I am a 30 year old music teacher, cook, street and documentary photographer from Valparaiso, Chile. Currently living in Istanbul, Turkey. Since finishing my music degree, I have started to travel throughout the world in order to gather as many experiences as possible. I have been on the go for more than four years and have lived and worked in countries such as Morocco, Sweden, and France among others. I approach photography with curiosity about life and my love of light. Travelling I learned to embrace light and shadow. I feel deeply the influence it has had on my way to seeing and approaching the world. In this series, Pamukkale, which means "cotton castle", is one of those highlights you cannot miss. For a day, those days were masks and restrictions were long forgotten. Covid-19, for me and those present there that day, Corona was merely a fragment of a bad dream. EDUARDO ORTIZ I am a 30 year old music teacher, cook, street and documentary photographer from Valparaiso, Chile. Currently living in Istanbul, Turkey. Since finishing my music degree, I have started to travel throughout the world in order to gather as many experiences as possible. I have been on the go for more than four years and have lived and worked in countries such as Morocco, Sweden, and France among others. I approach photography with curiosity about life and my love of light. Travelling I learned to embrace light and shadow. I feel deeply the influence it has had on my way to seeing and approaching the world. In this series, Pamukkale, which means "cotton castle", is one of those highlights you cannot miss. For a day, those days were masks and restrictions were long forgotten. Covid-19, for me and those present there that day, Corona was merely a fragment of a bad dream. LOCATION Valparaiso CHILE CAMERA/S Fujifilm x-pro 2 WEBSITE https://eortizdelacruz.com/ @EORTIZPHOTOGRAPHY FEATURES // A Curiosity of Life

THE URBAN RELATIONSHIP British photographer Tommaso Carrara focuses on the relationship between the human and the urban environment. THE URBAN RELATIONSHIP July 30, 2020 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Tommaso Carrara INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE London is a bustling city full of life and color, stories and secrets. But beneath the hustle and bustle, a different side of the city emerges for those lucky enough to capture it with the right lens. Tommaso Carrara is one such photographer who has captured the hidden beauty and emotion of London's streets through his ongoing project of capturing silhouettes of people in the cityscape. As a security engineer by day, Tommaso spends his free time exploring London, camera in hand, seeking to capture a meaningful and mysterious representation of the human figure within the urban environment. His images are a stunning celebration of the human form and London's unique beauty. Join us as we explore the world of Tommaso Carrara and gain insight into his ongoing project of capturing the relationship between people and their environment. Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. - Vince Lombardi “Not only I am a perfectionist at heart, but I am also a firm believer that, besides from exceptional cases, most of us have pretty much the same capabilities. As such, in order to succeed, it is up to us to find what our skills are, understand them and improve as we go along.” IN CONVERSATION WITH TOMMASO CARRARA THE PICTORIAL LIST: Tommaso, when did you start getting interested in photography? TOMMASO CARRARA: I have always liked beautiful photographs, but I have never been interested in 'making' photographs. Until December 2018 when, following the end of a relationship, I felt the need to investigate my inner thoughts and try to somehow explain what was going on. This is when I bought myself a proper camera and began self-learning about how to actually operate it. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration to photograph? TC: Most of the times I find my inspiration just by walking the streets, in search of it. Some other times, depending on my emotions, I may look at the surrounding with different eyes as well. Last but not least, masters of photography are also a very important starting point when it comes to inspiration. TPL: Is there anything you want to express through your photography? What are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? TC: I do not generally follow a specific pattern while shooting as I tend to freeze a moment/person/situation that inspires me. I believe that inspiration may come from a variety of elements such as light, shadow, mood, feelings that cross my path. Therefore there is no such thing as a scheme of elements that I always include in my photography. At the same time, I cannot really say what I want to express through my photography. Often I do not even know what I am trying to communicate myself in the first place, and I would prefer not to influence the viewer. What I really care about is knowing that the viewer comes up with their own interpretation, which I think is the ultimate meaning of any form of art. TPL: What is your process when you are out photographing the street? TC: Generally, when shooting the streets, I am open to pretty much everything that draws my attention. As such, I do follow a limited number of patterns, but amongst these are surely trying to be stealthy and work the scene and wait for the right situation to present itself. TPL: Do you prefer to photograph alone or with friends? TC: I prefer to photograph alone for mainly because I see photography as a very intimate moment which also requires concentration and the lack of distractions. TPL: What is your preferred lens/focal length? TC: My go-to lens is the Fujinon 35mm 1.4f (50mm in full-frame terms) as it allows me to shoot in low light situations and at the same time keep some distance from the subject. My passion for photography started as a way of investigating myself after a key moment of my life. TPL: Who are your favourite artists/photographers? TC: My favourite photographers are Henri Cartier-Bresson, Joel Meyerowitz, Saul Leiter and Vivian Maier. Saul Leiter probably being the one who most inspired my style. TPL: Has your style of photographing changed since you first started? TC: Indeed my style of photographing has changed since I first started, and I expect it to keep changing with time. For instance, I used to shoot a tad wider but I seem to like narrower now. Additionally, it is not only the focal length, but especially the way I compose the photo. Now I am a little more careful and strive to as much as I can in camera, without the need to work too much on post. TPL: Where is your favourite place to photograph? TC: The streets of big and busy cities. More specifically London, which is where I currently live. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? TC: My passion for photography started as a way of investigating myself after a key moment of my life. As this is not a source of income, I feel that I have the freedom to follow this path at my own pace. However, I do not exclude that photography may become for me a full-time commitment. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on? TC: I have been working on two projects currently "Rough Details" (a collection of my favourite photographs from urban environments across the world in the form of silhouettes) and "Looking out of the window" (photo-series aims at documenting the many different ways people immerse themselves in their thoughts during this very intimate moment) TPL: If I wasn't photographing what would I be doing?... TC: Probably spending more time typing on a computer. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection.

VOICES OF THE NILE Voices of the Nile by Bastien Massa and Arthur Larie is a project documenting the relationship of Ethiopians with the Blue Nile. VOICES OF THE NILE April 12, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Bastien Massa and Arthur Larie INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Voices of the Nile is a project aiming at raising awareness on the vital importance of the Nile ecosystem by the photographer duo Bastien Massa and Arthur Larie. The two have been doing joint photo projects for many years. Working photo journalistically, they have been traveling through Ethiopia, where they spent four months at the source of the Blue Nile to do a series about Ethiopians and their relation with water. “We left France four months ago and will still be travelling for another four months in the Sudan and in Egypt. In the Sudan, we want to focus on the practical impacts of seasonal flooding and the cultural perceptions of the population. We also want to realise a series about the communities who worship the Nile river and gather their stories. Environmental issues are also central to our work all along the Nile river.” IN CONVERSATION WITH BASTIEN MASSA & ARTHUR LARIE THE PICTORIAL LIST: Bastien and Arthur please tell us about yourselves. How did you both become interested in photography? BASTIEN MASSA & ARTHUR LARIE: We are two young French photographers (Bastien and Arthur) working on a project along the Nile River. We have previously spent four months in Ethiopia at the source of the Blue Nile and we now have just left for Sudan and then onto Egypt following the flow of the river. We come from two parts of France, Arthur is from Corsica and Bastien is from Paris. We both met during our time of studies in Aix-en-Provence. In our project, we try to embrace research, journalism, and photography. Photography is a medium to reach the diversity of humankind, it is an excuse to reach unknown worlds. Possibilities are infinite, you can spend time with fishing communities of the Nile in the Sudan and work with artist performers in Paris, these reasons might explain our interest in photography. TPL: You have shared with us a series you call A KIND OF BLUE NILE from Ethiopia. How did you come up with that title? Tell us a bit about what appears to be a kind of religious festival. BM & AL: We have spent four months in Bahir Dar at the source of the Blue Nile, one of the tributaries of the main Nile. At Khartoum, the White Nile coming from Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile coming from Lake Tana in Ethiopia merge to flow towards Sudan and Egypt. This title is a reference to the iconic jazz album from Miles Davis. In addition to the direct reference to water and the Blue Nile, for this album, Miles Davis gave little indication to his musicians, just a general idea, and asked them to improvise on it. We did - at our own level - the same, we had the Nile and water as a guiding thread, and if we had more information than Davis’ musicians, we still tried to improvise some variations around this theme. We wanted to do a series about Ethiopians and their relationship with water at the source of the Blue Nile. How it affects their practical life but also the cultural and spiritual dimension of water. At the end of January, in the city of Gondar (the north-eastern part of the country), Christian Orthodox people celebrate Timkat, which represents the epiphany and the baptism of Christ. In Gondar, around 500,000 pilgrims from all over the region gather inside Fasiladas bath, named after one of the 17th Abyssinian kings. There, a basin is filled with water for the ceremony and after a night of prayer, the pilgrims, mostly men, enter the bath to get blessed by the holy water. You can definitely see in the picture a special connection between Ethiopians and water. TPL: What do you want to express through your photography? What are some of the elements you always try to include in your photographs? BM & AL: When you start photography you want to capture everything, especially while travelling. But in a world of images, it is really important to focus on what kind of story you want to tell, how you can deliver a new vision of a subject that everybody knows. Thus we try to look for the margin, if you take the Blue Nile falls in Ethiopia it is hard to create something new, all tourists, photographers have already taken millions of pictures of this place. So we tried not to capture the falls and instead we decided to follow the people coming back from the market to their homes. We were walking with them on the banks of the river and we could see how they live, close to one of the most touristy places of Ethiopia. There are no particular elements that we try to include in our photographs, it is more about what you see and what you feel in a given moment. Sometimes you are on the move in the streets and you just have to stay aware of everything: lights, objects, colours, and people, because it goes so fast. But at some point you just experience a moment and have some time to find the perfect frame where you include all the elements you need, playing with lights and movements. TPL: How do people along the Nile react when you take their photo? Are they friendly about it? BM & AL: In Ethiopia, people have mixed reactions. Some are reluctant to have pictures taken of them and many will ask you for money. Cameras are not well accepted everywhere and we met some people asking "for what purpose". This is understandable regarding the fact that photography is held accountable for the past negative image of the country among the rest of the world. But this happens only when you take pictures without creating a connection. But you know, the reactions are as diverse as the people, some are shy, some are extrovert, some are suspicious, some are proud. And hopefully, we don’t all have the same reactions to a given situation. Another point is that, as our stories need time, we spend some with people before taking pictures of them. We don't arrive with our cameras out. You have to create a dialogue, explain why are you here, and establish trust. If you break the ice, how they perceive your camera will somehow change, which is once again totally understandable. TPL: Where do you both find your inspiration? Do you have a favorite place/s to photograph? BM & AL: Our environment is of course a huge source of inspiration, but this inspiration is almost instantaneous. So we may say that looking at other photographers' work and discussions with them accounts for a big part of our inspiration. We pay special attention to their composition and how they apprehend light and movement and their perception of their subjects. When you do photo reportage, the research part is also really important. Getting to know where you go, what the main challenges are and how other photographers have already talked about the topic you want to cover is important to create something different but still reliable. We love to take pictures in markets or city centres. In Ethiopia, most of the cities are evolving fast and those places are in translation. In Bahir Dar, the municipality decided to transfer the old shops and sellers to new buildings. This adaptation is photogenic. A market is not a place where everything is clean and organized. In those places, some physical concepts do not apply, like gravity. Stacks of fruits or goods are challenging those principles. And life is not aseptic: it's smelly, noisy, and crowded refusing a kind of uniformization. We also love decadent places: places with a glorious past, that were once state-of-the-art and are now neglected. Not abandoned, if we take the example of this old hotel in the northern part of the lake. It was a modern lakeside hotel, constructed under the socialist regime of the Derg. It has now lost this fancy aspect but you still can feel what its golden age was. Photography is a medium to reach the diversity of humankind. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? BM & AL: Both Joseph Kessel and Nicolas Bouvier have fed our desire to travel and report the stories of people. Then there are two photographers that we refer to when it comes to inspiration: Sebastiao Salgado and our friend Eduardo Soteras Jalil. Sebastiao Salgado succeeds in creating a new perception of the world's complexities especially when it comes to conflict, his work is at the borderline between art and journalism. Eduardo Soteras is a photojournalist covering the current war in Tigray, Ethiopia. We met him at the beginning of the conflict at a time when we were just starting out in photography. Since then we have been following his work, which has had a great influence on how we perceive photography. He plays with light and composition and makes you feel that he is always at the right place at the right time. TPL: Would you say you are documentary photographers? How do people react to you? BM & AL: We are trying, but in the meantime, photography is so vast that we want to experience other styles that would improve our perception when we do documentaries. We always ask ourselves if in documentary photography everything has to be natural, just capturing the moment, with no more intervention than the way you compose the image and we are learning every day. Reactions are different, and it depends on which communities you try to document. Usually, people are friendly when you go out with your camera, but still, we try to ask for permission when we can or form a relationship with the subject. When people have negative reactions we try to explain what we are doing, to show them the picture, explain who we are, just to make them more comfortable. Once, in India, we got hit by a group of women, so you also have to deal with these reactions. 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? BM & AL: We would say both. For some specific projects, when we know what we want to document, we try to get information. If we do a reportage on fishermen along the Nile, we need some information regarding their culture and we try to meet them several times to have a better understanding of what we want to shoot. But being prepared does not mean being hermetic to the unexpected. On the other hand, when we travel or just walk around with our camera we don’t plan what we will shoot but our mind is focused on the environment that surrounds us. 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? BM & AL: Our equipment was chosen by our project. We needed something practical and resistant to travel with for 8 months. We were going to countries where you face high temperatures in the Sudanese and Egyptian desert, and sometimes heavy rains in the Ethiopian highlands. It needed to be ‘tropicalised’, waterproof. We had to choose a quality camera but also did not want to look too professional or journalistic. We have a Lumix G-90, which offers a good compromise between photography and also video making. You can always choose better equipment, spend more money, improve your lens but this camera is a loyal ally. To compensate for some technical aspects you need to work on composition, light, timing, which is also really thrilling. We use a 12-35mm lens, many photographers prefer a fixed focal length, we agree with them except that there are situations where you can't just come closer or go further away for your ideal composition. There, the zoom is welcome. TPL: Are there any other special photo projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? What are some of your goals as a photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? BM & AL: Our current project depicts how people at the source of the Blue Nile are connected to water and the river. But our final goal is to render a broader picture of the people of the Nile (Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt). This work will be a comparison, a kind of tryptic, but also a way to connect people around a shared river in the context of regional tensions. We hope to exhibit our final work in those three countries and create dialogue through them. We were inspired by photojournalism and photo reportage. We love to tell stories through photographs. The idea is to use images as a complement to texts and stories. You first need a story, a context, and a caption. Images are there to illustrate this story, it does not replace it. Pictures can help to convey a message, through emotions and sensations. Our mission is achieved when someone remembers one story by remembering one specific picture. We hope to keep telling stories through pictures. TPL: "When we are not out photographing, we (like to)… BM & AL: Think about all the amazing reportages we could do. Every day we encounter people, ideas or situations and we are thinking we could spend one month just staying there and reporting their stories. We wish we could slow down the time in our fast societies, but we also know it is up to each of us to do something for it. Sometimes just be a spectator, we sit in the streets, take a traditional Ethiopian coffee and wait. Usually, people are curious and come to talk to us. As they penetrate your reality, they become the strangers and you are the landscape." PORTFOLIO YOUTUBE CHANNEL read more interviews >>> THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection.

I am a self-taught street and documentary photographer, passionate about capturing the beauty and stories of everyday life. During the weekdays, I work for a leading global e-commerce and tech corporation, but my weekends are devoted to expressing my creativity through photography. The uncertainty and spontaneity of street and documentary photography are what draw me most to these genres. Over the years, documenting people has given me invaluable opportunities to explore the unknown and embrace the diverse realities of human life. I also curate the popular Instagram handle Streets of Calcutta, which showcases the vibrant culture and stories of my city. For me, photography is not just a passion or hobby, it has become an obsession. It has helped me grow personally, allowing me to view life from different perspectives. I believe that even the most mundane scenes can be turned into compelling stories through clean and thoughtful composition. The process of creating street photography is especially exciting for me. There is no control over people’s reactions or who enters or exits the frame, instead I must anticipate and capture fleeting moments as they unfold. This practice has taught me resilience, patience and attentiveness to the small details of life. It has also shaped my perspective, making me more tolerant, empathetic and kind in nature. My work has received recognition both nationally and internationally. My photos have been published in renowned forums, won multiple awards and have been exhibited globally. A special highlight of my journey was when legendary street photographer Joel Meyerowitz praised one of my works, saying, “It is the kind of picture I felt I could live with.” AYANAVA SIL I am a self-taught street and documentary photographer, passionate about capturing the beauty and stories of everyday life. During the weekdays, I work for a leading global e-commerce and tech corporation, but my weekends are devoted to expressing my creativity through photography. The uncertainty and spontaneity of street and documentary photography are what draw me most to these genres. Over the years, documenting people has given me invaluable opportunities to explore the unknown and embrace the diverse realities of human life. I also curate the popular Instagram handle Streets of Calcutta, which showcases the vibrant culture and stories of my city. For me, photography is not just a passion or hobby, it has become an obsession. It has helped me grow personally, allowing me to view life from different perspectives. I believe that even the most mundane scenes can be turned into compelling stories through clean and thoughtful composition. The process of creating street photography is especially exciting for me. There is no control over people’s reactions or who enters or exits the frame, instead I must anticipate and capture fleeting moments as they unfold. This practice has taught me resilience, patience and attentiveness to the small details of life. It has also shaped my perspective, making me more tolerant, empathetic and kind in nature. My work has received recognition both nationally and internationally. My photos have been published in renowned forums, won multiple awards and have been exhibited globally. A special highlight of my journey was when legendary street photographer Joel Meyerowitz praised one of my works, saying, “It is the kind of picture I felt I could live with.” LOCATION Kolkata INDIA CAMERA/S Nikon D5100, Fujifilm XT-200 and One Plus 12 @AYANAVA3 FEATURES // Streets of Kolkata

I started street photography to keep memory of the feelings I had while I was walking alone in the street or travelling. But quickly I understood that the result was completely different of what I expected because I was creating something completely new that didn’t exists before. So the cause was not on the past but on the future, in what I’ll do with my feelings by shooting with my camera. So I continue… in my photographic practice, my interest is focused on capturing cinematic scenes and atmospheres. AURÉLIEN BOMY I started street photography to keep memory of the feelings I had while I was walking alone in the street or travelling. But quickly I understood that the result was completely different of what I expected because I was creating something completely new that didn’t exists before. So the cause was not on the past but on the future, in what I’ll do with my feelings by shooting with my camera. So I continue… in my photographic practice, my interest is focused on capturing cinematic scenes and atmospheres. LOCATION Nantes FRANCE CAMERA/S Fuji XT30 WEBSITE http://aurelienbomy-photographie.com/ @AURELIENBOMY FEATURES // The Art of Human Science The Crowd

MY VISUAL DIARY Using photography as his visual diary, Luca Strippoli conveys his emotional participation through the subject and composition in his photographs. MY VISUAL DIARY June 7, 2020 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Luca Strippoli INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Discover the captivating work of Luca Strippoli, an award-winning Italian street photographer whose passionate improvisations capture the emotion of his subjects and ignite the imagination. His stunning black and white photos embody a visual diary of his feelings, yet his remarkable talent transcends beyond the boundaries of monochrome imagery - his vivid, thought-provoking colour compositions evoke a sense of creativity, daring us to look beyond the literal and embrace the unexpected. Luca's remarkable talent challenges us to be bold and decisive with our camera shutter and to explore new, exciting perspectives. “I like to define myself a passionate improviser. Photography is, from my point of view, a kind of diary, I talk of myself through others.” IN CONVERSATION WITH LUCA STRIPPOLI THE PICTORIAL LIST: Luca, when did you start getting interested in photography? LUCA STRIPPOLI: I’ve studied graphics when I was younger and I have always been fascinated by art and images. TPL: Where do you find your inspiration? LS: Wandering in the streets, visiting a museum, listening to music…in my opinion inspiration can come from different situations...it can be an unusual light beam, a detail, an interesting backlight or trivially a street scene I must portray. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? LS: I try to take pictures my way, with all the limits. Photographing is like writing for a writer, you can use a typewriter, a word processor, a pencil…but what counts the most are the words. However, between my favorite photographers my beloved ones are Mario Giacomelli, for his landscapes and people; Elliott Erwitt, storyteller of meaningful little stories; Sebastiao Salgado, with his amazing frames and; finally Henri Cartier-Bresson, a photography aesthete. TPL: Has your style of shooting changed since you first started? LS: Absolutely. I’ve understood that photography was becoming more and more part of my life when I introduced people in my photos. I was then aware of my emotional participation in everything included in the composition of the picture. TPL: Where is your favourite place to shoot? LS: I like wandering without a destination. It’s the first symptom of a disease called photography…I stray in the city just to catch little stories, fragments of life that ordinary life gives to me. I don’t know the subjects but in that moment they become unconsciously my models. Photographing is like writing for a writer, you can use a typewriter, a word processor, a pencil…but what counts the most are the words. TPL: What characteristics do you think you need to become a 'good' photographer? What’s your tips or advice for someone in your genre? LS: The continuous bombing of photos we are getting used to on social media, without an adequate visual education that can provide the right tools to correctly evaluate an image, can now destabilize how we judge a shot. Therefore, to emerge now as a photographer has become even harder, but I like thinking there is still a place where talented people sooner or later will be valued and acknowledged for their work. TPL: Have you ever been involved in the arts before photography? LS: No TPL: Do you think equipment is important in achieving your vision in your photography? What would you say to someone just starting out? LS: The equipment I am using right now is the smartphone but in the past I have used several kinds of equipment. Nowadays, I need something to catch the moment immediately and here the smartphone comes into play because you always have it in your pocket...simple to use and fast to catch the best timing in a specific moment. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? LS: I have just started a project about photo composition, many photos balanced to create a singular one. TPL: "If I wasn't photographing what would I be doing?... LS: I would come back to paint." PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection.

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. 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. September 21, 2025 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Jay Hsu INTERVIEW Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE This interview offers an opportunity to explore the quiet power of diptychs through the work of Taiwanese photographer and educator Jay Hsu. Known for his poetic and contemplative approach to photography, Jay has developed a distinctive voice that reveals itself in the thoughtful pairing of images. His diptychs do not simply mirror or contrast, they create a dialogue. The elements within each frame take on life and meaning, working together to form a complex narrative. Beyond the surface, deeper themes of ideology, emotion, and memory emerge, enriching the story told by the images. Through careful pairing and subtle connections in shape, tone, and feeling, he creates visual relationships that reveal themselves slowly and invite thoughtful reflection. Jay’s journey into photography began as a deeply personal exploration, a way to find calm and meaning amid life’s challenges. “Photography was a medium for my own inner exploration,” he writes, “a pause, a lifesaving deep breath.” But after the birth of his daughter and a deepening of his Christian faith, his creative path shifted. “The very essence of my photography moved from self-exploration to a connection with people. This connection is one of goodness and light, even in a world that can feel broken and disappointing.” Over time, this philosophy expanded beyond image making into a broader mission rooted in education and community. As project leader of Shining Hope, a photography-based learning program for children in rural Taiwan, Jay now helps young people “see with intention and express their experiences with honesty and care.” His work as a mentor is deeply linked to his personal creative vision, and he lives, in his own words, “to publish, explore, and educate, to provide freedom and bring influence to children in rural and underprivileged communities.” At the heart of his work lies the diptych, a visual form Jay calls “the perfect medium to illustrate relationships.” What once began as a symbolic pairing of objects has become a more intuitive and graceful language. “I later discovered a new, delightful, and clever way to create by subtly linking and extending lines, shapes, and colors. This method allows for a seamless flow, mirroring the journey of life, from chaos to peace, from poverty to abundance, from darkness to light.” In this conversation, Jay Hsu shares how this way of seeing became central to his practice, how diptychs allow him to explore emotional and visual continuity, and how photography continues to shape his understanding of beauty, resilience, and hope. His story is quiet and clear, and grounded in the belief that “even when things fall apart, we can still maintain goodness, hold onto our childlike innocence, and embrace a bright and hopeful future.” “At present, my works are almost always drawn from past photographs, reconnected in new ways. Of course, each moment of shooting carries its own emotions. But when two photos, each with its own mood, are placed together, a new flow of emotions emerges — something shaped by time and continuity — becoming the emotion of the present moment.” IN CONVERSATION WITH JAY HSU TPL: Your journey into photography began as a personal exploration as a kind of pause or life-saving deep breath, as you’ve described it. Can you share more about that time in your life? What were you seeking, and what did the act of making images begin to offer you that words or other forms of expression could not? JAYE: I became a Christian in 2006. Before that, in my twenties, I was in a stage of exploring my interests, ambitions, self-growth, and self-worth. At that time, I was sentimental, quiet, melancholic, yet also full of pride. With the money I earned from part-time jobs, I bought my first digital camera, a Canon IXUS100, and took pictures everywhere—inside my room, on the streets, in the mountains, and by the sea. I think there were many complicated thoughts within me then. Besides writing, I discovered that photographs, like short poems, could carry many thoughts and emotions, even states of being that words could not fully describe. Photography became an open space, a refuge, a temporary deep breath. It might not have solved my problems, but it allowed me to store away my restlessness, melancholy, and turmoil for a while, giving my life some breathing room so I could move forward to the next stage. TPL: You’ve moved across many genres, including documentary, street, wedding, landscape, and conceptual photography. How did those varied experiences inform the way you now see, compose, and tell stories? Were there moments when those different practices overlapped or challenged each other in unexpected ways? JAY: I’m someone who enjoys being different and who also enjoys learning. When I first started photography, I studied all kinds of techniques and tried various styles. Later, when I felt stuck in terms of form, I began to explore the essence and meaning of photography itself. Now, at 48, I’m grateful for every stage of learning. None of it was wasted — they all became nourishment for my life. Technical skills and equipment are secondary. What mattered most was how learning across genres and theories taught me to observe and reflect on life, and to express it through my preferred creative approach. Sometimes documentary overlapped with wedding photography, conceptual photography intertwined with street shots, or the essence of photography merged with sequencing images, or diptychs combined with minimalist negative space. These practices reflect my love of being different and my belief that life is a continuous, exciting journey forward. TPL: At some point, your personal exploration shifted into something more focused on community, especially after becoming a father and a Christian. How did that transformation take shape, and in what ways has it deepened your sense of purpose as a photographer? JAY: I believe my Christian faith was the main reason for this transformation. Throughout life, people keep asking: Who am I? What am I pursuing? Why am I alive? Where will I go after death? These questions about the self-found their answers in my faith. Becoming a husband and father also naturally shifted my focus from myself to caring for my wife, daughter, and others. Once my heart was filled with God’s love, I naturally wanted to give and contribute, hoping to make the world a little brighter and kinder. Even if my influence is small, light is made of countless small sparks gathered together. To be one of those sparks already feels wonderful. TPL: Diptychs have become a defining element of your visual language. You’ve spoken about their ability to express relationships, not just between images but between ideas, emotions, and spiritual concepts. What makes this format so powerful for you, and how do you know when two images belong together? In short: it’s fun! I enjoy playful forms of creation. I first learned about diptychs when I took further photography courses, and I thought: Oh, photography can also be presented this way. Since I’ve always loved duplication, re-creation, and collage, this format of pairing two images to express an idea suited me perfectly. I truly admire photographers who can capture multiple visual elements and relationships in a single frame — the dialogue between objects or symbols. But I knew I didn’t always have the time to wait for a “decisive moment,” nor the instinctive “photographic eye” for it. So instead, I leaned into my own strengths and preferred ways of expression. There’s no need to be like everyone else — I can still communicate what I want in my own way. As for knowing when two images belong together, it depends on my life experience, my present state of being, and the worldview I want to convey. Often, I’ll first pick one image that moves me deeply in that moment, then close my eyes and imagine which other photo could best express the idea I want to convey. Finally, I’ll look for connections in lines, shapes, or colors from my existing archive. Sometimes inspiration strikes unexpectedly — in the shower or while driving — because I already know my own photo collection well. (That said, I often revise my diptychs. The next day, I might find another image that pairs even better, and I’ll replace it.) TPL: You mention that you moved from illustrating symbols and object relationships to linking elements like lines, shapes, and colors with transitions that feel playful and intuitive. Can you take us into that shift in your visual thinking? How did you begin seeing these connections, and how do they inform your sequencing? JAY: Simply put, I wanted my work to be more accessible — to be seen and understood by a wider audience. Academic art can often feel difficult for the general public to grasp without training in visual language or photography theory. My motivation wasn’t fame or personal gain, but rather to use my work to convey goodness and spark resonance — to let people know that even in the darkest times, they can still shine. But for that message to be heard, the work must first be seen — it must catch people’s eyes in the flood of images on social media. To create that visual pause, the work needed to stand out in a unique way. By coincidence, I encountered the works of photographer Joakim Moller, and they left me with a sense of ‘visual lingering’ (a form of persistence of vision that lingers in one’s perception). I was struck by how masterfully he could join two photographs together, creating a profound aesthetic shock for the eye while also carrying layers of meaning. That encounter inspired me to try it myself, and in doing so I discovered a genuine interest and passion, with the work also receiving considerable resonance from viewers. This formal shift didn’t change my sequencing process too much. The core concept of the work still comes first. What changed is that finding two images that link well is more challenging than presenting a single photo—but at the same time, it’s much more fun. TPL: Your work carries a strong emotional undercurrent that holds both light and melancholy. How do belief, memory, and emotional resonance shape the narratives you build within a pair of images? Do you seek out particular moods when shooting, or do they emerge during the editing process? JAY: When it comes to belief, memory, and emotional resonance, to be honest, I can’t precisely explain how they interact, connect, and build a story — after all, these things have already been internalized within my heart and soul. But I am grateful for the moments of melancholy and pain, because they refined my life and now contrast or echo with the light I experience today. It’s precisely because of those experiences that my work has depth and carries stories. At present, my works are almost always drawn from past photographs, reconnected in new ways. Of course, each moment of shooting carries its own emotions. But when two photos, each with its own mood, are placed together, a new flow of emotions emerges — something shaped by time and continuity — becoming the emotion of the present moment. Even if my influence is small, light is made of countless small sparks gathered together. To be one of those sparks already feels wonderful. TPL: You’ve described your images as a movement from chaos to peace, from darkness to light. That is both a visual and philosophical journey. How do you hold space for both beauty and brokenness in your work, and what does it mean to you to create within that tension? JAY: Acceptance. I think it’s about accepting the beautiful parts of myself, but also the broken ones. Through creating, it becomes not only a reflection on my own life but also a way of sharing my life perspective and philosophy with others — perhaps with those who are also going through brokenness, or those who are stepping into beautiful seasons of life. Pain can be overcome, and the nourishment pain gives will eventually nurture love and light. Even if the light is small, it can still drive away darkness and make the darkness tremble. TPL: Your diptychs invite viewers to slow down and observe carefully. There is a quiet clarity in your compositions, but also a sense of layers waiting to be uncovered. How do you balance visual simplicity with conceptual depth? What does it mean to you for a photo to speak beyond what is seen? JAY: Practice — continuous practice — and looking at many good photographs. Just like writing, everything begins with imitation. Then, as you add your own life experiences and philosophy, those once-imitated words or images gradually take on your own style and creativity. Balancing visual simplicity with conceptual depth is something I only came to understand after studying courses in visual language, photographic art, and the essence of photography. It’s about learning how to arrange, how to suggest meaning through metaphor. Of course, creating diptychs as collages — finding visual balance and playfulness — is not so difficult. But deciding which two photos to choose, and what meaning emerges when they are paired — that is where the real subtlety and significance lie. When I succeed in making a work that speaks beyond what is seen, it means my life has depth, and I am ready to share with others a message of beauty that is mine yet also belongs to them. TPL: Your role as project leader for SHINING HOPE marks a significant shift in your career, from personal creator to educator and mentor. What inspired you to formalize this work, and how has your approach to teaching photography evolved since your early days volunteering for Children Eye? JAY: It’s a long story, but to put it simply — the answer is calling. This sense of calling comes from my Christian faith, and it arose after I truly came to know myself and understand my self-worth. It grew alongside my daughter’s growth. The photos I took of her touched many people’s hearts, and I realized for the first time that photographs can have real impact. Later, I traveled with World Vision Taiwan to Uganda and documented children in the slums. That experience deepened my conviction that children’s education and companionship are crucial — because children are the foundation and hope of the future. So, I made a decisive choice to resign from my church job, move my family to the countryside (to be closer to rural communities), and take on the photography program that was about to be discontinued, stepping into the role of project leader. Transitioning from volunteer to leader meant my teaching became more careful and thorough. I wanted to use photography education not only to teach skills, but also to accompany children, build their confidence, cultivate good character, and help them know and take pride in their hometowns. At that time, Taiwan had very few photography education programs for children, let alone well-developed curricula. So, I referenced international teaching resources (such as Aperture), local art education plans, and children’s picture books that told stories through images. I also pursued further studies in photography and art. After many revisions, I developed the curriculum we have today. It is collaborative and interdisciplinary, designed together with schoolteachers, and integrates art, language, social studies, and science — a holistic, theme-based approach. TPL: You have said that your mission is to provide freedom and bring influence to children in rural communities through visual storytelling. What kind of transformation do you witness in students as they begin to tell their own stories with a camera? Can you share a moment or student that particularly moved you? JAY: Although it looks like we’re teaching photography, in truth it’s more like life education — and so there are countless stories. One that left a deep impression was a girl I’ll call Xiao-Fan. When she was in sixth grade, she confided to a teacher that she had suicidal thoughts. But after learning photography, she shared with her teacher that whenever she felt down, she would pick up her camera and photograph the sky. Watching the constantly changing blue sky lifted her mood. Even after our program at her school ended, she kept photographing the sky. By ninth grade, she held her first solo exhibition at Share & Cultural & Creative Café. Among her works, her favorite piece was called Soft and Fluffy, featuring clouds that looked like cotton candy. In her artist statement, she wrote: “I think everyone needs something soft and fluffy — maybe a stuffed toy, a pillow, or a cat — because soft things can heal the wounds of every person’s heart.” TPL: You have compared your creative process to the feeling of enjoying a child’s drawing, embracing playful, intuitive, and full of surprise. How do you maintain that sense of openness in your own work, especially while also teaching structure and technique to others? JAY: My ability to maintain a sense of playfulness, intuition, and surprise in photography really comes from working in education — leading rural children in photography and creating alongside them. To be precise, it’s more about recovering a childlike way of observing and creating. I’m also very grateful to my own photography teachers, who introduced me to ideas like “there are no standard answers” and “open-ended conclusions.” These ideas fit perfectly into the way I now teach children. While I try to guide them with freedom and playfulness, in truth, they are my teachers. The surprises and inspiration I get from their works are far greater than what I give them. TPL: As you continue to grow both as an artist and an educator, what are the new questions or directions that excite you? Are there creative risks you hope to take, or new communities you want to engage through your work in the years ahead? JAY: I think I want to become more of an educator than an artist. But because the photography education I do is closely tied to art, I must also keep learning and growing in photography myself. In the coming years, aside from exploring new creative methods, I hope to organize a Photography Education Exhibition in Taiwan. This would bring together teams, organizations, and artists working in photography education across the country. Through a large-scale exhibition, people passionate about photography education could learn from each other, and perhaps even create a shared general photography curriculum for Taiwanese children. All of this effort is for the future of Taiwan—to develop more complete, diverse, forward-looking, and large-scale educational approaches. I feel both excited and eager for that day to come. PORTFOLIO INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection.

QUARANTINE IN QUEENS Neil Kramer tells stories with his photos, writing, and films. Simultaneously humorous and compassionate, his lockdown diary has gone viral. QUARANTINE IN QUEENS August 30, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Neil Kramer INTERVIEW Karin Svadlenak Gomez Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Neil Kramer tells stories - with his photos, writing, and films. Humorous and compassionate at the same time, he tackles themes taken directly from human life - including his own. When he found himself locked into a small apartment in Queens, New York, with his mother and ex-wife during the still ongoing Covid-19 pandemic he ended up making the best of the situation: he turned it into a quirky and humorous photo project. His posts of portraits showing the family in often strange situations went viral on social media platforms and have been widely featured on television and in newspapers, and won many awards. We are honoured that Neil agreed to an interview for The Pictorial List, in which he talks to our editor Karin Svadlenak Gomez, about his project QUARANTINE IN QUEENS and how he and his family have been dealing with the pandemic. “During the early days of the pandemic, it became impossible to do street photography, so it seemed natural to start taking photos of our lives inside the apartment. At the time, Queens, NY was the epicenter of the pandemic in America, and it was scary. Taking the photos became a collaborative way of using art as self-therapy, much in the same way that others started baking bread or knitting sweaters. And because I had some experience in comedy writing in California, I tended to gravitate towards the humor of the situation, at least at first.” IN CONVERSATION WITH NEIL KRAMER THE PICTORIAL LIST: Neil please tell us about yourself. When and how did you become interested in photography? NEIL KRAMER: I’ve always loved photography, but I’ve had more of a career as a writer. I lived in Los Angeles for several years, writing and developing scripts for TV and movies. I also attended film school at USC where I studied film production. I began to fully immerse myself in still photography when I moved back to New York and got hooked on street photography. TPL: How did it happen that you ended up in quarantine with your ex-wife and mother? NK: It’s a complicated story, but let’s just say that I was living in my apartment while my mother was in Boca Raton, Florida, but she decided to come back after her lease expired. At the same time, my ex-wife had a plumbing disaster in Los Angeles and she had to move, so she asked if she could stay with me for a few weeks. And then the pandemic happened, and we all got stuck together. And we are still together in this rather tiny apartment with only one bathroom, trying to figure out our next step. TPL: What triggered the idea for this photo project? And what did your ex-wife and mother think when you presented them with this project idea? NK: During the early days of the pandemic, it became impossible to do street photography, so it seemed natural to start taking photos of our lives inside the apartment. At the time, Queens, NY was the epicenter of the pandemic in America, and it was scary. Taking the photos became a collaborative way of using art as self-therapy, much in the same way that others started baking bread or knitting sweaters. And because I had some experience in comedy writing in California, I tended to gravitate towards the humor of the situation, at least at first. My ex-wife and mother already knew that I always had wacky creative ideas, so they were comfortable in playing along. But as the project got more followers on Instagram and we got some media attention, such as in the Washington Post and the Today Show, it became a little more difficult in dealing with the attention. The series was never intended as a project. It just happened, without a plan. I never expected this pandemic to go on for over 500 days! Usually the daily post was based on a real life experience, which we would restage later in the day when we had more perspective and time. April 12, Quarantine in Queens, Day 31. A beautiful friend from Colorado finally mailed us toilet paper and we are celebrating and in tears. November 6, Quarantine in Queens, Day 233. Months ago, when the pandemic started, I gave my bed to Sophia, and I've been mostly sleeping on the old sofabed in the living room. The mattress sucks; it sags and creaks. During the last few weeks, I've been having bad dreams at night about the current President of the United States. Today, Sophia surprised me with a new sofa bed. It's a perfect day for it to arrive seeing how the election results are in. I hope to have fewer bad dreams now for two reasons - a better mattress and the end of a national nightmare. May 20, Quarantine in Queens, Day 70. One of the arguments for not wearing a mask outside is that it is a free country. To many, asking someone to be inconvenienced is an infringement of personal freedom. If someone is at risk to the virus, like seniors or those with medical issues, they should just stay home. ⁣That is easier said than done. After months ago home, it becomes an infringement of personal freedom for seniors and those with medical issues to be stuck at home. ⁣After our trip to the park last week my mother tasted the flavor of freedom, and she liked it. ⁣My mother's friend, Shirley, called. She used to be the same blouse size as my mother, but because of an illness, had lost a lot of weight. She had a bunch of brand new outfits from Bloomingdale's that she never wore that were now too large. Can she drive over and give them to my mother?⁣ At first, Sophia and I nixed the idea. My mother bristled at out helicoptering. We came up with a compromise. I would go downstairs and pick up the blouses from Shirley as she drove by in her car. ⁣When it was time for Shirley's arrival, I found myself on an important zoom conference call. Sophia was about to have a virtual conversation with a doctor at NYU. We were forced into the inevitable - my mother would have to go downstairs ALONE and pick up the blouses. It would be the first time she's left the house alone since March. ⁣"What's the big deal?" some of you might ask. My mother is active and independent, and can go outside by herself. She's not a child. But there are a lot of people out there who don't wear masks, even in our neighborhood with one of the highest Covid-19 infection and death rates in the world. ⁣We told my mother that if she goes out by herself, she has to wear a mask, gloves, and goggles to protect her eyes. ⁣"Why don't you just wrap me in the shower curtain?" my mother asked, sarcastically. June 13, Quarantine in Queens, Day 91. I've now spend three months alone with little outside contact other than these two women. You would think that this femininity would be rubbing off on me. Maybe it has. I mean, in many of my photos, I've been the one either undressed or wearing a dress. But in reality, over the last three months, I've never felt a stronger sense of masculinity and responsibility for these two people, probably the two most important women of my life - my mother and ex-wife. December 28, Quarantine in Queens, Day 286. My mother has always been more of a canned vegetables type of cook. She also makes a great tuna fish sandwich. Sophia is a gourmet cook and has been spoiling us for months with delicious exotic meals and freshly baked bread. My mother also found a new kitchen-related passion -- she has become obsessed with keeping the kitchen clean, even constantly checking the oven to see if anything was left behind. Maybe this pandemic turns everyone OCD. This has created some tension in the house lately between the two women. This kitchen is not big enough for both of them. Luckily, I know how to diffuse any situation. When our old fridge finally died last week, I ordered a new one, not realizing that I bought a model where the door handles were on the wrong side. So now, no one can open the fridge or the oven! Problem solved. November 26, Quarantine in Queens, Day 253. Thanksgiving, 2020. If there is one public event that I love in New York it’s the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. So, we were disappointed when we found out that this year was going to be a TV-only parade because of Covid-19. But then Sophia had an idea. We could buy some big animal balloons on Amazon and then parade around our living room, making our own special Thanksgiving Day event! We received the balloons from Amazon, and this morning, all we had to do was blow them up. We saw online that the Party Store would inflate balloons not bought in the store for a fee, but when we got there, we were told that the new policy was prohibiting them from touching any balloons not bought at the store, because of the pandemic. We called the dollar store, the florist, the stationery store, and the hookah store, but they all refused for the same reason. Our plans were falling apart. Who wants to do a parade with droopy balloons without any helium? Was this another casualty of the pandemic? This is when Sophia remembered the Halal supermarket where she bought "loosies," when no one else would sell us anything but a $20 full pack of cigarettes for a photo shoot we did recently. Would they also be able to blow up our balloons during this parade crisis of ours? Thank you, Halal Supermarket, for making our Thanksgiving Day a special one. You just made America great again! January 31, Quarantine in Queens, Day 320. Every day, my mother is doing physical therapy to heal her hurt shoulder, meaning she is the only one in this household doing any exercise. She's actually quite amazing. In two weeks, she gets her second vaccine. We have even nicknamed her "The Thunderbolt." It is also, according to some sources, the name of her top-secret space laser that she will soon launch to cause more wildfires in California. TPL: The images are quite humorous - does this reflect how the three of you took the entire situation? How much truth is there in these pictures? The humor in the photos was one of the most confusing aspects of the project. The humor is funny, of course, but it was frequently a coping mechanism to express our own anxieties, and even though some of the shots are over-the-top, they were pretty serious. I think the best humor comes from a real place. This is a question I get asked a lot, and the best way to answer it is to say “it is true to me.” I'm not a journalist, and the shots are staged in a theatrical manner, but they are all based on truth. My mother did walk in on me when I was in the bathtub, but the photo is a dramatization of the moment which is better composed and lit by speedlights. TPL: How did it feel for you to become part of the picture? As photographers we are usually behind the camera, most of us are a bit "camera-shy". (Of course there are exceptions, some photographers choose to make a lot of self-portraits.) NK: Over the last seventeen months, I have taken so many self-portraits, including ones where I am naked, and I have no idea where this side of me was before. I rarely took self-portraits before the pandemic. I don’t have much interest in myself visually. Probably the real reason for so many self-portraits is that it is hard to motivate your impatient family for so many months without them getting pissed at you, so I decided to take more self-portraits because I knew I was always available at 3am. TPL: Now that a degree of normalcy seems to have returned to life in New York City, do you have a different appreciation of life? What are some of the things you missed especially during lockdown? NK: It’s funny how things so quickly change. If you asked me these questions two weeks ago, I would have a different answer. Now all of a sudden, the Delta variant is here, and some countries are going back into lockdown. NYC has achieved some level of normalcy, and the greatest gift is seeing friends again. But it's summer now, and we can all meet outside. I’m worried about the fall and winter months, even if we are vaccinated. What we say, what we do, and what we think can all be different, even when confronted with the same situation, and I like to show the contrast between what I show and what I think. TPL: We read somewhere that you are a member of Photographers Under Confinement: Engaging Corona Around the World. What does this association do, and how many members does it have? NK: It’s a Facebook group consisting of hundreds of photographers from around the world, all sharing their pandemic photos on social media. The pandemic has almost become an artistic category nowadays, and there are competitions of Covid-19 related photos. For me, the group was more special - a way to see that this pandemic was truly international. That none of us was alone. This world is so small, and interconnected. It didn’t matter if you were in America, Africa, Asia, or wherever, you had a pandemic story. TPL: In general regarding your photography, where do you find your inspiration to create? NK: I feel that I am a storyteller. I always loved stories. Even reading stories as a child. And photography is a great way to tell stories. At the same time, I do feel that photography can be limited in what it can express. That’s why I usually include text with the photo, which I think are equally as important. I don’t feel that it is “cheating” but a way to tell a fuller picture of myself. What we say, what we do, and what we think can all be different, even when confronted with the same situation, and I like to show the contrast between what I show and what I think. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? NK: Photographers I love: Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, and Richard Avedon. Currently, I am inspired by the humor of Martin Parr and the intimacy of Elinor Carucci. April 6, Quarantine in Queens, Day 385. "I feel like we're in limbo," said Sophia, as we watched Murder She Wrote with my mother. "We're all vaccinated, but there are still too many variants to travel anywhere. "That gives me an idea for a photo. How about we're all doing the limbo?" "The limbo?" "You know - the "How low can you go?" dance. Like a metaphor of our living situation after vaccination. We're in limbo. We're all dressed up and ready to go, but we're waiting for the rest of the world to get vaccinated. For the bar to go higher." "That doesn't work because when you do the limbo the bar goes lower, not higher." "What does it matter? It's just a metaphor. Being in limbo. Living between heaven and hell." "You know, I'm not sure anyone under 40 even knows what the limbo is." "Of course they do," I said, turning to my mother. "Mom, everyone knows the limbo, right? "Chubby Checker," replied my mother. "You see, Sophia? Everyone knows the limbo." "Everyone who watches Murder She Wrote knows the limbo." June 10, Quarantine in Queens, Day 451. OK, we made it through the first hurdle of meeting friends outside, but what happens when it is ninety degrees outside? It feels like a heatwave in NYC...in June. Climate change, anyone? Should my mother now meet friends inside a restaurant and take the mask off? It might be less healthy for her to sit outside in the heat. Some people can never get a break. March 20, Quarantine in Queens, Day 368. Ever since my mother received her vaccine, she has been acting like a woman released from prison, which in her case, means she can go to the supermarket again, something she was deprived of for over a year. But since there are still Covid variants out there, my mother cut a parole deal with Sophia that she can only go shopping as long as she is at the doors by 7AM when the store first opens. So now, every morning, I hear the clang clang clang of her decades old shopping wagon banging into the front door or the wall, while I'm trying to sleep. There are three supermarkets within walking distance of our apartment building, one of the reasons my parents chose to live here in the first place. Yesterday, my mother came home from Aron’s with a 5-pack of Passover matzoh. The Jewish holiday is in 2 weeks. "Aron’s is trying to get everyone back inside with these incredible deals. Five boxes of matzoh for $2.99!" "That's great," I said and fell back asleep, my ribs still hurting from when I fell off the unopened sofa bed two days earlier. Sophia had taken me to urgent care that day, but the line was so long for Covid tests, I decided to just skip the x-ray. This morning, my mother again banged the door and wheeled her wagon into the kitchen, having just shopped at Key Food. "You're not going to believe this," she said as she pulled out another huge 5-pack of matzoh from her steel chariot. "Key Food gives you a free 5-pack of matzoh if you spent $50! And tomorrow, I'm going to Food Universe for a buy one, get two free sale! "Why do we need so much matzoh?" I asked. We're still in a pandemic. No one is coming over for Passover." "You never know who might show up." Sophia stepped into the room, having been awoken by our conversation. We talk THAT loud in our home. "We do know who will be here for Passover," said Sophia. "Just the three of us. Unless the prophet Elijah shows up." "OK, I'll admit it. This has nothing to do with Passover. I just really missed going shopping." As they say in the Passover Haggadah, "Last year, we were slaves in Egypt. This year, we are slaves to Key Food." June 30, Quarantine in Queens, Day 471. Neil, to Sophia at 7AM in the morning at breakfast: "This has always been our biggest problem. We need to talk more about our inner emotions, to understand each other deeply, to express what's really in our hearts!" Sophia: "zzzz." Actually, Sophia has been having trouble sleeping at night, and I'm a little concerned. She's tried everything from listening to nature sounds to giving up Diet Coke. July 3, Quarantine in Queens, Day 474. I need to be strong. I need to be fit. I need to fight aging. I need to be successful. I need to be smart. I need to be good. I need to be sexual. I need to be respected. I need to admired. I need to be loved. Ok, I think one push-up is a good start for today. September 29, Quarantine in Queens, Day 195. I had a dream last night and I was wearing a mask - in the dream. And even though I was asleep, I was able to question myself, "Why am I wearing a mask in this dream? I don't need to wear one in my inner life, in my private thoughts, or especially, in my dreams? Is the pandemic now inside my head?" TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? Please describe your process. What camera/s do you use? Do you have a preferred lens/focal length? NK: For this project, I usually start with something that happened to me personally that day, and the photo and text becomes a visual diary of that day. The image usually comes first, and then the text expands on it. I use a crop sensor Sony 6400. Nothing fancy. And because so many photos have been in my super-dark apartment, I've gotten much more skilled in using my inexpensive Godox speed lights. I've also started to tether my photos to my laptop because it allows me to be in my own photos. And because the interiors are so small, I've tended to use a Sigma 16mm wide angle lens for almost all of the interior shots, a lens I rarely used before. TPL: Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? Are there any special projects you are currently working on other than the quarantine project that you would like to let everyone know about? NK: Oh, boy. It has been such a weird year and a half. It is hard to know what I’m doing next month. I’ve had some offers from publishers to make Quarantine in Queens into a book, but since I’m still working on it, even after 500 days of posts, I’ve been procrastinating. I’ll also be showing some of my work at international festivals during the fall and winter. I’d like to move on to other projects, but this pandemic just won’t end, will it? TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… NK: Eat in restaurants, explore the city, go to museums, watch movies, go to the theater, travel. Almost everything that has been hard to do the last year and a half. Hopefully, we’ll all get vaccinated and we can move on to normal life again soon." PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection.

THE CURIOSITY GAP Samuel Ioannidis is a photographer who searches for beauty through light, color, and lines, communicating his story and generating a curiosity gap for the viewer. THE CURIOSITY GAP February 10, 2023 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Samuel Ioannidis INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Samuel Ioannidis stands on the street, camera in hand, looking to capture the moments that unfold around him. Having always had an eye for capturing moments, Samuel bought his first real camera four years ago and has never looked back. His passion for street photography has led him on a journey of exploration and discovery, unearthing hidden gems and unexpected beauty in his home city and beyond. Rather than a fleeting glance at the world around him, Samuel is driven to capture a glimpse into the stories that reside in his photographs; to capture a piece of time and to communicate his story through his images. His goal is to create images that captivate and draw viewers into a curiosity gap, a contrast to the dizzying pace of modern life and social media. “I wanted to see the world through my lens, with lines and forms that reminded me of geometry. When I put this together I set myself up as a photographer who searches for beauty through light, color, and lines.” IN CONVERSATION WITH SAMUEL IOANNIDIS THE PICTORIAL LIST: Hello Samuel, please tell us about yourself. What would you say first drew you to photography? SAMUEL IOANNIDIS: I was born in Nuremberg, Germany, as a child of immigrants from Greece that came to Germany in 1960. Growing up here in Nuremberg, in my youth, I first came in contact with my fathers camera. I remember fondly of taking the holiday photographs with disposable cameras back then. I think that is what drew me into photography, having the responsibility for the family photographs and I liked it. TPL: You told us that you are obsessed with street photography. What is it that you love about this genre? How would you describe your photography, and what would you say you are always trying to achieve artistically? What is the story you want to tell with your photographs? SI: When I moved out of my parents place I lost the connection to photography for several years. Then I bought a cheap point & shoot camera for my vacations and tried to take some nice shots with it. But still, it didn't ‘click’ just yet for me. Then I remember seeing a Fuji X-E1 at the house of a friend and somehow I fell in love with the design, the look and feel, just the all around aesthetics of this camera. I bought a used Fuji X-E1 and was hooked again into photography. I got my first taste of street photography after attending a public street photo walk with a local street photo collective. The possibilities of taking photographs just being on the streets in the middle of daily life amazes me still today. The last couple of years, my style has moved towards a more minimalistic style. I try to avoid too many colors and concentrate on compositions with high contrast scenes. Artistically I want to achieve photographs that generate a curiosity gap for the viewer, capturing their attention for longer than a second, as a contrast to the fast paced social media. To be honest, I don’t try to tell a specific story with my photographs. I use my intuition and let it lead me without searching for a specific story. But I definitely do want to explore storytelling and thinking of creating a series in the future. TPL: Could you tell us what living in Nuremberg, Germany has inspired in your work? What special qualities unique to your town/city influence your street and the way you portray your community? Outside of your hometown do you have/had a favorite place to photograph? SI: Nuremberg has many sides. You can find many historical buildings in the old city centre with a rich history, but also many new and modern buildings that you can integrate in your photography. There is also a very active photography community you can find for any genre. I'm an active member of a local street photography collective, Nürnberg Unposed Collective (www.n ürnbergunposed.de), where I have found my photographic “home” so to say. Outside of my hometown I would love to visit New York City and Brooklyn again. But also the capitals of Europe are a destination for me in the future. TPL: When you take pictures, do you usually have a concept in mind of what you want to shoot, or do you let the images just "come to you", or is it both? Please describe your process. SI: Inspired by my favorite street photographer Siegfried Hansen, I try to use a concept the most of the time. Which means I am trying to set myself so called triggers. If I go out taking photographs, for example, one of those triggers could be a specific color that someone wears, or for example, hats. Of course I don’t close myself off to other opportunities, which means I'm also on the lookout for good and soft light. But it helps to keep me focused if I already have an idea of what I want to achieve on a specific street session. TPL: What is the most rewarding part of being a street photographer for you? What are some challenges that you have faced? SI: The most rewarding thing I am experiencing has to do a lot with the street photography community, here in Germany, and elsewhere. Especially my good friends from the Nuremberg Unposed Collective. We consider ourselves like a small group of sworn-in good friends or even family who want to raise the acceptance of street photography here in Germany by organising exhibitions and meetups (small and big). But of course, also to have a lot of fun in the process. The biggest challenge so far, which continues to be my biggest challenge, is to keep my motivation up, especially if there are days where you don't have any photograph that you like. But I think the key to stay motivated is to stay humble, and to just appreciate the scenes and photographs that are not the best you have encountered yet. TPL: Is it impossible for you not to be constantly on the lookout for a moment to be captured? SI: Good question! Never thought about this, but yes. Definitely! I find myself keeping on the lookout, even if I don't have any specific camera with me (except my cellphone´s cam) or while running errands. But not always, as life is happening and is sometimes also very stressful. That's why I see photography also as a method of mindfulness meditation. Artistically I want to achieve photographs that generate a curiosity gap for the viewer, capturing their attention for longer than a second, as a contrast to the fast paced social media. TPL: How do you manage a work/photography balance? SI: If you are motivated it always seems easier to find time. But yes, a sort of plan during the week for some hours where you will be only focusing on my photography helps to stay in the ‘flow’. TPL: Do you have any favorite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? SI: Too many, that I can't mention here because the list would be too long. But I want to mention all those street photography collectives and solo street photographers in Germany that are part of a wonderful and great community. But to play by the rules, I will mention two of them: German street photographer Siegfried Hansen, who has helped me and many others also finding their own styles by establishing a specific system. Street photographer Pia Parolin, for her amazing energy, motivation and effort she puts into her work. Not only in her own photography, but also in many other fields. Like her great books, projects and her community work. TPL: If you could just choose one photographer to shoot alongside for a day...who would you choose? And why? SI: Joel Meyerowitz. He was one of the first street photographers that I have spent time researching about him, his photographs and specific style. I'm quite sure he is a great mentor. TPL: What was the first camera you ever held in your hand, brought to eye, and released a shutter on? What is the camera you use now and your preferred focal length? Does the equipment you use help you in achieving your vision in your photography? Is there anything on your wishlist? SI: The first camera I ever have used was a one-time use analog camera when I was a kid and used them every once in a while during my youth. The first real camera was also an analog point and shoot camera from Canon. Many years later (around 2015), I just had the urge to get a camera for my vacations. A friend of mine showed me his Fujifilm X-E1 and I was totally hooked from the design, look and feel and the all-over aesthetics and wonderful colors. Since then I have stayed with Fujifilm. I use an Xpro3 at the moment. I love the design with the hidden monitor that helps you stay in the Flow, but also the rangefinder style of this camera. My preferred focal lengths are 23mm and 35mm (APS-C). To experiment a little bit more I am planning on getting a 50mm lens. But my all round focal length is and will be 35mm. To me personally it is very important to have a camera that you love to take in your hand because of its aesthetics, but also because you know it perfectly in and out. Of course I could take street photographs with any smartphone or any other camera as well. But I would always prefer my Fuji Xpro3 in every sense. TPL: Are there any special projects that you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? What are some of your photography goals? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? SI: I am proud to announce that my good friends and I from Nuremberg Unposed Collective are hosting the annual street photography community meetup in our hometown Nuremberg on the 8th of July. More information can be found at: www.meetandstreet.de . It is a meetup of the German street photography scene where we just meet, talk and have fun together. But we will host also a public gallery with prints from the community that everybody can take with them and give a voluntarily donation. We are also working together with a local charity organisation for social projects. TPL: “When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… SI: Enjoy the company of my good friends and go to the cinema.” PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details. VISUAL HEALING BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS Betty Goh’s photography exemplifies the transformative power of visual storytelling, where personal adversity becomes a canvas for resilience, illuminating the connection between art, healing, and self-reclamation. EVERYDAY BLACKNESS Parvathi Kumar’s book is a profound tribute to the resilience, and contributions of incredible Black women from all walks of life, making it a vital addition to the conversation around International Women’s Month. A VOYAGE TO DISCOVERY Fanja Hubers’ journey in photography is one of continuous exploration, balancing documentation with artistic self-reflection.

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

I was born in 1968 in Calabria. I was about nine years old , a blue 'Rodinella', a gift from my father and a Kodak Instamatic were inseparable friends on my solitary escapes in nature to capture my glances and memories. The passion for painting and photography have accompanied my whole life, marking the passage of time. FRANCESCO MERCADANTE I was born in 1968 in Calabria. I was about nine years old , a blue 'Rodinella', a gift from my father and a Kodak Instamatic were inseparable friends on my solitary escapes in nature to capture my glances and memories. The passion for painting and photography have accompanied my whole life, marking the passage of time. LOCATION Italy CAMERA/S Canon EOS 6D Mark II WEBSITE https://www.francescomercadante.com/ @FRANCESCO.MERCADANTE.104 FEATURES // Landscape of My Always Near Kudros

Started capturing light in 1984. Believes that rust never sleeps, and that we should keep adapting, learning and evolving. Believes in the redeeming power of beauty. Believes that goddesses, muses and nymphs exist to guide the artist in finding a way out of the chaos of his internal labyrinth. Believes that artists should not be defined by the tools they use, but by their work and actions. Believes the artist’s creative fire is only kept alive when they immerse fearlessly into their unconscious. Believes that artists never retire, unless it is for a short while to a house in the woods. Has a double life. By day he lends his energy and knowledge to a training center. By night he drinks from the cup of creation and becomes an alchemist. Works in photography, both digital and analog, video, calligraphy and music. MÁRIO PIRES Started capturing light in 1984. Believes that rust never sleeps, and that we should keep adapting, learning and evolving. Believes in the redeeming power of beauty. Believes that goddesses, muses and nymphs exist to guide the artist in finding a way out of the chaos of his internal labyrinth. Believes that artists should not be defined by the tools they use, but by their work and actions. Believes the artist’s creative fire is only kept alive when they immerse fearlessly into their unconscious. Believes that artists never retire, unless it is for a short while to a house in the woods. Has a double life. By day he lends his energy and knowledge to a training center. By night he drinks from the cup of creation and becomes an alchemist. Works in photography, both digital and analog, video, calligraphy and music. LOCATION Lisbon PORTUGAL CAMERA/S iPhone8 Plus WEBSITE https://mariopires.pt/ @RETORTA FEATURES // Flora Arcana