Search this site

ETERNITY Eternity is a pictorial story about Konrad Hellfeuer's own personal journey with religion and how photography has helped him find peace within it. ETERNITY July 19, 2023 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Konrad Hellfeuer INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Konrad Hellfeuer is a German freelance artist whose works have a distinctive signature that speaks to the soul. Equally talented in photography and drawing, Konrad's creations are distinguished by their attention to detail, capturing the essence of a moment or subject and showing a keen eye for composition and light. His works are often thought-provoking and evocative, compelling viewers to take a deeper look and appreciate the beauty of his art. Konrad has been passionate about art since childhood and has dedicated the last few years to perfecting his craft, resulting in unique pieces of art that have gained appreciation across the globe. As such, Konrad is a master of his craft, a true artist who is an inspiration to all who come across his work. We live in a world of constant change, where the old blends seamlessly with the new. Our lives become a mix of tradition and modernity, often leaving us feeling overwhelmed. But amidst all this chaos, we can always find beauty if we take the time to look. Konrad's 'Eternity' series is a stunning reflection of this, capturing a sense of peace and calmness in an unexpected way. Konrad's photos are not your typical "church photos". Instead of focusing on the bright lights and traditional beauty we have come to expect, Konrad's photos use soft muted tones to create an atmosphere of contemplation. His photos are moody, surreal, and deep. They capture the true essence of the church, offering us a glimpse into something often overlooked. We can feel the light shining through the stained glass windows, and the intricate details of the architecture. We can almost hear the silence that envelops Konrad when he takes these photos, providing a sense of stillness and calm. Whether you are religious or not, these photos speak to something far deeper than any one belief system. They remind us that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places, allowing us to pause and appreciate what we may have been too busy to notice before. Konrad's 'Eternity' series provides us with an opportunity to slow down and take a moment to appreciate the beauty of all that surrounds us. As such, it is an important reminder that, even in a world of constant change, we can always find something beautiful if we take the time to look. My black and white Church series is a reflection of my own personal experiences with religion. The photos are not your typical "church photos". They're not bright, but rather dark and moody. There's something surreal about them that captures the essence of the church in a way that traditional photos cannot. When I take these photos, I feel a sense of peace and calmness wash over me. It's as if all my doubts and fears disappear for a moment and I'm left with nothing but awe for the beauty that surrounds me. The light shining through the glass windows, the intricate details of the architecture, and the silence that envelops me all contribute to this feeling. I hope that when people see my Church series, they too can experience this sense of peace and calmness. Whether you're religious or not, there's something powerful about these photos that transcends any one belief system. They remind us that there is beauty in the world around us, even in places we may have overlooked before. In conclusion, my series is more than just a collection of photos. It's a story about my own personal journey with religion and how photography has helped me find peace within it. I hope that through these photos, others can find their own sense of peace and appreciation for the beauty around them. IN CONVERSATION WITH KONRAD HELLFEUER THE PICTORIAL LIST: Hello Konrad, to begin, can you please tell us about yourself. How did you get your start in photography? KONRAD HELLFEUER: I am a German photographer and draftsman. I was born in a small town in the south of Poland and grew up surrounded by nature, which has always been a great inspiration for my work. Currently, I am based in Görlitz where I continue to pursue my passion for art. As an artist, I believe that true creativity comes from within and should not be limited by any particular style or trend. My work is a reflection of my innermost thoughts and emotions, and I strive to create pieces that evoke powerful feelings in those who view them. Whether it's through photography or drawing, my goal is always to capture the essence of the subject matter and convey it in a way that speaks to the viewer's soul. As a child, I was always fascinated by the art world. My father worked as a restorer in a museum, and I would often visit him there. It was during these visits that I first became exposed to the beauty of photography. The images on display captivated me, and I knew right then and there that I wanted to be a part of this world. I started taking pictures with my father's old camera, experimenting with different angles and lighting techniques. As I grew older, my passion for photography only intensified. I decided to pursue it as a career. Looking back on my journey, I am grateful for those early experiences in the museum. They sparked something within me that has stayed with me ever since. And while it hasn't always been easy, pursuing my passion has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. TPL: When and how did your project first manifest for you? What have you learned from this project that has surprised you? KH: As I stepped into the church, I was taken by surprise. The beauty of the cupola and the way it was illuminated by the sunlight streaming through the windows, creating beautiful shadows and lights, left me in awe. It made me remember a project I had been thinking about for some time; a project that would bring together art, faith and architecture. At that moment, I decided to make this project come alive. Little did I know that this project would teach me so much about the power of determination and resilience. As I worked on it day after day, I found myself learning more and more about how to keep going even when faced with obstacles. It was incredible to see how these lessons were revealed to me through art and architecture; something I never expected. And most importantly, it has taught me that sometimes our greatest accomplishments can come from unexpected moments of inspiration. TPL: How would you describe your photography in general, and what would you say you are always trying to achieve artistically? KH: As a photographer, I strive to capture the beauty and uniqueness of the world around me. My work has always been about capturing small details that often go unnoticed. I am obsessed with the play of light and shadow in my photographs, and how these elements can create a powerful image. Light and shadow are my tools for creating an atmosphere that tells its own story. By carefully controlling the balance between light and dark, I strive to achieve artistic perfection in every photo I take. Each image is composed with a certain level of precision, so that it will have maximum impact on the viewer. I am passionate about turning ordinary moments into powerful works of art. Whether it's a landscape shot or portrait, my goal is always to capture something special that can leave an emotional impact on others. Artistic perfection means different things to different people, but for me it's finding harmony between all the elements within an image - color, texture, contrast and light - in order to create something truly beautiful and memorable. TPL: What inspires you? Can you describe how your creative process begins? Do you have any particular habits? KH: I often find inspiration in films, but I also love to look at illustrated books of all kinds. Sometimes these books can be dark, but that's part of the appeal for me. The process of creating my own art usually starts with an idea or a thought that I want to explore. But as I'm working on it, the piece often takes on a life of its own and goes in a different direction than I originally planned. This is part of the fun of creating art - seeing where the process takes you. TPL: What kinds of challenges have you faced in your photography? How do you overcome them? KH: As a photographer, I have faced numerous challenges throughout my career. One of the most significant obstacles I have encountered is finding inspiration and creativity when shooting similar subjects repeatedly. It can be challenging to come up with new ideas and perspectives to keep my work fresh and exciting. However, I have learned to overcome this by pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying new techniques or experimenting with different angles. Another challenge that I often face is dealing with difficult lighting situations. Whether it's harsh midday sunlight or low light conditions, lighting can make or break a photo. Lastly, one of the most significant challenges I face is staying motivated during slow periods or when facing rejection. It can be disheartening when clients don't choose your work or when you're not getting as many bookings as you'd like. However, I remind myself that perseverance is key in this industry. By continuing to improve my skills, networking with other professionals, and staying positive, I know that success will eventually come my way. TPL: What opportunities has your photography opened up that you hadn’t anticipated? KH: Photography has opened up some incredible opportunities for me that I hadn’t anticipated. When I first picked up a camera, it was just a fun hobby to pass the time. But little did I know, it would lead me down a path of self-discovery and creative expression. As my passion for photography grew, I started exploring other forms of fine art such as film photography. This allowed me to push my boundaries and find new ways to express myself creatively. Photography has given me the ability to capture moments in time and share them with the world in a way that is uniquely mine. It has taught me to see beauty in everything around me and has allowed me to connect with people on a deeper level. I am grateful every day for this incredible journey that photography has taken me on and can't wait to see where it will take me next. TPL: Do you have any favorite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? KH: I can tell you that Eliot Porter, Ishiuchi Miyako, Takuma Nakahira, and Daido Moriyama are all significant artists and photographers in their own right. Eliot Porter is known for his stunning landscape photography that captures the beauty of nature. Ishiuchi Miyako's work focuses on the memories and emotions associated with clothing and personal items. Takuma Nakahira was a pioneer of Japanese photography's avant-garde movement in the 1960s. And Daido Moriyama is known for his gritty black-and-white street photography that captures the raw energy of urban life. Each artist has their unique style and approach to photography, making them important figures in the world of art and photography. Their works continue to inspire new generations of artists and photographers around the world. TPL: How do you educate yourself to grow in your photography? KH: Photography is a never-ending journey of learning and growth. To become a better photographer, one must constantly educate themselves. I believe that there are three key ways to do this: looking at art books, visiting photo exhibitions, and practicing. Art books are an excellent resource for learning about different techniques and styles. They provide inspiration and can help you develop your own unique style. Visiting photo exhibitions is another great way to learn about photography. You can see the work of other photographers, learn about their techniques, and gain new ideas for your own work. Finally, practice is essential for improving your skills. The more you shoot, the more you will learn about lighting, composition, and other important aspects of photography. By combining these three methods of education, you can continue to grow as a photographer and create stunning images that capture the beauty of the world around us. TPL: What was the first camera you ever held in your hand, brought to eye, and released a shutter on? What do you use now? Do you have your go to settings? Is there any equipment you have on your wishlist? KH: For me, it was the Olympus 35RC. I remember feeling so excited and empowered by the ability to capture moments and memories with just a click of a button. Today, I use the Sony Alpha a99 and the Sony RX100III. These cameras have allowed me to take my photography to new heights and capture stunning images that I never thought possible. As for my go-to settings, I always start with aperture priority mode and adjust accordingly based on lighting conditions. And while I'm currently content with my equipment, there are always new tools and gear on my wishlist that would elevate my photography even further. But at the end of the day, it's not about having the latest and greatest gear - it's about having a passion for capturing moments and telling stories through our lenses. TPL: What are you focusing on right now in your work and photography? KH: I'm focusing on creating more positive, powerful images in my work and photography. I want to create images that make a difference in the world, and I'm working hard to do that. My goal is to create images that inspire people to be their best selves and to live their lives with purpose. TPL: What are some of your photography goals? KH: As a photographer, my goal is to constantly improve my skills and create images that inspire and evoke emotions in others. One of my main goals is to explore new techniques and experiment with different styles of photography. I want to push myself out of my comfort zone and take on challenging projects that will help me grow as an artist. Another important goal for me is to build a strong portfolio that showcases my best work. I believe that having a well-curated collection of images is essential for any aspiring photographer who wants to make a name for themselves in the industry. I also want to connect with other photographers and creatives, collaborate on projects, and learn from their experiences. Ultimately, my photography goals are centered around creating meaningful images that tell stories, evoke emotions, and inspire others. Whether it's capturing the beauty of nature or documenting important social issues, I want to use my camera as a tool for positive change in the world. TPL: “When I am not photographing, I (like to)… KH: I love to spend time with my family and friends, and when I'm not photographing, I like to read and listen to music. Reading is such a great way to escape into another world for a while, and music can be so relaxing and uplifting. I also love spending time outdoors, whether it's hiking or just walking in the park. There's something so soothing about being surrounded by nature.” PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> CONTOURS OF ABSENCE Where concealment unsettles recognition and ordinary spaces turn psychological, the photographs of Serhii Fett suspend identity between presence and absence. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details.

I am a 37 year old dreamer, born and raised in an artsy family in the northern part of Romania, where my love for landscaping and passion to create things with my own hands have always been nurtured and encouraged by my parents. I have been living and working in London for the past ten years now. I have been nursing fantasies about photo shooting art since I was a young boy. Back home, I used to watch my father painting and create his amazing drawings on canvas. I first dreamt of becoming an artist, just like my father...it never happened, I felt I was never as good as he was. I pay homage to his talent and artistic spirit through my work today. I started releasing my creative flows in photography about nine years ago. Educated in machinery, with a sense for exact sciences and geometry of things in life, I feel that I can capture specific emotions when the right angle of colour and light it's applied. The black-and-white photography segment is the one niche that I best identity myself with...with a bit of an 'eternal snapshot' twist. I like capturing the quintessence of someone's inner beauty and nostalgia. I have been awarded the first place in the international photography contest by Cityscape BW and my photographs frequently appear in Monopix, Eyephoto and Photoshop Magazine. My camera is my best companion on the streets of London and I never miss an opportunity to capture the special flavour of an after-rain street landscape or the unspoken charm of a surprising sunset. People say that one photo means more than a 1,000 words...I like saying that beauty in photography cannot be limited by words. OVIDIU SELARU I am a 37 year old dreamer, born and raised in an artsy family in the northern part of Romania, where my love for landscaping and passion to create things with my own hands have always been nurtured and encouraged by my parents. I have been living and working in London for the past ten years now. I have been nursing fantasies about photo shooting art since I was a young boy. Back home, I used to watch my father painting and create his amazing drawings on canvas. I first dreamt of becoming an artist, just like my father...it never happened, I felt I was never as good as he was. I pay homage to his talent and artistic spirit through my work today. I started releasing my creative flows in photography about nine years ago. Educated in machinery, with a sense for exact sciences and geometry of things in life, I feel that I can capture specific emotions when the right angle of colour and light it's applied. The black-and-white photography segment is the one niche that I best identity myself with...with a bit of an 'eternal snapshot' twist. I like capturing the quintessence of someone's inner beauty and nostalgia. I have been awarded the first place in the international photography contest by Cityscape BW and my photographs frequently appear in Monopix, Eyephoto and Photoshop Magazine. My camera is my best companion on the streets of London and I never miss an opportunity to capture the special flavour of an after-rain street landscape or the unspoken charm of a surprising sunset. People say that one photo means more than a 1,000 words...I like saying that beauty in photography cannot be limited by words. LOCATION London UNITED KINGDOM CAMERA/S Sony 7Rii WEBSITE https://www.selaruovidiu.com/ @OVIDIUSELARU_ FEATURES // Artistic Spirit

I am a visual artist, born and raised in Tenerife, with a deep passion for travel, street, social-documentary, conceptual, and pop art. My work is heavily influenced by the vibrant and ever-evolving pop culture that surrounds us. To express my fascination with this culture, I have delved into different mediums such as photography, video art, writing, and collage. I am also a contributor to various media platforms, using my words to further explore this world that captivates me. My greatest sources of inspiration are my travels and the people I meet along the way. As an artist, my goal is to tell stories through my camera, creating a continuous narrative that reflects my experiences and encounters. Beyond my artistic pursuits, I am a philologist and a secondary school teacher. Despite my formal education, I am a self-taught visual artist. However, I have honed my skills through a two-year advanced photography course and another in cinema and television. My works have been showcased in numerous international exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events, gaining recognition and acclaim worldwide. Publications have featured my work, solidifying my presence in the art world. Currently, my focus is on documenting identity and promoting the message of the Latin phrase "Carpe Diem" through my art. Recently, I was honored to receive the prestigious Rafael Ramos García International Photography Award. On my blog, Pop Sonality, I share my art and cultural experiences with the world, hoping to inspire others to embrace and celebrate their unique identities. SEIGAR I am a visual artist, born and raised in Tenerife, with a deep passion for travel, street, social-documentary, conceptual, and pop art. My work is heavily influenced by the vibrant and ever-evolving pop culture that surrounds us. To express my fascination with this culture, I have delved into different mediums such as photography, video art, writing, and collage. I am also a contributor to various media platforms, using my words to further explore this world that captivates me. My greatest sources of inspiration are my travels and the people I meet along the way. As an artist, my goal is to tell stories through my camera, creating a continuous narrative that reflects my experiences and encounters. Beyond my artistic pursuits, I am a philologist and a secondary school teacher. Despite my formal education, I am a self-taught visual artist. However, I have honed my skills through a two-year advanced photography course and another in cinema and television. My works have been showcased in numerous international exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events, gaining recognition and acclaim worldwide. Publications have featured my work, solidifying my presence in the art world. Currently, my focus is on documenting identity and promoting the message of the Latin phrase "Carpe Diem" through my art. Recently, I was honored to receive the prestigious Rafael Ramos García International Photography Award. On my blog, Pop Sonality, I share my art and cultural experiences with the world, hoping to inspire others to embrace and celebrate their unique identities. LOCATION Tenerife SPAIN CAMERA/S Nikon D610, Fujifilm X30 WEBSITE http://seigar.wordpress.com/ @JSEIGAR @JSEIGAR FEATURES // Tales Of A City

PICTORIAL STORY THE OUTSKIRTS Bangladeshi photographer Fahim captures the impact of Dhaka’s rapid expansion, focusing on the outskirts where urbanisation pushes in and old ways of life begin to disappear — a quiet reflection on the grief that shadows a growing megacity. September 17, 2022 PICTORIAL STORY photography FAHIM story FAHIM introduction MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Ahsanul Haque Fahim is a photographer from Bangladesh, whose passion for photography began as a hobby and eventually led him to study at Pathshala South Asian Media Institution in 2021. Fahim continues to pursue photography through personal projects, with special interest in portraiture, street photography, and capturing the spatial landscapes of people in their natural environments in Bangladesh. Fahim is aware of the effects that our negligence, mistreatment, and general indifference to nature can have on our environment. He looks for inspiration in his neighborhood, finding beauty in everything it has to offer. This series is based on Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and in it, Fahim endeavors to capture the effects of urbanization on the outskirts of the city. Fahim ’ s series is a creative exploration of this transformation - a transformation where man ’ s ambition disregards its own consequences, where lives are sacrificed for progress, and where livelihoods are destroyed in a quest for a better future. The Outskirts is based in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. I wanted to represent the effects of urbanization on the outskirts of Dhaka city, in order for its expansion of the city. Dhaka city, a home for over 20 million habitants is also the financial center of Bangladesh. Regarded as one of the most densely populated cities in the world, thousands of people from across the country, regardless of all class and age come to the city every day in a quest for better jobs and education hence, for a better opportunity and a better lifestyle. Everyone wants its fair share of Dhaka city. This constant wave of incoming migration is making the city suffocate...a city already out of capacity to house anymore migration. To cope with the excess population, the urban planners suggested a guideline to expand the city on the outskirts. The city corporation accepted the guidelines and deployed the measurements in action. Flyovers are constructed for seamless transport transmission. The metro rail service has been added to the public transportation system. New route for metro rail has been under construction. With the city dimension expansion already in action, the city’s outskirts are already in transformation of becoming too urbanized. Vast green fields are now occupied by piles of concrete and clear sand. The green has become pale. The natives are moving away; some are displaced in order to grant the expansion. Sold their lands to the city corporation. Their livelihood has perished; the habitants have disappeared into the flow of development. Once those pale green fields used to be full of native children, now only left to be wailed. This formidable city is swallowing everything in its coming path. © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim © Fahim Through his photography, Fahim seeks to spread awareness of urbanization's effects while demonstrating that beauty can still be found in unexpected places. His series is an invitation for us to join him in reflecting on the past and present of Bangladesh's rapidly changing landscape. We must act now and become mindful of the environment we inhabit, choosing sustainability over convenience. view Fahim's portfolio Read an interview with Fahim >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

PICTORIAL STORY TURNING NEGATIVES INTO POSITIVES When Leigh Ann Edmonds stumbled upon an old hard drive she thought was lost, she uncovered a time capsule — years of unseen images from life on the road with her musician husband. This rediscovered archive became more than a collection of photographs; it revived a chapter of love, art, and shared experience. September 3, 2021 PICTORIAL STORY photography LEIGH ANN EDMONDS story KAREN GHOSTLAW POMARICO SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Leigh Ann Shaw was a wedding photographer from a small town roughly 15 miles north of Birmingham, Alabama, called Mount Olive. Little did Leigh Ann know when she stopped for a red light after a grueling day photographing a wedding, that her life was about to change forever. A man she had met only once before, lead guitarist, rock musician Gary Edmonds, came to her window at that red light and asked her to join him for some good music and fun. An offer she found a bit hard to refuse. After that night they were inseparable, and Leigh Ann Shaw became Leigh Anne Edmonds a year and a half later in the fall of 2012. Photography changed for Leigh Ann, no more weddings, but instead a full backstage pass to some of the most renowned venues in the Southeast and to some of the biggest country rock stars of that time. With Leigh Ann and Gary’s life on the road, adventure and the outdoors is often depicted in Leigh Ann’s personal photographic works. It has been a huge part of her life for well over 25 years now, and Leigh Ann considers it more about a visual journey than a professional destination. The vast majority of Leigh Ann’s work is in black and white. She connects to the nostalgic and timeless look of black and white over color images. Leigh Ann credits her style of photography from her earlier, formative years as a student of photography, where she learned film and darkroom processes. She refers to her work as predominantly unplanned, spontaneous, and observant. “I never control or direct individuals with my documentary work,” she says. “This takes away the individual's authentic moment and identity.” These photographs are a series from a rediscovery. In a printing frenzy Leigh Ann remembered she had put away an old hard drive from eight years prior that she thought had been destroyed. To Leigh Ann’s surprise the hard drive was intact, and the files were untouched and unedited. This photographic series shows intimate encounters between photographer and musician, husband and wife, with art as the loving thread that ties them together. Leigh Ann has selected some choice picks from the past and includes some of her current work to show the journey of her life as a photographer married to a professional musician. When people find out that Leigh Ann is married to a working musician, she usually receives one of two comments: ‘how fun’, or ‘that must be hard.’ Leigh Ann has found that it is both challenging and rewarding. The lack of money, long hours, late nights, and travel that are often required can be taxing, even with the strongest of relationships. She feels that when you marry a musician, you marry the music too and that she cannot separate his love for music and his love for her. “Music is part of him. It lives within him and without it, he is not complete.” Leigh Ann has found their photography and music can exist separate from one another, allowing for independent work, giving them the freedom to grow as individuals. Their art also creates a bond between them. This is the glue that holds their marriage together, where many have failed. For Leigh Ann and Gary, their art is not something that they do for fun, it is a part of who they are. This understanding and tolerance of unforgiving schedules helps them find balance and fills them with satisfaction and pride, and a whole lot of love. Leigh Ann says that finding the separation between Gary’s working nightlife, and having a homebase is very important, and she is thankful that he desires the same things. Stability in their relationship comes from being able to disconnect and get away from it all. When they are not performing, they escape to a small community just outside of Alabama where home sweet home is all that is desired, and where music and photography are some of the many pleasures they share. Leigh Ann admits to being intimidated at first going on the road with an all-man band. She didn’t know what to expect, tried to be inconspicuous, and blended in with the band. The band at times even forgot she was traveling with them. For Leigh Ann, a female photographer in a male dominated industry, being next to invisible is important. To capture the reality of any situation she tries hard not to call attention to herself. She also feels that being a woman in a man's world comes with some perks. She is quiet and soft spoken and reserved by nature, and doesn't get into the other photographers' spaces, which makes her feel accepted and welcome. Leigh Ann says, “Photographing others should be about the experience and connection you find with someone, not just about the image.” Her visual journey has become more about connecting with others and gaining their trust, so when they let their guard down the shutter releases, and the result is an authentic and honest image. “Becoming a professional musician is like that of a photographer,” she adds. “It is a life choice that requires dedication to the skill, faith in your talent, and courage to continue with no promises or guarantees.” Gary Edmonds dressed for a show at the Avondale Brewery in Birmingham, Alabama, 2020. © Leigh Ann Edmonds © Leigh Ann Edmonds The CADDLE Band van travels, 2011. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Finney James and Gary Edmonds arrive at a hotel in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, 2011. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Gary Edmonds during a recording session at Fame Recording Studio with country artist Steven Padilla in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 2012. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Cashback Music at the annual Tuscaloosa Kentuck Festival in Alabama, 2019. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Rhythm guitarist, Adam Guthrie before a show, 2019. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Entrance to Studio A at Fame Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 2012. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Duane Allman of Allman Brothers Band original outtakes on analog from his recording session at Fame in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 2012. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Leif Bondarenko during a show at the Black Box Theater in Columbiana, Alabama. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Eric Watters waiting on a ride to his gig at a hotel lobby in New York City, 2011. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Chris Simmons with the Family Stone on their final checklist before a show at the Agricenter Show Place Arena in Memphis, Tennessee, 2013. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Chris Simmons during a show at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, 2014. © Leigh Ann Edmonds View from backstage of Cashback Band at Avondale Brewery in Birmingham, Alabama, 2021. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Gary Edmonds with load in at GottRocks in Greenville, South Carolina, 2011. © Leigh Ann Edmonds Leigh Ann enjoyed reliving these moments as she sorted through the old images and found herself reflecting on the younger woman she once was. It has reminded her of the years that have passed and how she and Gary have grown into a comfortable older couple, who love to stay home and cook dinner anytime over a night on the town. These images represent her dedication to her photography, and to her commitment to Gary Edmonds, and to Gary Edmonds’ commitment to his music, and to his dedication to the love of his life, Leigh Ann Shaw. view Leigh Ann's portfolio Read an interview with Leigh Ann >>> Website >>> Instagram >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

CITY DOUBLE LIFE Using the beauty of black and white, Martin Agius sees the people as actors, performing for him within the scene he wants. CITY DOUBLE LIFE November 3, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Martin Agius INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Martin Agius is a renowned photojournalist and street photographer with a remarkable career that has spanned decades. Born in Malta, Martin was exposed to the magic of photography at a young age. Starting his journey with the only medium available at the time – camera film – Martin soon found himself in the employ of the Armed Forces of Malta as their Official Photographer. After retiring from service, he made the transition to freelance photography and photojournalism for a leading newspaper. For the past ten years, Martin has dedicated himself to the creative art of street photography. His vivid images capture the geometries of his surroundings, from architectural aesthetics to the warmth and beauty of light and dark shadows. He views his subjects as actors within the scene, ‘performing’ for him in captivating ways that draw in the viewer. Martin’s works are renowned for their evocative power, making them must-see pieces of art. “I developed my way of street photography by using the geometries of the surroundings of the architecture with the harsh sunlight and beautiful dark shadows. Shooting very early in the morning or when the sun is going down, gives you long shadows and the nice golden light is magnificent.” IN CONVERSATION WITH MARTIN AGIUS THE PICTORIAL LIST: Martin please tell us about yourself. MARTIN AGIUS: I was born in Malta in 1966 and lived all my life so far on this tiny island. When I was 18 years old I joined the Armed Forces of Malta until I retired at the age of 44 years old. While I was still in the Army I did my first photography course back in 2008 I decided to take my photography to another level by enrolling for courses organised by the local photographic societies. In July 2009, soon after passing an accredited course in photography, I was appointed the official photographer for the Armed Forces of Malta. On retiring from the Armed Forces of Malta in 2010, I then began my career as a freelance photographer and as a photojournalist for a leading newspaper. In the same year, I was also asked to be the official photographer for ‘Gladiators Fight Night’ (a sports activity with local and foreign participants), a role I still have today. In 2012, I obtained an Associateship with the Malta Institute of the Professional Photography (MIPP) and subsequently abroad with the Societies’ Photographic Society in the United Kingdom (SWPP). The panel I presented for these qualifications where in the Fashion & Glamour genre. 2013 brought about a new experience for me when I was asked to judge a number of local and overseas competitions as well as qualification panels. I have been organising street photography workshops since 2015 and also lecture locally on Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. I have also notched several Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in the Societies Monthly Competition (SWPP) and was also awarded the Societies prestigious UK Press & News Photographer of the Year. In November 2016, I organised my first solo exhibition called ‘Malta Street Life’ and also have had my works exhibited in Egypt, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, and in 2020, Japan. Some of the photos which are either published in local and overseas foreign media or in national and international competitions. TPL: How much does street photography in particular play a role in your overall photography experience. What is it that you love about this genre? Where or how do you find inspiration? MA: Street photography has become part of my life where I cannot live without it. I am fortunate that I am a photojournalist which helps in being very observant, act fast to shoot and also I get many street photography opportunities while on journalistic jobs. I developed my way of street photography by using the geometries of the surroundings of the architecture with the harsh sunlight and beautiful dark shadows. Shooting very early in the morning or when the sun is going down, gives you long shadows and the nice golden light is magnificent. In my opinion, this golden light enriches my images, even though I convert my images into black and white. I also underexpose a bit so I have those shadows darker but still have detail in them. I started the project 'City Life' over eight years ago when I decided that it was time to do something with my images. The name ‘City Life’ came to my mind for this project. Since I was shooting street photography this was what I was doing, documenting a city life. This is an ongoing project, which has evolved into my solo exhibitions, talks and even tutoring. I go out and practice street photography very often, doing research and studying light in the streets. Going out shooting and returning with nothing good will still be a success as the shoot served as a training session for my mind and eyes. Failure was not actually going out to shoot. While going around in the streets, I love listening to the sounds around me especially when it is very early in the morning and the place is starting to get up to the new day. Watching the people passing by, how the light falls on their faces. Who is in a hurry, because he is late or who is going slow because he is not hundred percent awake. Sometimes a sound gets your attention and you might get a photo opportunity. TPL: Talk to us about your double exposure work. What was the idea behind the series. What is it that you want the viewer to take away from your work? MA: I have started street photography by shooting everything that catches my eye, then I moved on to Fine Art street photography especially playing with harsh light and dark shadows. Living in Malta we get harsh light nearly all year round so this helps a lot and I wanted to make the most of it. I am always thinking about how to improve and be creative. I always loved seeing other photographers double exposures (which were not street related) and I always said to myself I want to try these. Then one day the idea came to do double exposures with street photography images. It was last year when the Covid-19 Pandemic hit the world that I decided to give it a try. I did my first double exposure with one image from Malta and one image from London. It is already hard enough to combine these kind of images and doing them with one image from Malta and one image from London is much harder but I wanted to continue with my ‘City Life – From Malta to London’ projects, talks, tutoring, workshops etc. The first image was a real success which won me many awards, a lot of appreciations and it was also chosen as a front cover for a street photography magazine, which was a great honour. TPL: What are some tips or advice you would give yourself if you started photography all over again? MA: First and foremost is to invest in yourself first by doing courses and workshops. Learning by yourself is good but if you want to improve and advance in photography you need to learn from someone. Joining a photography club helps a lot as they can guide you better and also they offer talks, competitions, critique and courses and workshops. Don’t be shy to show your images and get constructive critique. When you decide which genre you would like to practice then you can see what is the best equipment you can buy to help you more in that kind of genre. Equipment is not everything, it needs to be you and your eyes first. A good note to beginners is, that having a passion is not enough to improve and succeed but you also need to be disciplined and commit yourself. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us? MA: I have a lot of favourite photographers who inspire me and also give me motivation. From the past, I admire Fan Ho, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Steve McCurry, Don McCullin, Saul Leiter and many more. Nowadays, I follow Umberto Verdoliva, Sean Tucker, Ando Fuchs, Kai Ziehl, Joshua K. Jackson and many others. TPL: When you are out shooting - how much of it is instinctual versus planned? MA: When I am out I am always looking for a clean nice background with harsh light and dark shadows for my Fine Art images but I also go around to find a character for my double exposures. So one can say that I practise both. I have learned to be the hunter and the fisherman while shooting street photography. Being a hunter was going around to find that candid shot or the right character passing by in the street. As a fisherman, it was finding a composition and background and wait for the right subject to pass. This requires a lot of patience, time and often the study of light and how it affects the areas I am shooting in. This included photographing scenes with harsh sunlight and deep shadows in a minimalistic way, using the drama of high contrast. When I see the scene that I like, I will top and study it, if I am lucky and the light is right I will wait for the right subject to pass, if not, when I get back home I go on the 'Photo Ephemeris' and calculate when it is the right time to go and shoot in that location. In fact, one location where I wanted to shoot in Valletta, Malta, it was only possible with help of the 'Photo Ephemeris' as when researching I found out that the light I wanted to shoot in, only lasts for about ten minutes and you have to also be lucky that the right subject passes in that narrow of time. While going around in the streets, I love listening to the sounds around me especially when it is very early in the morning and the place is starting to get up to the new day. TPL: Where do you like to go to photograph? MA: I visit London very often and I consider it my second home. I decided to do the project 'City Life' with a mixture of images taken in Malta (mainly in Valletta the Capital City) and London (being the Capital City of England). Malta is my home country and London, England my second home. Both places have an interesting mixture of old and new buildings and diverse cultures. Apart from street photography, I strive to document people and their way of life. In Malta it is very easy for me to shoot in harsh sunlight since we have the sun nearly all year round. In London, this is a bit difficult since the sun is not so common especially when I am visiting just for a week. This does not make me give up and I always try to find new stuff to shoot, like museums and the underground. In fact, I have included these in my project as you can also get great images with the geometries and the indoor lighting or a light coming in from a window or door. 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? And, describe your editing process to us. MA: Well, I always believed that equipment is not everything. I learned to work with what I have. Ok, some genres of photography require certain equipment but one has to be creative first as the equipment doesn’t do the job for you. My all time favourite lens was always the Canon 24-15mm f/4 as it is an all-rounder lens, which I use in most of my work. Recently I bought the Canon R6 mirrorless camera with the 24-105mm f/4 lens and I love it. I also just bought the 35mm f/1.8 lens to have less weight to carry. I shoot from two paces away to very wide. I always keep the editing part of the images very near to the journalistic rules which is the nature of my work. I only crop, level and straighten, adjust the white balance, dodge and burn. I edit in 16 Bit and save in 8 Bit. I convert the images into black and white as I want to give the viewers the feel of the past and present as well as reduce colour conflict. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? MA: As always, I want to keep improving and be more creative. I am doing well in tutoring and talks locally and want to improve it as well. I am also looking for opportunities abroad for Talks, Workshops etc. I already did a few and also judged photography competitions in the United Kingdom but I would like to do more. I have recently started a Blog on my website and want to improve this. I also wrote some articles which were published in street photography magazines and also had some interviews like this one and podcasts. All in all, I am doing well and I want to keep improving this. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? MA: One of my other projects which are getting popular as well is called Street Photography Texture. It is a very simple one, I just add a textured image layer to a Fine Art Street Photography image using Blend Modes in Photoshop and you end up with a totally different style of image. TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… MA: When I am not photographing or editing images, I like to read a lot about photography, watch Photography Blogs on YouTube and now I have started writing articles for my Blog and magazines. I also do meditation and listen to motivational stuff or read. These keep me inspired and help me be more creative. One final note ‘Never Give Up’. PORTFOLIO WEBSITE INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> CONTOURS OF ABSENCE Where concealment unsettles recognition and ordinary spaces turn psychological, the photographs of Serhii Fett suspend identity between presence and absence. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details.

PICTORIAL STORY MULTIPLICITY Amy Newton-McConnel opens a window into her daughter’s world, capturing the vivid energy and emotion shaped by ADHD. Each moment reflects how her daughter sees, feels, and moves through the world. May 12, 2023 PICTORIAL STORY photography AMY NEWTON-MCCONNEL story KAREN GHOSTLAW POMARICO SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link Amy Newton McConnel is a visual storyteller based in Phoenix, Arizona. She has been highly creative since childhood, engaging and making art in many mediums, giving her the tools to work with different applications of mixed media, expanding her abilities to express her ideas. Amy has always had a camera and an interest in photography. Amy brings to us a unique way of visual storytelling, depicting her critical thinking through In Camera Movement (ICM) photography. ICM photography utilizes techniques where the camera is intentionally moved during the exposure to create painterly and abstract artistic effects. This allows Amy to create abstract art engaging her camera as a tool to define the story she wishes to express. “I am inspired by lines and textures, colors and shapes and create art that inspires emotional response. ICM photography inspires me to see, feel and think differently and interpret my surroundings in a new and unexpected way.” Amy shares her project Multiplicity with us. Amy invites us for an intimate view of her daughter’s world, illuminating and capturing the expressive ambiance her daughter embodies with ADHD. Her family has worked hard to create an environment where their daughter not only feels like she can be herself but has embraced her ADHD and considers it intrinsic to what makes her so special to Amy’s family. “We refer to her ADHD as her ‘Superpower’. We tell her all the time. She embraces it and says that’s what makes her unique. We should all learn a valuable lesson here, just think what she will accomplish with her superpower! We are positive she is already and will continue to make this world a better place.” Amy depicts her daughter’s ADHD through abstraction, allowing for ICM photography to express the characteristics and brilliance of her daughter’s persona that she admires and adores. It is a unique opportunity for us to understand how many outstanding people there are in our communities and in our own families that face challenges daily in a world that can be not very accepting or friendly at times. Amy shares her project with us. “My daughter, my muse, my source of creative inspiration. Small, yet mighty, she is a commanding, colorful and emotional spirit... not to be reckoned with. She embodies innocence, drama, intelligence, complexity and perpetual movement. She has ADHD. In this body of work, Multiplicity , I have attempted to capture the essence of her unlimited energy, psyche, and her soul. Her ADHD mind is an endless racetrack; a provocateur of impulsivity, a superpower of creativity and imagination; a dysregulation of emotions. Patience is not her strong suit - movement is her preferred companion. She exudes energy, expression and explosive emotion. Her movements are super-fast and dramatic. She acts before thinking with no inhibition, no regard for consequence. There is beauty in her mental disorder. Beauty found in the flux of uncontrolled movements and the drama of exaggerated emotions. As a mom of an ADHD child, it is exhausting; a never-ending dialog and wake of disorder and destruction - an envy of unlimited energy and virtuosity. As an artist, my focus is on harnessing her racing brain, her constant changing thoughts and her fleeting emotions and impulsivity. To take that energy and to visualize her transient thoughts and emotions that capture those fleeting moments...because her brain will forget them in just a minute's time. Multiplicity is an in-depth insight into the complexity of the neurodiverse mind. The beauty of impulsivity and hyperactivity. The fluidity, color and emotion of ADHD as it appears and disappears in the blink of an eye. Each image is intended to capture your attention, engage your thoughts and help you contemplate the flow of movement and the intricacy of multiple emotions.” 'Emotional Explosion' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Unconsciousness' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Out Of Control' © Amy Newton McConnel 'High Contrast' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Self Acceptance' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Dioscuri' © Amy Newton McConnel 'In Your Face' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Red Zone' Amy Newton McConnel 'Yin Or Yang' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Royally Confused' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Restless Boredom' © Amy Newton McConnel 'On Edge' © Amy Newton McConnel 'Self-soothing' © Amy Newton McConnel The Pictorial List thanks Amy for her insight and intimate look into her daughter’s unique way of engaging the world. We thank her for a better understanding of how exceptional people with ADHD are, and we should receive their gifts with respect and admiration. Amy has utilized the techniques of ICM photography to capture poetic emotions in time. Some reflect on moments of personal illumination, while others depict the rhythm of the natural world, embracing the uncertainty in a moment, giving the viewer the ability and freedom to allow a spontaneous emotional reaction. To see Amy’s other work and support her projects and photography, please follow her links below. view Amy's portfolio Website >>> Instagram >>> Facebook >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

BEAUTIFUL GEORGIA Ahmet Hojamyradov's series of Georgian landscapes reminds us of our true smallness in comparison to the overwhelming beauty of nature. BEAUTIFUL GEORGIA July 20, 2020 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Ahmet Hojamyradov INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Ahmet Hojamyradov, a young and talented photographer from Minsk, Belarus, has been capturing the breathtaking beauty of nature through his lens for over a year now. Starting off just as a hobby Ahmet experimented with various genres, landscape photography has now become his primary passion. His landscapes remind us of our true smallness in comparison to the overwhelming beauty of nature. Recently, Ahmet has returned to Minsk after a journey through Georgia which has inspired him to share some of his most captivating photographs with us. Through these images, we can explore the mesmerizing landscapes of Georgia, and be reminded of the immense beauty that exists all around the world. Join us as we explore the spectacular work of Ahmet Hojamyradov, a photographer who captures the beauty of nature through his artistic lens. “A year ago, I had a tough time. My friends, Alexey and Valeria motivated me to try photography as a hobby. I have loved it since then.” IN CONVERSATION WITH AHMET HOJAMYRADOV THE PICTORIAL LIST: Ahmet, where do you find your inspiration to photograph? AHMET HOJAMYRADOV: Mostly, I find inspiration in traveling, people and architecture. TPL: Has your style of photographing changed since you first started? AH: Yes, it has! I started with architecture photography. Then it smoothly changed into landscape photography. Nowadays I do landscapes, some astrophotography and a pinch of portraits. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us, and the reason for their significance? AH: Peter McKinnon, Alen Palander, Kai Böttcher, John Bozinov, Hannes Stier, Gueorgui Pinkhassov and many others. There are a lot of great artists whom I adore. But Peter is the one who influenced the most. I love his approach to shooting and editing his photos and videos TPL: Where is your favourite place to photograph? AH: I love shooting in the mountains and cities. Mostly, I find inspiration in traveling, people and architecture. TPL: Do you think equipment is important in achieving your vision in your photography? What would you say to someone just starting out? Any tips you have learnt from others? AH: Yes, but not always! How you use your equipment is much more important. If you are new to photography, I would recommend not to get stuck in one style. Experiment with various genres! Sooner or later you will level up your photo game in general. Passion and diligence, I guess . To become a good photographer, it is essential to know everything about your camera. You will spend less time to set up your camera, that you can focus on your shot. TPL: Have you ever been involved in the artistic world before photography? AH: No, I’ve haven't. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? AH: In the nearest future, I am planning to do some portrait series. Please, stand by! TPL: If I wasn't photographing what would I be doing?... AH: Probably, I would create music. PORTFOLIO INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> CONTOURS OF ABSENCE Where concealment unsettles recognition and ordinary spaces turn psychological, the photographs of Serhii Fett suspend identity between presence and absence. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details.

I like photography, it gives me the chance to be creative and make images. My focus is to take a picture that combines design, information and emotion. Sometimes it happens. JOHN LILLIE I like photography, it gives me the chance to be creative and make images. My focus is to take a picture that combines design, information and emotion. Sometimes it happens. LOCATION Denia SPAIN CAMERA/S Fujifilm XT2, Fujifilm XT1 and Fujifilm X100V WEBSITE https://johnlillie.smugmug.com @MENFOT FEATURES // The Creative Circle

My mental health is something I've struggled with since I was teenager and as soon as I started getting acquainted with my first digital camera a few years ago, I quickly discovered it to be a useful tool in sorting myself out. Since then I've explored different genres and enjoy them all however it has been in self portraiture that I have really found myself. Photography has become a healing creative outlet for me and has saved me in many ways. ABBIE BRIGGS My mental health is something I've struggled with since I was teenager and as soon as I started getting acquainted with my first digital camera a few years ago, I quickly discovered it to be a useful tool in sorting myself out. Since then I've explored different genres and enjoy them all however it has been in self portraiture that I have really found myself. Photography has become a healing creative outlet for me and has saved me in many ways. LOCATION Madison UNITED STATES CAMERA/S Canon 6D Mark II WEBSITE https://www.abbiebriggs.com/ @_ABBIEBRIGGS FEATURES // Out of the Darkness

PICTORIAL STORY A TALE OF NATURE AND HERITAGE With words and images intertwined, Ana-Maria Alb leads us through the frosty winters of the Carpathians — where every turn reveals a story carved in mountain and mist. February 9, 2024 PICTORIAL STORY photography ANA-MARIA ALB story ANA-MARIA ALB introduction MELANIE MEGGS SHARE Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link The land of Bukovina, located in North Romania, is a region rich in history and teeming with natural beauty. For Ana-Maria Alb, it is a place that holds a special connection to her heritage and a deep love for nature. Her journey in Bukovina is one woven with a passion for exploration and a dedication to preserving its hidden gems. After living immersed in the lively cultures of Germany and Austria for a decade, Ana-Maria’s return to her grandparents’ hometown of Gura Humorului proved to be a transformative experience. It was there, surrounded by the majestic landscapes and vibrant forests, that she made the decision to relocate and dedicate herself to discovering and promoting the wonders of Bukovina. With her certification as a tourism guide, Ana-Maria was granted the opportunity to serve as a local guide, sharing the magic of Bukovina with others. Her days were spent exploring the valleys of the Moldova and Humor rivers, carefully documenting the nuances of the local flora and fauna. The forest paths became her canvas, each step revealing the breathtaking seasonal changes of the landscape. Through her keen observations, Ana-Maria has identified an impressive 70 species of birds and 50 species of butterflies in Bukovina. Her love for the region only grew stronger, and in 2021 she poured her passion and experiences into a book that captured the spirit of Bukovina. Ana-Maria’s book not only delves into the rich history of the region but also presents its geographical wonders, maps out hiking trails, and celebrates the diverse flora and fauna that grace the area. It is a true reflection to her love and dedication for this special place. The book caught the attention of local authorities, and with their support, Ana-Maria’s collaborative efforts resulted in the creation of four hiking flyers. What had started as a personal passion for nature and outdoor walks organically evolved into a deeply satisfying profession. Today, Ana-Maria takes great pride in her role as a guide for Humor Valley’s natural wonders. She shares the region’s history, leads fellow nature enthusiasts through its breathtaking landscapes, and promotes its unique charm. This transition from a wanderer to an authorized local guide not only reflects a professional evolution but also a heartfelt commitment to preserving and celebrating the timeless beauty of Bukovina. Ana-Maria’s journey in Bukovina has not only enriched her own life but also inspired others to explore this captivating region. Through her various experiences in the Danube Delta, Transylvanian villages, and hiking through the Carpathians, she has collected countless stories and photographs that can captivate readers’ interest and serve as inspiration for them to travel to these places. Ana-Maria shares one of her many captivating stories - The Frosty Winters of the Carpathians . With her words and photographs, she invites readers to join her on a journey through the breathtaking Carpathians. Snow and freezing temperatures persist for weeks during the harsh winter in the Carpathians. I write these words thinking of all the wonderful people I met in Bukovina. They taught me how to fully appreciate as well as understand the charm of this place. Come with me on a peaceful journey to enjoy the pastoral settings of northern Romania, in the regions of Bukovina and Maramureş. (Pictures 1-3) After a week of heavy snow and blizzards, the sun lit up the entire Rodna National Park. Starting by car early in the morning from Gura Humorului, we arrived at the Prislop Mountain Pass, which ensures the connection between the historical provinces of Bukovina and Maramureș. Located at an elevation of 1416 m, the natural setting of the mountain pass takes your breath away. Majestic peaks frame the spot, the Rodna and Maramureș Mountains, the latter being the natural border of Romania with Ukraine. Our hiking trail to Gârgalău Peak is splendid; the first part is a walk on a mountain plateau, then a climb on the path made in the snow. From here followed the steeper climb, with several short breaks. Groups of hikers could be seen on the ridge, others behind us. The sun was sending its rays to our frozen faces. There is a little more and a little more. Steamy breaths could be heard with every step. (Pictures 4-6) At the top, at last! With a height of 2158 m, Gârgalău is the fourth-highest peak in the Rodna Mountains ridge. Everyone experiences joy in their own way. The wind's whispers reached even under the hood and cap that covered my head. I turned north-east, my back to the sun, and couldn't stop marveling at the magnificent setting that unfolded in front of my eyes. A warm shiver took over my whole body. Everything around me was so sublime: the ice embroidery, the shine of the snow, the white peaks of the mountain range…A stinging wind touches every inch of exposed skin. A few minutes facing the sun, a few photos, and we set off for the descent path. How lucky we were that we already had the tracks made by other hikers! Arriving at the Prislop Pass parking lot, we enjoyed a tasty meal at the restaurant. In a short time, the hot and spicy soup soothed our red faces and warmed us up. Late in the evening, I arrived home with the same joy that I have every season when I admire, from the valley and from the top, the greatness of these mountains. (Pictures 7-8) Another cold winter morning. The car was going up the road, freshly cleared of ice and snow. The trees are adorned with rime ice, and smoke rises from the chimneys of the houses towards the blue sky. In the north-western part of the Suceava county, alongside the Romanians, live the Hutsuls, an ethnic group of Slavic origin. Their history is still shrouded in mystery, remaining throughout the centuries a compact community spread over the Carpathian area of northern Romania and Ukraine. Respect for traditions, religious and community holidays, and their own lifestyle are features that make this ethnic group something distinct and unique. This Hutsul ethnic group has always had a close connection with the surrounding environment. The horse was the main form of travel in these mountainous areas where they live. Specific to the community is a small, friendly, hardy horse. Its origin is Carpathian; currently, there are several breeding centers. The use of these horses by the Austro-Hungarian imperial army enabled the Carpathian horse breed to gain widespread recognition. Their toughness was also put to the test during the two World Wars. In Romania, the Carpathian horse (hutsul pony) can be found in Suceava county, Moldova-Sulita locality. The craftsmanship with which they make and decorate household items, clothing, and household objects is representative of the Hutsuls civilization. The Hutsuls culture blends perfectly with the pastoral natural environment of the Carpathians through their wooden farms located in the valleys or on the meadows of the hilly coasts, near the forests. For centuries, the main source of existence for these mountain farmers had been provided by this small Carpathian horse. (Pictures 9-10) We leave the village, and the car goes up the country road through the forest that stretches along the border between Romania and Ukraine. We reached the village of Lupcina, at an elevation of 1000 m above the sea. Once, the forests of Lupcina were the land of wolves, hence the name of the village. At the end of the street, after the last house, right next to the forest, there is a wonderful wild meadow. A multitude of wildflowers grow here in the summer; the freshly cut hay smells divine; and colorful butterflies fly gently, giving you the feeling that you are in heaven. If you look up, you can see far away the hamlets and the vast Carpathian Forest beyond the border. Time stands still. In winter, this peace at the end of the world embraces you. The thick fog is slowly falling over the forest. The trees look like biscuits sprinkled with sugar. The wooden fences are silent, frozen in the snow that covers the whole Carpathian world. A crow makes another sound and flies away quickly. At the entrance to the forest, we stop to devour the last reserves of food. From the village, you can hear a dog barking; otherwise, there is a penetrating silence like the cold mountain air. The way back means crossing the forest and then entering a county road. How strange it is, every time, the return to civilization. (Picture 11) Between the towns of Gura Humorului and Câmpulung Moldovenesc lies the valley of the Suha River, a tributary of the Moldova River. The pastoral landscape of the Stânișoara Mountains is delightful; the villages scattered on the sloping coasts have wooden households, and the plots are marked by rustic fences. The locals are engaged in raising animals, working in the forest, and cultivating plants. Here, life is still archaic; everything is based on the peasant calendar, the change of seasons, and the difference between day and night. Suha Valley preserves the autochthonous lifestyle of the first inhabitants of this area, those who founded small communities in the middle of dense forests. The traditional houses combine wood and stone, the course of life in some villages, still follows an archaic rhythm. The gastronomic segment recalls the influences of all the ethnic groups that lived in Bukovina, the folk costume is a textile jewel or combination of textile, leather, fur and contains elements preserved from generation to generation. (Pictures 12-13) The lowest temperatures are usually recorded in January. In recent years, there have been exceptions. On a day when our resistance to the cold was tested as seriously as possible, we took a short hike in the Humor valley, not too far from my home. The river was completely frozen, and we were moving forward with difficulty through the hardened snow only on the surface. We arrived in the center of the village and met some friends. Their invitation to go for a snack in the old house they had from their great-grandmother could not be refused. The small house had a nice veranda with wooden beams. The fire lit on the old stove quickly warmed the room. For several minutes, I admired the shape of the frozen embroidery on the surface of the small window facing the street. In a short time, two plates of traditional food were placed on the table. Steaming potato slices were brought from the stove. These accompanied home-made sausages, smoked ham, onions and peppers, pickles, and cow's and sheep's cheeses. In the evening, I bravely set off for home. When closing the door, I felt a sting on my hand after touching the doorknob. A frosty night was coming. Until the city, only the eyes could be seen on our faces, everything else was covered. The snow crunched loudly with every step. (Picture 14) A special moment in the winter is when I build a snowman. It's my way of forging a spiritual bond between myself and that location. Finding the necessary materials is not difficult; leaves, branches, seeds, and what is uncovered by the snow all help to bring the character to life. Therefore, when leaving, it's also necessary to say goodbye to someone - in my case, the snowman. (Picture 15) This wooden fence has the same vitality as a deeply rooted tree, in my opinion. These fences charge themselves with solar energy, become one with the earth they stand on, absorb the sap of the plants that grow nearby, and become cleansed by raindrops. How could there not be life on this fence? It appears that winter is nature's napping season, with nothing to rouse it from. A far-off human voice is sometimes the only sign that anything is, in fact, happening, including your own breathing. This snow-covered environment has left a deep mark on me: a sense of familiarity and belonging to everything around me — a place I can definitely call home. About Bukovina and Maramureș - Spread over the territory of seven countries, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia and Romania, the Carpathian Arc is one of the treasures of this continent. Virgin forests, meadows, peaks and mountain plateau are home to a multitude of representatives of flora and fauna, diversity that must be preserved, the balance of the trophic chain being ensured by these species of mammals, birds, insects, plants, fungi. Half of the area of the Carpathians lies on the territory of Romania. Specific to these mountains are vast forested wild areas, mid-altitude peaks, and large valleys. Before 1775, Bukovina belonged to the Principality of Moldavia, after that year it was annexed to the Austrian Monarchy. The interactions between the communities, the exchange of cultures and the patrimonial wealth of each ethnic group, brought Bukovina a plus in its economic, administrative and cultural evolution. After the disintegration of the Habsburg Empire, Bukowina returned to the Romanian sphere, and after the Second World War, the territory in the northern part was taken over by the Soviets. Today, the north of Bukovina belongs to Ukraine and its south to Romania. Before the Second World War, the population of Bucovina consisted of Romanians, Ruthenians, Germans, Jews, Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Lipovian Russians, and Italians. In what follows, the term for Bukovina will refer to its south, Suceava County, Romania. The neighboring county, Maramureș, has a similar past. From its status as a voivodeship, it was integrated into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy after 1688, and from 1919, its southern part was included in the territorial unit of Romania. Its north belongs to Ukraine today, with the Tisza River being the natural border. Picture 3 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 4 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 5 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 6 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 7 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 8 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 10 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 11 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 12 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 13 © Ana-Maria Alb Picture 14 © Ana-Maria Alb Ana-Maria Alb’s journey is a compelling example of how personal heritage and a deep appreciation for nature can evolve into meaningful cultural and environmental advocacy. Her work as a local guide, author, and documentarian reflects a sincere dedication to preserving and promoting the unique character of Bukovina. By combining storytelling, research, and lived experience, she brings this remote and richly layered region to life for others. Her efforts not only foster a greater understanding of northern Romania’s landscapes and traditions but also inspire a broader appreciation for the quiet beauty found in places where history, community, and nature converge. Take some more steps into the land of Bukovina with Ana-Maria’s photography in her portfolio and let its beauty captivate you. view Ana-Maria's portfolio Website >>> Instagram >>> Facebook >>> The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author/s, and are not necessarily shared by The Pictorial List and the team. read more stories >>> THE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN Ten years after first seeing Larung Gar, Jing Wei returns to a changed mountain, finding continuity in faith, memory and the lives held within it. PROSCENIUM GHOSTS Said Manseur honors these young actors, their courage, and the unseen work they give to keep theatre alive against the odds. REGINA: BOARDING SCHOOL LIFE AND DREAMS A boarding school room becomes the frame for Cleopatra Joint’s portrait of ambition, instability, and a young woman’s search for freedom. LIFE ALONG THE RIVER Along the Hooghly, Shubhodeep Roy photographs Kolkata through faith, labour and memory, revealing a city shaped by water, inheritance and shared life. A HOME OF MEMORIES AND THE PRESENT Davide Santangelo returns to his family home by moonlight, tracing how absence, memory, and love continue to live within place, objects, and atmosphere after loss. THE PULL OF THE EARTH This is more than a record of rural Bengal. It looks at the bond between Sayan Biswas and the place that shaped him, even after distance has changed that relationship. ARE THOSE WINDS Along Istanbul’s northern edge, Ci Demi photographs the last water buffalo herders as they keep working, remembering, and staying put while the city closes in. COLORS OF HÜZÜN Through fragments and gestures, Pedro Vidal traces Istanbul as shared melancholy lingers in everyday life, the city unfolding slowly and refusing to settle into a single, definitive understanding. OUT OF PLAY An exploration of abandoned interiors in which Marco Lugli examines how objects, light, and space carry memory beyond human presence, establishing absence as a condition of material continuity rather than loss. REIMAGINING TALIESIN Form gives way to flux in Amy Newton-McConnel’s photographs, where architecture unfolds as a field of shifting relations and perception moves with light, geometry, and time. WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS Before the strings, Jeevan Akash Jayavarthanan leaves the movement of the street for the rhythm of the workshop, where time holds, hands work, and each moment forms what will later be heard. LAND, LABOR, AND THE GOLDEN FIBER In West Bengal’s jute fields, Rajesh Dhar examines the systems of land and labor, tracing how a single material sustains communities and informs a changing ecological future. WITH GRATITUDE AND DEVOTION A quiet and intimate account of devotion in Zaraza, Venezuela, Rafael Ayala Páez reflects on faith, memory, and community through photographs and words that honor the enduring power of small gestures. SILVER AND BREATH Within this fragile space between looking and being seen, Eva Christina Nielsen has developed a practice that is both restrained and deeply attentive. RUPTURE REPAIR REMNANT In this reflection on rupture, Donna Bassin invites us to consider how grief settles into the body and the image, and how the slow work of witnessing becomes a form of repair. DELTA DUSK John Agather weaves image and text into a single current, tracing how music, memory, and daily life continue to move through the Mississippi Delta. SILENT BEAUTY Tamara Quadrelli photographs the world by slowing down inside it. There is no rush to explain what we are seeing. The pleasure comes from staying with it. SOLITUDE UNDER A TECHNIFIED SUN Tracing the space between movement and stillness, Héctor Morón reveals a city that persists as human presence slips by. 4320 MINUTES WITHOUT COLOR Moving between photography and narration, Mohammed Nahi traces a period in which sight could no longer be assumed as reliable, and attention shifted toward memory and duration. THE PAINTED VILLAGE OF LABANDHAR Anjan Ghosh’s photographs carry us to Labandhar, where painting becomes language, tradition stays present, and art grows through shared ground. ORDINARY GRIEF What endures when everything else is uncertain? Through photography, Parisa Azadi asks us to see Iran not as story, but as feeling. THE EVERYMAN Eva Mallis uncovers the quiet strength of overlooked lives, capturing everyday encounters in Mumbai’s industrial districts as intimate portraits of labor and resilience. IN BETWEEN LIFE AND AFTER In Cairo’s City of the Dead, families carve out ordinary lives among centuries of tombs — Paola Ferrarotti traces the fragile line between memory and survival. UNFIGURED Nasos Karabelas transforms the human body into a site of emotional flux — where perception fractures and inner states become visible form. VISIONS OF ICELAND FROM ABOVE Massimo Lupidi takes flight above Iceland — capturing nature’s abstract brushstrokes where land, water, and sky blur into poetic visions beyond the ordinary eye.

DISCOVERING MY COUNTRY Chichek Bayramly is an architect from Azerbaijan who loves to discover and document new places and faces of her native country. DISCOVERING MY COUNTRY July 12, 2021 INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY Chichek Bayramly INTERVIEW Melanie Meggs Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Pinterest Copy link SHARE Nestled between two formidable mountain ranges lies the beautiful nation of Azerbaijan, a country of immense natural beauty and centuries-old culture. For Chichek Bayramly, this land is not just home, but an opportunity to explore and capture the wonders of its rural life and stunning architecture. Through her photographic project, 'Island in the Mountains', she has sought to bring the gems of her hometown to the world. From the vibrant colors of local attire to the intricate designs of traditional buildings, Chichek has shown the beauty of Azerbaijan with her lens and earned recognition from the Tbilisi Multimedia Museum Grant program for women of Caucasus. Join us as we explore the world through her eyes and discover the hidden treasures of her homeland. “My first photo project 'Island in the Mountains' was made in the frame of Tbilisi Photography and Multimedia Museum's grant programme. It is about the specific village named Khinalig, located 2300 meters above sea level in southeast Azerbaijan. It has its own language and interesting architecture (each house roof is the terrace of the house on top at the same time) with colorful interiors, decorated carpet patterns. The main task of the programme was to show the isolation. Photographic scenes address the ambiguous narratives probe tensions between human connection and separation, women labour and childhood, intimacy, and isolation.” IN CONVERSATION WITH CHICHEK BAYRAMLY THE PICTORIAL LIST: Chichek, please tell us about yourself. How did you become interested in photography? CHICHEK BAYRAMLY: I was born in Ganja city, Azerbaijan and have lived in different cities of Russia since I was 7 months old. In Kazan, Russia I studied architecture. My interest in photography started after exploring my family archive photos. Every summer holiday we came into our apartment in Ganja - the first thing I did was to sort through all the photo albums. I started my trip into photography when I was 14 years old with my fathers old Zenit 122 camera. At first I shot with no idea how that camera works, just intuitively. I fell in love with the process of shooting, the long wait for seeing pictures made me excited. I moved to Baku, Azerbaijan in 2014 and continue my photography experience here. TPL: Can you tell us what your series 'Island in the Mountains' is about? How did the idea come about? CB: My first photo project 'Island in the Mountains' was made in the frame of Tbilisi Photography and Multimedia Museum's grant programme. It is about the specific village named Khinalig, located 2300 meters above sea level in southeast Azerbaijan. It has its own language and interesting architecture (each house roof is the terrace of the house on top at the same time) with colorful interiors, decorated carpet patterns. The main task of the programme was to show the isolation. Photographic scenes address the ambiguous narratives probe tensions between human connection and separation, women labour and childhood, intimacy, and isolation. TPL: Do you have a favourite place to photograph? CB: I have found that I rarely take pictures in the city I live in: my daily life is too intensive, and I can not observe things happening around. Mostly I travel to regions of my country when I get "hungry". I find inspiration in nature, architecture of villages and people living there. TPL: Do you have any favourite artists and photographers? CB: I have photographers whose works I follow, but I do not make them my favourites, just to avoid copying them subliminally. I prefer to watch drawings of some artists to get inspiration on composition, colors, and mood. 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? CB: Usually both Mostly I travel to regions of my country when I get 'hungry'. I find inspiration in nature, architecture of villages and people living there. 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? CB: My favourite camera is the Fujifilm X series. Now I mostly use the Fujifilm X-E2 and sometimes I bring with me my new Sony a6400. Compared with Fuji we could not make a strong connection between us yet. But with Fujifilm I can show things as I imagine them before shooting. TPL: What are some of your goals as an artist or photographer? Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? CB: I try not to make big plans for the future. Usually I find solutions spontaneously, at 'that' moment, and try to develop new things, make some experiments. TPL: Are there any special projects you are currently working on that you would like to let everyone know about? CB: For now I have some important projects in architecture, so I can not focus on photography. TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)… CB: Make sketches, collages, sculptures, dream and just observe." PORTFOLIO INSTAGRAM read more interviews >>> CONTOURS OF ABSENCE Where concealment unsettles recognition and ordinary spaces turn psychological, the photographs of Serhii Fett suspend identity between presence and absence. THE ART OF ATTENTION Curiosity turns portraits, objects, and places into discoveries as Len Irish reflects on a life shaped by the camera’s attention. WHERE EMOTIONS BREATHE Simple encounters Irina Sedletskaya almost missed become photographs shaped by silence, distance, uncertainty, memory, hope, and resilience. THE VILLAGE A workers’ neighbourhood becomes a living archive as Virginia Cassano photographs the people, streets, and memories that continue to shape Villaggio Piaggio. MUTABLE MORPHOGENESIS By merging scientific methodologies with photographic experimentation, Emma Varga creates images that challenge fixed distinctions between human and non-human, visible and invisible. THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Chad Coombs’ Polaroids are small psychological scenes where identity, memory, culture, and belief push against each other. WHERE WE BELONG Community storytelling lies at the heart of The Pictorial List’s mission, and Marlon Ramos’ photographs reflects the spirit of the place we now call home. GUIDED BY A WHISPER Guided by reflection and the quiet presence of art history, Isolda Fabregat Sanz makes photographs that resist certainty and invite the viewer to remain inside the act of looking. WHAT REMAINS, WHAT EMERGES Laetitia Heisler transforms risk, memory, and the body into layered analogue visions — feminist rituals of seeing that reveal what endures, and what quietly emerges beyond visibility. WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO Culture lives where art and community meet, and in this space Alejandro Dávila’s photographs reveal the unseen labor and devotion that sustain creation. ANALOGICAL LIMBO Nicola Cappellari reminds us that the photograph’s power lies not in what it shows, but in what it leaves unsaid. THREADS OF MOROCCAN LIFE Through gestures of work and moments of community, Kat Puchowska reveals Morocco’s overlooked beauty. IT STARTED AS LIGHT…ENDED IN SHIVERS… Between intimacy and estrangement, Anton Bou’s photographs wander — restless fragments of light and shadow, mapping the fragile terrain where self unravels into sensation. WITH EYES THAT LISTEN AND A HEART THAT SEES For decades, Rivka Shifman Katvan has documented the unseen backstage world of Broadway, capturing authenticity where performance and humanity intersect. DIPTYCH DIALOGUES Through the beautiful language of diptychs, Taiwanese photographer Jay Hsu invites us into a world where quiet images speak of memory, resilience, and hope. UNKNOWN ABYSSINIA In Ethiopia, Sebastian Piatek found a new way of seeing — where architecture endures, but women in motion carry the narrative forward. THE PULSE OF THE STREET Moments vanish, yet Suvam Saha holds them still — the pulse of India’s streets captured in fragments of life that will never repeat. WHAT DO WE WANT? More than documentation, David Gray reveals the human pulse of resistance and asks us to see beyond the surface of unrest. CRACKED RIBS 2016 Cynthia Karalla opens up about the art of survival, the power of perspective, and why she believes each of us holds a monopoly on our own narrative. STREETS OF KOLKATA Ayanava Sil’s reveals Kolkata’s soul, capturing moments with empathy, presence and humility while offering deep insight into both city and self. PERIPHERAL PLACES A project by Catia Montagna that distills fleeting encounters and spatial poetics into triptychs - visual short stories that capture the in-between, where meaning often hides. POINTE-AU-CHIEN IS NOT DEAD Through Wayan Barre’s documentary, we are invited not only to see but to feel the lived realities of a community standing at the crossroads of environmental collapse and cultural survival. QUEER HAPPENED HERE Author Marc Zinaman sheds light on the valuable contributions that LGBTQ+ individuals have made to the cultural and social fabric of New York City. TRACES OF TIME Marked by an ongoing visual dialogue with time, memory, and impermanence, Zamin Jafarov’s long-term projects highlight the quiet power of observation and the emotional depth of simplicity. THERE MY LITTLE EYES Guillermo Franco’s book is an exploration of seeing beyond the obvious. His work invites us to embrace patience, curiosity, and the unexpected in a world that often rushes past the details.