Misha Gordin is a conceptual photographer born in Latvia during the Soviet occupation. Over the course of several decades, Gordin has produced stunning images using shadows, shapes, and crowds, distilling the gamut of human experience into a single, piercing moment. Recurring themes include fear and alienation, resistance and collapse, the struggle for identity in a […]
Category: Black & White
Children of the Winter Forest: Dara Scully’s Poetic Photography
Note: Contains nudity. Dara Scully is a self-professed “forest-creature, winter child” who instills poetry into her haunting photography. Scully’s works are like gothic fairytales, exploring the human psyche through complex metaphors and esoteric symbols: nude figures lie in strange constellations on the grass, ghost-eyed children peer at the viewer, and dark forests encroach on the […]
10 Artists Who Reimagine the Creative Possibilities of Paper
There are endless possibilities when creating with paper. More than just a surface to draw on, artists manipulate the ancient material into sculptures, collages, and even fashion accessories. The diverseness of paper lends itself to a myriad of stylistic approaches and exploration of themes. Some artists use collage cutouts to create mystical characters, while others […]
Philip Ob Rey Contructs Giant, Humanoid Omens out of VHS Tape
“Humantropy” is a word coined by artist Philip Ob Rey to describe the decline of civilization in an age of renewed chaos. To explore this concept, Ob Rey constructed spectral giants made out of VHS tape and found natural objects (feathers, stones, and seaweed) and photographed them in the frozen, brooding plains of Iceland. Each […]
The Provocative Bondage Photography of Nobuyoshi Araki
Note: Contains nudity and sexual references. Nobuyoshi Araki is a photographer known for his provocative photographs of sexuality and Kinbaku-bi, the art of Japanese bondage. For decades, Araki’s work has been the subject of controversy, pulled between the categories of art, erotica, and pornography. While his work may cause discomfort for some viewers, his compositions […]
Flora Borsi’s Strange Body Morphed Photos (aka the “Siamese” Project)
Previously featured for her high-contrast photographs of “Des Monstres,” Flora Borsi’s 2016 experimental project (“Siamese”) unveils black-and-white images of the artist as she twists, morphs and duplicates herself as conjoined twins. It isn’t a remake of the famous 1800s circus act of “Siamese Twins” Chang and Eng Bunker, or a 1930s Picasso piece, it’s solely […]
Photorealistic Still Life with Something “Wrong”
Artist Tatsuya Erikawa carefully constructs realities through painstakingly-rendered drawings. Created in a photorealistic style, they depict still lifes with objects arranged slightly askew. A tiny skeleton takes a bath in festively-decorated glass, while army men set a curious mouse trap. Erikawa’s awe-inspiring technical abilities are highlighted by the strange situations, and their realism makes them […]
Winter’s Requiem: New Works by Laura Makabresku
Stillness and winter’s chill permeate the newest works of Polish photographer Laura Makabresku. Describing her photos as “screenshots from beautiful but cruel fairy tales,” she often includes animals as symbols of transition and death. There is a sense of beauty, romance, and darkness that weave together to enrapture the imagination. From the woman embracing a […]
Dissected Splendor: Nunzio Paci’s Visionary Anatomy Paintings
Nunzio Paci is an Italian artist who paints aged human bodies caught between evisceration and rebirth. He is interested in mutation and our relationship with nature. Recalling the anatomy illustrations of the Italian Renaissance, Paci reinvests an age-old admiration of the body’s structures with a figurative exploration of mortality and the spirit; as veins and […]
Robert Mapplethorpe’s Photography: BDSM and Beyond
Note: Contains sexual references and nudity. True artists are distinguished by the complex emotions they bring to the artistic process and by the enduring impact of their art. In the 1970s Robert Mapplethorpe, in his 20s, conceived of a successful career as a photographer. From the start, his work stunned the art world. More than […]