Category: Photography

Ryan Shororsky finds the perfect mode to portray the controversial area of the United States that has long fanned dozens of alien-related theories – through the imageries. Subsequently, his ongoing photo series ‘Nevada Mirage’ is the reflection of his observations and experiences with this extraordinary desert state.

Impressed by Nevada while working as a long-haul truck driver in 2014, the American photographer started his curious photo voyage last year. Shororsky’s images were taken in places and towns that border with the famous military area Area 51, also known as Dreamland and Paradise Ranch. The veil of secrecy that’s been overshadowing the region gives a vast inspiration for the conspiracy theories, followed by ridiculous alien-themed marketing efforts. In between the speculations of extra-terrestrial life, Ryan Shororsky provides insights into the ordinary life of terrestrial residents and places. Although in these initial farfetched mirages he captured bizarreness of the area, the photographer plans to go back to finish the projects that he describes as “a strange love letter to Nevada”.

“Most of my works are simply just trying to express the inherent character and textual freshness of the clay.”
A ceramist living in Copenhagen, Denmark, Pedersen is represented in collections of Designmuseum Denmark in Copenhagen Le Musée Magnelli or the Annie and Otto Detlef Foundation, to name few. She describes her latest work: “In the interplay between culture and nature, my recent work is inspired by geological structures and crystal formations, but also by architecture, the edged rendering of a computer drawing or folded paper shapes.” All the pieces in the collection are hand-modeled stoneware glazed with slip-glaze, which gives the pieces dry surface and rich texture. Pedersen adds: “Some of my works have expressive surfaces, with relief or fluted structures but most of them are simply just trying to express the inherent character and textual freshness of the clay.”

A new book from Gestalten: “Upgrade: Home Extensions, Alterations and Refurbishments” presents a diverse range of progressive renovation projects from around the world – from home extensions to the modernization of industrial sites.

One of our favorite works showcased in the book is the Landscape Laboratory by architecture practice Cannatà e Fernandes. Located in the historic city of Guimarães, Portugal, on protected land characterised by a water channel, soil trails and lush vegetation. The renovation sought to preserve the original nature of the building. The masonry stone elements were cleaned and preserved and new volumes built from white concrete were added, to mark the changes in time and use. “The proposal aims to recover the architectural character of the existing building and at the same time, with the new roof and the volumetric reconstructions, affirm the indisputable contemporanity of a rehabilitated building,” state the architects. “Upgrade: Home Extensions, Alterations and Refurbishments” is available for purchase here via Gestalten.

North American photographer Delaney Allen, whose work we’ve featured previously on iGNANT, blends portraiture, landscapes and still life photography in his otherworldly “Artifact” series.

Employing dramatic lighting and objects that seem to be shrouded in mystery in settings across the USA’s west coast, Allen creates images that toe the line between fact and fiction, inviting the viewer to fill in the visual gaps, coming up with their own interpretations of the photos’ messages. Favoring a muted color palette, striking landscapes and unexpected visual clues, Allen’s work feels like it was made to lose yourself in. “As with every work displayed,” says a statement on the artist’s website, “Allen avoids the naturalistic within these photographs, understanding that the fragmentary and the mystical best embody a spirit.”

In his photo series named ‘Time In Between – Fairy Tale Of Russia’, the award-winning German photographer Frank Herfort captures the people of Russia and observes their waiting behavior. The captivating images examine the complex relationship between the protagonists and the spaces, exposing a world unknown to Westerners.

“…A waiting room is a waiting room, an office is an office. In Russia, in contrast, rooms are open to interpretation, many-layered and not so prettified”
Fascinated by the public spaces and the culture of waiting in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other Russian cities, Frank Herfort creates a visual narrative around people and the settings. Surrounded by austere tones of old-fashioned Soviet buildings, the people in the photos sometimes seem as a part of the décor, sharing the gloomy yet romantic vibe of their surroundings. “In Western Europe everything is so neatly defined, so specific. A waiting room is a waiting room, an office is an office. In Russia, in contrast, rooms are open to interpretation, many-layered and not so prettified. And I also noticed that there seem to be many more people just sitting around in them. None of them seems at first sight to know what they are doing there. I tried to integrate people like that into my pictures,” writes Herfort of his experiences.

A new book from Gestalten: “Upgrade: Home Extensions, Alterations and Refurbishments” presents a diverse range of progressive renovation projects from around the world – from home extensions to the modernization of industrial sites.

One of our favorite works showcased in the book is the E/C House on the volcanic Pico Island, designed by Portuguese architecture studio SAMI-Arquitectos. The two-storey holiday home, which overlooks the Atlantic, was built around the ruins of a former house. The old stone walls are left standing, creating a striking contrast between the old and the new. Minimally furnished, the home provides a tranquil space to relax and rejuvenate. “The house, modelled inside the walls of stone, was designed with generous openings, for light to come inside and to contemplation of the landscape,” say the architects. “These openings are sometimes lined up, and sometimes not, with the former openings of the ruin, creating new frames and relations with the original limits of the house.” “Upgrade: Home Extensions, Alterations and Refurbishments” is available for purchase here via Gestalten.

Diminishing the boundaries between art and design, Wendell Castle designs unconventional and bold objects with an ability to exist as sculptures and furniture pieces.

A pioneer of the “American Studio Craft” movement, industrial designer Wendell Castle is both artisan and artist. His signature stack-laminated pieces are honoring the wood, while in this series they are revolving around powerful tones of black. The organic shapes reference Modernism and are inspired by big names of the movement, like Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi and Joan Miró. Carved in our mind is the piece named ‘Equal Partners’, an object with a shape of uneven equilateral arch that features the space for a seat and a table.

Wendell Castle belongs to the group of artists who don’t believe in the stereotypes and the settled forms. Furthermore, he considers that the furniture pieces merit the same acknowledgment as the sculptural objects. The collection of objects created in the period between 2014 and 2016 is currently on display in the retrospective exhibition ‘Planting Seeds’, at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris. “I actually think of my work as If I had planted a seed and that this organic thing grew up,” remarks the artist while wondering, “why couldn’t furniture be just as expressive and have every bit as much power and strength as sculpture?”