Be inspired by the photographers on the 2021 List. 2021 PHOTOGRAPHERS © Meryl Meisler AGATA LO MONACO ITALY ALAN THEXTON Melbourne AUSTRALIA ALEX RUTHERFORD Surrey UNITED KINGDOM ANDRES GONZALEZ Porto PORTUGAL ANDREW ROVENKO Melbourne AUSTRALIA ANDRÉ LOBÃO London UNITED KINGDOM AURÉLIEN BOMY Nantes FRANCE BARRY BOTTOMLEY London UNITED KINGDOM BASTIAN PETER Basel SWITZERLAND BEN ALLAN London UNITED KINGDOM BETTY MANOUSOS Athens GREECE CAMILLE WHEELER Texas USA CARLA HENOUD Beirut LEBANON CAROL DRONSFIELD New York UNITED STATES CHICHEK BAYRAMLY Baku AZERBAIJAN CHRISTINA SIMONS Melbourne AUSTRALIA DAMIEN GORET FRANCE DANIEL GOLDENBERG Buenos Aires ARGENTINA DANIELA PEREIRA Montevideo URUGUAY DANNY JACKSON Essex UNITED KINGDOM DAVID KUGELMAS New York UNITED STATES DAVID LAWLESS Winnipeg CANADA DAVID SHORTLAND London UNITED KINGDOM DREW KELLEY California USA EDUARDO ORTIZ Valparaiso CHILE

Be inspired by the photographers on the 2025 List. 2025 PHOTOGRAPHERS © Stephanie Duprie Routh ABDULLA SHINOSE CK Malabar INDIA ALEJANDRO DAVILA Pachuca MEXICO ANTON BOU Montreal CANADA AYANAVA SIL Kolkata INDIA BETTY GOH SINGAPORE BUKU SARKAR Paris FRANCE CYNTHIA KARALLA New York UNITED STATES DAVID GRAY New York UNITED STATES EVA MALLIS New York UNITED STATES FANJA HUBERS Utrecht THE NETHERLANDS FUTURE HACKNEY London UNITED KINGDOM GIORDANO SIMONCINI Rome ITALY GUILLERMO FRANCO Córdoba ARGENTINA HIROYUKI ITO New York UNITED STATES JAY HSU Yilan City TAIWAN KAT PUCHOWSKA Barcelona SPAIN LAETITIA HEISLER Berlin GERMANY LUISA MONTAGNA Parma ITALY MASSIMO LUPIDI ITALY MATTEO BERGAMI Bologna ITALY MEERA NERURKAR Düsseldorf GERMANY NASOS KARABELAS Greece ATHENS NICOLA CAPPELLARI Vicenza ITALY PARISA AZADI IRAN & DUBAI PARVATHI KUMAR New Jersey UNITED STATES

Be inspired by the photographers on the 2022 List. 2022 PHOTOGRAPHERS © Adrian Pelegrin ADRIAN PELEGRIN Playa del Carmen MEXICO AHSANUL HAQUE FAHIM Dhaka, BANGLADESH AJ BERNSTEIN New York UNITED STATES ANWAR EHTESHAM Dhaka BANGLADESH ASEN GEORGIEV Sofia BULGARIA ASLI GONEN Eskisehir TURKEY BRIAN DOUGLAS Ontario CANADA CAHLEEN HUDSON New Taipei City TAIWAN CHETAN VERMA Gurgaon INDIA DEAN GOLDBERG New York UNITED STATES ELIZABETH PAOLETTI UNITED STATES EMIR SEVIM Istanbul TURKEY EMY MAIKE Baden Württemberg GERMANY FRANCESCA TIBONI Cagliari ITALY GABRIEL MIELES GUZMÁN Guayaquil ECUADOR GABRIELE GENTILE Parma ITALY GIANLUCA MORTAROTTI London UNITED KINGDOM GIORGIO GERARDI Venice ITALY JAN ENKELMANN London UNITED KINGDOM JEAN ROSS New York UNITED STATES JELISA PETERSON Texas UNITED STATES JENS F. KRUSE Mallorca SPAIN JONAS WELTEN Salzburg AUSTRIA LAINE MULLALLY Stockholm SWEDEN LELE BISSOLI Vercelli ITALY

RAFAEL AYALA PAEZ My work explores faith as a metaphor for a country facing a challenging reality. Through these images, I seek to capture the spiritual strength and the hope that persists in our society. I aim to document how this devotion becomes a vital anchor, revealing the persistence of the human spirit even in the most difficult times. LOCATION Zaraza VENEZUELA CAMERA/S Nikon D70 WEBSITE https://rafaelayalapaez.wordpress.com/ @RAFAELAYALAPAEZ0 FEATURES // In Gratitude and Devotion

PICTORIAL STORY WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. April 2, 2026 PICTORIAL STORY PHOTOGRAPHY Rafael Ayala Páez STORY Rafael Ayala Páez INTRODUCTION Melanie Meggs SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Rafael Ayala Páez photographs from a place of respect and closeness. The Christ of Health: Gratitude and Devotion remain with people as they move together, attentive to the quiet strength that emerges through shared belief and collective action. Rafael does not approach faith as something to be explained or translated. He treats it as something lived — steady, familiar, and deeply human. The story moves the way the day moves. Slowly. Purposefully. People gather. They wait together. They walk together. Rafael allows gestures to speak for themselves: a pause, a touch, the weight of time passing. His writing carries a gentle confidence, grounded in observation and shaped by trust in the resilience of communal life. The photographs echo this sensibility. Rendered in black and white, Rafael’s photographs remain closely framed around faces, hands, and bodies in motion, foregrounding movement, intimacy, and embodied expression. His camera does not interrupt; it listens. The images honor participation, presenting faith not as display but as presence, something held, shared and borne together. Together, the writing and photographs offer a portrait of belief shaped by care and continuity. Rafael Ayala Páez invites the reader to witness the quiet grace of a community sustained by devotion. In the procession of the Christ of Health, we breathe gratitude and devotion — intrinsic realities that are part of my hometown, Zaraza, Guárico, Venezuela. Every January 1st, the faithful wake at dawn with a sacred restlessness. The aromatic steam of coffee permeates the house, awakening our senses as we prepare for the Dawn Rosary: a moment of deep introspection that anticipates what is to come. At six o’clock, the Christ emerges from the Church of Saint Gabriel the Archangel. The bells toll. One, two, three fireworks thunder in the air, and from the loudspeakers, a voice rises — a soft voice, laced with plea; the voice of a woman praying and singing to guide the way. Transformed into an offering, the Crucified walks the streets of Zaraza accompanied by a multitude. Entire families — men and women alike — wait for Him from their doorways, windows, or balconies. The bearers, weary yet joyful, take turns over the course of eight hours to ensure the procession moves forward seamlessly. The people thirst for transcendence, for healing. The atmosphere is heavy with reverence and shared memory. But where does this desire, this longing for the divine, spring from? According to local historians, a young girl named Carmen Díaz, shortly before succumbing to yellow fever, told her parents of a dream: she saw frail people carrying an image of Christ, who were healed after drinking lemon juice. Sometime later, a man walking down Liberty Street fell face-first, overwhelmed by the first symptoms of the plague. Remembering the child’s premonition, he drank the citrus juice and prayed to God that, if He healed him, he would make that dream a reality. After a miraculous recovery, he kept his word, inaugurating the tradition of the procession on January 1, 1857. Over the decades, this expression of faith became so deeply rooted in the community that when anyone tried to stop it, the town’s response was etched into living history. A testament to this occurred a century later, when chronicler Francisco Gustavo Chacín reflected on the possibility of suspending it. His conclusion was clear: “Think not of it! It has already been proven that such a thing will not happen. Years ago, the author of these lines witnessed it. A Capuchin friar, an old man with a hard face and a long beard as black as a raven, tenaciously opposed the procession...On the first day of the year, the procession was nowhere to be seen. People gathered in Bolivar Square; the town smelled of tragedy. Finally, a group of men ready for anything arrived at the temple…’Father’; they said firmly, ‘we know how to keep our promises. We have come to take the Crucified out, whether you like it or not.’; The procession went out without a priest, yet it was more solemn than in previous years.” © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez © Rafael Ayala Páez Rafael Ayala Paez concludes with a personal reflection, turning inward to consider his own place within the procession. “Just as the storytellers recorded this fervor, I seek for my photographs to be evidence of that same permanence: An elderly hand clinging to the robe. A woman cradling a single white rose in her hands. A man leaning against a wall, like someone waiting for an old friend. The strain on the shoulders and the glint of sweat on the faces of the bearers. And, at the center, the Christ amidst His people. In every image, I have sought to document the poetry of the procession. The Christ of Health reminds us that hope and love live in small gestures, and not in the grandiosity of the world.” view Rafael Ayala Páez's portfolio Website >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List. read more stories >>> SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. UNDER THE CLOUDS Giordano Simoncini presents a visual ethnography of the interconnectedness of indigenous cosmology, material life, and the ecological balance within the Quechua communities of the Peruvian Andes. NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy — strangers lost in thought in a world before digital distractions took hold. THE GHOST SELF Buku Sarkar stages her refusal to vanish. Her photographs are unflinching, lyrical acts of documentation, mapping a body in flux and a mind grappling with the epistemic dissonance of chronic illness. WHISPERS On Mother’s Day, Regina Melo's story asks us to pause. To remember. To feel. It honors the profound, often quiet sacrifices that mothers make, and the invisible threads that bind us to them. BEYOND THE MASK By stepping beyond the scripted world of professional wrestling and into the raw terrain of mental health, Matteo Bergami and Fabio Giarratano challenge long-held myths about masculinity, endurance, and heroism. FRAGMENTS OF TIME Each of jfk's diptychs functions as a microcosm of the city, allowing viewers to experience urban life as constant fragmented glimpses, mirroring the unpredictable nature of human interactions. VANISHING VENICE Lorenzo Vitali’s portrayal of Venice is an almost surreal experience — where time dissolves, and the viewer is left with the sensation of stepping into a dreamscape. CLAY AND ASHES Abdulla Shinose CK explores the challenges faced by Kumhar Gram's potters, balancing tradition and adaptation in the face of modern pressures. ISLAND Enzo Crispino’s photographic series, “Nêsos,” invites viewers into an introspective journey that mirrors the artist’s rediscovery of his voice in photography after a prolonged period of creative estrangement. BEYOND THE BRICKS Amid Bangladesh’s dynamic urban growth, Anwar Ehtesham’s photography takes us beyond statistics and headlines, revealing the hidden lives of the laborers working tirelessly in the nation’s brick kilns. OAXACA In Oaxaca, Tommaso Stefanori captures Día de los Muertos, exploring the convergence of life and death, human connections, and enduring cultural rituals through evocative photographs of tradition and emotion. BEHIND THE PLANTS Wayan Barre documents Cancer Alley residents facing pollution and economic challenges, shedding light on their resilience and the impacts of environmental injustice. THE RED POPPY AND THE SUN By blending archival and contemporary images, Mei Seva creates a visual story that captures the ongoing struggles and moments of triumph for those impacted by displacement and circumstance.

PICTORIAL STORY THEY HAVE GONE Abandoned but not forgotten, the farmhouses of the lower Piave stand as quiet monuments to a vanished rural life. In this beautiful photographic journey, past and present meet in the silence of stone and soil — revealing the poetry of a land shaped by labor, memory, and time. November 8, 2023 PICTORIAL STORY photography LORENZO VITALI story LORENZO VITALI introduction MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link The landscape of Eastern Veneto in Italy holds a special place in the heart of Lorenzo Vitali. It is a place that has long captivated him, evoking strong emotions and a deep sense of connection. In particular, the lower Piave region stands out for its unique architecture, characterized by the presence of farmhouses that are an integral part of the landscape. For an attentive observer, these farmhouses cannot go unnoticed as they stand out along the provincial roads or hidden within the secondary road network. And for Lorenzo, it was this very landscape that he felt compelled to explore, to understand its emotional affective relationship and document it through his photography. But this journey was not one that Lorenzo took lightly. He spent a significant amount of time researching and studying maps, carefully planning his approach before venturing into the field. Armed with the right perspective, lighting conditions, and photographic equipment, Lorenzo was ready to capture the essence of Eastern Veneto. However, it was not just about capturing the physical aspects of the landscape and its architecture. Equally important was delving into the historical and geographical context of this region. Through in-depth analysis, Lorenzo was able to gain a deeper understanding of the topic at hand. But what was the ultimate purpose of this journey? Was it simply to create a documentary of the landscape and its buildings? No, for Lorenzo, it was about capturing the emotional cues that had drawn him to this place and using his photography to convey that sentiment to others. We join Lorenzo on his journey through Eastern Veneto, exploring the landscape, history, and architecture that have left a lasting impression on him. Prepare to be captivated by the emotional power of this region and its unique charm. THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT The progressive reclamation of these territories, implemented gradually with greater intensity and effectiveness in the last twenty years of the 19th century and then in the first half of the 20th century, created the possibility of considerably expanding the areas destined for agriculture. The Reclamation Consortiums that have arisen here, as happened in other areas of the Veneto and Italy, are clear evidence of this. The farmhouse, which spread as a constructive model in these areas mainly between 1880 and 1935, had the function of providing a house adjacent to the workplace for the laborers who worked the land with sharecropping contracts. These structures generally arose quite isolated in each of the numerous landholdings. However, already towards the end of the 1950s, the industrialization process, the tourist development towards the sea and the mechanization of agricultural processes progressively reduced the number of laborers needed for agricultural activities. In 1964, sharecropping was definitively abolished in Italy. The 1966 flood also demonstrated that the river was not yet fully under control. All this determined, in a rather rapid time, profound changes at a social and working level with a strong push towards the urbanization of an important part of the population. Therefore, these large structures were, one could say overnight, abandoned and now remain only as important evidence of a precise historical phase: their demolition would have a high cost and unfortunately therefore their fate, in the absence of, at the moment no conservative interventions are foreseen, it seems to be the slow degradation. I thank Dr. Piergiorgio Rossetto, a profound connoisseur of these territories and their anthropological characteristics, for the precious advice that he has generously placed at my disposal. THEY HAVE GONE The gaze of a traveler, who would like to immerse himself in the evocative atmosphere of the lower Piave, would be captured after a few kilometers by the discreet presence, in the landscape, of unusual imposing buildings integrated with unexpected material naturalness in the countryside. These are the so-called farmhouses. This ends up creating in his mind, as he progresses through these places, day after day, a sort of sensation of an awaited appointment. I lived this experience in an emotionally intense way, which went beyond documentary intent. What I have tried to tell, “illustrating” and therefore inserting a strong interpretative component, is a story, one of the many stories hidden in these border areas between land and water. As an astonished and curious observer, as I felt throughout this slow journey of discovery, I have tried to give new life to this apparently “forgotten” landscape, sometimes also using my imagination, but more often trying to grasp its coy poetry, which I wanted to try to bring out. Past lives can be guessed inside and around these monuments of a peasant reality, now extinct. Stone dinosaurs mark the territory, almost a warning not to forget those who have rejoiced, suffered and worked hard and industriously here. I therefore created images that could be defined as lively, in which however the patina of time maintains its discreet, unmistakable presence. © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali © Lorenzo Vitali The exhibition 'They Have Gone' at the Colorno Festival in Parma, Italy. As our exploration of Eastern Veneto with Lorenzo Vitali draws to a close, we are left with a profound appreciation for the landscape, history, and architecture that make this region so unique. Through his photography, Lorenzo has captured not just the physical aspects of the landscape, but also the emotional impact it has on him. We are reminded of the ever-changing nature of this region, but in Lorenzo's photographs, these structures appear as more than just monuments of the past; they are monuments of a way of life that once thrived here. As we bid farewell to this journey, let us not forget the stories and the people that have shaped this landscape and left a lasting impression on Lorenzo and all those who have had the privilege of experiencing it. They Have Gone will be exhibited from 13 October to 26 November 2023 at the Colorno Festival in Parma, Italy, in the premises of the Aranciaia of the Palace. The photos are in large format. The exhibition was curated by Paola Riccardi. view Lorenzo's portfolio Read about Lorenzo's other projects - "Sahara: The Shape and the Shadow" >>> "An Arrythmic Succession of Interrupted Pauses" >>> Read an interview with Lorenzo >>> Website >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. UNDER THE CLOUDS Giordano Simoncini presents a visual ethnography of the interconnectedness of indigenous cosmology, material life, and the ecological balance within the Quechua communities of the Peruvian Andes. NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy — strangers lost in thought in a world before digital distractions took hold. THE GHOST SELF Buku Sarkar stages her refusal to vanish. Her photographs are unflinching, lyrical acts of documentation, mapping a body in flux and a mind grappling with the epistemic dissonance of chronic illness. WHISPERS On Mother’s Day, Regina Melo's story asks us to pause. To remember. To feel. It honors the profound, often quiet sacrifices that mothers make, and the invisible threads that bind us to them. BEYOND THE MASK By stepping beyond the scripted world of professional wrestling and into the raw terrain of mental health, Matteo Bergami and Fabio Giarratano challenge long-held myths about masculinity, endurance, and heroism. FRAGMENTS OF TIME Each of jfk's diptychs functions as a microcosm of the city, allowing viewers to experience urban life as constant fragmented glimpses, mirroring the unpredictable nature of human interactions. VANISHING VENICE Lorenzo Vitali’s portrayal of Venice is an almost surreal experience — where time dissolves, and the viewer is left with the sensation of stepping into a dreamscape. CLAY AND ASHES Abdulla Shinose CK explores the challenges faced by Kumhar Gram's potters, balancing tradition and adaptation in the face of modern pressures. ISLAND Enzo Crispino’s photographic series, “Nêsos,” invites viewers into an introspective journey that mirrors the artist’s rediscovery of his voice in photography after a prolonged period of creative estrangement. BEYOND THE BRICKS Amid Bangladesh’s dynamic urban growth, Anwar Ehtesham’s photography takes us beyond statistics and headlines, revealing the hidden lives of the laborers working tirelessly in the nation’s brick kilns. OAXACA In Oaxaca, Tommaso Stefanori captures Día de los Muertos, exploring the convergence of life and death, human connections, and enduring cultural rituals through evocative photographs of tradition and emotion. BEHIND THE PLANTS Wayan Barre documents Cancer Alley residents facing pollution and economic challenges, shedding light on their resilience and the impacts of environmental injustice. THE RED POPPY AND THE SUN By blending archival and contemporary images, Mei Seva creates a visual story that captures the ongoing struggles and moments of triumph for those impacted by displacement and circumstance.

THE HUMAN ELEMENT Kenneth Nederskov Petersen has faced the challenge of adapting his style to the pandemic. Despite the hardships, he has continued to capture the world around him through his unique lens. THE HUMAN ELEMENT January 25, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Kenneth Nederskov Petersen INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE For Kenneth Nederskov Petersen, photography is a way of life. This year has been a challenging one, as his normal style of street photography has been put on hold in light of the pandemic. Instead, Kenneth has turned his lens towards the muted beauty of architecture, capturing it in the lonely night streets. However, as the year draws to a close, Kenneth is looking forward to a future where he can once again return to the hustle and bustle of street photography with a sense of freedom and artistic expression. “I received my first camera at my Christian confirmation. My uncle was a good photographer and was my inspiration. But the learning curve was difficult. The challenge was not to see the result instantly. Everything changed for me when digital was the new standard. Now I could see the result immediately.” IN CONVERSATION WITH KENNETH NEDERSKOV PETERSEN THE PICTORIAL LIST: Kenneth, where do you find your inspiration to photograph? KENNETH NEDERSKOV PETERSEN: Hmm...they come from all over. Books, movies, architecture, music, life itself. I cannot stop photographing, so I do not think too much about this. There is an element of hunting in it too. Street photography is not necessarily the easiest genre. You can come home with no good pictures. The more satisfying it is when you come home with something worth sharing. TPL: What has been the best advice you have ever received in photography? KNP: Photograph the things that interest you, and do not photograph what you might believe interest most people. If the passion is not there, the struggle will be bigger, and the pleasure smaller. I do not live from my photography, so it might be easy for me to say that. TPL: Do you have any favourite spots to go photographing? How has the pandemic affected you and your photography? KNP: Copenhagen is where I feel at home with my photography. Around the harbor line, the train and metro stations, in parks and more. The pandemic has turned my photography upside down. My wife is kind of exposed at her job where she is looking after small children and my kids are in school. I am working from home (as a purchaser of spare parts for buses and trucks) and I try to be the one less exposed to the virus. This is stopping me from going onto public transport and to be at places with many people - this left me with lots of frustration. I then started a night photography project by going out in the dark with my tripod and taking long exposures of architecture and buildings in the local areas. This is just the opposite of street photography and has been a very fun and giving project. TPL: What is it that you enjoy about street photography? What happens when you walk the street with your camera? Explain your technique. How do people generally respond? KNP: Street photography captures a glimpse and a moment of life that happens just as you click the shutter. If you are lucky, then you document the time of year and/or the decade of a time. You can also capture something beautiful, something about the country and area, something very human, colors, light and much more. When I walk with my camera, I am in a mental zone. I am more aware and more alert. I get the best results when I am alone. I try to be quiet, to blend in, or act as a tourist, I smile or just pretend that I am interested in other things than my subject, or even shoot from the hip. At events like demonstrations, I pretend to belong there as an official which allows me to get close and photograph portraits. My smaller and old school looking camera makes me less intimidating than running around with a large camera body and a big telephoto lens. TPL: What do you want to express through your photography? And what are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? KNP: The human element is important in my photography. But there can also be something very graphic pleasing and mathematically satisfactory with symmetry or when things are in a certain order in a picture. And then again chaos can be as satisfactory, if that is what I see in a situation. Architecture has also been a part of my photography recently. Copenhagen is in constant development with new buildings and exciting architecture. Treat people the same way as you would like to be treated by them. This is also my go-to phrase with the camera. I do not try to photograph embarrassments. A photograph can be humorous and still respectful. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? KNP: I enjoy work from Elliot Erwitt, Nick Turpin, Angela Ambrosini, Nils Jorgensen, Shane Taylor, Matt Stuart, Alan Schaller, Sally Davies, Annie Leibovitz and many more. I have found some photo friends at Instagram too. I am very glad to see Li Mullen listed here as 2021 photographer. As much as I enjoy the work of these people, I cannot copy their work. When I am out, my mind and head is totally cleared and wiped clean. If my photography looks like someone else's work, then it is completely unconscious and something that I am not aware of myself. But what I like in other photographers' work will naturally show up somehow in my own 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? KNP: Fujifilm has been a real game changer for me. I was coming from a big heavy DSLR - Canon 5D - which was not a street ninja tool. Fujifilm mirrorless was lighter, more intuitive, it has old school dials, and it is somehow discrete and not very offensive. XT1 was my first Fujifilm camera. I missed something in handling, but then I bought the XT2 Silver edition. It does everything I need it to. If there are any mistakes, it is my mistake and not the camera. Features like auto ISO and electronic shutter are fantastic. 23mm F2 is my go-to lens = 35mm equivalent in full frame. I have tried to use longer lenses under Covid19, but I think and compose in 35mm focal length. I can shoot without looking with one hand or from the hip, and still know what is in the frame. I do also use other lenses (not much though) - mostly a 50mm F2 = which is about 75mm on full frame - for events and portraits. The current gear has stopped my lust for new cameras/lenses, and I can focus on the important part - the picture itself. I might try a X100V one day, but I still like the flexibility of being able to change lenses. TPL: When you go out photographing, do you have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? KNP: When I go out shooting, I normally have a plan of districts I want to visit. I do not normally have a special concept and idea. But when the pandemic is over, I will for sure go out with different projects in my head. Inspired by my Night Photography project under Covid 19. TPL: Have you ever been involved in the arts before photography? KNP: I have always been creative. First with the music which included school concerts and more. Now photography. To be able to fulfill the creative side of life completes me somehow. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? KNP: As mentioned before, I am working on a Night Photography Project right now. This project has led me to continue with night photography and architecture pictures - also after Covid 19. I hope to add more portraits to my portfolio. It might be street portraits; it might be normal portraits - time will tell. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… KNP: When I am not out photographing, I like to be close to my family and friends, to travel, to cook, to walk the dog, to play the keyboard, to watch action movies and Nordic Noir thriller series. Thanks for listing me as a 2021 photographer. I feel very honored. Kenneth Nederskov Petersen has faced the challenge of adapting his style to the pandemic. Despite the hardships, he has continued to capture the world around him through his unique lens. As we look towards a future with hopefully more freedom, Kenneth's words serves as a reminder to never stop seeking out beauty in the world no matter what the circumstances are. Let's use his example as inspiration to explore our own street photography, or whatever art form speaks to us – and never stop creating. VIEW KENNETH'S PORTFOLIO Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> 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. AN ODE TO SPONTANEITY AND SERENDIPITY Meera Nerurkar captures not just what is seen but also what is felt, turning the everyday into something worth a second glance. THAT’S HOW IT IS Luisa Montagna explores the fluid nature of reality - how it shifts depending on the observer, emphasizing that subjective perception takes precedence over objective truth.

I am a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Dumaguete City, the Philippines. During my time at Foundation University, I was lucky enough to have been given sponsored equipment and to be mentored by LA Times photographer Luis Sinco. Upon graduating, I did a stint as an Art & Photography course teacher, and also conducted - along with Sir Luis, and Magnum photographer Eli Reed - a series of South Pacific photography workshops. Now, as a full-time artist-in-residence at Foundation University, when I'm not in the studio creating art, I'm out on the streets with my camera in hand. Over the years, I've often been quick to the scene of local historical events, unable to resist the potential for a good picture, and from time-to-time my photographs are featured in local newspapers, as well as national and international publications. As I mature as a photographer, and as a person, I find myself becoming increasingly aware of the transience of human beings, particularly in the context of wherever they may be, or whatever they may be doing, at any given time. I am fascinated by the fact that every time I click the shutter in front of a stranger moving and interacting within their environment, I have captured a little piece of the absolute randomness of life, a snapshot of an otherwise unremarkable moment in history, that is timely, comical, tricky to the eye or just plain beautiful. It really is an incredible feeling when suddenly, out from the mundane, the Universe delivers a fleeting and uncanny moment of magic and 'click', it's not lost forever, and becomes a recorded and tangible piece of art. HERSLEY-VEN CASERO I am a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Dumaguete City, the Philippines. During my time at Foundation University, I was lucky enough to have been given sponsored equipment and to be mentored by LA Times photographer Luis Sinco. Upon graduating, I did a stint as an Art & Photography course teacher, and also conducted - along with Sir Luis, and Magnum photographer Eli Reed - a series of South Pacific photography workshops. Now, as a full-time artist-in-residence at Foundation University, when I'm not in the studio creating art, I'm out on the streets with my camera in hand. Over the years, I've often been quick to the scene of local historical events, unable to resist the potential for a good picture, and from time-to-time my photographs are featured in local newspapers, as well as national and international publications. As I mature as a photographer, and as a person, I find myself becoming increasingly aware of the transience of human beings, particularly in the context of wherever they may be, or whatever they may be doing, at any given time. I am fascinated by the fact that every time I click the shutter in front of a stranger moving and interacting within their environment, I have captured a little piece of the absolute randomness of life, a snapshot of an otherwise unremarkable moment in history, that is timely, comical, tricky to the eye or just plain beautiful. It really is an incredible feeling when suddenly, out from the mundane, the Universe delivers a fleeting and uncanny moment of magic and 'click', it's not lost forever, and becomes a recorded and tangible piece of art. LOCATION Dumaguete City PHILIPPINES CAMERA/S Fujifilm XT100, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EOS 60D, Canon EOS Rebel XT, Canon EOS Rebel T2i, Canon EOS Rebel T3i, Canon EOS Rebel T4i WEBSITE https://www.hersleycasero.com/ @HERSLEYVENCASERO @HCASERO FEATURES // Quarantine Chronicle All in Good Time

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. The team at The Pictorial List would like to thank Mattia for his time and sharing his project SIMULATION THEORY. Please view Mattia's portfolio for more of his photography. VIEW MATTIA'S PORTFOLIO Read an interview with Mattia >>> Website >>> Instagram >>> read more interviews >>> 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. AN ODE TO SPONTANEITY AND SERENDIPITY Meera Nerurkar captures not just what is seen but also what is felt, turning the everyday into something worth a second glance. THAT’S HOW IT IS Luisa Montagna explores the fluid nature of reality - how it shifts depending on the observer, emphasizing that subjective perception takes precedence over objective truth.

PICTORIAL STORY VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. July 20, 2025 PICTORIAL STORY photography MASSIMO LUPIDI story JOHN ARKELIAN introduction MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Massimo Lupidi’s book Iceland: Visions of Earth is a photographic study in transformation. From above, the landscape ceases to be familiar — shifting instead into something more fluid, more primal. What once seemed solid reveals itself as movement held still for a moment in time, dissolving into pigment and abstraction. There is no horizon to anchor the eye, no clear division between the literal and the imagined. Instead, the viewer is drawn into a space where scale unravels, and where geography gives way to energy. From above, Massimo traces Iceland’s raw complexity — its textures, its patterns, its moments of convergence between land, water, and sky. Each photograph reveals a quiet inquiry into how land reshapes itself over time, through light, movement, and the slow force of nature. An independent photographer based in Italy, Massimo has spent more than three decades deepening a practice that blends environmental awareness with an artist’s eye for composition. With expertise across fine art, landscape, and aerial photography, he works from instinct as much as craft — favoring unusual perspectives from ultralight aircraft, helicopter, and paraglider to reveal the hidden geometries of nature. His images are shaped not only by what he sees, but by how he processes and interprets it, pushing the boundaries of photographic perception. Recognized at the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit for his work on environmental themes, Massimo continues to explore photography as a way of expanding human vision and translating the elemental power of place. In the story that follows, John Arkelian reflects on Iceland: Visions of Earth with clarity and care. He draws out the deeper resonances in Massimo Lupidi’s photographs — how they challenge our understanding of place, and how they open up space for reflection on the beauty and volatility of the natural world. “An aerial photo, an immediate feeling of naturalness, of amazing experience. Seeing from a bird’s perspective is not consistent with seeing from the ground. It took you quite some time to be able to condense information from such a large scale of vision and when you fly and take photographs, shadows lift objects from the ground, allowing the viewer to be drawn into the photograph as if going beyond the real to the more real. I got in touch with a pilot in Iceland that I worked with very closely and I mainly used an ultralight aircraft, so I could fly much slower and lower allowing me to take my pictures without the orientation of the horizon. When I arrived, the pilot told me we were about to fly over a peculiar area in Iceland. I’d been travelling and taking pictures in Iceland for several years, but I’d never seen anything like it in my life and just kept photographing the event.” — Massimo Lupidi Iceland is an elemental place, a primordial world on the morning of Creation, a place where the very bones of the earth are manifest. Raw, starkly beautiful, otherworldly, yet also unmistakably terrestrial, it’s a dizzying, breathtaking escape into an earth untouched by man. In the introduction to his hardcover book, Iceland: Visions of Earth (Sassi, 2017), Italy’s Massimo Lupidi says, “Suddenly what was far away becomes close, what was impossible becomes possible, what was a dream becomes reality.” And his glorious photographs make those words palpable, startling…revelatory. Some impressionistic images (as on the book’s cover) with a swirl of soil and water are interesting; but the lion’s share of the book is devoted to landscapes — and they are glorious, achingly so. Lupidi’s images quicken the soul, just as Iceland does. His book has short bits of poetry by Sigurbjorg Thrastardóttir. One of them captures the wild spirit of this place, where the imagination becomes tangible: “…and the cliffs from his bones / and the rocks from / his teeth, the trees from / his hair and the sea from his blood…” (from “Homemade,” or “The Creation of the World from the Body of Ýmir”). This captivating book makes us yearn to return to Iceland, a place, as Lupidi says, which is “fabulously beyond our wildest imaginings: a natural wonder forged by fire and tempered by ice.” The photographic imagination is also filtered through painting and its creative processes. Terms such as fields, spatiality, bird’s-eye view, aerial view, geometric perspective, colour blends, shades, shadows, colour ratio, evocative, abstract art, all take on meaning. If we look down on Iceland from on high, we can relish the natural masterpieces crafted by the Greatest Artist. By literally changing our point of view, we also change the scope of our understanding and our perception of the environment around us – of this living land, of this world apart. From the ground, the eternal interplay of colour and light of this ever-changing remote land provides an inexhaustible source of artistic creation. Looking down from above, we see unnatural colours, shimmering waterways, jagged coastlines and abstract patterns. The great washes of colour created by Nature herself. The sublime and the imaginary – we are moved to new emotions by the extraordinary event that Mother Nature is allowing to unfold before our eyes. The scenery is transformed. From above, the exploring eye turns dreams into creative photographs. These images explore the relationship of the land with the ocean surrounding it, the life that thrives on it and the water that makes it habitable, as a way of opening our eyes to a new way of seeing the familiar. © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi © Massimo Lupidi Iceland: Visions of Earth is not only a journey across terrain, but a deepening of how we see. Massimo Lupidi’s photographs shift our understanding of Iceland from geography to experience. Through his eyes, we learn to see with greater sensitivity, to feel the contours of the Earth as if they were part of our own internal geography. By changing the vantage point, he alters the narrative: what once seemed remote becomes intimate, what appeared immutable becomes fluid. These are not just images of Iceland; they are invitations to perceive the world anew — to observe the quiet power of nature and the poetry of form, and the delicate balance between observation and wonder. We thank Massimo for generously sharing these photographs and the story behind them with The Pictorial List community — reminding us, once again, of photography’s power to transform the way we encounter the world. view Massimo's Lupidi's portfolio Website Instagram The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List. read more stories >>> SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye. UNDER THE CLOUDS Giordano Simoncini presents a visual ethnography of the interconnectedness of indigenous cosmology, material life, and the ecological balance within the Quechua communities of the Peruvian Andes. NYC SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE THE INVASION OF SMARTPHONES Hiroyuki Ito’s subway photographs reveal a vanished intimacy — strangers lost in thought in a world before digital distractions took hold. THE GHOST SELF Buku Sarkar stages her refusal to vanish. Her photographs are unflinching, lyrical acts of documentation, mapping a body in flux and a mind grappling with the epistemic dissonance of chronic illness. WHISPERS On Mother’s Day, Regina Melo's story asks us to pause. To remember. To feel. It honors the profound, often quiet sacrifices that mothers make, and the invisible threads that bind us to them. BEYOND THE MASK By stepping beyond the scripted world of professional wrestling and into the raw terrain of mental health, Matteo Bergami and Fabio Giarratano challenge long-held myths about masculinity, endurance, and heroism. FRAGMENTS OF TIME Each of jfk's diptychs functions as a microcosm of the city, allowing viewers to experience urban life as constant fragmented glimpses, mirroring the unpredictable nature of human interactions. VANISHING VENICE Lorenzo Vitali’s portrayal of Venice is an almost surreal experience — where time dissolves, and the viewer is left with the sensation of stepping into a dreamscape. CLAY AND ASHES Abdulla Shinose CK explores the challenges faced by Kumhar Gram's potters, balancing tradition and adaptation in the face of modern pressures. ISLAND Enzo Crispino’s photographic series, “Nêsos,” invites viewers into an introspective journey that mirrors the artist’s rediscovery of his voice in photography after a prolonged period of creative estrangement. BEYOND THE BRICKS Amid Bangladesh’s dynamic urban growth, Anwar Ehtesham’s photography takes us beyond statistics and headlines, revealing the hidden lives of the laborers working tirelessly in the nation’s brick kilns. OAXACA In Oaxaca, Tommaso Stefanori captures Día de los Muertos, exploring the convergence of life and death, human connections, and enduring cultural rituals through evocative photographs of tradition and emotion. BEHIND THE PLANTS Wayan Barre documents Cancer Alley residents facing pollution and economic challenges, shedding light on their resilience and the impacts of environmental injustice. THE RED POPPY AND THE SUN By blending archival and contemporary images, Mei Seva creates a visual story that captures the ongoing struggles and moments of triumph for those impacted by displacement and circumstance.

PRIMAL INSTINCT Tara Sellios invites us to explore the interplay of life and death, of decay and beauty, and to find within that juxtaposition a reflection of our own existential journey. PRIMAL INSTINCT April 19, 2024 INTERVIEW PHOTGRAPHY Tara Sellios INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Tara Sellios is a multidisciplinary artist who explores themes of mortality, fragility, and impermanence in her artistry. She primarily works with large format photography, but also incorporates drawing, sculpture, and installation into her practice. Since completing her BFA in photography and art history in 2010, she has showcased her works both locally and nationally. Currently, Tara is preparing for several shows throughout Italy and she is preparing for a solo exhibition at the Fitchburg Art Museum in Fitchburg, MA, USA. Alongside her exhibitions, Tara actively participates in artist lectures and will be facilitating workshops this year, showcasing her deep understanding and passion for her craft. Using an 8x10 view camera, Tara meticulously plans and executes her photographs, often incorporating organic materials such as animal skeletons and dried insects. These elements, along with religious symbolism, result in visually striking still-life images that are intended to be printed larger than life. Tara’s work explores the duality of life and death, and the instinctive, carnal nature that exists within all living creatures. She draws inspiration from the concept of morality and its relationship to mortality, as seen in the history of art from altarpieces to Dutch vanitas paintings. By creating images that are seductive and beautiful despite their seemingly grotesque and morbid subject matter, Tara challenges viewers to confront their own mortality and the fragility of life. Tara describes her work as a theater production or a book, with each series serving as an act or chapter. Her earlier work focused on themes of pleasure and indulgence, often using wine and blood as allegorical symbols. However, in her current work, she explores a new narrative world where the feast has dried up and pleasure has transformed into something more apocalyptic. Insects and reptiles play a significant role in her work, representing the primal instinct that exists within all living creatures. Through her work, Tara seeks to capture the restlessness and vulnerability of life, while also exploring themes of transcendence and the human experience. She remains true to her original vision, staying as close as possible to the natural elements used in her work. Tara’s thought-provoking and visually captivating pieces continue to push the boundaries of photography and art as a whole. Read on to learn more about Tara Sellios, her inspirations, and her creative process. “As long as I remember, art was always something that I was drawn to, even when I was young. Art had a mysterious, magical quality to it that fascinated me and even frightened me a little, as if it were a secret language or other world. My impulse to create art was always instinctive. It was something I had to do that ran very deep. I’ve always felt the need to get something out of me.” IN CONVERSATION WITH TARA SELLIOS THE PICTORIAL LIST: Hello Tara, thank you for sharing your inspiring photography with us. Welcome to The Pictorial List! Tell our readers about yourself. When did art enter your life? And talk to us about how you chose photography as the medium to play an important role in your art. TARA SELLIOS: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my work! It is an honor. I currently reside in my live/work studio in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). I grew up a bit north of here outside of the city in the suburbs. There actually is not a specific moment or romantic story of when art entered my life or when I decided to be an artist. As long as I remember, it was always something that I was drawn to, even when I was young. My main focus was drawing and painting before photography. I took some photography classes for fun when I was younger at weekend programs in local art schools where I learned to use the darkroom, but never thought it would be something that I was going to pursue as my primary medium. I went to art school to study fine art. When I got there, sitting in a room full of people and painting a pile of boxes in complementary colors did not appeal to me. I craved freedom and wanted my time to be spent focusing on conceptual content and not having rigid assignments and exercises. Photography intimidated me because I didn’t know much about it, but two weeks into school I switched into the program and it was certainly the right decision. I came to realize that I could essentially paint with the camera, which is still my mentality in my approach to photography. Working with the rendering of light to create images is something that drew me in. There is also something impactful in the “realness” of a photograph, at least in terms of my work (I know that the word “real” is often debated in regard to photography). Using actual skeletons and objects has a different weight to it than a painting of the object, as a relic has. I like that these otherworldly scenes that I create have actually existed. I enjoy drawing as well, but it is a different experience. I’m glad I work in multiple mediums, as it does feel really good to let loose and make a drawing. TPL: What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman photographer? Were you able to overcome them? What did you learn from them? What advice can you share with other women photographers out there? TARA: I must say that I have been very fortunate to not have had many challenges in that regard as an artist. Any challenges were outside of that realm. I have been so fortunate to have been surrounded by so many strong, supportive women (some artists, some not) who feel more like family than friends. I am grateful for the women, my sisters, that have entered my circle. They come from different walks of life and different places, but we all have a common thread of creativity and a bit of wildness. My advice to woman photographers is to seek out and surround yourself with other strong women, and nurture those relationships. They are more valuable than anything. TPL: How do you believe art can convey the complex concept of mortality and morality? What drives you to create images that capture the essence of existence and the primal nature of life? How has the depiction of the end of the world and Hell in art and literature influenced your work? TARA: Throughout history, art has had a place in society of acting as a reminder, warning, or way to teach, especially within the realm of sacred spaces. Art’s role was one of storytelling, reverence and meditation. The concept of morality and mortality is present in that there are many works of art that act as a reminder that earthly pleasures and carnal self indulgence can lead to downfall and distraction from spiritual things. Life is fleeting and temporary. I had a very strict Christian upbringing that was present my whole life. Since a very young age, the concept of sin and the judgment and punishment for that in Hell were ever present. It was pretty traumatic in the way in which it was delivered. That being said, constantly hearing stories from the Bible my whole life has certainly impacted my work. As a text, it is an extremely vivid book, filled with intense, often surreal imagery, metaphor and symbolism. The concept of sin and punishment that was so prominent in my upbringing is one that I constantly visit in my work, as if I am debating it and rationalizing it. Why must we face such harsh consequences for acting on sensory impulses, both big and small? It’s pretty amazing the quantity of images there are throughout history of depictions of Hell, and not just in Christianity. There’s a deep, dark scary place filled with monsters, tortures and demons in many cultures. What draws me to the paintings is despite their darkness, there is something really curious and surreal about them, and often there is an uncanny sense of humor that appears. I love their rich, hot color palettes and the festering chaos they possess. I spent 15 years working in nightclubs to support myself financially, a job I finally took the plunge of leaving, and a lot of these paintings of Hell often reminded me of some twisted nightclub. All of these elements have become woven into my work. My approach to creating images that capture primal instinct, carnality and existence is more visceral and earth centered. The natural world is very cyclical in nature, constantly following a life/death/life cycle. All things are a part of this and exist in this inevitable flow. We have to live in this spiral with our human, earthly consciousness, which can be difficult to fathom. However, the impermanence of it all can make beauty and wonder even more powerful. "Subtero" "Triticum, No.1" Detail of "Triticum, No.1" "The Seven Woes, No.1" "The Seven Woes, No. 2" "The Seven Woes, No. 4" "Afflictio" "Amans, No. 1" "Amans, No. 2" "Amans, No. 3" Sketch of "Ascendo" "Ascendo" Sketch of "Aubundantia" "Abundantia" "Impulses, No. 1" "Implicitum" "Impulses, No. 3" "Infestatio" "Luxuria, No. 5" TPL: How do you balance the seemingly contradictory themes of beauty and grotesque in your images? You use dried specimens and skeletons as symbols of primal instinct - can you elaborate on this choice and its significance? TARA: I don’t think of the concept of beauty and the concept of the grotesque as separate. There can be vast beauty in the grotesque, which makes it alluring and unsettling. I try to portray the gestures and marks in my photographs with elegance, despite apparent harshness. Texture, light and color, anything that appeals to the senses, can instigate the notion of beauty, but there can be beauty in the drama and emotion of an image. The skeletons and dried specimens entered the story as a response to my older work and as a continuation into the next chapter of the story. I had reached a point of completion with the materials I used to work with, such as fleshy specimens and wine, and was tired of being chained to using the tabletop. The feast is over, the wine has dried up and the flesh has withered away to the bone, but the chapter transforms into a new narrative world where the earth begins to take over in a sort of apocalyptic way. I wanted more freedom and a feeling of weightlessness in my images, for the still life to become more animated. The insects and other organic materials begin to take over. I often think about conveying that fear that one can feel in the woods by yourself as darkness starts to set in, that sort of shadowy feeling of being in a powerful, wild place teaming with creatures and a force way beyond oneself. TPL: Can you speak more about the process of creating your images, from research to the final photograph? Please share your mental state when you embark on a new project. What are the guidelines you give yourself, and how much planning do you typically do? How do you determine when to start and stop? TARA: My work is extremely process oriented, with many layers and steps that all play off of each other. The initial stage is research based, which involves reading and looking at whatever art historical figures are speaking to me at the moment, music, movies, and just living. All of it feeds the work, which I think is true for a lot of artists - whatever is part of our “diet” shows up in some way, whether subtle or not. My state of mind when I am beginning a new piece or entering an intense period of creation is an overbearing feeling that something needs to get out. I can become pretty obsessed, and it overtakes me. It is almost as if my work has a life of its own. It tells me when it’s done. Once ideas start coming through, I jot down concepts, words and images that come to mind, some of which are often very vague. They can be colors, feelings or actions that I want the imagery to manifest. As more solid concepts begin to arise, I make a shot list of sorts. I then make preliminary watercolor sketches to establish the concept visually and do most of my problem solving there. From the sketch, I can figure out colors and materials needed to build the photographic arrangement, which is a sculptural endeavor. Using an 8x10 view camera and natural light, the scene is photographed with color film and then scanned. The only photoshop work that I do is typical adjustments and removing the wire, glue and other base structures that hold everything together. TPL: How do you hope your images will make viewers contemplate their own mortality and the concept of transcendence through suffering? TARA: As an artist, I tend to let go of a work when it is completed, meaning when it is done, it is out in the world and takes on a life of its own. It is out of my control at that point. Viewers will have their own interpretation and meditations on it depending on their experience in life, which sometimes means that what they find in a piece has nothing to do with my intention. I hope that my work makes people think and dig deep into thoughts and feelings that they haven’t felt before or often. I also want people to feel a sense of wonder and curiosity when looking at the work, in the way that beauty is often more powerful in its ephemerality. Beauty is something you can’t hold onto, and it exists simultaneously in a world that has a lot of darkness and pain. My work has a lot of darkness and lightness, as the two coexist together in a dance. The psyche possesses both and one does not exist without the other. I hope viewers feel that presence in my work and that it activates emotions or thoughts that are specific to themselves. Beauty is something you can’t hold onto, and it exists simultaneously in a world that has a lot of darkness and pain. TPL: Can you explain your process of using natural light instead of studio lights, and using an 8x10 view camera in your photography? TARA: Nothing renders light and color like 8x10 film. It has a radiant, painterly quality to it. Ideally, the photographs are intended to be presented at a grandiose size, in the vein of painting, so the 8x10 negative is the best option to enlarge the image and maintain hyper detail. The detail is crucial to my work, as I want the textures, tones and colors to appeal to the senses. Natural light is just so stunning and simple. It is a light that moves and comes from organic elements. The way that it renders an insect wing, for example, would not be achieved in the same way with artificial light. I enjoy looking at the paintings of Vermeer and his use of light in his work. I find it very photographic in nature, which most likely has to do with his use of the camera obscura. TPL: Who was your first inspiration, in this new way of engaging and defining the world around you? Is there a profound moment you shared that has stayed with you until today? Would you mind sharing that with us? TARA: Having grown up in such a restricted environment, my discovery of music changed everything for me, especially of the rock, punk, indie etc. persuasion. I was mostly surrounded by church music or “nice” music. Music really became my world and I went to see bands play every weekend. The intensity of emotion, sound and deep, often dark, feelings expressed felt so cathartic. I remember I was twelve years old the first time I heard Nine Inch Nails I thought, “what IS this?!” I had never heard anything like that before, and experiencing almost a shock like that is prominent in my mind. I didn’t know music could be that. It led me to bartending in nightclubs and music venues for fifteen years, and as I mentioned, it is a career I just left a few months ago to pursue my art. It was time to go for many reasons, but one thing that started to bother me was that I had musical burnout. I didn’t want to listen to anything on my own time, but thankfully, that has healed. It didn’t take long. It feels good to attend concerts now as a pedestrian. TPL: What other photographers or artists have influenced you, and how? What impact have they made in the way you approach and create your work in photography? TARA: There are so many artists. I love looking at art and am very happy sitting with a pile of art books, or being in a museum. Although I am a photographer, I actually don’t look at a lot of photography, even though I do appreciate many of them (Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Linda Connor, to name some). Some friends of mine have great photo book collections and it is always a treat to sift through them. To narrow it down, I’ve spent a lot of time the past few years researching Hell and apocalyptic imagery throughout history, ranging from the icons like Hieronymus Bosch and Brugel to medieval illuminated manuscripts. Rodin’s sculpture The Gates of Hell has always been a huge inspiration. It is so romantic, dramatic and powerful, as it has elements of the erotic and the macabre with all of those falling bodies clinging to each other. It is based on the layer of Hell in the Inferno for those who have sinned in carnal things. Presently, I have been focusing more on researching paradise, as I believe that is the next chapter for my work. All of these artists have impacted me and my approach to creating my work in that they possess such a heavy drama, emotion and uncanny magnificence that I hope to convey in my work. There is a continuous thread of this imagery over the span of so many years that possesses a collective visual language that I humbly hope to carry on in my own contemporary image making. Some modern and contemporary artists that inspire me are Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Francis Bacon, Jan Fabre, Anselm Kiefer…I could keep going. Inside Tara's studio Tara's process "Luxuria, No. 8" "Messis, No.1" "Messis, No. 2" Sketch of "Pondus" "Pondus" "Processio" "Renovamen (Descendo)" "Renovamen (Obscura)" "Renovamen (Passio)" Detail of "Renovamen (Passio)" "Renovamen (Purgatio)" Detail of "Renovamen (Purgatio)" "Seven Snakes" "Oculus, No. 1" "Oculus, No. 2" "Oculus, No. 3" TPL: What advice would you give to a photographer starting a new project, what are the pros and cons and what are some of the lessons you have learned along the way? TARA: I think that starting a new project is exciting! I don’t really see beginning something new as having “pros and cons”, at least for me. The work begins to take shape and may change from your original intention, but that is usually for the best, as in a lot of life situations. I would say be open to the work revealing itself without clinging too tightly to your own rigid ideas. Don’t rush and don’t push the work in one direction if it is screaming to go in another. The important thing when starting something new is to show up, continue to work, and be okay with the unknown. TPL: What is on the horizon for Tara Sellios? Are there any new projects you would like to share with us? TARA: These days, I am always working on several projects at once. Most of them are open ended and I just keep adding to them. My main focus at the moment is a series called Ad Altiora Tendo, which means “I strive for higher things” in Latin. Having a lot of deep, rich greens and earth tones, I want it to feel like a lush, subtly psychedelic forest. It explores themes of transcendence and regeneration through suffering and sacrifice. Some of the inspiration is drawn from the martyrs, those who have voluntarily suffered for refusing to denounce their faith and beliefs and ultimately transcend to a higher, more spiritual place. There is some violence in the imagery, but it is portrayed with natural elements of beauty, like flowing red flowers in the place of blood. Ultimately, the work is becoming more celebratory, with more foliage and musical instruments, and probably other elements that will arrive in the future. I have spent much of my time focusing on the research of Hell within art history and have read Dante’s Divine Comedy three times. I’m at a point of moving forward with my work where I want to start focusing more on moving toward and ultimately to, paradise. I have a separate series revolving around in the back of my head in regard to that heavenly/paradise concept with a series that is mostly blue and white. TPL: When you are not creating your art through your photography, what else could we find Tara doing? TARA: Creating art for me also involves the drawing aspect, so I will often be making drawings when I am not working on a photograph or planning other projects while working on one. I feel like I’m always working in some way! When not creating art, I spend a lot of time in the woods hiking. As a city dweller, trips to nature are much needed. I feel a sense of peace and get a lot of ideas and thinking done out there. It grounds me. In the grand tapestry of contemporary art, Tara Sellios stands out as a weaver of the morose and the magnificent, challenging the viewer to peer through the lens of mortality and emerge with a sense of awe. Her multidisciplinary approach defies simple categorization, merging photography with sculpture and installation, to craft a body of work that is as contemplative as it is confrontational. Tara’s art, a visual feast that confronts the viewer with the stark reality of life’s fleeting nature, is profound in its execution and resonant in its message. Tara creates a dialogue with the past while deeply engaging with the present. The result is a series of works that are not only visually arresting but layered with meaning and rich in context. As viewers, we are invited to explore the interplay of life and death, of decay and beauty, and to find within that juxtaposition a reflection of our own existential journey. With her upcoming exhibitions and workshops, Tara continues to expand her narrative and share her profound reflections with the world. Whether standing amidst her large-scale photographs or participating in her educational endeavors, one is compelled to reconsider the essence of human experience through her eyes. As we anticipate her future works and exhibitions, we are reminded of the power of art to not only capture but also transcend the human condition. Tara Sellios’ oeuvre is a testament to the enduring quest for understanding and the unyielding pursuit of beauty in all its forms — even in the presence of the inevitable end. Her work, a poignant reminder of our own mortality, invites us to embrace the fragility of life and find solace in the art that imitates its impermanence. VIEW TARA'S PORTFOLIO Website >>> Instagram >>> Facebook >>> read more interviews >>> 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. AN ODE TO SPONTANEITY AND SERENDIPITY Meera Nerurkar captures not just what is seen but also what is felt, turning the everyday into something worth a second glance. THAT’S HOW IT IS Luisa Montagna explores the fluid nature of reality - how it shifts depending on the observer, emphasizing that subjective perception takes precedence over objective truth.

I am a fine art film photographer who uses analogue film and traditional darkroom printing in my practice. Early in my career, I was a digital artist, creating abstract and conceptual images by incorporating digital photos into multiple layers. Over time, I developed a preference for analogue film, drawn to its timeless tonal qualities and distinctive grain. I am captivated by the rules of negative and traditional printing methods, finding the hands-on approach required to create a silver gelatin print incredibly rewarding. My diverse body of work includes an eclectic collection of prints that span various photographic genres. My works have been featured in numerous publications, including TIME Magazine and Italian Vogue, used in television, and showcased in a number of global exhibitions. PAUL COOKLIN I am a fine art film photographer who uses analogue film and traditional darkroom printing in my practice. Early in my career, I was a digital artist, creating abstract and conceptual images by incorporating digital photos into multiple layers. Over time, I developed a preference for analogue film, drawn to its timeless tonal qualities and distinctive grain. I am captivated by the rules of negative and traditional printing methods, finding the hands-on approach required to create a silver gelatin print incredibly rewarding. My diverse body of work includes an eclectic collection of prints that span various photographic genres. My works have been featured in numerous publications, including TIME Magazine and Italian Vogue, used in television, and showcased in a number of global exhibitions. LOCATION UNITED KINGDOM CAMERA/S Leica M6 M7, Hasselblad 500cm, Leica R4 WEBSITE https://www.paulcooklin.com/ @PCOOKLIN FEATURES // The Art of Analogue