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

AWAKENING INSTINCTS Marilena Filaiti is living proof of the importance that photography can make in your life. An enlightening experience that gave her more understanding of herself and the world she exists in. AWAKENING INSTINCTS November 11, 2022 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Marilena Filaiti INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Marilena Filaiti is living proof of the importance that photography can make in your life. It was an enlightening experience for Marilena, giving her more understanding of herself and the world she exists in. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Marilena's father worked for the United Nations and was appointed to work in Africa where he lived with his wife for eleven years and where Marilena was born. They returned to Greece when Marilena was four years old, and her mother was pregnant with her brother, who was born in Athens. Both of their parents had a cosmopolitan upbringing. Marilena’s father, a descendant from the Egyptian Greeks and her mother from Istanbul, with a lineage of Greek descent, felt it important to pass their culture and heritage to their children. Marilena fell in love with the man she then married at a very young age and they soon started their family, a value important to Marilena, a legacy from her Mother. Caring and parenting three children created a demanding life that challenged Marilena, taking on many different jobs along the way to help make a good home for her family. Marilena ultimately took a job that gave her exposure and a chance to learn about marketing utilizing specialized multimedia tools that related to photography. These tools and their applications gave Marilena the inspiration to take up and explore the “Art of Photography”. Fascinated by Photography, she bought her first camera and started experimenting with her new tool, it wasn't long before she entered her first photography contest and was hooked. She decided to penetrate the world of photography and learn as much as she could. Her first teacher, Tolis Chatzignatiou, inspired her first steps and for three years he supported Marilena's development as a photographer. Tolis Chatzignatiou taught Marilena the principles of photography and how to clearly choose for herself what she wishes to include in her frame. She made many educational trips with the photographic group “Routes”, even getting close to her father's birthplace, an experience powerful for Marilena. Marilena was thirsty to learn more and more about photography, to go deeper and deeper, to be able to create meaningful photographs of her own. Marilena wanted to expand her knowledge and understanding of photography and immersed herself in photography workshops led by Lukas Vasilikos in October 2021. He has been an excellent teacher and mentor to Marilena, guiding her in her search within herself to find what she wants to express, while exposing her to new ideologies, working with his direction to create powerful sensational images that have much meaning. This motivating and influential experience gave birth to Marilena's first solo project, AWAKENING INSTINCTS, through which Marilena shares her insightful presentation of her project and her photography. We wish her much inspiration in her quest to create powerful intimate images that speak from the heart. “For the first time I saw my work complete. I continue today to grow personally and as a photographer by studying with Lukas. He keeps pushing me to work on new projects that allow me to express myself. Less need for words, more opportunities for visual inspiration.” IN CONVERSATION WITH MARILENA FILAITI THE PICTORIAL LIST: Marilena, tell us about Athens and what life in Greece has brought to your work AWAKENING INSTINCTS. We see how important your family members are to your work, tell us what inspiration they bring to this collection MARILENA FILIATI: Greece is a unique country worth visiting. Athens is a city with its beauties and its difficulties. Like all over the world, the pandemic touched us here, where photography became an excellent outlet for me. The pandemic directly connected the project with my inner world. Many photographs were taken in different parts of Greece during this period. There is nothing more important to me than my family and my home. My friends are also family. My teacher Lukas Vasilikos urged me to dig deeper and express photographically how important my family members are to me. TPL: Tell us about this project, Marilena; how it came about, what you were looking for, what you finally discovered. What surprised you? MF: When the workshop started, I had no idea what the outcome would be. Step by step we started to build this project gradually through the course of the study cycle. When I saw my photos on the wall I was impressed. I didn't know this side of myself. The most important reason besides my love for photography is that I don't have to talk too much with my images. That's how I've wanted to express myself for the last few years. I was surprised by the result because I finally managed to have a meaningful conversation through this project. TPL: You told us how important your teacher here was to you for this project, how you worked side by side. What were his influences on you, what were the gifts he gave you. What was his role as you created this project? MF: Master Lukas Vasilikos is an experienced and inspiring photographer himself, quite strict with himself but with unlimited patience and acceptance for his students. This characteristic of his allowed me to be inspired by him and many world photographers. Lukas also dared me to express myself freely and personally during our classes. He led me through the photographic process accepting and correcting any technical difficulties I had, while supporting me to move forward to my personal artistic identity through paths I admit, I didn't know I could take. TPL: There is depth in your shadows, creating intimate spaces for your subjects. Tell us about these shadows, darkness and what they represent in your photographs. MF: Within those shadows are important gifts of awareness. I like to create new worlds; escaping from reality. I like after instinctively creating them, to revisit my works as a viewer and have them transform into new stories. I listen to my silence and find the peace of mind I seek. TPL: Your colors are deep and saturated, adding to the depth of space and creating thought provoking connections to your subject matter. Tell us about the role color plays in these images. MF: I originally worked mostly in black and white and through my work with Lukas, I discovered color. I saw color as a tool for individual expression. It transformed the world around me into something else, something colorful, something much more dreamy, lyrical, focusing inward, allowing me to express my deeper self. Saturation is a medium that transports me to these other worlds. The bright color seems fake to me and does not represent my own reality. TPL: When you began this journey of self discovery, where did you start? Why? MF: I started this journey of self exploration with themes familiar to me, close to me, subjects accessible to me, so that I could venture deeper to see them in another dimension. an imaginary transformation of them. Thus my one son was transformed into a creature of my imagination, he effortlessly played this role since he trustingly allowed me to create another reality by "rebirthing" him through my photograph. My daughter, seen through another gaze that perhaps she herself did not initially accept, as the unconventional realistic image that she was, but she quickly realized how redemptive the freedom of a different gaze is. My little son, who grew up through our collaboration, agrees that the result has rewarded us both. My friends showed me the same trust by posing and allowing me to play freely with the lens. I like to create new worlds; escaping from reality. I listen to my silence and find the peace of mind I seek. TPL: What new discoveries have you made while doing this project? Has this project been completed? MF: Expression itself is a great discovery for me who doesn't like words much and is more of a sensory person. That is to speak through a medium that I share with so many people, even globally, and to “say it all” through the common language of the Image. My work has now become synonymous with my existence and as I evolve, it will evolve too. Each new experience I experience motivates me to 'lock in' the moment. Our lives are made up of moments. TPL: Can you recall that defining moment when you understood how to use photography to create what you wanted to say or see with your eyes, heart and soul? When you photograph, how much is instinct and spontaneity programmed? Do you pose your subjects? MF: When I realized that photography was a love for me and that I could express through it whatever I was hiding inside, I decided to leave my job to follow it in whatever path it took me. Because of my love for photography, I decided to only work in the field professionally. There is absolutely no programming in the way I photograph, I work on impulse and instinct, I ‘shoot’ non-stop even if I don't have a camera at that moment. Of course this requires one to have acquired a solid technical base and to have incorporated it. I would say my impulsiveness has gotten me into trouble at times. However, when I work as a professional, I try to listen to the needs of the subject matter but always through the freedom of my personal view. TPL: What are the lasting impressions you want to leave on the viewer, what is their 'Take Away'? What was yours? MF: I have no intention of leaving a lasting impression on the viewer. Everyone is free to make whatever impression they wish based on their reading. I wish to converse and evoke emotions. My takeaway is to have a photograph I see speak to me. TPL: Does the equipment you use help you achieve your vision in your photography? What camera do you use? Do you have a preferred lens/focal distance? MF: So far it has been adequate. Currently I have developed a need to try even more sophisticated gear. I am on a quest. Initially I was shooting with my mobile phone. Then I was accompanied on my journey by a Nikon D3400, a Panasonic Lumix DC Vario with which I also shoot with in water, a Canon EOS R, and I have a collection of analogs, mostly old pieces. I've been trying different lenses and haven't settled on a recommended one yet. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? MF: This journey is a journey of freedom for me. It's a journey that matters, the destination of which I myself will know in five years. MF: “When I don't go out to photograph, I like to... I like to travel, drive, walk with my friends, read and often enjoy my ‘solitude’.” PORTFOLIO Explore more of Marilena's Awakening Instincts >>> Website >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

NEW YORK PARADISE LOST: BUSHWICK ERA DISCO Meryl Meisler's street photographs are her own unique American story where the disparate worlds of Bushwick and disco collided from 1973. NEW YORK PARADISE LOST: BUSHWICK ERA DISCO June 28, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Meryl Meisler INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE It was a time of vivid nightlife, with its electric beats and the infectious laughter of those out to enjoy themselves. But during the day, it was a very different story. Bushwick in the 1980s was a neighbourhood marred by crime, addiction and the ravages of AIDS. But one woman had the courage and vision to document both sides of this story; to tell the tale of a city torn apart by a tumultuous time in history. New York street photographer Meryl Meisler's exhibition, New York PARADISE LOST: Bushwick Era Disco, chronicles the hedonistic nightlife scene of the late 1970s and pairs it with poignant images of those who lived through it – all through the gaze of her lens. Meryl’s remarkable journey began in 1975 when she returned to her hometown of New York City with a camera in one hand and a dream in the other. Inspired by photographers such as Diane Arbus and Jacques Henri Lartigue, as well as her own father and grandfather, Meryl studied with Lisette Model, and began to capture her city on film. By day she worked as a freelance illustrator, but by night she frequented and photographed the iconic discos of New York City. As a 1978 C.E.T.A. (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) Artist grant recipient, Meryl created a portfolio of photographs that explored her Jewish identity for the American Jewish Congress. Then she embarked on a three-decade career as an New York City Public School Art Teacher, while still managing to capture moments of beauty in what some considered an ugly city. Now, after retiring from teaching in 2010, Meryl has released a collection of her previously unseen work – love letters captured through her lens – which were kept secret for decades. In this interview we will be speaking to Meryl about her first steps into photography, her time as a school teacher, her inspirations, and working and living during this challenging period of Covid-19. For behind every photograph is a story, and Meryl’s journey is one that needs to be heard. “I got my first camera, 'The Adventurer' as a 7th birthday present from my parents Sunny and Jack. Dad, a printer by trade, was a terrific photographer. Grandpa Murray Meisler, a machinist, always had a camera and light meter on him. It didn't matter if you ever saw the photographs, the action of photography (like singing to oneself) was essential and satisfying in itself. As a 7-year-old, I photographed my family, friends, and trips. Those have been my life subjects. When I took my first photography class in 1973, I didn't have a flash while enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I walked around the streets of Madison, taking my first rolls of B/W film. When I moved to NYC in 1975, my camera came with me everywhere. If I saw something interesting on the street on my way to where I was going, I'd pause to photograph it. In retrospect, I didn't go to photograph. I photographed where I was going.” IN CONVERSATION WITH MERYL MEISLER THE PICTORIAL LIST: Meryl, it is such a great honor to have you featured. How did you get into the disco scene in New York in the 1970s, which must have been quite a contrast to your daytime job as a school teacher? MERYL MEISLER: In 1977, I was taking a class about making a photo book at The New School. The instructor, Bob Adelman, told me about the upcoming “COYOTE Hookers Masquerade Ball” on Valentine’s Day at the Copacabana. I put on my Girl Scout uniform, brought a camera and flash, and talked my way into the wild party. It was my first big extravaganza disco event. I loved it. On a bus returning from Mardi Gras in LA, in 1977, I met Judi Jupiter. We became friends and hit all the hottest clubs together. In 1979, I became an NYC Public School Art Teacher. That cut my nightlife back a lot. I never went out on school nights, but there were still weekends. TPL: Tell us a bit about Bushwick, what is it's background, it's demographics then and now, how has it changed from the time you took those photos? MM: Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of Brooklyn, bordering Queens. It was a Dutch Settlement purchased from the Canarsie Indians in 1638. For a short introduction to Bushwick’s history and current community, I suggest starting with the Community Board 4 (representing Bushwick) on the NYC.gov site. When I arrived in December 1981 to be a teacher in Bushwick, it was a tough, difficult time - socially and economically in NYC and this neighborhood. There were many burnt-out buildings and garbage-strewn lots. Flash forward four decades, the buildings are occupied, lots of new construction and most of the lots are cleaned up. Bushwick is a hub of new music, art, fashion, literature, nightlife, and creative thinking. However, many bemoan the gentrification of neighborhoods like Bushwick. There is nostalgia and sorrow for what is lost in the process of change. TPL: How do you find your inspiration to keep photographing? MM: Photography is something I enjoy doing and am challenged by at the same time. It lifts my spirits and makes me feel more attuned to everyday experiences of life. In my opinion, it is vital to find a community of supportive people who have similar passions or interests. For example, I’ve been a long-time member of Professional Women Photographers. Artists communities give one another advice, share, and make opportunities to exhibit, provide critical feedback and become role models to keep on and going forth, whether or not you get timely recognition. © Meryl Meisler, Spring Snowstorm Through Classroom Window, 1982 © Meryl Meisler, Shirtless Man Wearing Hood and Jeans, 1982 © Meryl Meisler, Tasty Pretzel Bakeries, 1983 © Meryl Meisler, Two Standing Next to Sort of Palm Tree, 1977 © Meryl Meisler, Grace Jones in Hallway with Judi Jupiter and Others at Farfalle's Opening Night, 1978 © Meryl Meisler, Anklet Socks and Heels, 1978 © Meryl Meisler, School Cafeteria Middle Finger, 1990 © Meryl Meisler, Nose Ring, Earring, Mustache and Hickey, 1991 © Meryl Meisler, Potassa Potassa de la Fayette Poised on Grand Piano, 1977 © Meryl Meisler, Two Women on Floor Next to Judi Jupiter During the Prom Party, 1978 TPL: With the pandemic over the past year and a half, it has been tough on many artists. How have you been feeling through this time, both personally and as a photographer. Do you have any advice as an artist to get through these tough times? MM: Health and well-being come first. If you are going through temporary or long-term difficulties, seek professional help. I am fortunate to be in a long-term relationship and was not isolated. Emotionally, it was very challenging. To help maintain a sense of safety and balance during quarantine, I set up a routine with zoom - therapy, movement class, spiritual community, and social activism. Working on this book and exhibits, and building a darkroom, helped me stay physical and mentally healthy and grounded. TPL: What photographers made the most impact on you at the beginning of your photography journey? MM: As a child, I looked up to my dad's photographs of family events before and during my lifetime. The 1972 Diane Arbus retrospective at MoMA captivated and inspired me. The following year I enrolled in an introduction to photography class while in grad school at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. When professor Cavalliere Ketchum showed the playful childhood photographs on the streets of Paris by Jacques Henri Lartigue, I decided to photograph my friends and family on my visits home to Long Island. Walker Evans encouraged me to capture subway riders. Margaret Bourke White made me more conscientious of juxtapositions. Brassaï inspired me to capture the nightlife I was living. Roman Vishniac heightened my awareness that life as we know it can be taken away, cease to exist. Lisette Model's snapshot aesthetic and encouragement when I studied with her kept me photographing from the heart and gut. Helen Levitt whispered in my ear as I documented children playing on the street. Photography is something I enjoy doing and am challenged by at the same time. It lifts my spirits and makes me feel more attuned to everyday experiences of life. TPL: Where has been your most favourite place to photograph? MM: New York City is my “magic city.” Every time I set foot in NYC, its energy recharges me. The variety of people, food, arts, architecture, old and new, young and forever young, wise souls and inquiring minds, longtime residents and recent arrivals, history in the making, bright sunlight, the mysteries of the night - they all enchant me. TPL: What happens when you go out with your camera? Do people respond positively to you, or do you sometimes get negative reactions? If yes, how do you handle it? MM: Most of my street photographs are not candid. Then and now, I usually ask the subjects verbally or with non-verbal cues if I may take their photograph. People usually gave their permission. Pre-covid, in the heights of the pandemic, and now - if a person replies no, I respect their wish not to be photographed. It is no big deal. I am very selective about who and what I photograph and often tell the person what sparked my interest. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to photograph, or do you let the images just 'come to you', or is it both? MM: Unless on an assignment, I don’t have a preconceived concept of what I will photograph. Of course, if I am going to a specific event, for example, a drag performance, I want to photograph the performers. I photograph things that look so familiar; they might seem like a Norman Rockwell painting reenactment. I photograph things I’ve never seen before. I’m drawn to the ordinary and extraordinary. © Meryl Meisler, Girls Braid, 1982 © Meryl Meisler, 3 Menudo Fans, 1983 © Meryl Meisler, Five Fashionable Rejects (With Judi Jupiter), 1978 © Meryl Meisler, La Farfalle Man Wearing Turban,1978 © Meryl Meisler, Andy Warhol Smiling With Eyes Closed (Between his Friend and Judi Jupiter),1977 © Meryl Meisler, Family Picnic, 1982 © Meryl Meisler, Fix Bike Flat, 1982 © Meryl Meisler, Palmetto Cars and Bus, 1985 © Meryl Meisler, Four on Deck at Star Wars Party, 1977 © Meryl Meisler, GG Bamum Mens Room, 1978 © Meryl Meisler, Back Doorway at COYOTES Hookers Masquerade Ball, 1978 © Meryl Meisler, Two Queens at the COYOTE Hookers Ball, 1977 © Meryl Meisler, Student Interviews Police Officers, 1982 © Meryl Meisler, Three Is 291 Grads Posing Near Cars, 1982 © Meryl Meisler, Studio 54 Spoon Man in Moon, 1977 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? MM: In the 1970s, I used a Norita Graflex - 120 SLR medium format, Vivitar flash, and TriX 400 film. If the Norita Graflex was in repair, I used a Minolta SRT101 loaded with color slide film (preferably Kodachrome 64). When I started teaching in Bushwick in the 1980s, it felt risky to carry an expensive camera. So, I bought an early point-and-shoot pocket camera (I think it was a Canon Sure Shot) and used color slide 35mm film. I have used a variety of cameras over the decades - analog and digital. When the Norita Graflex became “arthritic”- no longer worked in the cold area, I bought a Pentax 6x7. It’s a bit too heavy for me to carry around. Two years ago, I found someone who could repair the Norita - so I am back to using it and found another used one as a backup. I prefer a wide-angle lens, the equivalent of a 35mm lens in 35mm photography. The medium format wide angle equivalent is 55mm. Currently, my “carry around” is a Fujifilm X100. Ironically, with the Fuji autofocus - too many of my images are out of focus. I prefer a split image focusing system. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? MM: My immediate goals, after the exhibits, release and events related to New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era Disco are: Work on a monograph that EYESHOT will publish. It will be an overview of my street photography from 1973-2021. In October 2021, I'm scheduled for my first solo exhibit in Europe at Fotogalerie Friedrichshain in Berlin. Another book of the 1970s and 1980s never released photographs of hot spots across the USA that I've had on the backburner urges to be realised. There are thirty-six years of my insider's point of view photographing NYC schools that yearn to be edited, made into a book, and exhibited. In addition to continuing to dig through my vast archives, I plan to create a new series of self-portraits and continue carrying my camera along to familiar places and new adventures. From time to time, I get messages from people who find themselves, their family, or friends in my 1980s Bushwick photos. I've toyed with the idea of photographing those people now long enough. I might begin doing it. Where would I hope to see myself in five years? A solo museum exhibit would be divine. Most importantly, I hope to be alive and well and going forth. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… MM: I like to spend quality time with my life partner Patricia, close family, and friends. I enjoy dining at home or out, catching up with life, laughing and making new memories together. Live musical theatre is my entertainment of choice - I look forward to Broadway & Off-Broadway reopening and traveling more. I can’t carry a tune but like belting it out with the crowd at a piano bar. PORTFOLIO Website >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

ECCENTRI-CITY Danny Jackson is a people watcher, candidly documenting characteristically British moments, with a focus on the eccentric. ECCENTRI-CITY June 25, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Danny Jackson INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Danny Jackson is an Essex-based photographer with a knack for capturing the unique and often humorous moments of everyday life. His work has been featured in galleries and publications throughout the United Kingdom and abroad, and his keen eye for detail allows him to capture the characteristically 'British' moments that make his photos so special. With a passion for creative storytelling and a desire to leave something meaningful behind, Danny’s photographic creations are sure to leave you with a smile on your face. From quirky street scenes to picturesque wedding portraits, Danny Jackson’s photography truly captures the beauty and joy of life. “Both of these series focus on eccentric and interesting people. Why Eccentrics? I've asked myself that question quite a lot, and I suppose the main reason is eccentric people seem to live life a different way to the rest of us, they rebel against the established approach, and let their interests and passions consume their lives.” IN CONVERSATION WITH DANNY JACKSON THE PICTORIAL LIST: Danny please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? DANNY JACKSON: I'm a street, portrait, and documentary photographer from Canvey Island, Essex. I like documenting Britishness, eccentric characters, and maybe attempting to inject some humour into the photos I take. I've always been a bit of a people watcher, people interest me, I suppose street photography is an extension of that interest. In 2019 I started working on a portrait series called 'Eccentric Essex', this project consisted of people of a eccentric nature photographed in their own homes. The Pandemic bought me the opportunity to go through my work, which in turn has lead to the development of the series 'This is Essex', and 'EccentriCity'. Both of these series focus on eccentric and interesting people. Why Eccentrics? I've asked myself that question quite a lot, and I suppose the main reason is eccentric people seem to live life a different way to the rest of us, they rebel against the established approach, and let their interests and passions consume their lives. In 2020, I won first place in the “Love your Friends” category in the “Love in London” photography competition, securing third place overall. This year I appeared in The Independent Online and The Mail Online as well as local papers showcasing my recent series 'This is Essex'. My father died a few years ago and it had quite a profound effect on me, it made me feel the fugacity of life, and it changed me. It made me want to leave something behind. TPL: How do you find inspiration? DJ: Everyone tends to say ‘Instagram’ on this question, and that tends to be the same for me too, although inspiration can come from all kinds of different things, the way light shines on an object, a painting in an art gallery, I also have quite a collection of photo books that I like to look at. TPL: What do you want to express through your photography? What are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? DJ: Humour is something I’m always looking for in my photographs and that’s something that can be quite a challenge to pull off. I people watch all of the time, and if I see something that stirs something in me, whether it be a smile or a laugh, I believe if I can capture that in an image, it should stir up the same feeling in someone else. Storytelling is also something I try my best to do. TPL: Do you have a favourite place to go photograph? DJ: I like to search for eccentric and interesting people, so my favourite places are the places they dwell, which for me is Brick Lane, Camden, The Southbank, Soho and London's parks. TPL: What happens when you go out with your camera? Do people respond positively to you, or do you sometimes get negative reactions? If yes, how do you handle it? DJ: On the whole its very positive, I always make good eye contact with people who I want a portrait of, and with a big smile I approach. I've always been quite good at reading people and can normally tell if people are going to be easy going. If there ever is any problem my best advice would be to resolve the situation as quick as possible, forget about it and move on. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? DJ: With the portraits I usually do pretty much the same thing every time so that’s pretty easy, occasionally I'll try to focus on one idea with the street shots, or a theme, but, most of the time I’m just hunting. I people watch all of the time, and if I see something that stirs something in me, whether it be a smile or a laugh, I believe if I can capture that in an image, it should stir up the same feeling in someone else. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? DJ: In art, I really love portrait artists Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. I’m also a big fan of Salvador Dali (a wonderful eccentric). Also Banksy of course. In photography, a lot of people believe my work to have a little of Martin Parr in it, and I’ll agree with that, I am a fan of his, but also Dougie Wallace, Bruce Gilden, Matt Stuart, Elliott Erwitt and Vivian Maier. 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? DJ: I have a few Nikon cameras, a 7200, a 5400, and a 3200, and a load of prime lenses, I mostly have a 35mm or 50mm on the camera but also have a 70-300mm zoom, which are great for events where there’s tons going on around you or you don’t want to disturb the scene. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? DJ: I've always wanted to do a book, “The Eccentrics” series or the “This is Essex” series I think could work in book form. I would also like to have done a lot more portraits by then. An exhibition in London would also be a bit of a dream. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? DJ: I have an exhibition coming up at Mancave Antiques in Leigh on Sea with both series being shown in September, that’s part of The Leigh Art Trail. Currently Todd Viser (@zoomento) and I have been doing interview/chats on @street_badass through Instagram TV. We have met a tonne of great photographers including your esteemed editor Karin (@in_publico), and doing that has been an amazing experience...it's like doing a masters in photography. TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… DJ: Spend time with my family. I have a son, two daughters and a brilliant, pretty wife, oh and two dogs. We like to go out somewhere and do something every Sunday together." PORTFOLIO Read Danny's Story THIS IS ESSEX >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

THEATRE OF LIFE Thomas Hackenberg's photographs are an unstaged candid story from the big theatre of life. Shots that pose questions rather than answers. THEATRE OF LIFE June 23, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Thomas Hackenberg INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE The bustling streets of urban life can be a chaotic cacophony of sights and sounds. But to German street photographer Thomas Hackenberg, the hustle and bustle of everyday life is a kind of theatre – a captivating story about the human condition that's just waiting to be told. For Thomas, capturing these little snapshots of life is no ordinary task. Instead, it's a creative endeavor that requires a special kind of eye; one that can find the beauty in the mundane and discover unexpected connections between seemingly disparate events. His photographs are carefully composed, thought-provoking and often contain humorous or quirky details that bring an extra layer of intrigue to the viewer. From busy city centres to remote rural landscapes, Thomas offers unique insight into the lives of everyday people. His work is marked by a combination of close observation and an intuitive sense for the extraordinary, creating pictures that "pose questions rather than provide answers," as he puts it. At the same time, Thomas steadfastly remains true to his candid style, capturing life as it's happening without staging or interference from the photographer. He captures those fleeting moments between people and places, weaving together an intimate chronicle of our lives – unscripted and entirely real. Through his photography, Thomas Hackenberg invites us to step into his world and take a journey filled with humour, insight and emotion. “I would characterise myself as a classical flaneur – though sometimes more of a long distance runner – with a camera. The camera held unobtrusively in my hand, I try to blend in with the crowd. Ready to take action in an instant, react to any kind of scene that strikes my fancy and unfolds right in front of my camera. And that’s what I love so much about this subject: you don’t need any clumsy gear, you don’t have to travel anywhere, you're always there! That’s why it is so magical for me, many have said this before: it’s positively an obsession! I try to stay as invisible as possible, try to see things that others might not see, find something special in the ordinary that might only exist for a split second and then it’s gone forever! Creating a document of life.” IN CONVERSATION WITH THOMAS HACKENBERG THE PICTORIAL LIST: Thomas please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? THOMAS HACKENBERG: I was born in 1963, in the German city of Braunschweig. Some of the readers might be familiar with this city as the home of the once famous German camera brands of Rollei and Voigtlander. I’m married, father to a daughter and a son, in the language business by profession and design, and in street photography with my heart. Originally, I wanted to make photography my profession after school, something that just didn’t materialise for different reasons. And maybe that's a good thing. This way my passion could stay my effortless passion and didn’t have to pay any bills. It was able to stay a matter of the heart rather than a business venture. I got my first serious camera as a present from my parents for my 18th birthday and bought myself a photo compendium entitled “The Joy of Photography”, which was published by Kodak, if my memory serves me correctly. I poured over the pages and there it was – I can still feel my amazement when I first discovered this photograph; it is as if it were yesterday: the magical B&W masterpiece by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a photograph that many of you are sure to be familiar with. The B&W picture of a small boy, carrying home two huge bottles of wine with an indescribable expression of pride and joy on his face, entitled Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1954. When I saw this picture, I was thunderstruck: How on earth could a photographer be there, see and catch such an intimate, candid moment? What he called The Decisive Moment. With the equipment available at that time! This was THE picture for me, my personal game changer, that's what I wanted to do, too! Take pictures of people in the street! If I had only known how hard this journey was going to be to make one single good picture, I might have stuck with a different genre, but there was no way out: This was going to be what I wanted to do! And then there was Thomas Hoepker, my secret teacher of how to see the world. As a teenager, I had a subscription to the German GEO magazine, which featured, among other things, the pictures taken by the fabulous German photojournalist Thomas Hoepker at regular intervals. These pictures also had a major impact on me. Although they were published in a documentary and journalistic context, they showed life on the streets of the world – street photography in the truest sense of the word – whether in East Germany, the German Democratic Republic at that time, New York, or Beijing. I saw one of his exhibitions in Munich in the mid-1980s entitled Ansichten (a pun in German, meaning “views” and “opinions”), and these were pictures that burned themselves into my brain. I have never forgotten them since; they have provided me with a kind of internally memorised guardrail and a compass to give direction to my own photographic passion. Today, I own one of his prints and some photo books, all signed, they mean a great deal to me. Street photography is the genre I like the most: I’d love to see it evolve more into an art form of its own and find its way into the galleries and museums of the world more and more. TPL: Where do you find inspiration? TH: First and foremost, through the work of other street photographers. My own intrinsic motivation to go out shooting is always there and has never ceased to exist. I simply love to grab my camera and get into the flow. Normally, the first pictures I take are nothing, but as soon as I start and look around, and am in the right, perceptive mood, things start to get going. I find that very rewarding. I have quite a few constant triggers in my head, things and themes I always look at, in 99% of all cases showing pictures of people. The idea of photographic triggers is something I have taken with me from my talks and Skype sessions with German photographer Siegfried Hansen, whom most of you are sure to know. I have also exchanged thoughts (“Is it acceptable to shoot the homeless?”) via email with Melissa O’Shaughnessy, whose work touches my heart. Otherwise, I have no agenda; I love to let myself be surprised. Inspiration and my street DNA come from many other artists and photographers, whose work I look at regular intervals – be it on their websites, in YouTube interviews, magazines, exhibitions or from podcasts, which I love listening to. My biggest source of inspiration comes from photobooks, something I collect. TPL: What do you want to express through your photography? What are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? TH: Very generally speaking, I’m a candid shooter and I want to show little stories of mankind. I also love the idea of serendipity that comes your way when you just work long enough on a scene. Recently, I found out that you as a photographer can make a picture happen if you just stay at the scene and don’t leave it too soon. When you see something, when you think “Oh interesting, I could stay on that subject. This or that could happen.” Foreseeing and predicting the future, so to say. And when these things really happen from time to time – this is something that gives me the greatest joy and which is so rewarding. Many pictures I 'take' because I see something that is already there and can react quickly enough. Other pictures I 'make', with an idea in my head of what could happen and which elements I could wait for to happen or materialise in my picture. I also like the idea of "making something out of nothing", a quote which comes from NYC photographer Gus Powell, if my memory serves me correctly. 99% of my pictures have to have people in them, must have some kind of significance and meaning to me. For me, a good picture must have a thought-provoking note, some humorous or quirky details, some kind of storyline. I like pictures that pose questions rather than provide answers. 99% of my photos are taken candidly; 0% is staged or digitally manipulated. The two old grannies I captured in 1991 in San Gimignano, Italy, one with the Hanimex 110 pocket camera: a time document today. As all the millions of smartphones today will be at some point in the future… What is more, I feel very drawn to social photography, photojournalism, documentary. I like taking pictures at demonstrations. TPL: What happens when you go out with your camera? Do people respond positively to you, or do you sometimes get negative reactions? If yes, how do you handle it? TH: Normally, people don’t respond at all, as they don’t really notice me taking pictures. My gear is rather small and unobtrusive, I shoot with a 100% silent shutter, so people don’t notice any click noise, which is important. Otherwise, I try to hide and blend in with the crowd, as I have already mentioned. If someone asks me what I’m doing or if I have taken a picture of her or him, I keep a very open attitude. I think it is really important to feel confident in what you are doing and not as if you were doing something forbidden. Street photography is an art form that is absolutely legal. I like my fellow humans and I just want to picture the world as I see it. I am doing no harm to anyone. So, if someone asks me, I am positive, and I am convinced that this positivity is conveyed to that person, too. I smile at people, often explaining that I love something special about them: a piece of clothing, a tattoo, an ornament in their hair. And this is then often enough to satisfy their curiosity. So far, I have received very few negative reactions. I have also given prints of my work to people as a thank-you gift. Photography has also taught me a lot about myself. What kind of person I am. I used to be more of a silent and introverted guy thirty years ago. Street photography, interaction with the world and the people around me has also helped me to grow as a person. Over the years, I have become more outgoing, communicative and open. In this way, street photography has definitely taught me a lot about myself, so I have shaped my photography, but my photography has also shaped me. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just 'come to you', or is it both? TH: As I have mentioned before, I am completely open and see what the day brings to me, what the big theater of life has to offer for me on that specific day. I try to be in the moment and 'be there' with all my senses and photographic skills; I guess that I have trained my eye somewhat from the hundreds and thousands of other photographers’ pictures I have looked at so far. I want to get better at finding a good layering of more complex situations, not just shooting some funny or thought-provoking details, but finding a more sophisticated composition for my pictures. “Make something out of nothing” – that’s my credo, as I have mentioned before. I’m a candid shooter and I want to show little stories of mankind. I also love the idea of serendipity that comes your way when you just work long enough on a scene. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? TH: Oh yes – there are many! I already mentioned Henri Cartier Bresson and Thomas Hoepker. They shaped my street DNA. What is more, I love the work by the photographers who are part of collectives such as UP, Burn My Eye or Through The Lands. My favorite photo book which is in a way defining my personal street photography compass is "All That Life Can Afford" by Matt Stuart. This is exactly what I’m aiming at, what I like to try to do, too. Matt and his style have had the greatest influence on me. Only recently, I found Matt Stuart’s new book "Think Like a Street Photographer" very inspiring. This also holds true for the work of Martin Parr. Two other street photography artists I feel a strong connection to are Melissa O’Shaughnessy from New York and Peter Kool from Belgium. When I look into Melissa’s "Perfect Strangers", I am blown away – this is the kind of street photography and urban storytelling I am drawn to myself! I also love the work of such photographers as Maciej Dakowicz, Paul Kessel, Joel Meyerowitz, Michelle Rick, Nick Turpin or Vineet Vohra, just to name a few. Looking at Germany, I love the work of Heike Frielingsdorf, Siegfried Hansen, David Shokouhbeen, and Martin U Waltz. Outside the world of photography, I also take every opportunity to visit art exhibitions. The German expressionist painters represented in Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter are among my favourites and I find them very inspiring. They might be the reason why I shoot color only. And Picasso, of course! Who could not love him? 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? TH: Definitely yes. My vision is 35mm. Which could change to 28mm, should I buy myself the Leica Q or Q2, which I think about every now and then. Years ago, I shot with a Leica X1, which I still have, and I am just blown away by the optical quality of the Elmarit lenses. So I only shoot with that one single 35mm prime lens from ZEISS. I use a mirrorless Sony A7 Mk III camera with a rather small form factor (OK, the A7 gen1 was way smaller…) and a noiseless shutter, to make sure I stay unobtrusive and don’t expose myself too much just owing to the fact that I use a very conspicuous piece of equipment. I never use a flash. Being a self-taught photographer, I started with all the basic stuff, all those analog films, all from Ilford, all B/W, color was far too expensive and complicated for me. I learned how to develop the negatives and make my own prints in my parents’ basement. I experienced digital as a blessing, it made everything so much easier, at least for me. I am not a big fan of tech talk, in fact not at all. All you really need is a good camera with a sizable sensor and a good lens in front of it, but gear is not really all that important. What is important, though, is the eye, the art of perception and openness to all kinds of visual clues. Easier said than done… TPL: Do you have a favourite place to photograph? TH: Any place where I am at a given time, as long as there are other people around. Any possible place, as long as I have a free mind and can be open to visual clues, any place is good. The place is really not so important, what is important, though, is my openness to visual stories around me. My ability to get into the flow and melt with the moment. I find it hard to find the right words to express this. In general, I like all the places where people gather. I love shooting in Berlin, which is only 90 train minutes from Braunschweig, where I live. And New York is high up in my list of favorite places to go! I hope I can go there soon. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? TH: In about five years I will have ended my early retirement scheme in my company and hopefully have more time to dedicate to my street obsession. In general, I simply want to get better in terms of creating more complex layers, I want to just keep on training my eye and my skills. Create more and more good pictures, I’d say. Satisfy more of my own curiosity for people. Stay curious about life. Find another great picture around the next corner. Go left? Go right? I’ll play it by ear. See what comes up, I’ll be excited to find out! Continue connecting with other street photographers around the globe, something I enjoy. That’s one of the good things about Instagram, although IG and its sucking algorithms annoy me more than I like it. At some point, I’d love to have an exhibition of my photographs, see them hung up as prints on a gallery wall, possibly in combination with my first book. During the past months of the pandemic and empty streets, I have given much more thought to precisely what will be the general idea of that book and what I would like to show. I find it very challenging to sequence and combine pictures and master the great art of letting two seemingly disparate pictures on two opposite pages speak to each other and create a new idea and a greater whole that goes beyond the mere content shown by the two individual pictures. That’s great art and I am not sure that I’m already there. I have prepared a first maquette with some sample pages that I will start to send out to publishers soon. But that may still take a while and these plans are still in their infancy. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… TH: Listen to music, watch music documentaries, go to concerts, read photobooks 😉, do some gardening. Otherwise, I love just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round, as John Lennon put it. The Beatles and most of all, John Lennon, have had a key influence on my younger years and on the way I grew up. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to present me and my work to your audience! And a big thank you to all readers who are taking the time to read this interview. PORTFOLIO Website >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

STREET CHOREOGRAPHY Streetmax 21 photographs the built environment, static and inanimate, the stage upon which a walking choreography is played out. STREET CHOREOGRAPHY June 14, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Streetmax 21 INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE As we live in a world that is becoming increasingly designed and governed by rules, it can often feel like the individual is an automaton within the system. The streets are filled with people, all seemingly going through the motions of their lives without much thought or emotion. Streetmax 21, a renowned street photographer, uses his lens to capture the beauty of this seemingly mundane world in his candid shots. He observes how our present circumstances govern our behavior individually and in crowds, and has captured scenes that beg the question – are we self-absorbed passersby uncannily playing out parts in isolation, or have we been conditioned to act in a certain way? His photographs are often taken in a half light with a muted colour palette, creating an atmosphere that speaks to our current state of affairs. But while at first glance there may seem something sad about these corporate scenes, Streetmax 21's intention is to transcend the mundane and make comical comment on our environment. Through his photographs, we can gain a unique perspective on how our circumstances shape our behavior. “I think it’s imperative to be aware of trends impacting upon the human condition and to have a ready means of translating or alluding to these aesthetically. For example, It’s become very obvious today that technology has caused behavioural change in both overt and subtle ways. It connects us, but it has been instrumental also in disconnecting many from real society. I’m conscious of letting these polarities inform the images I make.” IN CONVERSATION WITH STREETMAX 21 THE PICTORIAL LIST: Streetmax please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? STREETMAX 21: I was born in Dundee, Scotland. I shuttle between London, where I’ve spent most of my adult life, and Norfolk, where I live now. I became interested in photography by degrees, at first using it as a means to assist in painting which I studied at art college. I’ve taken photographs ever since, working professionally for a while as an architectural photographer. My foray into street photography came about almost accidentally as a sideline to the large format architecture I was shooting for clients. I began to realise slowly that it was something I could do on my own terms. TPL: Where do you find inspiration to photograph? SM21: It’s difficult to pinpoint where I find inspiration but I like to think about what it is I’m trying to do. I’ll have several ideas fructifying at any one time, most of which I’ll later discard. The important thing is to find something that works on a multiplicity of levels. In a world awash with imagery, it’s necessary to strike up a signature style and augment it with relevant and recognizable add-ons. TPL: What do you want to express through your photography? What are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? SM21: I think it’s imperative to be aware of trends impacting upon the human condition and to have a ready means of translating or alluding to these aesthetically. For example, It’s become very obvious today that technology has caused behavioural change in both overt and subtle ways. It connects us, but it has been instrumental also in disconnecting many from real society. I’m conscious of letting these polarities inform the images I make. Although I predominantly photograph figures, both minimalism and conceptualism are forms which I have in mind always although I don’t necessarily work with their rigour. Photographic layering is less important to me than layers of meaning. The meaning of separated figures as a metaphor arises. Do they play with shifts in meaning yet evoke different analogies? Would it have been possible to make this work in another era? I don’t have answers, only questions made manifest by enigmatic imagery. TPL: What happens when you go out with your camera? Do people respond positively to you, or do you sometimes get negative reactions? If yes, how do you handle it? SM21: I try to use techniques that ensure I don’t draw too much attention to myself when shooting. For instance, on taking up a position, I often shoot from just below eye-level at chin height, lowering my eye to the viewfinder periodically to check the framing. This enables me not only to better see what’s about to enter the frame by looking over the camera, but gives the impression that I’m not shooting at all, merely considering it. Bar the occasional passer-by who’ll enquire about the camera I’m using, I don’t get much response either way. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? SM21: Very occasionally images come to me but usually I adopt a watch and wait approach. I keep a number of locations in mind that I can return to when conditions are right. Some, I’ll visit several times. I’m looking for rhythm in moving figures and to have them separated visually within plastic space. Even though I’m working in a real environment, shooting figures in this way can give them an unreal look. It’s this kind of dichotomy that I find interesting. I photograph people because they’re more interesting than ideas, and I see figuration as a casing or a vehicular language capable of externalising concepts. I photograph people because they’re more interesting than ideas, and I see figuration as a casing or a vehicular language capable of externalising concepts. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? SM21: My visual cues derive from a variety of media, mainly painting. Favourites here would be Nicolas Poussin, Holbein drawings, Ingres drawings, Eadweard Muybridge, Futurists, Photo-realists including Howard Kanovitz, Conceptualists Opalka, Darboven, Kawara and LeWitt. I like the idea of continuity in art - one artist/photographer laying the groundwork for another to follow and reinterpret. The best example of this was the British post-war sculpture movement, the most authentic to come out of London in recent times. In photography, being able to use light like Ray Metzker and having an eye for colour like Fred Herzog are things I aspire to. That said, I prefer to perceive what may be relevant artistically/photographically without looking too closely at the work of other artists/photographers. It’s enough to be aware of the cannon so as not to commit the sin of repeating it. 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? SM21: I work with Fuji x-series cameras with 35mm equivalent lenses. I use a Nikon with wide angle lenses also. The only attachment I have is a spirit level mounted on the shoe - useful if I want to shoot from the hip or when I can’t see the on-board camera spirit level. Depth of field is always a concern for me given the complexity of what I’m attempting to photograph. In changeable London weather conditions, x-series cameras are pretty good when it's sunny, but at wider apertures they can soften badly at the image edge. TPL: Do you have a favourite place to go photograph? SM21: The bulk of my street photography has been done in London and particularly the City of London, often referred to as “The Square Mile”. I lived on the fringe of the City for over a decade and it became my photographic playground. Few live in it and it’s often deserted at weekends. The richest borough in the world surrounded by some of the poorest boroughs in Europe is a place like no other. I’ve referred before to it’s robotic formality, which I find compelling. It’s forever in an amoeba-like state of renewal. As well as the Portland Stone and metal clad corporate environment, I often photograph figures amidst the graphic devices of scaffolding and temporary hoardings as a nod to this continual regeneration. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? SM21: I aim for consistency and continuity. It’s very difficult to do good work. If it weren’t, people would do it all the time. I’m trying to attain and maintain a strength, quality and intelligence that I seek in the work of others. Who can say where one will be in five years? I would hope that the basic concepts I’ve put in place serve to further enhance the impact of the street photography strategy I’ve embarked upon. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? SM21: I’m toying with the idea of authoring some past and future work under another ‘nom de guerre’ - someone influenced by Streetmax 21 and street photography but who makes other work in a variety of media. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… SM21: Feel secure in the knowledge that I have the two most important things a photographer needs in life; a good mattress and a good pair of shoes. If I’m not in one, I’m in the other. PORTFOLIO Website >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

A CURIOSITY ABOUT LIFE Documentary and street photographer Eduardo Ortiz approaches photography with a curiosity about life and his love of light. A CURIOSITY ABOUT LIFE June 7, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Eduardo Ortiz INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Eduardo Ortiz is a cook and street photographer from Valparaiso, Chile. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, Eduardo lost his job, and with it, his sponsor to stay in Sweden. Among the few countries open for tourism at that time, Turkey stood out as the best option for Eduardo. Without hesitation, he booked a flight from Stockholm to Istanbul. What started as a simple way to escape, evolved into a deep love for this country. Eduardo approaches photography with curiosity about life and his love of light. Travelling taught him to embrace light and shadow, and to feel deeply the influence it has had on his way of seeing and approaching the world. “While travelling I felt the need of sharing what I was seeing on my trips with my people back in Chile. Little by little I fell in love with the art of photography and began to study the ‘rules’, concepts such as balance, composition, etc. I tried all kinds of photography and then gradually became more and more interested in street photography. Now it is the sort of photography that best suits my way to see and approach the world.” IN CONVERSATION WITH EDUARDO ORTIZ THE PICTORIAL LIST: Eduardo please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? EDUARDO ORTIZ: I am a thirty-year old music teacher, street/documentary photographer and cook born in Los Angeles, Chile. Although I grew up in San Antonio I considerer Valparaiso to be the place where I woke up as an artist. It was in Valparaiso, the most cultural city in Chile, where I studied music and met artists of different disciplines from all corners of Chile. Now, I am currently living in Istanbul, a perfect playground to keep growing as a photographer. When I finished my career I felt that traveling was going to be the best way for me to keep learning and growing as a human being. At present, I haven't been back to Chile in almost 5 years, and lived and worked in countries such as Morocco, Sweden, Germany, France, among others. While travelling I felt the need of sharing what I was seeing on my trips with my people back in Chile. Little by little I fell in love with the art of photography and began to study the "rules", concepts such as balance, composition, etc. I tried all kinds of photography and then gradually became more and more interested in street photography. Now it is the sort of photography that best suits my way to see and approach the world. TPL: You shared your series of images called 'Pamukkale' below and for your portfolio. Tell us more about this. What inspired the concept? How did you approach producing the series...why black and white over colour? EO: Pamukkale is a place that gave me that feeling of "I am right where I should be", It felt something I would describe as a long "deja-vu", a feeling of "there is nowhere else I wish I was instead". Not long before being there I lost my job due to the outbreak and lost my visa to stay longer in Europe. At that time, Turkey presented as one of the few countries still open for tourism. When I got to Pamukkale, to my surprise, days of masks and restrictions seemed long forgotten. Covid-19, for me and those present, was merely a fragment of a nightmare. It was a normal day, with a surreal touch. I approached this series as I approach photography in general, with curiosity about life and my love of light. I chose black and white in this series to highlight even more the surrealism of Pamukkale. Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish, a name that I found spot-on, choosing a monochromatic colour scheme helps the viewer to easily imagine the cotton likeness of the salt piles. And last and not least, people usually dream in black and white, suppressing the colours helps to emphasize even more the oneiric quality of this place. TPL: Where do you find inspiration to create? EO: I find myself often chasing light and interesting moments, elements that can be found anywhere. TPL: What do you want people to remember about your photography? EO: I want people to remember that there is beauty everywhere. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? Describe your process. EO: I usually try to go out with an idea or concept in mind beforehand, It might be something I want to express in particular or a series. Although I sometimes have no option but to let the images come to me, in that case, I just improvise. I find myself often chasing light and interesting moments, elements that can be found anywhere. TPL: Do you have a favourite place(s) to go photograph? EO: Hard question, how could I possibly choose one? I tend to show preference to places based on their mood or atmosphere. Pamukkale captured me because in a moment of fear and distance there seemed to be one bubble of the world unaffected. 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? EO: I think the equipment doesn't matter till it matters. I use Fujifilm cameras for their size and shooting experience. I have an x-pro2, an x-e3 and an x-e2, all of them suit my way of shooting, at the same time their size makes them way less intrusive than any full-frame DSLR for example. Also, the dials help me to easily set the triangle exposure. I mainly use 18mm, 35mm and 90mm (28mm, 50mm and 135mm full-frame equivalent approximately). 28mm is by far my favourite focal length, leave me on a desert island with it and I will still be happy. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us? EO: I do, among my favourites, there are photographers like Ernst Haas, Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Alex Webb, Fan-Ho, Fred Herzog, Saul Leiter, to name a few. I also find inspiration in painters such as Joaquin Sorolla, Claude Monet, Emile Claus, Guillaume Van Strydonck, among others. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? EO: My current goal is to learn to monetize my photography work. I hope that in five years I will be able to make a living out of my passion and will have seen many more places and cultures. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? EO: I am currently working on series about life in Istanbul. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… EO: I like to play music, learning languages, studying photography and wandering around. PORTFOLIO Eduardo's website >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

ENROUTE TO THE PINES To celebrate Pride month, Robert Sherman shares his documentary series about drag queens celebrating the 'Invasion of the Pines' in Long Island. ENROUTE TO THE PINES June 2, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Robert Sherman INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Robert Sherman, born in Chicago, but now based in New York City, is both a photographer and a musician and composer. He developed a pure passion for the art of photography and ended up becoming the staff photographer for the Fire Island newspaper. Of late he has also become a columnist for them and manages their social media account. To celebrate Pride month, as a double-feature with our friends at Spectaculum Magazine, we have asked Robert to share some photos from his documentary series about drag queens celebrating the INVASION OF THE PINES in Long Island, part of the annual Pride month events. “I was sent on assignment four years ago and fell in love with the event. The energy of the pre-party scene in Cherry Grove, having full access with press pass to the preparations and behind the scenes “Jamboree”, and being allowed on the Queen’s Boat enroute to The Pines for the red carpet pageant was exhilarating beyond my wildest photographic and emotional dreams.” IN CONVERSATION WITH ROBERT SHERMAN THE PICTORIAL LIST: Robert please tell us about yourself. Talk to us about your work and life in New York city. When and did you become interested in photography? ROBERT SHERMAN: I was born on the south side of Chicago, but moved to Northern California when I was 12, so the west coast really does feel like my cultural roots and San Francisco my hometown. But I came to Boston for my bachelor’s degree in music and then to NYC to get my masters degree at The Manhattan School of Music. I then stayed in New York for 35 years now, so I definitely feel like a full-blown New Yorker. I freelanced as a pianist and composer for years in NYC and then landed a full time job teaching music at The Calhoun School on the upper west side. I let go of teaching after 10 years and found myself obsessively fascinated with photography, almost as if it were a new musical instrument speaking to a lifetime spent in that pursuit. My wife got tired of seeing me using my iPhone so much, so she bought me a birthday present of a beautiful Sony mirrorless, my first real camera. Three years studying the basics, as well as taking master classes in the philosophy and grammar of photography at the International School of Photography brought me to a place where I felt I could follow and realize my total immersion in this new passion, and, in short, found myself continuing incessantly to photograph everything in sight that engaged me. I now consider myself a full time freelance street photographer, portrait photographer, and photographer in general. Four years ago I was offered a job as staff photographer for the Fire Island News, a newspaper based in Long Island, NY, and jumped at the opportunity to work as a photojournalist, as well. I am now also the editor of their Instafeed, and a regularly contributing columnist for the paper. TPL: It is Pride Month, and we have scheduled your feature of the Invasion of the Pines drag event in celebration of this special month. How did you get involved in this event? RS: I was sent on assignment four years ago and fell in love with the event. The energy of the pre-party scene in Cherry Grove, having full access with press pass to the preparations and behind the scenes “Jamboree”, and being allowed on the Queen’s Boat enroute to The Pines for the red carpet pageant was exhilarating beyond my wildest photographic and emotional dreams. Below deck I could find quiet moments of introspection and tender friendships, isolation, restrained nervousness and excitement, raw enthusiasm for the explosive moments to come upon landing at the next town over, The Pines, the exiting down the ramp and onto the red carpet for the pageantry and the fashion gala in front of thousands of spectators, revelers, supporters and beautiful people of like minds. I have covered two such events so far (Covid having blocked last year), the third coming up this July 4, and have never been able to shoot less than 1,500 photographs each time. I narrow them down to around 50, and from that, the paper chooses about 10 shots for publication. The rest are for me and my utter adoration of the process. It is my absolute favorite assignment of the year. TPL: What do you find especially interesting about the event in particular, and about drag in general? RS: In spite of the historical and current social hardships the LGBTQ community faces, there is a level of 'celebration of self' that is unmatched in most other groups or circumstances I’ve witnessed. Not unlike the amazing beauty of the carnival and birthplace of the incredibly intoxicating Samba music in Brazil —a country rife with suffering and pain— somehow finding its way toward the purest forms of all-encompassing celebration, this Invasion event is a true and total immersion into ecstatic revelations of how beautiful each and every one of us are, as we are; unfiltered and true to ourselves. I find myself enthralled by how being so utterly convinced of one’s beauty within makes each and every participant the most exquisite presence on earth. TPL: Are there any other events that celebrate Pride that you would recommend for photographers interested in the subject? RS: In spite of its challenges as a photographer and perhaps an outsider, with the crowds and crowd blockades, the NYC Pride March remains the most fantastic and enormous event of its kind. All of it, wherever you go to celebrate Pride Month, one will find a plethora of pure celebration that is impossible to not want to capture in image, narrative, and emotive content. TPL: In general regarding your photography, where do you find your inspiration to create? RS: I am not finding myself able to put my work in any particular "record bin". I can’t categorize nor “brand” myself. I simply must photograph what’s in front of me, that which engages me. I feel like I literally fall in love for that fraction of a second in which this endeavor eventuates. TPL: What do you want people to remember about your photography? RS: The images themselves. I don’t wish to be seen in the photograph. If anything, perhaps there’s a common thread of continuity in the part of me that sees and captures what’s in the image. But I strive to have the pieces speak for themselves. This Invasion event is a true and total immersion into ecstatic revelations of how beautiful each and every one of us are, as we are; unfiltered and true to ourselves. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us? RS: Miles Davis, Elliott Erwitt, Irving Penn, Bill Evans, William Eggleston, Thelonious Monk, Diane Arbus, Betty Carter, Dorothea Lange, João Gilberto, Helmut Newton, John Coltrane, Chehalis Hegner, Hyuna Park... don’t get me started. The list is too long. TPL: Do you have a favourite place to photograph? RS: New York City is by far the most amazing place to simply walk around with camera in hand. So many colors, walks of life, people who are in their own world, and all the many who wish to be seen, who want to be photographed. That reminds me, one more quick one for the previous list: Bill Cunningham, the great fashion photographer on the streets of New York with his bike and camera simply riding around and capturing all the best of the best moments. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? Please describe your process. RS: I think it’s neither, unless I’m in a more formal portrait project setting in which I am looking for very specific ideas. I think I try to “go to the images” and not wait to let them “come to me”. I move a lot. As in jazz improvisation, where there is a requirement of super-focus, studied instinct, and practiced intuition that asks you to anticipate the next 'inevitable' note, the same applies in photography: to see the shot ahead of time and move toward it with a sense of composition, decisive moment, expression, interaction, narrative, or simply the 'stealing of beauty'. Because I feel that stories and beauty are everywhere and in everyone. You just have to look for, and reach out toward them. 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? RS: I’ve stuck with Sony, and it has done everything I need and want with complete satisfaction. I’ve upgraded two times since my first camera, following my evolving needs. And now sit happily with the mark IV. I have nine lenses for various settings: 200-600mm for surf photography, wildlife, and nature, I prefer the 135mm f1.8 for portrait work, as a little compression always helps to further beautify faces, or my zeiss batis 85mm if I want more of the environment around the subject. For street I go in all directions, mostly 50mm, but I also play with compression and discretion on my 70-300mm, or the circus act warping of my 12-24mm, I have a 90mm and a 32mm macro. And my 24-70mm, although burdensome and at times off-putting for the people around me, is a beautiful street photography solution, as it sometimes forces the issue of real engagement with the subject in the moment. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? RS: I have a solo show offered to me by the Ocean Beach Historical Society, during its centennial celebration of the city, opening on July 16 on Fire Island, NY, entitled 'Here, There, and Back Again'. It will be a collection of individual photographs, triptychs, portraits, from “home” on Fire Island, and New York City, and abroad in Italy and Southern Spain, from street photography to character studies to the aforementioned Pride Invasion in brief series from below deck of the Queen’s Boat to the red carpet, a few nature shots, as well as honoring my lifetime passion for surfing in some local gems off the shores of life on Fire Island. Beyond that, the next project will certainly be realized one way or another, I have no doubt. My aspirations are to keep shooting what I find fascinating, and presenting both in series, as well as the seemingly fresh focus on the stand alone 'individual photograph'. Of course I want to sell and make museum level works and show in important galleries everywhere. But most of all, at this point in my life I just want to tell stories, write “songs” with my camera, no, with my eye and heart, and continue to see all that surrounds me and find the moments I wish to capture and share with anyone who wants to join me in it all. I just want to keep falling in love. TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… RS: Edit photographs and print them for true indulgence of their actual value in my life, play my 1924 Steinway Grand and my 1965 Hammond B3 organ for myself at home, surf, spend time with my grown children and my beautiful wife, and eat ice cream." PORTFOLIO INVASION OF THE PINES on Spectaculum Magazine >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

LES FRANÇAIS Since leaving photojournalism, Gareth Watkins has started to shoot his own long term projects documenting the region in France where he lives. LES FRANÇAIS July 16, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Gareth Watkins INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE French-British photographer Gareth Watkins started photographing back in the early eighties after reading French literature at University. In his early days, he mostly tried to capture street type pictures, in London, where he was living at the time. Gareth quickly realised if he was to work in photography, he would have to move into more general photojournalism. Thus, from the mid 1980’s, Gareth started working for a number of newspapers and agencies in London, before joining Reuters News Agency as a staff photographer in Paris in 1987. Here he covered many local and international stories for over 15 years. Since leaving Reuters, Gareth has started to shoot his own long term projects, documenting the region in France where he lives. He shares his collection of pictures from his adoptive home country, observing France and its people and their history. “Since leaving the world of press photography, I have for the first time had way more opportunity to concentrate on my own pictures, as well as returning to my favoured medium of black and white photography. Nowadays setting myself projects, I can shoot what I want, when I want; look for good light, interesting subjects without the pressure of a client or a deadline. It is extremely liberating.” IN CONVERSATION WITH GARETH WATKINS THE PICTORIAL LIST: Gareth please tell us about yourself. What was that moment that sparked your interest to pursue photography as a profession? GARETH WATKINS: I was born in the UK, but have lived the majority of my life in France, first in Paris, then in north-eastern France where I live today. I have both British and French nationalities. I currently run my own business offering fishing holidays. I first got interested in photography when I was still at university and my father bought me a Minolta SLR camera. The college had a Photo Club with its own dark room, so I jointed and learned the basics of processing and printing my own black and white pictures. After my time at university, both in the UK and France, and graduating with a degree in French literature I got more and more interested in photography and decided that I wanted to make a career of it. My first efforts to break into the profession, were to cover local sporting events in South London, where my parents lived and I tried to sell pictures to the local newspapers. After a while, a couple of papers started to use some shots and offered me my first assignments. I managed from there to get a staff job on another local South London paper. London was a great place to work when I started out, as it allowed us to cover the same stories as the national press; for example, the Royal family and major sports events like First Division Football and Wimbledon. I was thus able to put together a portfolio of shots and get some freelance shifts on the UK daily papers and PA new agency. After a year or two trying to get steady work on Fleet Street, I came across an advert for a job at Reuters in the UK Press Gazette. Not really expecting to even get an interview, I applied and to my great surprise, was hired as a Photographer/Picture Editor. After a year or so, a position opened up at the Paris bureau. As a French speaker I decided to apply and again I was successful. And so, I moved back to France. I remained in Paris until I left Reuters at the beginning of the 2000's. TPL: As your time as a photojournalist, can you tell us about any significant moments that you had over your career? GW: During the more than 25 years I worked as a photojournalist it is very hard to pick any one assignment. My favourite assignments to cover were the big sporting events, as I always felt it was me and the athletes, and no other outside influence. If they were good and I was good, the pictures could be exceptional. I covered eight or nine French Tennis Opens, several World Athletics Championships, and Olympics, as well as the Tour de France and major football and rugby competitions. Outside of sport I was able to cover the Paris Fashion weeks for many years. One assignment the marked me was the Kurdish refugees story following the first gulf war, where I travelled to Iran and the border with Iraq. This was a memorable trip in a fascinating part of the world. We also covered French politics on a regular basis, travelling with the French President, initially François Mitterrand and then Jacques Chirac, visiting countries as far afield as the Caribbean, West Africa, and Asia. I think the most significant aspect of the period was the huge change in technology from my beginnings to when I left. We started with b&w prints, travelling with a portable lab and transmitter, developing, and making prints in hotel bathrooms. Securing a reliable phone line to wire the pictures was an important part of the job. We then moved to colour negative and were early adopters of digital technology. The early cameras were dreadful quality, slow, cumbersome, and ridiculously expensive, but allowed us to shoot and transmit images in a fraction of the time it took to develop and wire a negative. Our production switched 100% digital after the 1998 Football World Cup in France. We were all issued two Canon EOS1 DSC520 cameras and a Macbook. This meant with a GSM mobile phone, we could literally send pictures from anywhere in the world in minutes. TPL: Retiring from your job as a photojournalist, how has this had an effect on your personal photography projects? GW: Working as a photojournalist in the wire service, one has virtually no time for personal projects. We were shooting often 2 or 3 assignments a day or travelling to cover an event or breaking news story. During my leisure time I didn’t generally take any pictures, even if I always had a camera with me just in case. After leaving Paris I initially did some commercial assignments for the local tourist board as well as moving into video, shooting corporate promotional clips in France for a couple of UK based holiday firms. Since leaving the world of press photography, I have for the first time had way more opportunity to concentrate on my own pictures, as well as returning to my favoured medium of black and white photography. Working for the press or commercial clients you have to shoot what they want, and there are few possibilities. Nowadays setting myself projects, I can shoot what I want, when I want; look for good light, interesting subjects without the pressure of a client or a deadline. It is extremely liberating. I saw an interview with a Magnum photographer recently, and he said he couldn’t bear working for editorial clients, and I can totally see what he means. Pictures are digital these days, I can’t see me returning to film. Not having the pressures of deadlines and time constraints, has freed me to look for local subjects to document; the Covid crisis being a notable case in point. TPL: Can you tell us about your current project documenting where you live? What would you like to communicate to the viewer? And why did you want to do the project in black and white? GW: My current location in France is near the famous WW1 battles grounds of the ‘Chemin des Dames’. Having moved here in the early 2000’s I have become fascinated in this history steeped area. It was largely obliterated during the Great War, with over 300 villages raised to the ground. Some were rebuilt and some were abandoned, and nature was left to take back it’s right. Having a decent collection of photography books, by some of the photographers I mentioned earlier, I realised that they were for the most part, not assigned the subject matter they chose to shoot, but made personal projects documenting an area. I felt drawn to this part of France, French history and the people and places around me. So, I started to research for myself the various places of interest and to visit them one by one. This included interesting landscapes, but also the people. Black and white was just a natural choice. Firstly, I had always enjoyed the gritty aspect of monochrome, but also, I felt by the very nature of the subjects, it made for stronger images. In many instances the colour takes over the picture and becomes the main focal point. One can’t do anything about what colours are present, unless the choice is made to shoot in b&w. I then made the choice to self-publish the pictures in Zines and Photobooks. The internet now has a fantastic choice and offers multiple companies that will produce one-off publications. It is a simple matter to download a ‘drag & drop’ programme and to create a picture book. I feel it is still important today to see pictures in print. All too many images are simply posted on the internet or stored on phones or hard drives and probably at some point deleted. I unfortunately, lost a large percentage of my press pictures during the early digital days, simply because, we didn’t have the drive space to stock the pictures. Hard drives stopped working and the hugely expensive media was reformatted after the story was filed and any unfiled picture deleted. In those early naïve days of digital we didn’t realise just how fragile this chain of production was, and also didn’t appreciate the value of our work. Once it was transmitted to the subscribers and published, it was forgotten, and we moved onto the next assignment. So today I find it far more satisfying to see a collection of my pictures of a certain subject printed in book form. Over the last couple of years, I have done projects on the local canal, a collection of the local people where I live seen through my eyes and lens, as well as a personal collection of the recent Covid pandemic, seen through our experience, being locked down in a small village in rural France. These projects printed in small runs for myself gave a focus to my ongoing project of documenting daily life, the people and the places around me. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? GW: In my formative years I collected books by photographers such as W. Eugene Smith, Don McCullin, Henri Cartier-Bresson etc. I think they inspired many aspiring photographers at the time, and still do. I was fortunate to have worked with some of the most talented photojournalists in the world over the years. Many of the wire service guys were exceptional photographers, and I learned a lot very fast with a hugely steep learning curve. Currently I follow closely a number of photographers, as social media has opened up access to a wide number of artists one would probably not see outside publications in magazines and newspapers. The last book I bought was the hugely impressive work by Peter Turnley covering the start of the Covid pandemic in New York and Paris. His black and white pictures were not only beautiful and eloquent but terrifying at the same time. Since leaving the world of press photography, I have for the first time had way more opportunity to concentrate on my own pictures, as well as returning to my favoured medium of black and white photography. TPL: Do you have any other favourite places outside where you live that you enjoy photographing? GW: One of my favourite places is Le Touquet on the northern coast of France. We rent a holiday house there every summer. It is one of the majestic turn-of-the-century French ‘Station balnéaire’, like Cabourg and Deauville. Except is has a family atmosphere and a lot of charm. I find it a wonderful reservoir for picture opportunities. I have always loved the seaside, with its wonderful light and often grandiose landscapes. Added to this the quirky nature of beachgoers and it is the perfect setting for ‘street’ type photography. It takes me back to the days when I used to wander around East London looking for pictures, but instead of the rather sinister aspect the city had back then I have a more festive holiday backdrop in which to seek out interesting pictures. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? GW: I would probably say a bit of both. I will often try to come up with a local subject, be it an event or just and interesting place to shoot. I will usually check it out on Google Street View, which I have found an invaluable tool, in looking for angles and details that one can easily miss when actually on location. While I like to have people in my pictures, to add context and as a document of our places and times, I still often like to make a landscape shot too, especially if the sky is dramatic, and here in Eastern France, with wide sweeping landscape vistas, we get some awesome skies, that are prefect for black and white. Other times I will simply grab my camera and wander, this can produce multiple nice shots or nothing at all. But after years as a wire service ‘snapper’ where we regularly had to go out at any time and make a decent illustration of a newsworthy subject, that was at first sight rather dull, one gets good at finding a picture. One gets adept at summing up the surroundings and seeing or anticipating quickly if there is an interesting picture to be made, and where to place oneself to get it. I think if I had one piece of advice for anyone starting out today it would be that you need to anticipate. You need to see pictures; composition has to be second nature. Once you see where a potential image might happen, you need to be in place to frame it and snap it. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. But the more you do it the luckier you get… Cartier Bresson spoke of a ‘decisive moment’, but you don’t just get lucky and ‘bang’ you have a perfectly timed shot...No, you have to see where the scene will break down, where the elements will come together and what your picture could be. If he was a master of these perfectly timed shots, there was no luck in it. He knew and had the vision to see the picture. One needs to always be looking for pictures, always framing in your head, even when you don’t have a camera in your hand. Shooting sports before autofocus trained us to anticipate. It was virtually impossible to follow a soccer or rugby player running flat out or a 100m sprinter. One had to look at the game, know the sport and guess where a piece of action would take place. Focus on the spot and get your timing spot on. It was hard and need concentration, but it was a good school. Nowadays, follow focus on a modern camera makes all this far easier, but the basic premise still rings true, and no amount of technical wizardry can take away the need to anticipate. 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? GW: Equipment is not hugely important; all modern cameras give excellent results. I did however, make the choice three or four years ago to move away from big DSLRs and Zooms. I had a bag with Canon 5D iii bodies, and 16-35mm, 24-105mm and 70-200mm zooms. It weighed a ton...I think many photographers who lugged around bags of heavy gear for years, ended up with back issues, and I was no exception. So, my equipment requirements these days are based on size and weight as much as anything else. A friend offered to sell me a Fuji X-Pro1 and a couple of lenses. I bought this and was hooked. It was small light, and the quality of both the images and fixed focal lenses was superb. I have since widened my collection of lenses and updated to the X-Pro2 bodies. The X-Pro2 is a very fast camera to use, has excellent autofocus and is a joy to use. It’s retro style takes me back to my first serious camera the Nikon FE, with it’s dials and aperture ring. I currently use the 23mm F2 and the 50mm F2 as my main focal lengths. These give me a full frame equivalent of 35mm and 75mm. These are attached permanently to my camera bodies. I do have the 18mm and 35mm (28mm and 50mm equivalents) but only rarely use them. These two cameras go everywhere with me now, in a small Billingham bag, and mean I can grab a picture at any moment. I often see a subject while out in my car and can stop, jump out and make the picture. This would never have been possible with the Canon gear, as I simply wouldn’t have had it with me at all times. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist/photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? GW: I’ll be 60 next year, so while I am still fit and healthy, I don’t really have any massive ambitions as a photographer. The world of photojournalism has moved on and now a new generation of young people often armed with just a phone has emerged and replaced the generation I came from. In France, the printed press is in crisis and press groups are firing more staff photographers than they are hiring. Pictures are now sold for very little money and surviving as a freelance these days is a very hard task. As I said above the advances in camera technology have meant that it is now far quicker and easier to make pictures and produce nice images than it used to be. While the soul of photography has perhaps been ripped out, the digital era has opened up image making to many more people and democratised the whole process. What used to be a skilled trade, shooting, developing, and printing pictures and wiring them on time to hit deadlines, has disappeared. Now what would have taken several hours to do can be done literally in seconds. Publications can now change up their content literally on a minute by minute basis...pictures have become far too ephemeral. This is why I like to print my collections, so in 10 or 15 years and beyond we will have a record of what life was like, hopefully pictures that only have marginal value now, will take on a historical document function and show future generations what our times were like. We have seen larger strides made in image making in the last 15 years than were made since the inception of photography. In five years' time, assuming I’m still as fit as I am today, I will continue to set my own projects and print my pictures…and who knows, I might even do some colour work...but as someone once said to me "Don’t forget to smell the flowers along the way!" TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… CW: As we live in the countryside, we like to walk usually with our two Tervuren dogs. We try to get out and do some cycling as often as possible to keep active. Also I am a lifelong fisherman, so when time allows, I like to get out and fish the local rivers in my region. I have my own lakes for my fishing business too and I will often do some fishing there, if I don’t have any customers." PORTFOLIO Website >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

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 ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

SYNESTHESIA Pan is a New York City documentary and street photographer who photographs the sights, smells and sounds of the city that he calls home. SYNESTHESIA August 27, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Pan INTERVIEW Bill Lacey Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Pan is a street photographer living in the Bronx. We leave it to Pan to describe what photography is to him. “Photography is the jazz or the sounds of the blues, the city streets, the neon signs, a thousand and one taxi cabs, all those hats and coats, a myriad of beards and legs and eyebrows and hair and hands, the beaches, tiny apartments and stairwells, parties until five a.m., costumes on Halloween and any day of the year, the cockroaches and fireflies, the actors, singers, musicians, and photographers, the blind and the seeing and the blind who saw more than him, and all the countless grays and colours too.” IN CONVERSATION WITH PAN THE PICTORIAL LIST: Pan, please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? PAN: I am a photographer living in the Bronx; well, to be transparent, in Marble Hill, which is technically Manhattan, but culturally part of the Bronx. My path into being a photographer might be a little different than most. I was introduced to the medium through a class in this special high school artist program. I was mostly painting then, and photography didn’t interest me much. I was kind of bored, but then, this man from Kodak came and showed us this weird tool, a digital camera. This was the early 1990’s, and digital cameras were not really available then; they cost upwards of $20,000. Kodak made this machine with a sensor that attached to a Nikon camera, and the Kodak person let us high school kids experiment with this fantastically expensive camera in the garden behind the photo lab. I remember taking that test camera and photographing all these flowers; then downloading them slowly onto a computer, and printing them on a dot matrix printer, really big. That was really a shift in my perception. I used photography off and on as a tool to do something else artistically from that point. In the 2000’s, I was using very low-resolution video images as photographs, sent a camera into the upper atmosphere, stuff like that. But all this was photography to do something else. Then, maybe about ten years ago, I was working with the photographer Sean Hemmerle, on a video installation using his photographs. He was very proficient technically with photography, but more importantly, he was passionate about the medium, and knew its history and possibilities. I saw I didn’t really understand photography that well. So, I decided to really learn the art, learn its history, go back to basics, learn it as a photographer, on its own terms, not as a painter or experimental artist. I read books, learnt exposure, went to every photography exhibition in New York around, bought a film camera, built a darkroom, taught myself all over again, from scratch. And… it kind of took over my life. I guess what interested me was photography’s ability to observe the outside world, with its own slant. Now, I can’t even think of myself except as a photographer anymore. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration? And do you have a favourite place to shoot? PAN: John Szarkowski talked of photography as mirrors versus windows, looking inside the photographer’s mind or outside at the world. I am a window photographer. So, I spend time photographing on streets, in the subway, in parks, beaches, anyplace in New York my feet will carry me. I am not interested much in myself, but very curious about other people. When I took on this project on COVID-19, it was natural then to use walking the streets as my method to think through this. I was seeing other photographers take self-portraits, and I saw lots of pictures taken in Times Square, empty of people. Those didn’t resonate with me. I wanted to see how the people around me were, so I put on my shoes, went out and walked the Bronx. This was the first time though I photographed specifically in my own neighborhood. I remember going to a lecture by the photographer Mark Power given at the Bronx Documentary Center, and he talked about how photographers tend to go far away to take pictures, but there is something to be learned in photographing one’s own town or borough or neighborhood. He brought these photographs he had made that morning in the Bronx, and I thought, why am I not doing that?” *Editor's Note: Read Pan's story RESILIENT BRONX via the link below. TPL: In general, what do you want to express through your photography? And what are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? PAN: It depends on the project. With the pictures I’ve been making in the Bronx, my hope is that they express the worry about losing one’s job, fear of getting sick, lonesomeness from isolation, sense of looking out for one another, being “New York tough”, all those things I see in people when I walk around and take pictures. I really had to change my approach and my compositions to fit that idea. I consciously was working to simplifying compositions, to give them weight and gravity equal to these times. So that the trouble we are living through, was felt in the image. It’s the first time I tried to make lines vertical and horizontal, for example. I think this is interesting, trying to make my style suit the images in a project. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? PAN: Well, lots, but to choose one, Walker Evans. I looked at a lot of his work while making these recent images. Garry Winogrand said Evans wasn’t in his photographs, they were just photographs, pure photographs. That is an incredible achievement; to make a picture that isn’t about the photographer, it's just the image in itself. They’re so deceptively simple. A house, a sign, a man on his porch, some painted letters. But the power in his images, it’s a real inspiration. 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? PAN: So, for the Bronx project, I used an iPhone. Besides the obvious, its small and the images are instantly available, a phone was important here because I needed to make sure people understood I wasn’t an outsider. In the Bronx, a camera is not a common sight. Having my film camera would have set me at a considerable distance, presented me as an outsider. Sometimes it’s okay to be an outsider, but this time, when I was taking a picture of someone, I wanted them to know I’m from the Bronx, and the phone helped with that. Also, its limitations, the slower speed of the sensor and its operation, helped me plan more simple, direct compositions, which in turn had that sense of weight I think is important. TPL: Do you have a favourite quote,lyric or saying that especially resonates with you? And why? PAN: Garry Winogrand said he “photographed to see how something looks as a photograph”. I might have gotten the quote a little wrong, but his sentiment was a photograph is its own frame, it is divorced from the world a little even when it is a picture of the world. Look at it as a photograph. As lines, light, shadow, forms. That is advice I think about everyday. It makes for better composition when I am looking at a scene through the viewfinder, because if a photograph isn’t a good composition, as a photograph, as uniquely a photograph, and not an illustration, then it doesn’t work. I spend time photographing on streets, in the subway, in parks, beaches, anyplace in New York my feet will carry me. I am not interested much in myself, but very curious about other people. TPL: Do you have a favourite place to shoot in? PAN: I guess I should be clever and say the Bronx! But I will like traveling with my camera someday. TPL: When you go out on the streets, do you have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? PAN: With this recent work, I had a concept of "COVID-19” in mind, which normally I would not have when photographing. That guided every time I pressed the shutter. Honestly one of the great things about this project personally has been deliberately stepping outside of my typical ways, because the project demands that. The project forced me to do things differently. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist? Where do you see yourself or hope to see yourself in five years? PAN: I simply hope to be making better photographs in five years, keep my curiosity, keep working. It would be interesting if my photography was completely different in five years though. That would be a fun story. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? PAN: Covid-19 isn’t over, and the ways it has changed the Bronx are not over. So, my main priority is sticking to this story, deepening it, and getting it out there. I am currently working on making a series of portraits, using large format film, for this, to ground the work on people. Because this is a story about people in the end. Ultimately, I would love this work to be shown right here in the Bronx, so my neighborhood can think about it, reflect, consider where to go and what these past months mean. TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… Walk. Thoreau wrote, “I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least—and it is commonly more than that—sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.” PORTFOLIO Read RESILIENT BRONX by Pan Website >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.

RESONANCE OF HER REALISM Lana Eileen's images fuses abstract elements with fine details, combining seemingly disparate fragments to evoke a sense of magic realism. RESONANCE OF HER REALISM July 5, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Lana Eileen INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE The power of art lies in its ability to evoke emotion and transcend rational thought. Lana Eileen is an artist who embraces this mystery and uses her art to create an ethereal world of beauty and enchantment, drawing inspiration from her own experiences to create unique works of art. Currently a student of the School of Creative Arts and Media in Tasmania, Eileen has explored far and wide in search of creative inspiration, from artist residencies in remote Iceland and the island of Hrísy near the Arctic Circle, to New Zealand. Her works combine abstract elements with fine details to create a sense of surrealism, often employing self-portraiture as a means of expressing her inner thoughts and feelings. Through her photography, Eileen invites us to explore the intangible realm of our own minds, inspiring us to look beyond the obvious and discover something new about ourselves and our world. “There’s a physicality to self-portraiture that I love. It feels performative, almost like dancing, and there is a lot of movement involved. I love self-portraiture because it has an intimacy to it, and it is inherently personal.” IN CONVERSATION WITH LANA EILEEN THE PICTORIAL LIST: Lana please tell us about yourself. You are also a musician, tell us a bit about that. What was your journey into photography? LANA EILEEN: I was born in Australia, and I have just moved back here after having lived in New Zealand for a long time. I am now based in Tasmania, which is where I lived when I was very young. Working as a musician is what I have been doing for the majority of my life. When I started modelling for professional photographers on press shots for my music, I became interested in being a photographer myself. In the years since then, I’ve been continually experimenting, but it’s only recently that I’ve become very passionate about photography and started to take it seriously. TPL: Much of your work is self-portraiture. Is the process of photographing yourself different to that of photographing other people? Do you have a process of preparation? LE: It’s different in the sense that photographing other people allows for more technical control, whereas self-portraiture can sometimes be a gamble. But there’s a physicality to self-portraiture that I love. It feels performative, almost like dancing, and there is a lot of movement involved. I love self-portraiture because it has an intimacy to it, and it is inherently personal. TPL: Your photographs have a romantic aesthetic mixed with a tangible darkness that has a strong presence to nature. How would you describe your work and how do you choose your themes and communicate this to the viewer? LE: I am interested in moments that capture a sense of intimacy, focusing on gestures, movement, physical form. I love photographing hands, or faces partially obscured. Diane Arbus said a photograph is a secret about a secret — the more it tells you, the less you know — and that quote reflects how I feel about my work. I appreciate the connection between the human body and the natural landscape, investigating our place in the world and how we are inextricably tied to the earth, and I am always seeking to explore that concept. TPL: In 2019, you undertook an artist residency in remote Iceland. Tell us more about how this came about, what was it like, and what did you take away from this experience? LE: I had been wanting to complete a residency in Iceland for many years, as I was aware of several programs operating there, and in 2019 I finally applied and was accepted. I spent a month living in a tiny village in a remote corner of east Iceland, covered in snow, working at the studio each day. It was sometimes difficult, as the environment was quite raw and isolating, but I also loved it and found it to be life changing. There were artists from all over the world working there at the same time. I would love to return one day. TPL: Where has been your most favourite place to photograph? LE: I recently took a series of photographs in a lake in rural Australia just before sunset for my series ‘The Language of Water’, where I walked out into the water, and it was one of those special shoots when everything is just right in terms of lighting and atmosphere. That was definitely one of my favourite moments. I also love experimenting, taking self-portraits underwater or under glass. I appreciate the connection between the human body and the natural landscape, investigating our place in the world and how we are inextricably tied to the earth, and I am always seeking to explore that concept. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us? LE: Julia Margaret Cameron, Diane Arbus, Francesca Woodman. Polish photographer Laura Makabresku is also a very big influence on my work. 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? LE: As someone who is more creatively driven than technically minded, the equipment I use feels secondary to things like concept and atmosphere, but it’s also undeniable that the type of camera I shoot with has a big impact on the result. Currently I am using a Canon 600D, a Canon 5D MK III, and a Nikon F80. I am very excited by the possibilities associated with using film, and that’s my focus at the moment. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? LE: I want to keep exhibiting my work, publish a photo book, and learn as much as possible. I plan to move to Europe when I graduate, and exhibit and work over there. I can see photography gaining more prominence in my work as an artist in the years to come. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? LE: I am busy creating work for an exhibition at Black Cat Gallery in Melbourne in early 2022 that expands on my series ‘The Language of Water’, as well as a smaller exhibition of my photography at Parlour Gallery in Hobart this September, and I am also directing a lot of my focus towards shooting on film. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… LE: Write music for my upcoming album, sing, play the piano and other instruments, perform at shows, make handmade jewellery and herbal skincare, read, cook, try to write a novel, go on road trips, or simply enjoy being out in nature." PORTFOLIO Website >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection. MARCH FORWARD Through photography, Suzanne Phoenix creates a space for representation, recognition, and resistance — ensuring that the voices of women and gender-diverse people are seen, heard, and celebrated. FLUX: Exploring Form, Luminescence, and Motion Amy Newton-McConnel embraces unpredictability, finding structure within chaos and allowing light to guide the composition.