By now, I see him more as a friend, but his drive to always shoot and ability to make almost anything work has been an inspiration for me ever since I started. TPL: Has your style of shooting changed since you first started? CD: I gradually transitioned from minimalist black and white into colour photography. My interest in multiple layers and colour luminance has grown big. This Göethean idea that the mood of the scene is present by the quality of light itself. TPL: Where is your favourite place to photograph? CD: I love the vibrancy of the Raval in Barcelona or the Lavapies in Madrid. But any city by the sea can keep me occupied for days. Just carrying a camera everywhere in itself is perhaps my biggest inspiration. TPL: Do you think equipment is important in achieving your vision in your photography? What would you say to someone just starting out? CD: The simpler the gear, the more it frees me up to see. So, maybe stick with one focal length for a long time. And learn to shoot manual, whenever you feel comfortable. It makes it easier to predict how the camera behaves and use it creatively. TPL: What characteristics do you think you need to become a good photographer? What’s your tips or advice for someone in your genre? CD: Curiosity, perseverance, adventurousness. Advice: Find your inspiration way beyond photographs. Music, paintings, anything that gives you new ideas. TPL: Have you ever been involved in the artistic world before photography? CD: I played a lot of guitar back in high School. Besides that, I have never graduated from drawing anything but stick figures. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? CD: This year, I am doing a 366 project. It is not that original, but I see it as a great exercise. So far, I like how it challenges me to photograph anything, everywhere. TPL: If I wasn't photographing what would I be doing?... CD: Going for a run or maybe taking a swim. I feel very privileged about doing these recreational activities. And probably also I am a much kinder person because of it. PORTFOLIO INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. 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.

THE ART OF HUMAN SCIENCE Aurélien Bomy believes in the opportunity to capture subjects in their environment to bear witness to the beauty and preciousness of life. THE ART OF HUMAN SCIENCE August 16, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Aurélien Bomy INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Born in Nantes, Aurélien Bomy developed a taste and interest for the arts at an early stage. He is a clinical psychologist. In parallel with this path, he continues an artistic practice in various ways. Discovering and learning from other artists, he finds out how the use of tools that allow him to give a new impulse to his artistic work, in photography and in the creation of animated collages. Starting street photography to keep memory of the feelings he had whilst walking alone in the street or travelling, Aurélien quickly understood that the result was completely different to what was expected because he was creating something completely new that didn’t exist before. Aurélien focuses on standing in front of strangers and shooting pictures of them in cinematic moments and environments. “Street photography came to me spontaneously, first of all as a practice, and as a way of telling, where words fail. I attach great importance to "storytelling". I believe that in the framing and composition of a photograph and in a certain way of capturing subjects and characters in their urban environment, there is the opportunity, beyond the meaning or any message, to bear witness to the beauty and the preciousness of life. I think the mission of an artist is to re-enchant the world; or at least to counteract its disenchantment.” IN CONVERSATION WITH AURÉLIEN BOMY THE PICTORIAL LIST: Aurélien please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? AURÉLIEN BOMY: I am 43 years old. I was born in Nantes where I still live and I practice street photography. I developed a taste for and an interest in the arts very early on. My father is an amateur painter and I had the chance to travel as a child and visit many museums. I am a clinical psychologist. I work in medical hospitals and practices, and I teach this practice to students. I have studied and participated in the work of a Lacanian psychoanalysis association, which has greatly enriched my interest in the arts and human sciences and has contributed to bringing precision to a look, to a living reading. In particular, I participated in editing and publishing work that led me to learn image editing tools. This gave a new impetus to my artistic practice, both in photography and in the production of video collages. It was during a trip to Malaysia in 2013 that this taste for capturing moments of life in the city and urban environment was revealed, and I engaged in a regular practice of candid street photography. I first carried out experimental post-production (post-processing) of my photos on a principle of double-exposures, which led to my first exhibition. I then inscribed my practice in a local social link by investing myself in a photographers' collective and turned to a more classic production by seeking to perfect my shooting technique. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us? AB: I am very inspired by the work of the great masters of street photography such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Helen Levitt, Vivian Maier, Raymond Depardon, Fred Herzog and Saul Leiter, and today, thanks to social networks, I am in contact with many photographers whose work I admire, such as Vianditya Dewanata, Nicolas Millers, Matt Hall, Jaume Creus, Chris McCann, Kalil Ali, Philip Warp, Craig Whitehead, Shane Taylor, Ovidiu Selaru, and others. It's very exciting. TPL: What are some tips or advice you would give yourself if you started street photography all over again? AB: The advice I would give myself if I had to start again at the beginning of my practice would be: "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Go alone! Walk the streets and take pictures! Make mistakes! Fail!... That's how you learn! Be patient! There is always something to learn! TPL: When you are out shooting - how much of it is instinctual versus planned? AB: Some of my photos, especially when it comes to scenes or situations, postures or attitudes, are snapshots that I capture on the spot without thinking. You have to act quickly. At first sight! For other photos (which make up an ever greater part of my practice), I organise a composition. Many of my photos are taken in my city Nantes, others were taken during trips (recently in Arles). More and more, I try to find the right place, the right spot, the best placement, the right angle, according to certain elements (shadows, lights, lines, perspective, cuts and patterns, points of view...) by thinking about the framing, the composition. Then I just have to wait for a subject to pass by this place to press the release. It is sometimes a work of patience. Photography helps me...because this practice is above all a work of the eye, of reading, a way of life. 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? AB: I have been using a Fuji XT30 camera for two years and I am very satisfied with it. I discover its potential as I go along, according to the photos I take, and it's especially when they fail that I try to understand why and that I learn new settings that will allow me to do better next time in the same type of situation. I use an 18-55mm (equ. 25-80) lens and would like to acquire a 35mm (equ. 50mm) fixed lens with an aperture of f1.4 in the near future to gain in luminosity and to be able to work better on the depth of field and bokeh. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? AB: My objective as an artist is to continue to learn, to discover and to create images in a certain freedom, according to the encounters I can make. This approach implies allowing the unexpected, the unforeseen, the surprise. It is also a question of not foreseeing too much, not programming too much. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? AB: I have a rather precise taste for a certain form of aesthetics, of ambiance, of atmosphere that I would like to be able to approach. I find inspiration in many photographers and in many films by directors such as Wong-Kar Wai, David Lynch and many others...I would like to move my work in that direction by perfecting my shooting technique, my way of approaching subjects (working on the portrait), as well as my technique of using the equipment and my settings. I would also like to link my photographs with other artistic media such as poetry or literature (illustrating a text) or associate my images with music. I would also like to work with video...all this requires time... To be continued... TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… AB: When I'm not out taking pictures, I like to read, listen to music, watch films, cinema, and share convivial moments with my friends and meet people." PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. 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.

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. 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. October 5, 2025 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Rivka Shifman Katvan INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE With eyes that listen and a heart that sees, Rivka Shifman Katvan moves through the world noticing what most overlook. Her focus goes beyond mere observation, finely tuned to the subtle truths that emerge in the spaces between moments. Her camera carefully listens to her subjects, scanning the room for visual narratives that reveal the authenticity of the experience. The shutter is released when she becomes attuned to the delicate interplay of emotion and energy unfolding around her. Rivka has mastered the ability to capture the hushed whispers and sacred intimacy of a Broadway dressing room without disturbing its delicate balance, whether in moments of calm or in the energy and movement that fill the space behind the scenes. For decades, she has slipped behind curtains, both literal and emotional, quietly witnessing moments of transformation. Not posed or performed, but naturally unfolding. “I became like a fly on the wall,” she once reflected about her early backstage days, “walking on tiptoes, learning how to be discreet in other people’s private spaces.” There is a remarkable gentleness in her approach combined with a profound presence. This blend of quiet curiosity and unwavering attention has become her unmistakable signature. What gives Rivka’s photography its quiet power is that it never demands attention. It reflects a presence that waits, observes, and belongs without needing to announce itself. She doesn’t insert herself into the frame. She listens, she waits, and in time her presence becomes part of the atmosphere, unnoticed, but essential. That’s when something honest appears. A weary actor meeting their own gaze in the mirror. A dress being fastened with deliberate tenderness. A brief glance shared just before the lights go up. These are the moments she catches. And somehow, without ever breaking the stillness, she lets us feel as if we were standing there too. In a world that so often confuses volume with presence, her images remind us that the most lasting stories are told in whispers. Rivka’s eye is compassionate, steady, honest, and quietly insistent. That rare combination opened doors to places most photographers never see. For years, she was a constant presence behind the scenes of Broadway and the Tony Awards, not just as a fine-art photographer, but often the only one there. Even more remarkably, she was one of the very few women documenting those private, high-pressure moments. She didn’t force her way in. She was invited. And once inside, she made herself small enough to disappear, allowing others the space to truly reveal themselves. Her presence carried a quiet authority. “It taught me how to put people at ease and gain their trust,” she says. And you can feel that trust in her images. There’s no posturing, no performance. Just people in transition: between characters, between emotions, between selves. Over time, her body of work has earned recognition from major institutions like MoMA, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the International Center of Photography. But her true legacy lies in the intimacy of the moments she’s preserved. When you look at Rivka’s photographs, you don’t just witness a moment. You become a silent witness to something deeply intimate. You step into an unspoken narrative. Whether she’s capturing Elizabeth Taylor collecting herself before making a storm of an entrance in The Little Foxes, or catching a quiet breath shared by ensemble cast members just offstage, Rivka transforms still images into emotional time machines. It’s not just her camera that creates this effect but her ability to see, looking with both critical precision and creative intuition. Her process blends instinct and intellect. She watches carefully, waits quietly, and frames what others might overlook. The result is not simply a record of events but a distillation of feeling, with each image offering a glimpse into the emotional truth of a fleeting moment. Her book Backstage: Broadway Behind the Curtain (Abrams, 2001) is exactly what its title promises. It is a lyrical archive of hidden theater history, rich with atmosphere, emotion, and the fleeting beauty that disappears the moment the spotlight shines. These are not just glimpses from the wings, they are quiet portraits of transformation and humanity. We see actors in moments of reflection, crews at work, and the subtle pauses that come just before a performance. In the end, it is not the subject that drives her. It is something deeper. A restless sense of curiosity. A strong trust in intuition. A constant desire to see the world with fresh eyes, never dulled by repetition or routine. She moves through the world with the same attention she brings to her work. Focused, thoughtful, and completely present. This interview is not only a look into Rivka Shifman Katvan’s photography. It is also an invitation to see as she sees. With clarity, generosity, courage, and care. “I never allowed my theater work to define me as an artist. I carry my camera everywhere, capturing vignettes and moments that speak to me.” IN CONVERSATION WITH RIVKA SHIFMAN KATVAN TPL: You have described your early backstage work as becoming “like a fly on the wall.” How did you develop that sense of discretion in such high-pressure environments, where nerves, egos, and performance energy run high? RIVKA: When I first came backstage, I could immediately feel the pressure, the energy, the stress — it was all around me. At the beginning, I didn’t direct anyone or use flash. I simply observed and made myself invisible. I didn’t ask anyone to pose. I walked quietly, “like a fly on the wall.” Eventually, people forgot I was even there — and that’s when I could truly capture the real, unfiltered moments. TPL: Many of the moments you capture are deeply personal and often unguarded. How did you develop the discretion needed to move through such high-stakes environments — like Broadway dressing rooms — without disrupting the energy? And more importantly, how did you build the kind of trust that made people welcome your presence, rather than want to swat that “fly on the wall” away? RIVKA: By respecting them — and their space. I never imposed myself. After a few visits, people started feeling safe around me, and that trust grew naturally. Every time I returned, I would bring prints from the previous shoots and give them as gifts. They loved that. Trust happens when people feel they’re not being judged. It’s about creating safety. TPL: Looking back to your 1979 thesis at the School of Visual Arts — did you ever imagine it would blossom into such a long and defining relationship with theater? Or did you always see it as a starting point for something larger? What advice would you give to seniors at SVA today? RIVKA: No, I never imagined it would lead to so many years backstage. I simply followed what I loved. I was curious — and I kept going. One professor gave me advice that I followed: “Go out and shoot at least two rolls of film a week.” I would pass that advice on to students today — even in the digital age. Go out, shoot, and shoot again. Something magical will happen. Follow your heart, let your curiosity lead the way, and your work will grow. One day you’ll look back and realize you’ve created a body of work. TPL: You’ve spent years photographing some of the most iconic actors and artists of our time, yet you’ve said you don’t let “well-known images define you.” How do you keep your voice distinct when photographing both the celebrated and the anonymous? RIVKA: What interests me is the human being — not the celebrity. I always look for the person behind the image. That’s especially true in my Backstage project. I’m not chasing fame — I’m looking for authenticity. TPL: There’s a strong thread of surrealism in many of your street and reflection series — especially the mannequins and window reflections. Do you see these images as narrative or abstract? And what draws you to that border between real and imagined? RIVKA: I’ve been photographing reflections since I was a student at SVA. For me, these images are both abstract and narrative. The way mannequins merge with NYC buildings creates its own story — and over time, they also reflect the transformation of the city itself. I work in black and white for this series because it strips away distraction and focuses the image. I don’t digitally manipulate the photos — I use Photoshop the way I would use a darkroom: just dodging and burning to bring out the best in the image. TPL: You have spent much of your career working in environments that have historically been shaped and controlled by men, from the backstage worlds of Broadway to moments of raw emotional openness that are rarely documented with such sensitivity. Do you feel that your gender influenced how you were perceived or the access you were given? And how have you navigated or shifted those dynamics over time? How have you helped to change those old narratives? RIVKA: No, I don’t think my gender played a role. What mattered most was respect. I respected the people and their space, and over time that created real connection. When I’m backstage, I feel the excitement and energy of the actors, and that energy flows into my creativity. TPL: Do you see any parallels between your creative process and performance art? Do you feel in the moment you become part of the fabric of the performance itself? RIVKA: Yes, definitely. When I’m backstage, I feel the excitement and energy of the actors, and that energy flows into my creativity. I may not be on stage, but I’m very much a part of what’s happening. TPL: What do you wish more people understood about the backstage world? Is there a myth you’d love to dispel or a truth you wish was better known? RIVKA: Some people imagine backstage is all glamour. But it’s actually a high-pressure environment that demands incredible energy and focus from the actors. It’s real work — intense, emotional, and vulnerable. TPL: Your collaboration with your husband Moshe on the Artist Portrait series is a different kind of intimacy — artistic and relational. How does working with someone so close to you shift or deepen your creative process? RIVKA: Working with Moshe is very special. We have different styles, but we understand each other deeply. He helps me see things I might miss, and I do the same for him. There’s a strong mutual trust, and that kind of support makes a big difference in the work we do together. TPL: Your series Bare Exposures brings together images some audiences may recognize alongside others never before publicly shown. What inspired you to present this collection now, and what meaning or feeling do you hope it conveys to viewers? RIVKA: This series is part of a fundraising project for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The actors volunteered to be part of it — they chose to share their presence and their bodies for something meaningful. That touches me deeply. It feels like a big family coming together for a cause, and I’m honored to be part of that. I donate photographs to the auction each year because I believe in the work they do. The actors are proud to be involved, and I hope viewers can feel their strength and generosity. TPL: The title Bare Exposures suggests both physical and emotional vulnerability. Without giving too much away, can you talk about what you were exploring thematically in this work? RIVKA: I was exploring openness — not just physical, but emotional. These are actors, but in this project, they’re not performing. They’re simply showing up as themselves. There’s a quiet strength in that kind of vulnerability. It’s simple, but powerful. TPL: After decades of work across themes, genres, and geographies, what still surprises you when you raise the camera? What keeps you inspired — not just to shoot, but to see? RIVKA: I’m still surprised by small moments. A glance, a gesture, a flicker of emotion — those things never get old. What keeps me inspired is curiosity and trusting my instincts. As long as I stay open, the work keeps evolving. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. 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.