Category: Photography

“It’s the city in all its diversity and the way it evolves that interests me,” says Paris-Based photographer Aliocha Boi. Inspired by urban environment, he creates documentary images born from daily explorations and a real fascination for composition and symmetry.

“It struck me how the people of Cuba were still strongly attached to Fidel Castro.”
This time, Boi takes us to a fascinating journey to Cuba. Taken two weeks prior to the passing of Fidel Castro, the images convey the vision of the country the photographer had moments before the national mourning. He recalls: “It struck me how the people of Cuba were still strongly attached to the one who had incarnated for decades hope and despair, finding slogans, posters and portraits of him everywhere.” While strolling around the streets for several hours, Boi was able to observe many contrasts, within Cuban architecture and social structure. During his stay, the photographer was also able to talk to few locals, whom he found “very endearing.” His series, consisting of both the portraits and street scenes, and built around light play, is the result of his observations.

Mostly being known as  “the party city of Europe” the capital of Germany has more to offer than Berghain, inexpensive beer, and a flourishing start-up scene.

Photographer Stefan Haehnel and musician Vvarholla met up and explored Berlin’s deep colours, diverse architecture, and warm cafe’s during the brisk fall. Throughout the journey the two tastemakers take advantage of the season’s colours, mood and limited lighting for 24 hours on two wheels – the Berlin way…

11:30 AM – Admiring the architecture of one of the largest Jewish museums in Europe

1:00 PM – Wandering around West-Berlin and taking in the shapes and colors that Autumn brings

3:00 PM – While heading into Kreuzberg we are stopping to have a closer look at the numerous murals the city has to offer

6 PM – Our last stop is Café Mirika where we warm up with hot cup of coffee

All images © Stefan Haehnel created exclusively for iGNANT
In collaboration with unu –  the smart electric scooter

Inspired by the Roman villa and both Spanish and Arab cultural heritage, The Villa designed by Italian studio Metroarea fuses Mediterranean culture and the natural environment.

“For us, designing a contemporary building in 2016 means establishing a dedicated dialogue with history and with nature.”
Situated in the stunning area of Ibiza, Spain, the house takes its form from the natural lexicon of Italian expressionism, such as Moretti and Michelucci, while also maintaining strong memory of Rudolf Steiner. “For us, designing a contemporary building in 2016 means establishing a dedicated dialogue with history and with nature,” say the architects. That said, the building includes big glass windows filtered by hanging gardens, canopies and custom made bamboo shutters, reminiscent of the traditional awnings and latticework Moucharabieh. In addition, such a solution creates a continuous relationship between inside and outside of the house. Following the natural slope of the hill where it stands, The Villa’s shape reminds of an amphitheater surrounded by nature. To avoid the popular image of the luxury and pursuing the connection to the island, the design team decided to use simple materials like irregular board formed concrete. The result is informal and hospitable, making The Villa the perfect shelter hidden in the paradise.

Michelle Kingdom‘s intricate embroidery art explores psychological landscapes, bringing to life tiny worlds and the thoughts otherwise left unspoken.

“Beauty parallels melancholy, as conventional stitches acquiesce to the fragile and expressive.”
Capturing elusive yet persistent inner voices, Kingdom’s imagery has many references to art and history, memories and personal mythologies. Fused together, they explore relationship, domesticity and self-perception. Through her artworks, Kingdom reveals the dynamics of aspiration and limitation, expectation and loss, belonging and alienation, truth and illusion. Small-scale scenes are densely embroidered into compressed compositions. “While the work acknowledges the luster and lineage inherent in needlework, I use thread as a sketching tool in order to simultaneously honor and undermine this tradition. Beauty parallels melancholy, as conventional stitches acquiesce to the fragile and expressive,” the artist says.

Kelia Anne MacCluskey began to photograph during an adolescent trip abroad. Ever since, her art, although centered around various issues, has been inseparably connected with traveling.

“These images were created out of enthusiasm for nostalgia – a desire to remember.”
‘The Contest of Meaning‘ is a series of images exploring the selective processes of the memory. Each of MacCluskey’s compositions imitate and romanticize memories. And, as in life, some of them, though completely irrelevant, are lucid and clear, whereas others are almost surreal, tiny details that tend to be manipulated or entirely missing. “These images were created out of enthusiasm for nostalgia – a desire to remember,” says the photographer. A Colorado native, MacCluskey currently “solidifies her dreams”, which she describes as ‘elsewhere’. Often illustrated as a renaissance woman, the artist has just received her BFA in photography from the Savannah College of Art & Design and currently works as an Editorial Assistant for Aint-Bad Magazine.

“A camel in the desert, an oil millionaire in a kaftan or a soccer world cup embroiled in FIFA corruption, those are the images most likely to pop up when we think of Qatar.”

Berlin-based photographer Gregor Schmidt exhibits the unspoken ambitiousness of Qatar and its process of building “a bridge between the past and the future.” Throughout Schmidt’s research of the transition, his photos show the nurturing of life currently in the land of Qatar.

Focused on the city of Adelaide, located in South Australia, Mike Barr creates evocative rainy-day cityscapes.

“When the feeling are shared, my mission is accomplished.”
Focused more on an overall impression they would make on the viewer, rather than intricate details, Barr’s paintings don’t tell the whole story. “There is more than enough to see in a photograph, but in my paintings, I want the viewer to find the deep feelings,” the artist says. That said, the cityscapes, although a bit melancholic at first, evoke feelings of both excitement and comfort. The painter invites the viewers and invites them to be the part of the scene, encouraging the involvement. Thanks to that, a unique energy is conveyed throughout his works, making the viewer really catch the feeling of being in the scene. “When the feeling are shared, my mission is accomplished,” adds the artist.

Japanese firm Moriyuki Ochiai Architects transformed a botanical garden in Hakone area into a museum’s multi-purpose space and named the project “Waterscape/Memory of Spring“.

The place is surrounded by a rich environment next to Lake Ashi and Mount Hakone. In this humid area, moisture can seep through the site’s soil and accumulate around the plant roots. Thus, a natural fountain is filled with clear water. A large banyan tree which was symbolic for the former botanical garden, used to grow in the middle of the transparent dome. Now instead of it a colorful octagonal amphitheater stands at the center of the museum’s entrance. To make this possible, the whole floor was at first coated with concrete and then later filled up with transparent resin. The architects decorated the resin with elegant and diversified pieces using various shiny materials, like mirrors, glass elements and splinters of metal. The idea was to generate vibrant flares on the water surface. The lively movements are underlined by the play of colors, aroused by the solar radiation that is under continuous change, depending on the time and the weather conditions. The newly created space functions as a multi-purpose venue that matches with the surrounding landscape perfectly.