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THE CROWD French photographer Aurélien Bomy captured the joy of the crowd at the Goûtez Electronique when the pandemic had eased a little. THE CROWD April 8, 2022 PROJECT SPOTLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY Aurélien Bomy INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Gomez Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE The French amateur photographer Aurélien Bomy developed a taste for the arts at an early age. A clinical psychologist by profession, Aurélien continues an artistic practice, discovering and learning from other artists. Besides photography he also enjoys the creation of animated collages. Aurélien understands that street photography is a very different genre from other types of photography, because it captures moments that cannot be repeated and creates something that is completely new every time. Normally Aurélien likes to capture "cinematic moments" of people in their environment. For this story, however, he went down a documentary path. He captured the joy of the crowd at the event Goûtez Electronique that took place in September 2021 in Nantes, the first event of such magnitude that he attended after the pandemic-induced restrictions in France. The Goûtez Electronique offers a palette of Nantes, French, European and international DJ artists. It's a free electronic music concert with several DJ's. It lasts 8 hours on Sunday afternoons in a park near the Loire River. “It was a wonderful moment full of joy with very pleasant music, sunshine, and people were very happy to experience again a moment like this! I thought it was something not to be missed! You know! We had missed enough!” IN CONVERSATION WITH AURÉLIEN BOMY THE PICTORIAL LIST: Tell us a bit about this event. And was this the first mass event you attended after the Covid restrictions? AURÉLIEN BOMY: LA FOULE* is a series I took at an open air electronic music concert in Nantes in September 2021 on a sunny Sunday afternoon in a park near the Loire River. The event is entirely organized by volunteers of an association on their free time and funded solely by bar revenue. It started in 2006, there were usually two dates each year in the summertime until Covid. So it had been since 2019 that the event had not taken place and people where very happy! During that period the health restrictions due to Covid were less drastic and we could meet without masks as long as we were vaccinated. So people were happy to be able to meet again in such events. They were dancing and smiling. There was a peaceful and joyful ambiance. This environment was for me the perfect context to try to approach a crowd from a subjective point of view from a quite close distance, focusing on individualities and to work on portraits. For me, the challenge of this series was to bear witness to the atmosphere that prevailed at that time and place. Particularly after a long period during which meetings were restricted and these kinds of moments were very rare. But how do you convey this kind of atmosphere in photography? For this I decided to treat the crowd not as a unity, a totality, but as an incomplete collection of individualities and personalities. I chose the subjective point of view. For the challenge was to capture something of the life that occurs in one-on-one relationships in encounters in the crowd. My principle was not to turn to the stage, but to the public. To do this, I had to adopt a different posture from that which generally consists of a photographer standing back and excluding himself from the situation. So I joined the party. This is how I collected these beautiful attitudes and these many eye contacts. I was one of the others. The only difference was that I had a camera and used it to take photographs of others (just doing photography for myself, not for the event). I had been to few cultural events before since the restrictions were lifted. We have had different periods of restrictions in France: Lockdown, confinements, curfews... since the beginning of Covid crisis, but I didn't go to events of that magnitude at that time! TPL: How did it feel to you personally to be there? AB: It was a wonderful moment full of joy with very pleasant music, sunshine, and people were very happy to experience again a moment like this! I thought it was something not to be missed! You know! We had missed enough! And when I saw this atmosphere, this mood, I immediately thought that there was a testimony to do something like that! But how do you tell the story of this in photography? It's not easy! Two ways and you have to choose : The collective way or the subjective singular way! TPL: What gave you the idea that you could focus on individuals in the crowd, rather than, for example, concentrating on the musicians, as most people might? AB: I chose the way that I could tell the story of each one who had to make the sacrifice of him/herself for the collective during the sanitary restrictions. That's why I titled the series "La Foule" (The Crowd)! Cause there is a conflict between each human being and the collective! And it was a moment when we could live for ourselves in the presence of the others in a crowd! The song "La Foule" by Edith Piaf tells the story of a woman who's "carried away by the crowd"... This moment was for me a unique occasion to treat that question of the border between the individual and the collective, which is an essential theme (even in my practice as a psychologist) ! We are each unique and each of us has his/her own difference. We all dream of being one with the other, but we can´t! The crowd is the place where the dream is in conflict with that impossibility. You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down. - Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon TPL: You told us that you chose to process your pictures in black and white to focus on the essential. Please expand on that a bit - what do you mean by that? What would have been the disturbing element of colour? AB: I took the series in a four hour time frame, and the light changed a lot! Some of the pictures were taken with a strong daylight and others with a soft end of the day light! And there were a lot of different colours of clothing and green trees in the background! That didn't fit at all with the aesthetic that I search for! All those photos and people on them were so different! And that is what I found. That's what I wanted. But there is a need in a series to present the images in a kind of coherent way...not as a unity...not totality...but as a collection! So only the monochrome, black and white, could put all those different photos together. And maybe it fit more with my purpose of showing that duality of conflict between individual and crowd. TPL: What happened later in the year - did France go back into lockdowns as Covid-19 flared up again. what was the mood among the people like then? And your own feelings about it? AB: In November/December the Covid impact grew and restrictions were back on mass cultural events. Not strict lockdowns, but a closure of cultural places. We did not expect it! It was hard! And at the same time it imposed itself as a necessity to which we were not accustomed, but which we had already learned to deal with. TPL: How have you personally been coping with Covid restrictions? AB: I have always respected them, as I knew they were necessary for the survival of the greatest number from the point of view that considers the collective. These restrictions are an opportunity to give, through the defect they engender in the social bond, the crucial importance of one-to-one relationships and intentions directed towards a particular person, insofar as s/he is not anonymous, but has a particularity, his/her own difference from any other! To be interested in someone for what s/he has that is singular and who does what s/he is, that is what seems to me to be the important thing in social relations. *La foule is an song performed by Édith Piaf in 1957. The lyrics are by Michel Rivgauche and the music by Ángel Cabral. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> CONTOURS OF ABSENCE Where concealment unsettles recognition and ordinary spaces turn psychological, the photographs of Serhii Fett suspend identity between presence and absence. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details.

PICTORIAL STORY THIS IS ESSEX June 25, 2021 PICTORIAL STORY Photography and story by Danny Jackson Introduction by Karin Svadlenak Gomez SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Danny Jackson has captured the sometimes weird and often wonderful everyday lives of residents in Essex in pictures. As a passionate people watcher, in 2019 Danny started working on a portrait series called Eccentric Essex . The Pandemic has given him the opportunity to go through his work, which in turn has led to the development of the series This Is Essex , and Eccentricity . Both of these series focus on eccentric and interesting people. Why Eccentrics ? Danny has asked himself that question quite a lot, and his main reasoning is that eccentric people seem to live life somewhat differently from the norm, they rebel or let their interests and passions determine how they live their lives. When I was a child growing up in Basildon, a new town in South Essex, in the 80s and 90s, I became aware of a growing stigma attached to my county. The expression Essex Girl had recently found purchase in modern lingo; a derogatory term that was used to describe women who were considered promiscuous or lacking in intellect. It was a stereotype that was compounded by the television programme Birds of a Feather with its own archetypal Sharon and Tracy; vacuous characters who bumbled through each episode with dropped Hs and glottal stops galore. The Essex boys fared little better. They found their representative in Harry Enfield’s creation Loadsa Money . Enfield’s depiction of a brash, up and coming man with oodles of money and no accompanying substance or class was a clear comment on the generation of young Essex men who had found lucrative jobs in the nearby city of London. And so, it went on… Big Brother , Pop Stars , X Factor and more recently TOWIE . Any contestant that hailed from the county of Essex inevitably conformed to the classic stereotypes of the pretty but vapid Essex Girl and the materialistic and loutish Essex Boy . Modern culture has been saturated with the media’s propagation of this unkind and unfair stereotype, but if we look a little deeper then maybe we will find that there’s more to the Essex species than these narrow and restrictive generalisations acknowledge. Essex, as we know it now, has evolved and expanded over the duration of the last hundred years, a relatively short time. Before then it was mostly small farming communities and Victorian seaside towns. But after the Second World War and the devastation of London’s East End, the Labour government created a series of “new towns” across the country and Essex was the birthplace of two such towns: Harlow in North Essex and Basildon in the south. These new towns offered hope and fresh starts to a bruised and beleaguered generation of Eastenders. Massive council estates sprung up, the largest in Europe being one in Dagenham, and many Londoners flocked to Essex to join friends and relatives who had already settled here. Both sets of my grandparents originated from East London, as are my wife’s, and this is the same for the large majority of my friends too. So, to understand the nature of the people of Essex, we must first start with their forebears, the Eastenders. Just as Essex has a stereotype, so too have the people of East London. Ask any one from around the world what a cockney or an Eastender is like and a list of attributes common to this Londoner will be reeled off: speakers of Cockney rhyming slang; consumers of jellied eels and pie and mash; images of The Artful Dodger , Dickens’s famous pickpocket from Oliver Twist , or the Kray twins (gangsters of 50s and 60s London) spring to mind. But just as the Essex stereotype is narrow and reductive, so too is this one. It’s important to remember what happened to the East End of London during the Second World War; German planes bombed the area relentlessly during The Blitz of 1940. Thousands of homes were bombed out and lives lost. Parents had to evacuate their children to the countryside to live with unknown families. My nan was one of those children, who with her two sisters, was sent to Norfolk and spent the war living with a farmer and his wife. The phrase “ Keep Calm and Carry On ” can be said to embody the attitude of the nation as a whole, but it seems particularly pertinent to the East End. I believe that going through such hardship and embracing the ‘war-time spirit’ solidified in them those attributes of resilience, determination and kind heartedness and highlighted the importance of family and fun, even in the face of adversity. When broken down, what really is the idea of a ‘ wartime spirit ’? It’s a commitment to carry on no matter what; a conscious stance of thinking positively when times are hard; to move on and to move forward. So, who are the people of Essex now? Essex has a population of about 1.9 million. It borders Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, London and Kent. During the census a few years back Castle point in South Essex had the highest percentage in England of people identifying their ethnicity as ‘White British.’ Essex also has a very high percentage of over 65s, much higher than the national average. Much of the densely populated towns are on the coast where many older people go to retire; seaside towns like Southend on Sea and Clacton on Sea being a mix of young families and older residents. Leigh on Sea was recently voted the best place to live in England, with large 1930s family homes close to a classic British high Street and an old fishing village. Many Essex residents are tradesman or office workers who commute up to the city daily via the motorways or railway. And as for that perception of the people of Essex as being less academic; the University of Essex ranked 25th out of 130 in the most recent University League Table. Regardless of where you are in Essex, there are some common strains that seem cemented in the Essex persona like the letters in a stick of rock: the people of Essex have a friendly, warm nature - if workmen enter their home they will immediately be offered cups of tea, and at the end of the job a tip or drink will be given as a thank you; “Get yourself a beer,” they might say. Essex people love a bargain, with a glut of Pound Shops punctuating most high streets and Sunday mornings frequently being spent rifling through the goods at local car boot sales. The people of Essex are fun loving, neighbourly, sometimes eccentric, cheeky, money driven and confident. They can also drink far too much, burn in the sun far too easily, love a bit of gossip, are occasionally rowdy and sometimes vain. They love their fish and chips and English breakfasts, shop at Lakeside Shopping Centre and in the evenings many flock to Southend amusements or Peter Pans , a theme park by the pier that’s been called Adventure Island for over 20 years, but everyone still calls Peter Pan’s Playground . The V-festival is a yearly event where some of the biggest names in the music business come to play and for thousands across Essex this a must-see event of the summer. Another place that every Essex resident is familiar with is Southend Pier, the longest pleasure pier in the world at 1.34 miles long. Built in 1830, this pier is very much part of Essex’s heritage, in fact to quote Sir John Betjeman (the English Poet and broadcaster), “The pier is Southend, Southend is the Pier.’ © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson © Danny Jackson So, in conclusion, when describing this collection of people…my people… it is clear that the people of Essex have a quirkiness to them, an eccentricity, a cheekiness. They have their own language - a mix of slang and colloquialisms - and they have certain habits that counts them apart from other people, much of this coming from their cockney ancestors. Their warmth and friendliness, family orientated attitude and gritty determinism have resulted in a can-do attitude and work hardy strength that comes from generations of tradesmen, dockworkers and factory workers. As a people they are strong, loyal and neighbourly. This is all a far cry from the crass Essex Lad or the promiscuous and unintelligent Essex Girls , in fact quite the opposite. Maybe in time the idea of who the people of Essex actually are will change and develop and we will finally be allowed to transgress these reductive and disparaging stereotypes, however whatever happens I’m happy to be one of them and I’m proud to be able to photograph them and document the county I love. view Danny's portfolio Read an interview with Danny >>> 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 >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

PICTORIAL STORY IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ANSEL ADAMS In following the footsteps of the masterful Ansel Adams, Karin Svadlenak not only paid homage to his timeless work but also embarked on a transformative journey. March 2, 2024 PICTORIAL STORY photography KARIN SVADLENAK story KARIN SVADLENAK introduction MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link In following the footsteps of the masterful Ansel Adams, Karin Svadlenak not only paid homage to his timeless work but also embarked on a transformative journey. Her project in the Dolomites stands as a testament to the enduring power of black and white photography and the emotional depth it can convey. Through her endeavours, Karin has not only deepened her own understanding of the craft but also offered a contemporary homage that resonates with the timeless beauty Ansel Adams captured. A public relations manager for a university department in Vienna, Austria, a world traveller, and passionate magazine editor and blogger, Karin combines an insatiable curiosity for art, culture, and photography with a love for storytelling. Karin’s photography project serves as a compelling reminder that the art of photography is not merely in the act of capturing an image, but in the meticulous process of creating a visual narrative that speaks to the soul. Just as Ansel Adams believed, a photograph is indeed made, not taken. Karin’s journey reminds us all to look beyond the surface, to study the play of light and shadow, and to find inspiration in the legacy left by the masters of our past. Through her photography and writing, Karin continues to be inspired by Ansel Adams and his legacy. She, like many others, recognises him as the Master of Landscape Photography and is grateful for the opportunity to honour his work through her own. “You don't take a photograph, you make it.” - Ansel Adams I started landscape photography at a young age. At that time, I was shooting with a Minolta XG 2, a high school graduation gift, and on trips I would look for deserted landscapes for my compositions. One day, I came across a book of Ansel Adams’ photographs in a bookstore and was deeply impressed by his dramatic black and white images. Ansel Adams is considered one of the most important photographers of the 20th century. His landscape photographs of the American West, beginning with his photos of Yosemite National Park in the 1930s, are world famous. Adams used the elements of composition, such as lines, shapes, light and shadow, for his high-contrast black and white photography. These were not snapshots; he went out with a large format camera on a tripod and would wait patiently for the right light and compose his images very carefully. He also developed his ‘Zone System’, a photographic technique used to achieve optimal exposure and development in black and white photography. It’s essentially a system for understanding and controlling the tonal range of your image. The system divides the tonal range of an image into eleven zones, numbered 0 to 10. Zone 0 represents pure black, zone 5 represents middle gray, and zone 10 represents pure white. The system was developed for film photography, where exposure has to be handled a little differently from digital photography (exposing for the shadows rather than the highlights for the most part). But some of it was also done in post processing. The development process further affects the final tonal range. When one is not familiar with film photography, one might think that analog photographers did not have a lot of editing possibilities. This is true if you have your photos printed in a lab. But if you develop your own negatives and prints, you could actually do quite a lot. By adjusting the development time for both, you can influence the contrast and density of your negatives, you can highlight certain areas of an image and darken others, further refining the tonal relationships within your image. Knowing this, I did not feel apprehensive about using dodge and burn on my digital images to achieve the desired effect, even when I digitalise analog photographs. For my “homage” project, I had the opportunity to photograph (with an Olympus EM10 Mark III) the beautiful mountain landscape in the Dolomites. The Alpine landscape that I photographed was particularly suited to black and white images, because I was also primarily interested in the dramatic shapes and lighting conditions that I found there. The atmospheric conditions that day were perfect, lots of fog and clouds, but also later blue skies and a lot of good light for contrasty images. Although I originally shot the images in colour, for this homage to Ansel Adams I tried to edit them in his style: high contrast, with a lot of dodging and burning (in my case digitally), and of course in black and white. Ansel preferred black and white even when colour photography became popular. The contrasts between light and shadow underline the drama and intensity of his images. I undertook this project for a final exam presentation at the Prager Photo School for Artistic and Applied Photography in Linz, Austria. I completed a two-year training program there in December 2023. One of the elective modules was Landscape Photography, so this was it. This project was a great learning experience for me. While I was familiar with Ansel’s photography, for this project I looked at many photographs more closely and learned a lot about his photography style. I am very happy with the results of this project, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have it highlighted. © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez © Karin Svadlenak Gomez As we reflect on Karin’s beautiful photographs, we are reminded of the profound impact a single photographer can have on generations to come. The ability to see beyond colour, to manipulate light and shadow, and to harness the raw beauty of nature in a frame, is a skill that Adams mastered, and Karin has respectfully emulated. Her work encourages us all to explore the world with fresh eyes and to appreciate the intricate balance between technique and vision. In the spirit of Adams’ wise words, Karin Svadlenak has not merely taken photographs; she has made art. May her dedication inspire others to pick up their cameras, to study the Masters, and to create with passion. For in the dance of light across the film — or the pixels on a sensor — we are all bound in the pursuit of capturing the sublime, and in doing so, honouring the Masters upon whose shoulders we stand. view Karin's portfolio Read an interview with Karin >>> Read Karin's exhibition review "City of Images" >>> Website >>> Viennacultgram >>> Spectaculum Magazine >>> 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 >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

Being a shy person poses challenges in everyday life and adopting personae to feel comfortable in interaction with people is crucial. It's a bit strange perhaps to choose professions that put you right in front of groups of people, where you have no chance of blending into the background, but, I feel very comfortable in my roles as a teacher and a fashion model; I find it delightfully stimulating and a well balancing contrast to my quiet time after work hours. As a photographer I started out using the skill you often develop very well as a shy person, quiet observation. I focused on lines and shapes, mainly architecture and abstract, but gradually moved onto street photography - from a distance. With a growing comfort in the streets it felt a natural progression to further challenge myself, step out of my comfort zone also in this arena, and so instead of merely observing a scene I started immersing myself in the scenes and take candid portraits. LAINE MULLALLY Being a shy person poses challenges in everyday life and adopting personae to feel comfortable in interaction with people is crucial. It's a bit strange perhaps to choose professions that put you right in front of groups of people, where you have no chance of blending into the background, but, I feel very comfortable in my roles as a teacher and a fashion model; I find it delightfully stimulating and a well balancing contrast to my quiet time after work hours. As a photographer I started out using the skill you often develop very well as a shy person, quiet observation. I focused on lines and shapes, mainly architecture and abstract, but gradually moved onto street photography - from a distance. With a growing comfort in the streets it felt a natural progression to further challenge myself, step out of my comfort zone also in this arena, and so instead of merely observing a scene I started immersing myself in the scenes and take candid portraits. LOCATION Stockholm SWEDEN CAMERA/S Canon 200D @LAINE.E.M FEATURES // Soho Small Hours

I live in the Tuscany region of Italy. For years I have been passionate about photography specific to the landscape and reportage genre, however I also practice other genres such as macro and street. I shoot with the search for light and atmosphere. This suits me more and better conveys my photographic vision. In recent years I have been dedicating myself to enhancing my territory both with landscape shots and reportage, always with the great passion for photography that I have since childhood. SIMONE BATINI I live in the Tuscany region of Italy. For years I have been passionate about photography specific to the landscape and reportage genre, however I also practice other genres such as macro and street. I shoot with the search for light and atmosphere. This suits me more and better conveys my photographic vision. In recent years I have been dedicating myself to enhancing my territory both with landscape shots and reportage, always with the great passion for photography that I have since childhood. LOCATION Tuscany ITALY CAMERA/S Nikon D610, Nikon D800, Nikon Z50 @SIMOBATI78 FEATURES // Times Past Nuances of Light An Artist's Place Shades Of The Coalman

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 >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

PICTORIAL STORY THE RED POPPY AND THE SUN Through lyrical visual storytelling, Mei Seva’s work between the personal and the political, the living and the residual, the intimate and the historical. August 24, 2024 PICTORIAL STORY photography MEI SEVA story MEI SEVA SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Mei Seva works as a storyteller, using photography to examine the layered narratives of human experience, migration, and socio-political change. Born in Elbasan, Albania, her practice is shaped by the experience of displacement, an understanding that informs the way she approaches people, place, and memory. Now based in New York City, Mei’s work engages contested histories and social narratives, attending to what is often overlooked or obscured. She considers how socioeconomic and political forces shape communities over time, with a continued focus on Albania. Her photographs are marked by a restrained palette and a close, intimate gaze. Graduating with a combination of Peace and Conflict Studies and Art from Hampshire College in Massachusetts, her academic background informs the conceptual framework of her practice, extending its concerns beyond representation. Her 2022 outdoor installation, funded by the Amherst Arts Council, reflects an engagement with public discourse, bringing together refugee narratives through photography. The question of heritage remains central to Mei’s work, shaped by Albania’s political and economic conditions. Through family histories, she traces broader shifts in the country’s recent past, from the fall of communism to the effects of capitalism. In her ongoing project, shot on 35mm film, Mei works through images that connect personal and collective histories, tracing continuities across generations within a changing landscape. There is one photograph imprinted in my brain of my grandpa. The photograph was taken the day I left Albania for America when I was six years old. I am sitting on his lap outside the airport, and he is wearing sunglasses that hide his red eyes, red from the tears. Despite being thousands of miles apart from them for most of my life, my grandparents have been a guiding force in my life, serving as parental figures despite the geographic, cultural and, at times, linguistic, barriers between us. Albania, a small Balkan country, is one of the most economically disadvantaged countries in Europe and has faced a mass exodus of people in the past three decades. The Albanian diaspora, estimated at 8 million, is larger than the population of the entire country, estimated at 2.8 million. Nearly every family has been touched by migration – my grandparents have faced the pains of immigration and family separation firsthand, having both of their children and all three grandchildren leave Albania. Touching on themes such as immigration, the legacy of communism, and the impacts of capitalism, my long-term photography project is a visual diary of Albania’s past and present, 35 years after the end of communism, through a personal lens. Rooted in family histories, the work explores the residues of the past and political systems, and how ideology leaves its mark on land, bodies, and collective experiences. © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva © Mei Seva In summary, Mei Seva’s body of work reflects the strength and complexity of human experience in the face of migration and societal upheaval. Through her photography, she goes beyond documentation and offers a thoughtful examination of Albania’s history and its effects on future generations. Her work sheds light on the unseen threads of displacement and identity but also encourages viewers to engage in a larger conversation about the impact of political and economic forces on individual lives. Her work serves as a reminder of the ability of art to bridge gaps, provoke introspection, and foster a deeper understanding of the human experience. view Mei Seva's portfolio Website >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

A-LUZ-CINANTE Nego Júnior shows us a fanciful look at dancefloors, couples, trios and crowds driven by style, movement and culture. A-LUZ-CINANTE November 17, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Nego Júnior INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Nego Júnior is an artist whose passion and commitment to creating art is undeniable. Through his photography and films, he brings to life the vibrant cultural heritage of the City of São Paulo. His expertise in digital design and business management, as well as his postgraduate degree in Media, Information and Culture, have enabled him to explore the depths of samba rock culture and to capture the beauty of its unique movements and expressions. Every shot of Nego's work radiates with the illuminating joy that is found in samba rock culture. His work is known for its ethereal stills of dancers in their element, each one holding their own in a unique and beautiful way. Nego captures the moments of twirls and turns in the samba rock dancefloors, connecting them to ancient African musicality and body expression. His work has become a source of inspiration for other artistic and cultural movements, as it showcases the soulful energy of samba rock and its history. Nego is also the founder of the collective Samba Rock Na Veia, being one of the protagonists that started the process of registering samba rock as an intangible cultural heritage of the city of São Paulo. Through his work, he brings to life the traditional sounds and movements of this culture with a creative eye and a vivid imagination. Nego Júnior's work takes us on a journey through the vibrant world of samba rock, a world filled with music, dance and culture. With each image, he captures a timeless quality that speaks to our souls and inspires us to appreciate the beauty and richness of this culture. “The suburbs, slums...call my attention and make me think about human relationships and how racism is cruel. Thinking about it gives me ammunition to defend myself and my people. Brazil has not cured itself of slavery, it is there.” IN CONVERSATION WITH NEGO JÚNIOR THE PICTORIAL LIST: Nego please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? NEGO JÚNIOR: I was born and still live on the outskirts of São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. I grew up in the most violent region of the country in the 1990s, the region known as Capão Redondo. I started photographing when I started to have more contact with the black populations' dances here. TPL: Talk to us about your series A-LUZ-CINANTE - Samba Rock? What do you want the viewer to experience and take away with them? NJ: I want people to realise this “black magic”. This term here in Brazil is seen in a racist, prejudiced, pejorative way…And it is nothing more than the charm that black people have in celebrating their union. TPL: Do you ever get burnt out creatively? Explain how you keep the creative energy flowing. NJ: My ancestral connection with nature makes me have this energy. My ancestors deserve my effort. TPL: What are some tips or advice you would give yourself if you started photography all over again? NJ: Prefer a camera to a gun. I've always worked with more visual things, photography, design, video…But love really comes from my spirituality and blackness. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists and photographers? NJ: Lázaro Roberto, Lita Cerqueira, Eliária Andrade and Jean-Claude Moschetti. TPL: If you could just choose one photographer to shoot alongside for a day...who would you choose? And why? NJ: Walter Firmo, he is an icon of Brazilian and world photography. TPL: When you are out shooting - how much of it is instinctual versus planned? NJ: I can't say, but my biggest quest is to know how much of this is spiritual? 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? NJ: I've always used Canon input cameras and only recently had my first camera from this brand with a full frame sensor. I usually use what I call a basic, a 50mm and sometimes I shoot with a Rokinon 14mm wide angle. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? NJ: I'm working on a series that talks about the ego within the African matrix religions here in Brazil, creating a relationship of this with the whitening of these cults. My goal is for us to win this visual war where black bodies are not still hit with bullets but clicks of a camera. TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… NJ: I'm sleeping as I don't depend on the camera to take pictures." PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> CONTOURS OF ABSENCE Where concealment unsettles recognition and ordinary spaces turn psychological, the photographs of Serhii Fett suspend identity between presence and absence. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details.

I am a street photographer from Cologne who creates a noir atmosphere by capturing isolated people in the tangle of the metropolis, leading viewers into a world of light and shadow. I specialize in sauntering the streets, ever seeking for the decisive moment, compelling forms and enjoying ordinarities. I was proud as punch when my work was digitally showcased at no less than the Venice Biennale in 2019. Packed with creativity, I am currently delving into new portraiture looks. ROUVEN KURZ I am a street photographer from Cologne who creates a noir atmosphere by capturing isolated people in the tangle of the metropolis, leading viewers into a world of light and shadow. I specialize in sauntering the streets, ever seeking for the decisive moment, compelling forms and enjoying ordinarities. I was proud as punch when my work was digitally showcased at no less than the Venice Biennale in 2019. Packed with creativity, I am currently delving into new portraiture looks. LOCATION Cologne GERMANY CAMERA/S Fujifilm X-E2 WEBSITE https://rouvenkurz.com/ @ROUVENKURZ FEATURES // Framing Geometries

CONNECTED DICHOTOMIES Tatyana Mazok's photography transcends art, weaving life's threads into evocative diptychs that reveal interconnected narratives, challenging us to see the beauty and complexity in our shared experiences. CONNECTED DICHOTOMIES July 5, 2024 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Tatyana Mazok INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Emerging from the vibrant urban fabric of Minsk in Belarus, photographer Tatyana Mazok captures the essence of existence through her lens. With a rich academic background at Belarusian State Economic University, Tatyana tempered her mind with discipline, later infusing her artistic work with precision and passion. It was through photography that she discovered her authentic voice, a confluence of her diverse interests and her intrinsic identity. In 2019, under the illuminating mentorship of Elena Sukhoveyeva and Viktor Khmel, Tatyana’s creative flame was kindled, propelling her on a journey of exploration through the author’s school. Subsequent years saw her delve deeper into the nuances of the craft, navigating the realms of visual history at the Fojo: Media Institute Linnaus University and honing her cinematic eye at the esteemed ‘Marusina Masterskaya.’ Tatyana transcends mere technical skill. Her photography embodies the ability to capture the ephemeral, immortalizing the beauty of life’s transient moments. In her own words, “I shoot what I love and what interests me at a particular moment. And I get satisfaction from capturing the moment.” In her series “Connections,” Tatyana presents an introspective journey, using evocative diptychs to explore the complex web of relationships that shape our existence. Her lens thoughtfully transforms everyday moments into timeless reflections of beauty and self-discovery. Authenticity and emotional resonance are the cornerstones of Tatyana’s photographic philosophy. Her intuitive approach fosters a depth of immediacy and honesty, drawing viewers into her experiential narrative. Throughout the series, Tatyana deftly captures the ceaseless flux of the world around her. From the ever-shifting landscape of her urban surroundings to the subtle nuances of human interaction, each image serves as a testament to the ephemeral nature of existence. Yet, amidst the perpetual tide of change, Tatyana finds solace in the unchanging beauty of the natural world. As she eloquently observes, “The photos remain unchanged: family, nature, city and myself.” Central to the thematic fabric of “Connections” is Tatyana’s exploration of the myriad connections that bind us to one another and to the world at large. Tatyana skillfully reveals the hidden patterns of interdependence, sparking contemplation of our profound interconnectedness. Whether capturing the delicate symmetry of a family unit or the symbiotic relationship between humanity and the environment, Tatyana’s images serve as poignant reminders of our shared humanity. Beyond the visual allure, Tatyana’s work invites philosophical contemplation on memory and perception. She captures not just the world around her but also her personal experience within it, offering a unique perspective on the narrative flow of life and the resonance of visual storytelling. Join us in delving into Tatyana Mazok’s heartfelt photographic vision — a vision that extends beyond mere documentation, embodying the profound impact of photography as a conduit for introspection and discovery. “CONNECTIONS is a polysemantic name. On the one hand, there is an external visual connection between the photographs in each diptych: through color, compositional technique, and similarity. On the other hand, it is about the connection between human and nature, human and the city. And, how much they have in common. It’s also about my internal connection with each element in the photograph, because it’s all familiar to me: my beloved children, Belarusian nature, familiar roads and courtyards.” IN CONVERSATION WITH TATYANA MAZOK THE PICTORIAL LIST: Welcome to The Pictorial List Tatyana. What drew you to pursue photography as a form of artistic expression? TATYANA: At the very beginning of my journey, the technical part of photography was very difficult and took a long time for me. I slowed down and didn’t think about artistic language at all. I wanted to reveal all the technical secrets and, by pressing the camera button, produce beautiful masterpieces, filming everything. It was a great practical experience that led me to understand that photography can speak without words, speak for me, broadcast my inner feelings of the world around me. TPL: What role do diptychs play in conveying the interconnectedness of life in your work? How do you approach the composition and presentation of your diptychs to convey the connections you seek to highlight? TATYANA: Life and creativity are inseparable for me. In the diptychs there is an intensification of life. Moments from it. Let's just say, life twice: here it is life from frequent traces of birds on fresh snow and here is how the first rays of the sun covered a young face with freckles. They seem to be static objects, but they are a recording of what is happening in my life. The process of creating diptychs is always a unique event. It happens that one of the parts waits for its other half for two or three years. I don't deliberately shoot a frame in tandem with an existing one. I just take a photo of something, and then I scroll through it in my head and remember that once upon a time I already took a photo that would look incredibly good with it. Sometimes I make mistakes, but most of the time this exercise is successful. Can you imagine how great it is to bring together different years and different places? Of course, I pay attention to the composition of both parts. To enhance the effect, sometimes you have to crop the original frame. TPL: How do you incorporate elements of emotion and storytelling into your photographs to evoke a deeper connection with viewers? What emotions or messages do you hope viewers experience or take away from your photographs? TATYANA: I achieve contact with the viewer by close framing and large details. It turns out to be a kind of presence effect. The project is not difficult to perceive, visually calm in color, and it seems to me that every viewer will find in it something from their everyday life, memories from yesterday or today. I would also like the project to remind everyone of the beauty of every moment, of the value of our everyday life. TPL: How do you select the subjects or scenes that you capture in your photographs? What role does personal reflection play in your photography process, particularly in relation to your own connection to the subjects you photograph? TATYANA: Most often, my attention is attracted by lines, geometry, a fallen shadow, or my internal problem. I can walk and notice a fallen leaf, and now it’s already in the frame. I haven't photographed everything for a long time. And at different periods of my life my focus of attention changes. This gives food for thought - what is most important to me now. My inner experiences are transferred into photography. This changes the topic of research, working through a photograph of one’s feelings. This also affects the choice of color combinations in the frame. TPL: Can you share a memorable experience or moment that significantly influenced your approach to your photography in general? TATYANA: I had the experience of taking an amazing “Film Frame” course, where students watched films of one famous director every week, for example, “Kurosawa.” We analyzed the director’s visual language, his distinctive techniques, for what purposes and emotions they are applicable. And then they filmed their shoot using that language. Afterwards, I always thought about what I wanted to say with my shot, and what color, light, and compositional technique would help me with this. I also began to look at photographs of other authors, analyzing the author’s language. My photography serves as a documentation of my life. TPL: In what ways does your photography serve as a form of documentation or storytelling of your life and experiences? TATYANA: In general, all my photography is a document of my life. Whether I shoot self-portraits or my surroundings, this is all my little story. I show up in my photographs. You could say it's a photo diary. And, if they look back, this woman’s diary will talk about her mood, outlook on life, favorite color, some internal conflicts, joyful moments. And sometimes this diary has blank pages. TPL: Can you share any insights or lessons you've learned about yourself or the world through the process of creating “CONNECTIONS”? TATYANA: In the process of selecting photographs for the “Connections” project, I once again reminded myself of my inspiration and my content. Reviewing several years of archives, I have determined that my eye and my camera focus on what I love. I am filled with my family, the city I live in, trips to nature and myself. TPL: What drew you to study under Elena Sukhoveyeva and Viktor Khmel at the author’s school, and how did that experience influence your photography? And, how has completing courses such as ‘Photo History’ at Fojo: Media Institute Linnaus University shaped your understanding and approach to photography? TATYANA: At a certain point, I felt limited in my knowledge of photography. And how funny it is for me now, it seemed to me that I already knew so much. But I didn't know where to move next. In the direction. I was drawn to art, but there seemed to be a gap between us. I understood that I couldn’t handle self-education on my own; I needed a guide. In my search for a teacher, in reading reviews, in correspondence with graduates of Elena and Victor, I realized that this was what I needed. But I didn’t know that this would be the most difficult training, full of information, lectures, and deep immersion in project photography. A new, different world opened up for me, new names in the world of photography. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, I was never able to complete my graduation project at this school. The knowledge gained here was structured in my head and rethought over the next three years. We can say that they were the basis for my design thinking and are still sprouting. The “Photo History” course, on the contrary, turned out to be easy for me to understand, but also deep in knowledge. A lot of material was filmed. I learned to speak through a series of photographs. My personnel selection process has changed, my view of topics that are of interest to society and other people, but not previously relevant to me, has expanded. But the main takeaway is to always choose what is important to you. Then working on history will be a pleasure. 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? TATYANA: I am firmly convinced that everything I saw and heard earlier in one way or another influenced me as a photographer. Something is filtered, something is analyzed and leaves an imprint. But I cannot pinpoint the authors who shaped my approach. I can name who I'm currently inspired by. Among the photographers are Jaume Llorens with poetic images of nature, Saul Leiter with his irregular framing, negative space, amazing color, Ilina Vicktoria - her portraits fascinate with light, contrast and deep emotion. I also really love the visual techniques of director Paolo Sorrentino. TPL: What do you hope to achieve with your photography in terms of personal growth? TATYANA: Great question! And of course I will be honest. I dream that my photograph will become part of the collection of MOMA, the Hermitage, and the European House of Photography in Paris. I dream of becoming one of the hundred most famous female photographers in the world. Loud, but that's how it is! TPL: When you are not creating your art through your photography, what else could we find Tatyana doing? TATYANA: I try to find time for everything that is dear to me. I used to sew a lot, embroider, and make jewelry. Now I read more, go to theaters, museums and of course spend time with my large family. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> CONTOURS OF ABSENCE Where concealment unsettles recognition and ordinary spaces turn psychological, the photographs of Serhii Fett suspend identity between presence and absence. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details.

PICTORIAL STORY VECINOS NEIGHBORS April 9, 2021 PICTORIAL STORY Photography and story by Drew A. Kelley Introduction by Melanie Meggs SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Amid the heated political debates and ideological divides that often characterize the United States-Mexico border, Drew A. Kelley takes a moment to step away from the fray, and instead, to observe and document the lives of the people who inhabit the area. A daily newspaper photojournalist and self-proclaimed lover of street photography, film, and people, Drew is passionate about capturing moments of connection and community that are often lost in the chaos of politics. Drew’s latest project, Vecinos (Neighbors) is a personal passion project driven by his dedication to celebrating the humanity that resides in the borderlands. He has decided to use his photography to create a visual narrative of life at the US-Mexico border — one that tells stories of resilience, strength and compassion that are often overlooked. To do this, Drew has turned to 35mm black and white film. While deadlines often require him to shoot digitally, Drew has taken advantage of this chance to explore his love for film photography. Through his photography, Drew hopes to bring attention to the realities of daily life at the border. And by viewing these moments through black and white film, Drew seeks to provide a powerful and empathetic exploration of life on both sides of the divide. Through this poignant body of work, Drew invites us to look beyond the headlines and discover what lies beneath. In 2018 a caravan of largely Central American migrants fleeing persecution and/or violence arrived at the border between Mexico and the United States. Hundreds of those migrants were forced to wait south of the border in Tijuana, MX for the opportunity to request asylum from U.S. border authorities. The situation quickly became a humanitarian crisis, and their plight was covered by multiple news outlets around the world. I too was drawn to their story and traveled to the El Chaparral Port of Entry to give them a voice in my local community. I then spent two days documenting the inner workings of the camp. Medical personnel, volunteers and various authorities would come and go throughout the day to assist mostly mothers and their children. Once I found a local focus and the article was published, I realized how few people knew what was happening down there. As a person who calls California home, it was clear that regardless of how often the border makes the news, a portion of the population has never seen it firsthand or is indifferent. My initial goal quickly evolved into a three-year project to document the entire border between California and Mexico. I decided to take a linear approach by first photographing where the wall meets the Pacific Ocean and I followed it to the California/Arizona state line. Whenever possible, I worked on foot to engage with as many people as I could. Over time, I learned how much each side of the wall has in common with the other. Everything from recreational activities to social issues/norms are often mirrored on both sides of the line. Parallels were commonplace throughout this project. Outside the city of Tecate, Mexico, I photographed a man enjoying a moment of tranquility by swimming on his back at a public pool and in the border town of Jacumba, California, I photographed a woman soaking in a natural hot spring which offered her the same feeling. Just north of the wall in Calexico, California, I met and photographed an inebriated man on the street and by chance I met and photographed his equal on the streets of Mexicali, Mexico. Water drops organized by the nonprofit organization, Border Angeles were a regular occurrence. Their goal was to reduce the number of deaths along the US-Mexico border by distributing water to remote parts of the desert that are used by immigrants crossing by foot. I spent a day documenting one of these water drops at the border that included volunteers from the United States and Mexico. The volunteers came together, braved 109° heat, to help those searching for a better life. Regardless of what country people called home, families separated by the wall were equally heartbroken on both sides. At the International Friendship Park, a binational park between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico, their emotions transcended the rusty steel separating them and during editing, it was difficult to distinguish which photographs were taken on which side. © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley Water drops organized by the nonprofit organization, Border Angeles were a regular occurrence. Their goal was to reduce the number of deaths along the US-Mexico border by distributing water to remote parts of the desert that are used by immigrants crossing by foot. I spent a day documenting one of these water drops at the border that included volunteers from the United States and Mexico. The volunteers came together, braved 109° heat, to help those searching for a better life. © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley © Drew A Kelley By documenting the physical border between the United States and Mexico, I hope any preconceptions people may have will be broken down and eventually replaced with empathy. These photographs are a testament that regardless of the man-made barriers between us, we are all human beings merely separated by nationality. view Drew's portfolio Read an interview with Drew >>> Instagram >> > The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

NastPlas is an international creative duo based in Madrid, Spain and formed in 2006 by illustrator Fran R. Learte and creative director Natalia Molinos. Their work combines an impressive range of digital elements and abstract patterns which they create in order to elaborate pieces of art with a deeply aesthetic feeling. NASTPLAS NastPlas is an international creative duo based in Madrid, Spain and formed in 2006 by illustrator Fran R. Learte and creative director Natalia Molinos. Their work combines an impressive range of digital elements and abstract patterns which they create in order to elaborate pieces of art with a deeply aesthetic feeling. LOCATION Madrid SPAIN CAMERA/S Canon, Polaroid WEBSITE https://www.nastplas.com/ @NASTPLAS_SNAPSHOT @NASTPLAS FEATURES // Conceptual Reality