Photography Resists!
Showcase plus new monthly feature
My latest curated showcase, Photography and Resistance for Thinking About Photography [dot] com is now live and runs from January 6th - March 20th. The photographers in this showcase are giving voice to those who have been silenced. They celebrate lives and cultures that persist despite outside forces to conform. They document changes to our fragile environment and the impact it has on the land and those that inhabit that land. From PhotoBook Journal we have a collection of six book reviews that remind us of the human cost and impact of world events.
Artist’s Projects:
Flores de Femicidio by Natali Bravo-Barbee
Living Proof by Mercedes Dorame
Phthalo Blue by Corina Gamma
Nature Morte by Florence Iff
Tompo by Alexey Vasilyev
Photo Book Reviews:
The Uyghurs: Kashgar before the Catastrophe by Kevin Bubriski, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
“Alive and Destroyed by Jason Francisco, reviewed by Steve Harp
displaced by Ara Oshagan, reviewed by Steve Harp
We Cry In Silence by Smita Sharma, reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
TESTAMENT ’22: A Visual Road Diary Through a War Zone by Byron Smith, reviewed by Lee Halvorsen
Look at the U.S.A.: A Diary of War and Home by Peter van Agtmael , reviewed by Gerhard Clausing
Use this link if you’d like to go directly to the Photography and Resistance showcase - otherwise, keep reading for more about the featured showcase artists.
Curating the Showcase
“Our Existence is Political - Mickalene Thomas
These are interesting times, and I wanted to respond in a thoughtful way. As I considered my response - the idea of resistance came up and immediately stuck as how I wanted to start 2025. My emphasis was on giving “voice” to those who had refused to be silenced - and I knew I wanted to take a broad view. That clarified when I was listening to an interview with artist Mickalene Thomas on Fresh Air, which crystalized what I was feeling - our very existence is political - in and of itself, it is resistance and so I looked for artists that were giving voice to the voiceless.
The Artists:
Natali Bravo-Barbee: I met Natali in 2019, when we both were curated into Bostick & Sullivan’s The Handmade Photograph: Contemporary Photographers Working in Historic Processes. As a companion piece to the exhibition, they also invited photographers to participate in a “marketplace” event - and that’s where I saw her marvelous work. It was one of those perfect intersections of art and content and she was one of the first people I considered when I started my curation website. So, I’m thrilled that finally, we’ve been able to work it out to show her project. It does show how you’ve got to play the long game when building your photography community.
Mercedes Dorame: Last month, my husband and I visited the Autry Museum of the American West and were so impressed by the exhibitions and how they were looking at the American West with an unflinching eye. A big part of that was about giving voice to those who’d been silenced / pushed aside. Mercedes had several poetic works in one of the exhibits and was one of the first people on my “wish” list for the showcase.
Corina Gamma: We’ve know each other since our time at Claremont Graduate University - she is both a photographer and a documentary filmmaker. I’ve always loved her work and in 2016 she completed Gatekeepers of the Arctic, a documentary examining climate change at Greenland's research station Swiss Camp, and the impact of global warming on the Inuit communities. I love how lush and poetic her imagery in the showcase is.
Florence Iff: I had seen her work in LensCulture’s 2023 Emerging Talent Award Winners and when I visited her website, I found Nature Morte, her most recent body of work. It’s still life, which is unusual for anyone to do…much less do it so well. Across all her work there’s a connection to the environment and a concern about loss of diversity, which I felt would be a good fit for the showcase.
Alexey Vasilyev: Alexey was also in the same LensCulture Emerging Talent exhibition. On his website he had several series that caught my eye, one I want to direct you to (besides the showcase) is Sahkawood, which explores the filmmaking community in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which is one of the most remote regions from the center of Russia. With temperatures that drop to -76F degrees below zero, it’s astounding that they have a thriving film community, producing seven to ten feature films per year and have won a bunch of awards.
PhotoBook Journal Reviews: For each showcase, the editors and contributing editors come up with a list and this time they handed me a “baker’s dozen.” Culling it down to six books was extremely difficult - especially because the entire showcase is about bringing forgotten/buried/ignored issues and groups to light…and it felt darkly ironic to be making choices on which would get a voice in the showcase.
I’d also like to announce Notables, a new feature for ThinkingAboutPhotography.com. Each month I’ll post on an individual artist with an image, short description and a link to their website. This gives me the ability to go beyond thematic showcases and bring new artists to you!
Check out the showcase - I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do. Here’s the link for the Photography and Resistance showcase.