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

FREEDOM TASTES OF REALITY Juan Barte does not choose to document what he sees, but creates a photograph that constricts the flow of information, allowing for the viewer to further investigate and question what they see. FREEDOM TASTES OF REALITY May 26, 2023 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Juan Barte INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Juan Barte is a fine art photographer, editor, and cultural manager, living and working in Spain. His career led him to live in places like Los Angeles, Tokyo, Vientiane, Ibiza, or Madrid. In the past, Juan developed his career in graphic design. However, photography was always one of his main interests, so in 2014 he started to fully devote himself to this “obsession”. Starting from an elaborate conceptual base, Juan's photographs try to trigger reflections, debates...showing a broader, complex and diverse vision of the world. His projects can last for years, with an extensive research of the subject matter and a close contact with the object portrayed. Juan takes a unique approach to his practice of photography. He translates his conceptual ideas through his photographic process. Juan involves the subjects of his photography, allowing them to contribute in the artistic process and making the work. He engages the viewer, allowing them to become a participant, inviting them to ask questions to themselves. For Juan it is through this curiosity and freedom to creatively think, that allows for the work to speak the loudest and clearest. His goal is to reorder experience rather than simply document it and bend appearances to match his subjective narrative priorities. The resulting images are caught in a tension between the staged story and the testimonial record, imbued with fantasy as much as reality, unreliable and open-ended, thus reflecting the instability of our times. With social media today and the continuous flow of information, Juan does not choose to document what he sees, but creates a photograph that constricts the flow of information, allowing for the viewer to further investigate and question what they see. It is this consciousness that Juan strives for, allowing for each individual to make their own interpretations. We are all aware of the addiction to the mobile phone. No one looks up anymore, even while walking, relying on their peripheral vision to navigate. We lose the physical connectivity to the true environment. Most individuals could not tell you one single detail from their physical experience moving from point A to point B, but were fully informed and aware of what's happening globally at any given time during that same transition. These are the questions that Juan raises through his photographic investigations, resulting in a body of work addressing the disconnection with reality and the physical world around us. Without giving away too much, we introduce Juan Barte, and hope you enjoy his interview and insightful use of photography to create meaningful work. “I enjoy it when the viewer has to stop to decipher an image, so that dialogue and complicity are established. The resulting images invite contemplation so that we can abandon ourselves to the flow of associations of ideas that we raise.” IN CONVERSATION WITH JUAN BARTE THE PICTORIAL LIST: Hello Juan, thank you for sharing your intriguing work. Please start off by telling us about yourself. What would you say first drew you to photography? JUAN BARTE: I was born and raised in La Rioja, a wine region in northern Spain. I guess I was a bit of a late bloomer. Perhaps due to my family environment, where no one was involved in anything related to the arts, I belong to the category of artists who discover their passion later in life. Like Leonard Cohen, who began his music career in his late thirties, Michael Haneke, who directed The Seventh Continent at the age of 47, or Raymond Chandler, who didn't start his literary career until he was 45. So I don't have the typical story that goes, “When I was a child, my aunty gave me a camera, and I became fascinated with taking photos, and I never stopped since.” In my case, it was something that happened later in life, and therefore, it was a more conscious process. At first, I was fascinated by how some photographs exerted a powerful influence on me. They compelled me to look and evoked a sense of desire or longing, or many other emotions, shaping my relationship with the world around me. So initially, I think it was something very primal, and I saw taking photos as a way to explore my desires and emotions. TPL: You use photography to tell your stories, it becomes intrinsic to your voice and message. Could you tell us why you choose photography as a tool to translate your ideas? JB: I’ve always been fascinated by the power of visual imagery and its ability to evoke emotion and convey a message. Photography is a medium that allows for ambiguity and interpretation. Unlike words, which can be very precise and specific, photographs often leave room for multiple meanings and interpretations. This ambiguity, to me, is one of the strengths of photography, as it allows the viewer to engage with the image in a more active and imaginative way. If you think about it, photographs are more suggestive than telling. They often hint at or suggest a story or idea, rather than spelling it out explicitly. This can make photographs more evocative and emotional than words, allowing the viewer to bring their own experiences and interpretations to the image. Photography is poetry, rather than prose. Both poetry and photography rely on suggestion and ambiguity to create a deeper emotional impact on the viewer or reader. Like poetry, photographs often use metaphor, symbolism, and other literary techniques to convey their message in a more nuanced and indirect way. In short, it’s the power of suggestion and ambiguity in the medium that gets me. Rather than being a limitation, these qualities make photography a uniquely expressive and poetic form of storytelling. TPL: How would you describe your photography, and what would you say you are always trying to achieve artistically? JB: When I take a photograph, I close the shot on the subject by getting very close, isolating the details. This approach results in those details acquiring an autonomous presence. They are no longer just identifying the subject, but rather they become "beings" in their own right. This process involves separating the image from its subject, so we no longer recognize a specific person, but instead see a fragment that serves me, as the author, to convey what I want to narrate and tell. The protagonists of my photographs do not monopolize the image with their gaze, avoiding direct recognition which in fact is an invitation to the audience to find their own interpretation of the work. I try to create a space for the viewer that may instigate a creative process that opens the door to a multitude of interpretations, mental associations, understandings, and thus the work is enriched by those new conceptions. My intention is that my images will have several and varied readings, which transcend a casual glance. I enjoy it when the viewer has to stop to decipher an image, so that dialogue and complicity are established. I try to make my images inviting to the contemplation so that we can abandon ourselves to the flow of associations of ideas that we raise. My photography is the opposite of the continuous flow of images that we are subjected to nowadays, setting it apart from both the conventionalism of photojournalism and the conventionalism of social media. I involve the subjects of my photography in the creation of the final images. My goal is to reorder experience rather than simply document it and to bend appearances to match my subjective narrative priorities. While places and people do appear in my work, the documenting aspect is a side effect. There is no detached observation, rather a kind of collaboration, so the process is not about negotiating a portrait, but rather negotiating a story, because my goal is to tell a story. It's a collaboration between the photographer and the subject, as we work together to build a script. When I travel to their personal or work space to take these photographs in person, it emphasizes the physical and human aspect of our relationship. Sometimes, the personal relationship that develops during this process is more important than the final images. As both, an observer and a fabricator of a world of make-believe, it is not always clear what I found there in front of my camera and what I manipulate and stage. For me, the narration is the basis of emotional engagement. My goal is for people to respond to my images. I do not feel obligated to describe phenomena in my photography. The result is images between staged and spontaneous, which you cannot trust, erasing the artificial division between photographic genres and thus reflecting the instability of our time. My projects may last for years, with direct and constant contact with the depicted object with whom I interact closely. The knowledge I acquire through this process allows me to subtract in order to find the simplicity of a situation by reducing it to the essential. In addition, I use black and white because the absence of the information provided by color allows me to establish a stronger message. Each color brings its own personality, which can cause a digression from the work. But black and white limits things, and the more limited things are, the more noticeable they become. TPL: What inspired the concept for FREEDOM TASTES OF REALITY? Can you take us through your creative thinking process, your ideologic conception to critical thinking and the evolution of your project? JB: It often starts with something - a piece of text, a book, something I hear or see - and then a vague feeling, an itch, gets into my mind. At some point, I realize that I want to get it out, but more often than not, it remains a vague feeling for a long time. However, in the case of Freedom Tastes of Reality, I was already intuitively taking photos when it became clear and I could define it. Once the feeling is acknowledged and defined, I have to decide if it is worth pursuing all the way, worth following up on, worth investing my energy in, and worth trying to tell the story. A lot goes through my head at this stage - will I be able to cope? Will it be long-term or short-term? Will I, as an artist, be able to live up to what the project requires? Then it's time for me to read and research on the subject, which is something I particularly enjoy. This helps me come up with a well-rounded, well-thought-out concept, which I usually do at the same time as I start to photograph. It may feel a bit too much of a rational process, but actually, I don't believe in the idea of "carrying a camera everywhere you go." Rather, I prefer to photograph with high intensity, with a very focused mindset on the project at hand. When I'm on a shoot, I take it with passion and fervor, and shooting becomes a very intense experience for me. TPL: Talk us through the narrative of FREEDOM TASTES OF REALITY - what journey are you taking us on? JB: This work is a celebration of the body and its senses at a time when relationships with the world and people are increasingly mediated by technology and, therefore, more dematerialized. This claim is not made in the abstract but in dialogue with a group of up and coming new artists. Currently, a disembodiment is created across all human relationships. Life doesn't just happen around our bodies anymore. We've stopped living in the physical space where we find ourselves. Life is happening elsewhere, out on a screen, somewhere removed from our bodies. To offer an example, for most lines of work, it is no longer necessary to be physically present in an office full time to be a productive member of the team. We now telework. It is because of this work-from-home possibility that we've disconnected productivity from the need for presence. In this very same way, we've created friendship without a need for presence, sexuality without a need for presence, training, teaching, existing without a need for presence. Freedom Tastes of Reality reintroduces the physical. In this fluid new life, we as humans live, the body has become the only certainty — the only thing that can give us a defined and verifiable outline of our identity. The bodies in these photographs occupy physical space, situated against their displacement as a course of experiences because we no longer experience the world through our own bodies, but rather through the screens of smartphones, computers, and virtual reality headsets. The bodies in Freedom Tastes of Reality are liberated and interact directly with objects—in other words, with reality. The images in this work reach deeply into the concept of experiencing reality through our physical bodies. We've abandoned the epicurean sensibility that connected pleasure, sensuality, and wisdom. All the subjects in these photographs are up and coming new artists because the innovative and original artist became the blueprint for the entrepreneurial self that is now ubiquitous. The set of requirements that formerly applied exclusively to artists have advanced to the status of a general ideal. Today, we are all expected to hunt for our own passion, to practice self-realization, to be as flexible and creative as possible, to work on our own initiative, and to have a high degree of mobility. So, the artist, who has traditionally been creative, independent, self-sufficient, and decisive, has become the model of the new worker. The new worker, not unlike the artist, has a liberalized work schedule, is individualized and responsible for themself. Therefore, if I wanted to reflect a central theme in current society, such as the affirmation of our body in the face of its progressive disappearance as a vector for experiences, it would have to be through another central collective today. It would have to be through artists. Although actual artists are depicted, these are not regular portraits in which the subjects are recognizable, we would enter a dynamic of who's who—who is in the project and who isn't. Naturally, the images would be a representation of that person, and they would no longer function as metaphors for what Freedom Tastes of Reality wants to express and transmit. These photographs try to go beyond the individual. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration to create? JB: The easy answer would be to say that I find my inspiration in the world around me, but creative processes are always more complex than that. It’s everything from movies to music, to books, to other photographers’ work, to random online photographs. I’m interested in all the art forms, I like to look at the world and all the forms of expression that humans have created, so I’m not only inspired by photography, but also by philosophy, history, music has always been very important to me, film… Other important sources of inspiration are the political and social climate, the complexity of our existence, the human body in relation to nature, my own personal relationships, experiences, and the history and culture of the places that I visit. I think it’s important to be open to all of these things, and to try to find beauty and meaning in the midst of it all, to stay open and receptive to new experiences and ideas, and of being willing to take risks and experiment in order to keep work fresh and dynamic. Last, but not least, intuition and spontaneity in the creative process also play an important role for me, being open to unexpected moments that occur while shooting, or while editing or sequencing the work. I'm interested in exploring different ways of seeing and representing the world, and I draw on all these various sources to develop my ideas and approaches to image-making. It's the power of suggestion and ambiguity in the medium that gets me. Rather than being a limitation, these qualities make photography a uniquely expressive and poetic form of storytelling. TPL: Is the camera and equipment you use important to your work? If so, please share with our readers some of the secrets behind your work. JB: I only use one camera and two prime lenses. It takes a long time to discover a lens, and it can take even longer to learn how to see the world through a specific focal length. However, sticking with one camera and lens has taught me to pre-visualize and pre-frame a scene before taking a photo. Using prime lenses means you have to work within the limitations of the lens, which encourages creativity. When faced with a scene or situation, you must adjust your position in relation to your subject to achieve a good composition. If the scene doesn't fit perfectly, you need to be creative and figure out how to make it work. This often involves using your feet because your lens can’t zoom, you have to move your body and hence the camera to get further or closer to your subject. Using a prime lens requires more effort to create an interesting frame, but it usually results in more interesting photos. Your perspective depends on how much you're willing to move. As photographers we often obsess over the sharpness, bokeh, and other characteristics of certain lenses. We also spend a lot of time talking about the "ideal camera" and the "perfect" lens for different situations. However, this can distract us from actually going out and taking photos. In the beginning, I was frustrated because I couldn't afford expensive cameras and lenses. This discouraged me from taking photos because I felt that my gear was inadequate for creating good images. Over time, though, I've learned that the gear you use is not critical to creating good photos. I don't view constraints and limitations as the same thing. It's not about what you see, but how you see it. I guess the secret is to find a camera that suits your needs and style, above all, your camera should feel comfortable in your hands and next to your eye. TPL: What do you want your photographs to inspire in other people? What is their “takeaway”? JB: With my photography I try to draw attention to aspects of our culture that either fascinate or concern me. My goal is always to show a broader, more complex and diverse view of the world. I shoot at close range, giving the pictures a straightforwardness and natural intimacy that denies the audience the mere observer's safe distance, in the hope that this may lead the audience to reflect on certain issues. If, in addition to a personal reflection, my work provokes a debate, for me, it is a bonus. This way I try to transform the act of looking into an active process, a shared joy between the author and the audience. In the end, I don’t pretend to be certain about anything when telling a story, rather my aim is to poise questions in the hope to trigger reflections, because it is always the questions that involves the viewer, it’s never the answers. TPL: Are there any special projects that you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? JB: I’m currently working on a project but I don’t have a final title for it yet, I’m the worst with titles. This work draws our attention to the second half of the 60s and first half of the 70s in Spain, through some of the critical artists of that period of hope for the future, in order to, by contrast with our present, open a reflection on the current difficulty of imagining better futures. The future, once imagined as a promising time, is now seen as a dystopian scenario. Popular series such as Black Mirror, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Fence, The 100, Colony… the list is endless, make us fear and see the future as a threat. I’m working with artists again, which I love, but this time they are all in their seventies, even eighties. It’s a life lesson to see how active and engaged they still are with their practice to this day. It may sound like a cliché, but meeting all these people, conversing with them, learning about their oeuvre, and their take on the times it’s been the best part of doing this project. I’ve been working on it for six years now, and I really would like to finish it this year. However, sometimes projects have their own life because the scope of this project keeps growing as I go along. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? JB: I don't think I have any concrete reference, at least not if I speak as a photographer. Of course, there are photographers, photo books, exhibitions, artists, and themes that interest me, but I do not establish with them a relationship of continuous presence of inspiration or guidance in my work, which is what I understand as having a reference. When I work on a project it is something organic, of course I take reference from various sources, my projects may have points of origin or destination, which may coincide with previous works, but when it comes to a process as intimate as developing a personal project I like to think that what is intended is to encourage the personal. TPL: Are there any quotes that become your ‘Mantra’, that inspire you daily to create, and critically think? JB: My mantra…I’ve mentioned it before. It’s something I have always had in mind, but not too long ago I heard it beautifully articulated in Todd Field's film, Tár. The main character says at one point in the plot "it’s always the question that involves the listener, it’s never the answer.” As artists it is something very difficult to achieve because there is always the temptation to speak with our own conclusions and answers, univocally and unidirectionally. But if it is always the questions, and not the answers that involve the audience, the work needs to be open-ended, something I always try to do. As I mentioned before, I try to instigate a creative process in the audience and open the door to a multitude of interpretations, associations, and understandings of my work. So it is enriched by those new conceptions. TPL: “When I am not photographing and creating new work, I (like to)… JB: Read a book, or to travel.” 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.

VISUAL COMMUNICATION Fabio Bazarghi's photography is centered and focused on telling people’s stories and capturing moments in their time. VISUAL COMMUNICATION September 4, 2020 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Fabio Barzaghi INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Sometimes it takes a spark of passion and creativity to begin a journey that can last a lifetime. For photographer Fabio Barzaghi, his journey began with a camera gifted to him as a teenager, growing into a love of visual communication and a desire to tell stories. Based in Milan, Italy, he has mastered his skills autodidactically, seeking out workshops from some of the greatest master photographers out there. From Nikos Economopoulos, Ernesto Bazan, George Georgiou, Joakim Eskildsen and Jacob Aue Sobol, he has learned the importance of stepping outside his photographic comfort zone in order to create powerful narrative images. With a raw talent for capturing emotion and moments of time, Barzaghi’s photography stands out as something uniquely special and inspiring. As we unravel his dedicated journey to perfecting his craft and creating stories through his lens, you will discover not only his incredible talent but also the intense physical and emotional journey that has defined him today. “I have always been interested in photography, when I was a teenager I was gifted a camera that I took everywhere I could and during any occasion - I really have used it to its full potential! Classic story, you know. I have attended several workshops trying to push up my photography.” IN CONVERSATION WITH FABIO BARZAGHI THE PICTORIAL LIST: Fabio, where do you find your inspiration to photograph? FABIO BARZAGHI: Everywhere is a good photo occasion. I can feel where it could happen and I play with the situation. Sometimes I start talk to people trying to go deeper with the situation. TPL: What do you want to express through your photography? What are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? FB: I always try to remove elements from my pictures. I want to focus on the subject. TPL: Has your style of photographing changed since you first started? FB: Definitely, now I know what I want when I’m taking pictures. It was only when my girlfriend started gifting me photography books (about 10 years ago) that something clicked in me and I began taking photographs with a different, more focused and more mature approach. In particular street photography is the genre I fell in love with, and it still keeps me motivated to grab my camera, exploring places through people and tell stories with photos. TPL: Who are your favourite artists/photographers? FB: Daido Moriyama, Nikos Economopoulos, Alec Soth, Arnold Newman, Marco Pesaresi and many others... TPL: Do you have a favourite place to photograph? FB: I always look for places where things can happen. Try to transcend the image, break the rules, respect the rules. TPL: How does the equipment you use help you in achieving your vision in your photography? Do you have a preferred lens/focal length? FB: I'm using only the Fuji X100s that I bought years ago. I chose that camera because it has a fixed lens at 35mm, a very good quality. It is a really small and low weight camera, and I can bring it with me every day. It also has an optical viewfinder, which is a plus. I shoot always and only on 35mm. When shooting I have the final frame in my mind. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? FB: I have several projects almost completed. I would like to find someone interested in them. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist? Where do you see yourself or hope to see yourself in five years? FB: I want to keep photography as my personal escape from reality. Business with it could infect its pureness. TPL: Have you ever been involved in the artistic world before photography? FB: I play drums, a little bit the guitar. But I’m an electronic engineer, arts are helping me to have a side look to problems. TPL: “When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… FB: Run, play music, listen to the music, travel, cook and spend lazy days on my sofa." PORTFOLIO 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.

REAL MOMENTS Drew A. Kelley is a photojournalist based in Southern California, whose love for photojournalism is equal to his love of art. REAL MOMENTS April 9, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Drew A. Kelley INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Drew A. Kelley is a remarkable photojournalist, capturing the vivid and diverse moments of Southern California in black and white film with a passion for storytelling. This talented creative continually seeks out new experiences, finding inspiration through art galleries, used book stores, music, and newspaper reports. Driven by a love of art and photojournalism alike, Drew’s work is an intricate blend of both. He captures life’s moments with an eye for detail that brings both beauty and emotion to his photographs. Whether he’s working on a tight deadline or using his own time to craft another passion project, Drew’s commitment to his art shines through each beautiful capture. “My goal is to accurately document, without bias, the lives of people that lack a voice. Style wise, I am obsessed with moments and layers. I feel I’ve done something right if the viewers’ eyes are moving around the photograph and not moving to the next.” IN CONVERSATION WITH DREW A. KELLEY THE PICTORIAL LIST: Drew please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? DREW A KELLEY: I was born in Long Beach, California in the mid 1980’s but I grew up in Chino Hills, a suburb outside Los Angeles. Living in Southern California during the 1990’s, my love for photography grew concurrently with my passion for skateboarding. Anytime we went out, I brought my camera and tried to capture the perfect moment. Eventually I started documenting the culture behind skateboarding and that’s when my passion for photojournalism began. TPL: Where do you find inspiration to photograph? DAK: My quick answer is reading newspapers. Other than newspapers, I find inspiration by visiting art galleries, used book stores or searching for new music. It’s hard to explain the feeling of listening to a good song for the first time but that vibe inspires me to create something equally as great. Used books also provide me with that same level of inspiration. Flipping through pages of photographs by photojournalists before me is very grounding and encouraging at the same time. TPL: You are a photojournalist. What happens when you go out with your camera? Do people respond positively to you, or do you sometimes get negative reactions? If yes, how do you handle it? DAK: When I document news events, the subjects are typically indifferent and my job is clear. Outside of news events, rapport is of the utmost importance. Repeatedly visiting people or places is essential to put your subjects at ease. My end goal is to earn the ability to be a fly on the wall. TPL: Do you have a favourite place to photograph? DAK: My favorite place to photograph is any place that hasn’t been overly documented. I am drawn to places and sub cultures that aren’t easily accessible. If I am not giving my audience the opportunity to see something they typically couldn’t then I’m not doing my job. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? DAK: I’ve learned not to previsualize too much. Early in my career I would think of the perfect image as I drove to my assignment. Rather than flowing with my subject and capturing natural moments, I would be chasing an idealized photo in my mind. Having a goal or the ability to previsualize is important but being able to react to what is in front of you is even more valuable. 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? DAK: I don’t think it matters what camera you use, your vision is your vision, unless the camera you are using is technically getting in the way. I strictly use Canon SLRs because I know the controls by heart. Currently, I can move fluidly as I work with my subjects but if I needed to relearn my equipment I wouldn’t be able to capture the same moments. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? DAK: My love for photojournalism is equal to my love of art. Photojournalists like Matt Black, Sebastião Salgado and James Nachtwey have been a constant inspiration throughout my career but artists like Sofia Enriquez and Carlos Ramirez, from the California high desert, equally inspire me with their work. It has always been important to me to stay open and allow inspiration to come from anywhere and everywhere. TPL: What are some of your goals as a photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? DAK: My goal as a photojournalist is simply to shoot more. In five years I hope to see myself working more with film, either black and white or color. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? DAK: I am currently working on my second solo show featuring the project, Vecinos. The exhibit is in the beginning stages and will first be shown in Los Angeles, California. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… DAK: I’m learning new cooking techniques and recipes or hiking with my dog Shiloh. PORTFOLIO 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.

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. 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. June 14, 2026 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Emma Varga INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Emma Varga approaches photography as a site of construction rather than observation. Her images do not attempt to stabilize the world; they work against it. Across her practice, the photograph becomes an unstable surface where material, biological, and conceptual systems intersect. Working between Budapest and London, and informed by her studies in Art and Science at Central Saint Martins, Emma develops a language that moves between disciplines without settling into either. What defines Emma’s work is not only its subject matter, but its method. The image is built, not taken. In WHENUA, microscopic cross-sections of animal tissue are removed from their scientific context and reconfigured as visual structures resembling topographical abstractions. These forms resist singular interpretation, shifting between interior and exterior, organism and terrain. The body is no longer contained; it extends into the world, collapsing distinctions between biology and geography, origin and environment. In MOLD, this inquiry unfolds through time. Lumen prints made with plant material are exposed over weeks, allowing decomposition to become an active agent within the image. By refusing fixation, the works remain in flux. Light operates not only as illumination, but in collaboration with time, producing images that are contingent and ongoing. The photograph is no longer a record of a moment, but a process that continues beyond the artist’s control. Underlying her art projects is an engagement with the grotesque as a mode of perception. Emma employs it not for shock, but as a structural language through which vulnerability, control, and violence can be examined. Her images sustain a tension between attraction and disturbance, requiring the viewer to confront their own thresholds of recognition. Emerging from a Central and Eastern European context, this sensibility carries historical weight, enabling a direct engagement with complexity without simplification. Her use of scientific tools, particularly microscopy, does not reinforce scientific authority but instead exposes its limits. Systems that seek to classify and define the body are unsettled, opening her work toward a posthuman position in which boundaries between human and non-human begin to dissolve. Emma allows decay, damage, and intervention to shape the image. Photography, in this context, becomes capable of holding instability rather than concealing it. Her work does not resolve. It insists on uncertainty. Within this framework, Emma Varga repositions the photographic image as a dynamic field shaped by material processes and conceptual inquiry, an active, unsettled space that resists closure. It is from within this position that our conversation unfolds, tracing the origins of her practice, the evolving relationship between art and science, and the ways in which material, time, and perception continue to shape her approach to photography. “I got my first camera when I was four years old, so photography has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I think that early relationship to image-making was very instinctive at first. Over time, that impulse developed into something much more conceptual. Photography became not just a way of recording what I saw, but a way of thinking and questioning how images work. That is what led me toward the kind of practice I’m developing now.” IN CONVERSATION WITH EMMA VARGA TPL: Your work moves between microscopic observation and landscape-like formations. How do you understand scale as a conceptual tool, particularly in destabilizing the distinction between interior biological structures and external environments? EMMA: Scale is really important in my work because it lets me shift the body between different states of reading. When something microscopic starts to resemble a landscape, it becomes harder to tell where the body ends and the environment begins. I’m interested in that instability because it makes the body feel less fixed and more part of a bigger material and environmental system. TPL: You allow organic processes such as decomposition and environmental interaction to shape the final outcome. How do you negotiate control within a process that is inherently unpredictable? What does it mean to you to create photographs that resist permanence and fixed meaning? EMMA: I don’t really try to control the process itself, I control the thinking at the start, and then I let the process lead me from there. My practice overall is rooted in destruction, construction, and deconstruction. I’m interested in making work and then undoing it, or breaking it apart and rebuilding it in a different form. My last piece, sculpture titled “The Horse Wasn’t Real Until I Killed It”, worked like that too. I casted my own body, then sliced it up and rearranged it to explore questions like what is my body and when does it stop being mine. If I cast it, then cut it apart, then rebuild it, what actually remains of the original body? We were about to take it to an exhibition and just a few hours before installing it someone stole two pieces of it. I had to improvise, decided that I’ll make that part of the concept - and in the end that actually made the work better. TPL: There is a strong tension between visibility and invisibility, particularly in how hidden biological structures are brought into view. What interests you about revealing what is typically inaccessible to the human eye? EMMA: What interests me is that revealing what is usually invisible adds another layer of meaning. In Vox Victimae, I explore how living beings become victims, and including phase photographs of the apoptosis of the HeLa cell line helped me show that this process also happens at a cellular level. The microscopic images let me draw parallels between human and animal bodies, and suggest that under the microscope, at a cellular level, you can no longer clearly distinguish between them. © Emma Varga, WHENUA / roots of a tree on a ground (2025) © Emma Varga, WHENUA / a riverbank (2025) © Emma Varga, WHENUA / the fork of a river (2025) © Emma Varga, WHENUA / storm in the Sahara Desert (2025) © Emma Varga, WHENUA / mud tracks in the melting snow (2025) © Emma Varga, WHENUA / a frozen lake (2025) © Emma Varga, WHENUA / a glacial lake (2025) TPL: There is also a persistent interrogation of anthropocentrism in your practice, particularly through the merging of human, animal, and environmental forms. How does your work engage with posthumanist thought, and do you see your images as proposing an alternative ontology of the body? Emma: I do think my work engages with posthumanist thought, especially in the way it questions the idea of the human as separate or central. I’m interested in what happens when the boundaries between human, animal, and environment start to blur, because that makes the body feel less fixed and more relational. In Vox Victimae, for example, I used microscopic images and animal references to look at victimhood across species, and to suggest that at a cellular level the body is not as clearly divided as we might think. I wouldn’t say my images propose a fully fixed alternative ontology, but they do open up another way of thinking about the body. Instead of seeing it as a stable human unit, I’m interested in it as something relational and unstable - something that can be classified, damaged, transformed, or reduced. What matters to me is that this isn’t only about human and animal as separate categories, but about bodies more generally, and about who gets to be sacrificed and who gets to make the sacrifice. That is also where the work engages with anthropocentrism: it tries to unsettle the assumption that the human is always the measure of everything else. TPL: Your practice brings art and science into close conversation, allowing both fields to inform the way you observe, question, and create. How do you define this space within your practice? EMMA: I would define that space as an artistic practice informed by science. While I’ve grown up around science and scientific ways of thinking, my approach remains rooted in art. I’m interested in how scientific methods, tools, and image-making technologies can be integrated into artistic processes. What matters to me is the way these approaches meet within a single body of work, allowing different ways of observing and thinking to inform each other. That intersection is what continues to shape my practice. I’m interested in what happens when the boundaries between human, animal, and environment start to blur, because that makes the body feel less fixed and more relational. TPL: If your work had a scent, would it be closer to a laboratory, a forest floor, or something else entirely? EMMA: Unfortunately, my work sometimes does have a smell during the process. When I think about the still lifes in Natura Morta or the grotesque tree with chicken heads in Vox Victimae, those materials had a very strong smell, so if the work had a scent, it would probably be something unpleasant, maybe closer to rotten meat than a laboratory or a forest floor. TPL: What is something about your work that you think people misunderstand? And do you enjoy that misreading? EMMA: I think people sometimes read the grotesque in my work as something purely shocking or dark, when it is actually more ambivalent. For me, it is a great way of provoking thought, because it can hold discomfort, humor, strangeness, disgust and beauty at the same time. TPL: Are there particular artists, thinkers, or even disciplines outside of photography that have shifted your approach over time? EMMA: István Örkény has had a huge influence on me. I see him as a major figure of the grotesque, and his work feels completely singular, not just in Hungary but internationally too. His writing has shaped the way I think about the world, and more broadly, my sense of seeing has also been shaped by a Central and Eastern European reality, where the grotesque is often part of everyday life and perception. © Emma Varga, Mold II (2024) © Emma Varga, Mold III (2024) © Emma Varga, Mold IV (2024) © Emma Varga, Mold V (2024) © Emma Varga, Mold VI (2024) © Emma Varga, Mold VII (2024) © Emma Varga, Mold VIII (2024) © Emma Varga, Mold IX (2024) TPL: Is there one piece of equipment, tool, or material that you consider essential to your practice - something you couldn’t imagine working without? EMMA: Light is probably the thing I rely on most. As a photographer, light is essential, it’s what I primarily create images with. Since moving to the UK, I’ve become even more aware of my dependence on sunlight, because its absence has made me notice how much it affects my mood and energy. TPL: When you think about the future of your practice, what excites you most to explore next? EMMA: What excites me most is building a deeper research trajectory around my latest photobook, Vox Victimae, and using it as a starting point rather than an endpoint. That project began to open up questions about how living beings become legible as victims, and I want to push that inquiry further into the systems, images, and narratives that shape those conditions. I’m also increasingly interested in expanding the boundaries between art and science, especially now that I’m studying on an MA Art and Science course and have more access to resources and can work with more specific tools and methodologies. What excites me is not just producing images, but developing a practice that can move between different forms of knowledge and mediums. TPL: On days when you step away from the camera, what are you getting lost in, and is it ever really a break from thinking visually? EMMA: When I step away from the camera, I’m usually drawn to literature, theatre, and being in nature. Those things help me reset, but they also continue to feed the way I think visually. I don’t really experience them as a full break from making images, because I’m still observing composition, atmosphere, materiality, and how a space or a story produces a feeling. Hiking, especially, gives me a kind of visual and mental openness that often leads back into the work in unexpected ways. So even when I’m not actively photographing, I’m still thinking through images - just in a different form. 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.

THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. October 19, 2025 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Kat Puchowska INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE The question of visibility, understood as whose lives are acknowledged and by what visual means, lies at the center of Kat Puchowska’s long-term project Morocco: The Rhythm of the Street. Between 2017 and 2024, Kat undertook repeated journeys across the country, moving through the winding souks of Fes, the hilltop terraces of Chefchaouen, the alleyways of Meknès, and the smaller villages of the Middle Atlas. Over these seven years, she has built an extensive archive of photographs that draw attention away from the language of state-led progress and toward the modest yet vital rhythms of survival and creativity that sustained daily life in Morocco during this period. Living between cultures, dividing her time between Spain and the United Kingdom after growing up in Poland, Kat brings a sensitivity to questions of belonging and identity that shapes how she approaches these spaces. Her perspective has also been shaped by years of travel to more than forty countries, experiences that sharpen her awareness of both the uniqueness of place and the quiet continuities that connect people across borders. For Kat, photography begins with an ethic of respect, a commitment to observing without intrusion and to letting daily life speak for itself. She works only with natural light and avoids staging or interference, positioning herself instead as a patient witness. The images she creates are the result of immersion and a careful negotiation between distance and intimacy. They emphasize process over performance, allowing labor to be seen not as a statistic or abstraction but as a lived reality embedded in social and cultural space. The photographs themselves operate at several registers. At one level, they document markets, alleyways, workshops, and gestures, the physical and social infrastructures of the informal economy. At another, they function as studies of cultural identity, tracing how clothing, architecture, and everyday interaction articulate Morocco’s layered histories. Kat’s own experience of navigating life across multiple cultural contexts, combined with her extensive travel, lends her work a particular attentiveness to these intersections, sharpening her awareness of how place and identity continually shape one another. Each photograph holds both the specificity of place and the broader universality of human endurance. Rather than isolated impressions, they accumulate into a composite record that is at once cultural and economic, showing how Morocco’s diverse histories are inscribed in everyday gestures while also revealing the dependence of entire communities on forms of labor that remain unacknowledged in official accounts of progress. Kat unsettles conventional economic storytelling. Her photographs invite us to think critically about how modernization is narrated, and whose labor is excluded from its metrics. What emerges is an argument for photography as a mode of counter-history, one that challenges dominant frameworks of visibility and insists on the importance of lived experience. As The Rhythm of the Street unfolds, the work reveals itself as one shaped by patience, empathy, and a deep respect for the lives it portrays. Kat’s Morocco is not a place of stereotypes or display, but of small gestures that carry weight: the rhythm of a market, the pause of rest in the shade, the quiet dignity of work done day after day. What follows is a conversation with Kat Puchowska about her project, her journey as a photographer, and the values that continue to shape her way of seeing. “Travelling abroad opened my eyes to the diversity of human life — the differences and similarities between cultures fascinated me. Learning languages and spending time in other countries made me want to tell people’s stories, to share experiences that might otherwise go unnoticed. Those early journeys shaped my approach: observing, listening, and capturing moments that reveal both individuality and shared humanity.” IN CONVERSATION WITH KAT PUCHOWSKA TPL: How did you first come to photography, and what role did it play in your life before it became a central pursuit? When you look back now, does that early period feel connected to the work you’re making today, or does it feel like a different chapter? KAT: I started photographing when I was 14. I loved capturing people. That early curiosity quickly grew into a deeper passion, and I decided to study photography at college and then at university. Over time, my focus gradually shifted from fashion to culture and documentary portraiture, but that initial fascination with composition, colour, and capturing personality still informs how I see the world today. TPL: Morocco has held your attention for seven years. What is it about this country that continues to draw you back? Do you feel your relationship with Morocco has changed as the project has unfolded? KAT: Morocco is endlessly rich in life and detail. Its streets, markets, and villages are full of people living at their own pace, negotiating daily life with resilience, creativity, and generosity. Over the years, my relationship with Morocco has deepened. What started as curiosity became familiar to me, and now returning feels like entering a rhythm of life I know but never take for granted!! Every visit reveals new gestures, exchanges, and moments that remind me why I keep photographing there. TPL: Was there a particular image or moment that crystallized what Morocco: The Rhythm of the Street is truly about for you? How did that moment influence the way you photographed afterwards? KAT: In Azrou, at a village market, I watched farmers, merchants, and neighbours trading and chatting - a space that embodies both daily life and the local economy. That day, I wanted to buy pomegranates, but the seller didn’t have change for my large notes. A woman who was standing close by bought them for me and wouldn’t accept my money. Even without speaking the same language, we shared a smile and a beautiful moment of connection. Experiences like this happened often in Morocco, and at first, I couldn’t understand how people who live more modestly than I do could be so generous and kind. Moments like these crystallise the project for me: dignity in everyday work, the warmth of community, and the beauty in small gestures. TPL: Street photography is often fast and opportunistic, yet your approach is slow and immersive. Was this a deliberate decision, or something that evolved naturally? KAT: It evolved naturally. I tried working quickly at first, but I realised my best images came when I slowed down, observed, and waited. I pay attention to details others might overlook - a glance, a gesture, a fleeting exchange. For me, photography isn’t about chasing moments; it’s about settling into a space until it reveals itself. I can say my style reflects who I am: patient, curious, sometimes shy, and interested in quiet truth rather than spectacle. TPL: How do you decide when to remain a silent observer and when to step into conversation or connection with those you photograph? Has engaging with people ever transformed the image you ended up making? KAT: I try to be sensitive and humble, aware of the space I enter. Often, simply observing is enough, but sometimes a smile, a few words, or a shared gesture builds trust and opens up moments I couldn’t capture otherwise. Engaging with people has occasionally changed what I photographed, revealing subtle emotions or interactions I might have missed. It’s a balance between respect, curiosity, and attentiveness. For me, photography isn’t about chasing moments; it’s about settling into a space until it reveals itself. TPL: Growing up in Poland and now living between Spain and the United Kingdom, and travelling to more than forty countries, how has this breadth of movement influenced your way of seeing, and what remains constant in the way you approach new places? KAT: Living and travelling across cultures has made me attentive to both difference and continuity. I notice the gestures, habits, and environments that are unique, but also the threads that connect people everywhere. What remains constant in my approach is respect and curiosity: observing without judgement, and giving people space to exist naturally, while still being present enough to notice the small details that make a story. TPL: How do you negotiate the balance between being an “outsider” and building a deeper connection with the communities you photograph? Do you see being an outsider as a limitation, or does it sometimes give you a perspective that locals might overlook? KAT: I see being an outsider as both a challenge and a gift. I can’t fully experience a place as someone who belongs there does, but I often notice details others take for granted. I approach communities with humility, openness, and respect. Building connection doesn’t mean pretending to belong; it means listening, observing, and trying to see the world through their eyes, while letting people remain themselves.🙂 TPL: Looking ahead, what do you hope your work will leave behind — for the people you photograph, for audiences, and for yourself? Do you imagine your photographs as part of a personal archive, a public record, or something more fluid that changes meaning over time? KAT: I hope my photographs give visibility and dignity to the people I document, celebrating the quiet strength of everyday life. For audiences, I want to inspire curiosity - to pause, look closer, and see the extraordinary in ordinary moments. In a world dominated by phones and distraction, where we often stay in our own bubbles, I hope my images encourage reconnection with others. I also encourage mindful travel: learning about other cultures, engaging with local customs, and seeking understanding. For myself, the work is a personal archive and a record of cultures in motion. By slowing down and noticing, I capture the intimate moments that bring these stories to life. TPL: Is there another place or project already forming in your mind, and where might your travels take you next? If we were to meet you three years from now, where do you imagine your camera will have taken you? KAT: Yes! I’m currently working on a project in Central Asia, focusing on Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. I’m fascinated by how traditions and daily routines unfold against dramatic, often harsh landscapes, and how communities adapt to scarcity, isolation, and change. In three years, I imagine I’ll still be immersed in this work, documenting the resilience, rituals, and quiet dignity of people whose lives are often overlooked in global narratives. At the same time, I remain open to new opportunities; sometimes projects find me, and I follow them wherever they lead. TPL: Every photographer’s bag says something about how they move through the world. If we were to look inside yours, what would we find — both in terms of tools and the small things you can’t leave behind? And is there anything still on your wishlist that you’re hoping to add one day? KAT: In my bag, you’d find my Nikon 750 with a 24–120mm for versatility, a 50mm for everyday moments, and an 85mm for portraits. I carry a notebook, translation apps or guides, and sweets for children, who often want my attention while I work. In the future, I’d love a telephoto lens and to expand into short films, capturing the flow and small gestures of everyday life in both still and moving images. TPL: When you are not photographing or travelling, what else might we find you doing? KAT: You’d probably find me walking in nature, spending time with loved ones, or simply sitting outside and watching people pass by. I’m always planning my next trips and keeping up with world news. I also love learning new languages; hopefully, one day I can master Arabic. I often go to live music concerts, which often inspire me. These moments recharge me and remind me why I’m drawn to photographing the world! - Please remember to be kind to other people 😊 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 GHOST BUSTERS February 12, 2021 PICTORIAL STORY Photographs by Mary Crnkovic Pilas Story by Karin Svadlenak Gomez SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link From Sydney to the vibrant culture of Zagreb, Croatia, Mary Crnkovic Pilas has long been inspired by the beauty of photography. Based in Zagreb since 1992, this street and documentary photographer is most renowned for her stunning black and white images. But for this special feature, Mary shares something a little different, a unique insight into the Croatian carnival tradition of bell ringers through her vivid and colourful photography. During the January carnival period, villagers shod in heavy boots, shaggy costumes and rather "unconventional" hats march through the countryside of Kastav and coastal Rijeka in Northern Croatia: the bell ringers (Zvončari in Croatian). They are an awesome lot to behold, and they make a lot of noise! Imagine heavy brass bells for "tails" or around your waist, jumping around and shouting at full volume - well, you can imagine that this would wake you up - or, as the case may be, chase away the ghosts of winter. This tradition is considered an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. The custom dates to Slavic pagan days and remains a cherished tradition in this region. The primary task of bell ringers is to scare away the evil winter spirits and to invite in a new spring. Bell ringer groups usually consist of 10 to 20 members but can be much larger on weekends and festive days. The costumes vary from region to region. In the Rijeka area, the standard costume includes white trousers, a striped shirt, and a sheepskin throw. Bell ringers from the western Kastav region wear hats covered with paper flowers instead of animal masks. Yet others are covered in a floor length covering of colourful paper ribbons. Only the Halubian bellringers wear large "wild thing" masks instead of hats. This was previously the most common form of head covering for bellringer groups, but during the Italian occupation they were prohibited. Regardless of the costume variant, all of them carry brass bells, but they may ring them differently. Their route through the villages of their area can sometimes be up to twenty kilometres long. Some of these groups move around in a procession from village to village in a swaggering motion and bump each other's hips while moving, a very strenuous way of moving forward, requiring some level of skill and strength. Others run fast from house to house jumping and making their costumes jiggle. Costumes vary widely from village to village, with extraordinary headgear and shaggy fur, or flowing paper ribbons. What they usually have in common is either one large bell or belts of bells around their waist. As a highlight of their visit to each village, ringers arrive in the centre, where they begin forming a circle and bounce around, ringing fiercely. After that they are usually approached by the residents of the village and offered some refreshments, before moving on to the next village. The processions culminate on Shrove Monday and Tuesday, marking the end of carnival season and the beginning of Lent. On the last day of the carnival period a puppet called Pust is "put on trial" for all misdeeds on the past year. The unfortunate puppet is then sentenced to death by fire or hanging. Music and dance often accompany the festivities. The wearing of masks, with which humans celebrate fertility rites, drive away evil spirits and mark the passage of winter into spring is a fixture of many civilizations and can be found in all parts of the world. The social significance is the relationship and cohesion of villages in which the ritual takes place, showing mutual support for each other. The custom also involves the preparation of special meals, and the maintenance of ancient handcrafts, such as making mask and bells. Elements of folk theatre and differences in ethnicity are reflected in the varying costumes. © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas © Mary Crnkovic Pilas This custom is being kept alive by local communities, who attach great meaning to it. Young and old alike value the tradition, and the young learn bell ringing skills from older bellringers. So now you know, where the wild things are; in Croatia... view Mary's portfolio Read an interview with Mary >>> Read the story "BROKEN HEART" by Mary >>> Website >>> Instagram >>> Sources used in story - Video | bell ringer procession Matulji Region Page about the bell-ringers festival UNESCO page about the intangible cultural heritage of Croatian bell ringing Wikipedia | Zvončari 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.

I am a Swedish photographer based in Stockholm. Street photography, for me, is an art of observation and a photographic statement about the human condition. Out on the streets I look for the moments that can be extraordinary, humorous or absurd in the every day life. In my profession, I have been a press photographer for Swedish newspapers and magazines for more than 40 years, which also has been an advantage for me as a street photographer. LASSE PERSSON I am a Swedish photographer based in Stockholm. Street photography, for me, is an art of observation and a photographic statement about the human condition. Out on the streets I look for the moments that can be extraordinary, humorous or absurd in the every day life. In my profession, I have been a press photographer for Swedish newspapers and magazines for more than 40 years, which also has been an advantage for me as a street photographer. LOCATION Stockholm SWEDEN CAMERA/S Nikon D3500 @LASSE_PERSSON_SWEDEN FEATURES // Candid Observations

REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE Camille J. Wheeler is a photographer from Texas, who documents Austin's streets, with a particular focus on its homeless community. REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE February 26, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Camille J. Wheeler INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Camille J. Wheeler is originally from farm country in the South Plains of Texas. It was her mother, a teacher in journalism and English, who taught her the tools of writing and editing. It was only later, after having been a reporter, feature writer and page designer, among other editorial tasks in the newspaper industry, that Camille fell in love with photography. Now living in Austin, Texas, Camille started traversing the city with a camera, finding her path forward as a photojournalist, often documenting the homeless, but also more generally life in the streets. Her photography is always respectful, and she engages directly with her photographic subjects, often creating long term relationships and documenting the people she meets over time. “My path to the homeless community began by observing the segregated populations in Austin — people who are segregated by disability/non-disability, people who are segregated by race, and people who are segregated by economic and housing status. The highest compliment I have received from members of the homeless community is that I represent the people.” IN CONVERSATION WITH CAMILLE J. WHEELER THE PICTORIAL LIST: Camille please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography and in photojournalism? CAMILLE J. WHEELER: I was born in Lubbock, on the South Plains of Texas, where I grew up in a farming and ranching family. My mother was my high school English and journalism teacher at the tiny country school I attended, and she gave me the tools I needed for my future as a writer and an editor. I worked for 21 years in the newspaper industry, including with the Austin American-Statesman, but I never picked up a camera on the job. I wore many hats, including that of reporter, feature writer, page designer, and assigning/project editor, and I spent countless hours in the photo lab looking through a loop and selecting images for stories. I loved hanging out with photographers — I just didn’t know that I was one myself. I have lived in Austin for nearly three decades now. My background here also includes an associate editor tenure with a magazine, where I continued to build relationships with photographers and occasionally held a camera myself. In April 2014, I borrowed a camera to document a mixed-ability dance performance in downtown Austin in which my spouse, Donna, participated. It was a thrilling experience, and on that day, I realized I was a photographer. I bought my own camera and started traversing the city, finding my path forward as a photojournalist and connecting the most with those who experience discrimination and who don’t fit into the conventional norms of society. TPL: You report a lot about the homeless community in Austin. How did this come about? What drives you? CJW: My path to the homeless community began by observing the segregated populations in Austin — people who are segregated by disability/non-disability, people who are segregated by race, and people who are segregated by economic and housing status. In 2014, I started photographing the world of mixed-ability dance — improvisational work that empowers people of all abilities to embrace dancing in their own unique way. I also began documenting Black Lives Matter protests and exploring the historic African-American and Latino neighborhoods of East Austin. Each new experience put me a step closer to the heart of the homeless population, in downtown Austin. In February 2016, I took my first portraits of people in this community. I began interviewing and reporting, gathering threads of stories. Conversations came without filters. I found that incredibly refreshing. When people realized I meant what I said, that I wanted to sit and listen, they opened up and started talking. So what drives me, even more so now, is this unbridled desire to tell the stories of the beautiful and complicated souls I meet on the streets. And doing so with the combined tools of my camera, notepad, and voice recorder? That’s pure magic. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? CJW: I draw inspiration from so many photographers and artists. To name two, I greatly admire portrait photographer Robert Bergman, who shoots with available light, and Khalik Allah, a New York–based photographer and filmmaker who shoots film at night in Harlem, also utilizing the light already present. My favorite artist is James Turrell: a revolutionary light installation artist whose work is light, interacting with individuals in precisely made spaces that isolate the light and allow people to form relationships with it as a physical presence. TPL: What happens when you go out with your camera? Do people respond positively to you, or do you sometimes get negative reactions? If yes, how do you handle it? CJW: I normally am shy. But when I gather my photo gear and head downtown, I become transformed. People on Sixth Street tell me I constantly smile. That I exude good energy. I sometimes find this hard to believe, knowing that I can brood and circle the drain with the best of them, but I enjoy wonderful interactions on almost every outing. Because I smile so much, people smile back. Because I’ve gotten to know so many people, I often find myself surrounded by folks who just want to talk and catch up. From the start, I vowed to document people with dignity and respect - to avoid stealth shooting. To be transparent. I think people know this about me and respect me. It’s funny. Every so often, I feel the urge to honor classic street photography - to take candid shots in the tradition of such greats as Vivian Maier, Helen Levitt, and Garry Winogrand. But almost every time I try, I fail. I’ll see a fascinating character on the other side of the street and say dang it, I have to go meet this person. And so it goes. The highest compliment I have received from members of the homeless community is that I represent the people. For sure, I have had negative reactions, and I have been scared on a few occasions. If someone gets upset with me, I try to quickly read the situation. Often, that means simply walking away, which I have learned is a form of respect. People have a right to their privacy and their space. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? CJW: I rarely have a concept of what I want to shoot other than I want to capture someone’s essence. My photos are determined by my interactions, which is an unpredictable strategy, to say the least. But for me, it works. When I meet someone, or reconnect with someone, the process starts naturally with conversation. Then, as we grow comfortable with each other, and with permission, I start taking photos, sometimes moving in so close that the lens is maybe one or two inches from the person’s eyes. This requires great trust, from both of us. Conversations came without filters. I found that incredibly refreshing. When people realized I meant what I said, that I wanted to sit and listen, they opened up and started talking. 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? CJW: For about two years now, I’ve shot with a Fuji X-T3 and a 23mm f1.4 lens, which seems to be near perfect for street photography. It’s a super sharp lens that’s just wide enough to capture extra background and context. I used to shoot exclusively with a Sony 50mm lens, and I’m thinking of adding the Fuji equivalent to my bag. It’s how I learned to shoot street portraits — it forced me to get physically close to people. I occasionally shoot with a zoom lens, but I prefer fixed lenses for portrait work. TPL: What are some of your goals as a photographer/photojournalist? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? CJW: In five years, I’d dearly love to be in the middle of a book project about the messy and authentic relationships I have built with people on the streets. Specifically, I am inspired by the work of the late documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark. She returned again and again to the same subjects, establishing trust and building intimate relationships with homeless youth in a project that ultimately produced Streetwise, a 1984 documentary film and a 1988 book by the same name. In that similar vein, I want to chronicle people as I have known them through the years, documenting the chapters of their lives. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? CJW: Upon invitation, I recently submitted hundreds of my images of the homeless population to the Austin History Center for the creation of a photographs catalog. I am honored to be working with the AHC. It is deeply important to me to record the histories and the lives of those experiencing homelessness in Austin. I am excited about adding to this catalog and involving the members of the homeless community in the process. TPL: When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… CJW: I love all things outdoors - hiking, biking, and planning my next getaway to the Big Bend region in far West Texas. I love wildlife and nature, and that, of course, involves photography! I also love music and indie films and poring over the collection of art and photography books that Donna and I continue to stack up to impossibly tall heights in our small home. 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.

DIFFERENT TANGENTS Jennie Blythe is a photographer passionate about travel and about observing life. To her, curiosity and no judgement is the key. DIFFERENT TANGENTS September 21, 2020 INTERVIEW Photography by Jennie Blythe Interview by Karin Svadlenak Gomez Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Jennie Blythe is a photographer passionate about travel and about observing life, wherever that may be and in whichever photographic genre it happens to be. She doesn't like to categorise herself to just one style or genre as she describes this would limit her photography that she wants to make. Such a beautiful depth of emotion and strength is evoked through through her photography. To Jennie, curiosity is the key and making sure that the eye through the lens never judges. “Photography is as strong an interest as travel now: it really resonates with me. You get to visually explore your surroundings wherever you are, it's creative and it's technical. It's also anthropology - being curious about people really helps, and the lens never judges.” IN CONVERSATION WITH JENNIE BLYTHE THE PICTORIAL LIST: Jennie please tell us about yourself. When did you start getting interested in photography? JB: I went on a fantastic trip to Cambodia in 2002 and, when I returned, I was rather disappointed with the photos from my point and shoot film camera - so I got my first SLR and went on a developing course. My interest lapsed over the years, partly due to the cost of analogue photography but then a couple of years ago I started travelling more frequently again and really wanted to record these travels photographically. This segued into other styles of photography, too, such as documentary, street and portrait. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration? JB: Almost anywhere. Before lockdown, I didn't think I was inspired by street photography. I did it because it's accessible, because I have a wide group of peers and because it sharpens your reflexes. Lockdown showed me how much I take from the genre and how much I enjoy it. Dylan Thomas once wrote that, "My mind jumps from thought to thought like a wombat", and mine's like that (though without his genius or way with words). In the past I have been inspired by novels, by cookbooks, by Instagram. In terms of documentary work, I'm influenced by social affairs as I see them. I'm keen to do projects on the elderly, on race and immigration, on the social aftermath of war. I've started researching Ebola and am becoming more deeply engaged with environmental issues. My mind flies off on tangents and dives deeply into them. I like that about myself, and photography supports it. TPL: Is there anything you want to express through your photography? And what are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? JB: A photograph has to be interesting in some way, even if just to me. My interests are very varied and my photography reflects that; I don't like to stick to one genre slavishly. But overall I find people and humanity fascinating. While there are always 'bad apples' in every society, I truly believe that most people are good-hearted and want the same things in life: health, wealth, the best for their children. I'm lucky to have travelled widely and to have experienced the warmth and hospitality of all sorts of races, religions and nations. TPL: Has your style of photography changed since you first started? JB: Yes! I am a much better photographer now. In part this is due to different equipment - the right lenses can make such a huge difference to the pictures you make. And you learn by experience. I also like to explore different media. Sometimes I shoot with film, or mess around with 'film soup' (soaking exposed film in a variety of substances before developing). The results then influence the way I take other shots. TPL: Where is your favourite place(s) to photograph? JB: In London, I love shooting in Camden or Brixton. Around the world, Jerusalem and Bethlehem were amazing to make photographs in, as was Uzbekistan. I love exploring the Balkan states, too, and South-East Asia is a joy, especially Myanmar. But if you can't find something to occupy and entertain in every location you go to, you're probably not doing it right! My mind flies off on tangents and dives deeply into them. I like that about myself, and photography supports it. TPL: How does the equipment you use help you in achieving your vision in your photography? Do you have a preferred lens/focal length? What would you say to someone wanting to start out in your genre of photography? JB: It does make a big difference. Buying my first specialist lens was a revelation (a 'nifty 50'), in terms of the results that I got. For digital photography, I usually use a Fuji XT-3. It's a great camera for street photography, and quite light and weather sealed for travelling around. My go-to lens is a Fuji 18-135mm. Though the images are slightly less sharp than when using a prime, it offers me a huge amount of flexibility when travelling. I don't want to carry around and change a huge number of lenses. For portrait photography I prefer my old Canon 600D. I have a gorgeous 85mm lens that creates beautiful shots. But in my opinion, no amount of equipment can make you a cracking photographer. A well composed image is a well composed image, whether or not you have the latest gear. I know lots of photographers who are technically excellent, real gear heads - but their shots are a bit dull. So my advice would be just get out there and worry less about being technically perfect. Make the shots that make you smile. TPL: Do you prefer to shoot alone or with company? JB: It depends what mood I am in that day! On the whole though, I like to shoot with other people. Partly because I'm usually fairly sociable and partly because the rapport can create great results with your subjects. There is sometimes more trust from them - you are less of a lone weirdo taking photos on the street and more part of a project! TPL: Do you have any favourite artists you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? JB: There are a number of photographers, that I admire: Boogie, Tony Ray-Jones, Tim Walker, Don McCullin, Vivian Maier. I am a big fan of shooting on location with local photographic guides, too. They speak the language, know the terrain and the light, the people...I learnt a lot from visiting Romanian villages with Vlad Dumitrescu, and understanding how he engages with the local community. In Jerusalem I had a great day shooting with @simon_beni_ - he has a completely different style and my confidence in approaching people for shots really improved. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist? Where do you see yourself or hope to see yourself in five years? JB: I'd like to follow up on more of my documentary projects and see how my photography evolves. Eventually I can see myself working in situ more, in different regions and countries. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on? JB: I'm thinking about a number of projects at the moment, more from a documentary point of view. - The elderly in society, and how this changes with race - "Gypsies" - the last acceptable frontier of racism - The Yugoslavs - portraits of a former nation TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)... JB: Did I say that I like to travel?! I also like hanging out with my family, walking, cooking & eating, seeing friends, reading, googling random facts on the Internet." 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 THE YOKE OF AFGHAN WOMEN “Afghan women are like sleeping lions, when awoken, they can play a wonderful role in any social revolution.” - MEENA (1956-1987) March 8, 2023 PICTORIAL STORY photography PAOLA FERRAROTTI story PAOLA FERRAROTTI SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link On Tuesday, December 20, 2022, Afghan women had no idea that on that day what they had feared since the return of the Taliban to power on the August 15, 2021, would happen: the total expulsion of women from higher education. Female students who turned up for their university classes on the December 20, 2022, found that they were strictly forbidden to enter their university. An order of the Minister of Education had been issued and obliged public and private universities to ban women from entering with immediate effect. This ban on female students in universities completed the expulsion of women from educational opportunities. Earlier, in October 2022, the Taliban had already banned teenage girls from studying and closed their high schools. As I write, Afghan women from the age of 12, the approximate age of puberty, are deprived of their right to education with no hope that this will change in the short term. Following this ban "until further notice" on women's access to university in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan exile and non-Afghans, including public voices, activists and journalists launched a global call to raise their voices against this atrocity. Speaking out outside Afghanistan in defence of the women and girls who are victims of the Taliban regime is essential to draw attention to what is happening. Being the voice of the oppressed women inside the country who tirelessly continue their underground struggle is an obligation for all those who wish and fight for a world where peace, justice, equality and freedom prevail. From a family with a four-generation history of active political participation in my home country and my maternal grandmother being one of the first two female councillors in my hometown, I grew up in a household where political and social issues were part of everyday life. Being part of a society, I strongly believe that we must be committed to it and, at a higher level, being part of humanity, what happens somewhere in the world should always concern us. When peace, justice, freedom, equality are threatened somewhere, however remote, we must speak out loud. Fighting for and defending human rights and, in particular, women's rights, involves showing indignation when they are threatened or violated and raising our voices. We have an obligation as human beings not to close our eyes to unjust situations that affect individual human beings. The feeling of compassion in the face of the suffering of others makes us turn the suffering of others into our own suffering and the consequence of this is to commit ourselves, as far as possible, to changing this situation. On January 14, 2023, a global protest for the rights of Afghan women took place. 57 cities across 23 countries took to the streets in a global movement in defence of women's rights in Afghanistan. I took the photos presented here at the protest that took place on that day in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. On that day, the continuous rain that poured down on the city accompanying the people who had taken to the streets was the silent cry of Afghan women in the face of the unspeakable violence and discrimination they face on a daily basis. SIGNIFICANT ATTEMPTS TO LIBERATE WOMEN FROM THE YOKE OF PATRIARCHY IN AFGHAN HISTORY Afghanistan, with a population of almost 40 million, just under half of whom are women, has a history of achievements and setbacks in the struggle for women's rights. This is a country divided into numerous ethnicities and tribes, with an immense weight of patriarchal traditions that result in the silencing and isolation of women. Coupled with the lack of education, especially in rural areas where most Afghans live, and the deeply conservative and rigorous practice of Islam, this has been the greatest obstacle to the advancement and recognition of women's rights. However, throughout history there have been attempts to achieve equality for women. In the 1920s, Soraya Tarzi, was a royal consort ahead of her time, a tireless fighter for women's rights. She was a pioneering woman of history, a true revolutionary and a progressive who, among many other achievements, championed women's education and more social rights in a country of ancestral customs and ultra-conservative morals. Together with her husband, King Amanullah, she had a grand vision for her country. The couple campaigned for girls' education, but also against compulsory veiling and polygamy. In 1921, the law of forced and child marriage was abolished, and restrictions were placed on polygamy, a common practice in Afghanistan at the time. Queen Soraya opened the first primary school for girls in Kabul in 1921, as well as the first women's hospital in 1924. The first women's magazine called Women's Guide was founded, as well as the women's organisation Anjuman-i Himayat-i-Niswan , which promoted women's welfare and had an office where women could report abuse by their husbands, brothers and fathers. In 1926, at the celebration of Afghan Independence Day, Queen Soraya went so far as to say publicly: “Do you think, however, that our nation from the outset needs only men to serve it? Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of our nation and Islam. From their examples we must learn that we must all contribute toward the development of our nation and that this cannot be done without being equipped with knowledge. So, we should all attempt to acquire as much knowledge as possible, in order that we may render our services to society in the manner of the women of early Islam”. However, modernisation efforts through the implementation of social and cultural reforms in a relatively short period of time clashed with the traditional and conservative society. Conservative groups in the country considered the reforms to be contrary to Afghanistan's religious and traditional customs. And so, in 1928, after a European tour in which the kings sought references to promote social and cultural reforms in their country, they were confronted with a visceral reaction in the most conservative sectors of the country, who had long been watching the new ideas as a flagrant betrayal of culture, religion and women's honour . Eventually the king and queen were forced to abdicate in the face of impending civil war, and with it came a global rollback of the rights that women had been winning. After a few years of instability, Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, came to power. Between 1933 and 1973 he launched a big campaign to modernise the country. In 1964, he pushed through a new constitution that set the parameters of a modern democracy. Gradually, women gained certain freedoms. The wearing of the veil was liberalised. Women's right to vote was established. At the same time, women were allowed access to schools and universities and to virtually all jobs. Several women even won cabinet posts. Zahir Shah also founded Kabul University and sought to modernise the country's infrastructure. However, the country was, at its core, divided. The transformation of the cities had not reached deep into Afghanistan and tribal disputes were becoming more pronounced. And once again the modernisation of the country came under scrutiny from conservatives, who continued their attacks on women's participation in the social and political sphere. In 1973, a military coup overthrew the monarchy and installed the Republic of Afghanistan, and five years later, in 1978, the communist-inspired Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was established. In 1979, in support of the communist government, the Soviet Union invaded the country, leading to a civil war between the pro-Soviet government and Islamist guerrillas. From 1973 onwards, the Modernisation Project of successive governments, which sought to portray a forward-looking image, allowed for an apparent increase in women's rights. But this increase was focused on the big cities, while the villages continued to be governed by tribal practices. It is important to note that the interpretations of Islam - represented by the struggle between conservatives and reformists, which intensified during the Soviet invasion, also highlighted the deep growing divisions within Islam in the country and their visions of women's roles. In this context, in 1977, Meena Keshwar Kama, a young social activist, who had been involved in organising and educating women from an early age, launched the country's first movement for women's rights. She founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan , RAWA. This organisation aimed to give a voice to the dispossessed and silenced women. Its goals: the restoration of democracy, equality for men and women, social justice, and the separation of religion from the affairs of the state. In 1979, Meena launched a campaign against the Russian forces and their regime, and organised numerous processions and meetings to mobilise public opinion. In 1981, she launched the feminist magazine Payam-e-Zan ( Woman's Message ) that constantly exposed the criminal nature of fundamentalist groups. Her active social work and effective advocacy against the views of the fundamentalists and the regime provoked the wrath of the Russians and the fundamentalist forces alike and she was assassinated in 1987. But Meena had already planted the seeds of an Afghan women's rights movement based on the power of knowledge. Today, her firm conviction lives on with RAWA that, despite the darkness of illiteracy, the ignorance of fundamentalism, and corruption, eventually half of the population will wake up and cross the road to freedom, democracy and women's rights. THE FIRST ISLAMIC EMIRATE AND THE COMPLETE LOSS OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group, has been at the centre of the Central Asian nation's recent history since its formation in 1994, in an unstable context following the Soviet Union's invasion. At the time, Afghanistan had just emerged from the 1979-1989 Soviet invasion and was fragmented among several warlords fighting each other for influence. The Taliban came from several mujahideen, a series of warlords with a strong religious character who fought vehemently against the Soviets and managed to gain a foothold in this nation in a short period of time thanks to their promise to end corruption and their orthodoxy with Islam. Their power grew so much and so fast that on September 26, 1996, they took Kabul, the capital, creating for the first time the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, a theocratic regime that soon gained international attention for its methods of repression and rule over those Afghans who refused to follow the imposed dogmas. The severe punishments, ranging from whippings to amputations to collective stoning, and the treatment of Afghan women, who were completely subjugated and lost almost all their rights, provoked a strong international condemnation. Islamic fundamentalists imposed Sharia law, imposing a reign of terror, with countless human rights violations, especially against women. Women were placed under de facto house arrest. They were forbidden to work, could not associate with men other than their husbands or fathers and could not be seen in public. They had to go out in a full burqa, and always with a man. They were also forbidden to study or work and were even forbidden to be examined by a doctor. Women even had to tint the windows of their homes so that they could not be seen from the outside. The Taliban also imposed severe punishments on all women who broke any of the rules to which they were subjected. Thus, those who were found guilty of adultery were stoned, those who wore painted nails lost their fingers and those who showed interest in studying were beaten. Despite the risks, many women in Kabul and elsewhere protested. Many set up secret girls' schools or secret literary circles. Risking beatings and worse, many brave women continued the struggle for equality by educating girls. However, many activists, fearing assassination and violence, had to leave the country and continue their activism in neighbouring countries. Those who decided to stay confronted the Taliban and there are accounts of clashes with the vice and virtue police, with women carrying copies of the Koran and asking the Taliban to show them where the verse forbidding women to leave the house or instructing them to wear the burqa was. In short, the reign of terror imposed by the first Taliban government totally marginalised women but could not keep them all completely silent. After the attacks in New York and Washington by Taliban-backed Al-Qaeda militants in September 2001, Afghanistan was again invaded, this time by NATO, led by US and British forces in the so-called 'Operation Enduring Freedom', as part of the US government's war on terror . The objectives of this operation were to capture Osama bin Laden, destroy the terrorist group Al-Qaeda and overthrow the Taliban regime. On women's rights, this led to an improvement. The 2004 constitution made it mandatory to reserve more than 20% of seats in parliament for women, a law banning violence against women was established in 2009, and in the following years many of the fundamentalist impositions of the dark years of 1996-2001 were lifted, especially in the big cities. However, while laws are important, the Afghan reality is complex, and while the impositions of the years of terror were removed from the big cities, the social reality in areas far from the big cities remained the same as in years past. The US-led intervention removed political and legal barriers for women and allowed them to return to public spaces, but changing cultural norms across the country is a longer process that requires a grassroots movement. The Afghan society is made up of a set of ethnic groups that are very traditionalist, conservative and deeply rigorous in terms of the practice of Islam. Two decades were not enough to wipe out the Taliban, and Islamic fundamentalists continued to control parts of Afghanistan. Finally, in August 2021, with the end of the international military presence, the Taliban returned to power. THE RETURN OF THE TALIBAN Now that the Taliban have returned to power, the years of women's access to standard human rights are gone, again. Since the August 15, 2021, the day the Taliban entered Kabul and took control of the country, violations of women's human rights have continued to increase. Despite initially promising that women would be able to exercise their rights within the confines of Sharia, Islamic law - which includes the right to work and study - the Taliban have systematically excluded women from public life. Women and girls have been ordered to stop using parks, gyms and public toilets. They have been banned from education and workplaces and further restricted in their freedom of movement. In addition, all local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been ordered to prevent their female employees from coming to work, leading many aid agencies to suspend their operations, unable to reach many needy families without the support of female staff. © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti © Paola Ferrarotti It is uncertain what the Taliban regime will do next. Afghan women affected by Taliban bans on work and education fear for their future. A strong women's movement in Afghanistan operates underground and will not be silenced. Their resistance is heroic and historic. Their goal is to have their rights respected, to choose how they want to behave or dress. These brave Afghan women need, today more than ever, the unconditional support of the international community in their struggle. On this International Women's Day, our thoughts are with them, and with all women who struggle for equal treatment. Because women's rights are human rights. view Paola's portfolio Read Paola's story "German Voices Crying Out for Freedom" >>> 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. For a total list of sources - contact photographer. 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. 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What I see is what you get. MARIËTTE AERNOUDTS What I see is what you get. LOCATION Raamsdonksveer, NETHERLANDS CAMERA/S Canon 5D Mark III and Fuji X-T3 WEBSITE https://www.marietteaernoudts.nl @MARIETTEAERNOUDTS FEATURES // Breaks From Reality