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Posted: 06 Nov 2015 08:21 AM PST
 Danny  Olga Back in 2013, German photographer Oliver Sieber published an award-winning photobook containing a collection of portraits constituting to his own Imaginary Club. With 430 pages of photographs – most of which are portraits – his book embodies the inherent nature of the photographer as collector. “You can call it a self-portrait,” Sieber says of the project, “It’s all my personal interests and preferences put together in my personal context.” Taken in disparate locations varying from UK to Tokyo, Helsinki to LA, and Israel to Mexico, the portraits featured focus specifically on underground youth culture across the world. Sieber photographs the marginalized, unconventional groups and misfits of society and combines these portraits with monochrome street shots similar in style to Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama. This way Sieber creates vivid juxtapositions that reflect his own unconventional take on the book’s layout. Delving into book stores, record shops, and nightclubs worldwide, Seiber works effectively as a fisherman in the cities and places he visits, fishing for those who differ from the everyday. Incidentally his subjects are often extravagantly styled, complete with body art, accessories, and dramatic hairstyles. When asked how he gets his subjects to agree to be photographed, Sieber explains: “Usually it’s not very complicated to ask a person to take a portrait when you meet at certain places where you share the same music taste and go to the same concerts. In my experience people liked to be photographed. I introduce myself, talk a bit about the concept behind my project, and then I ask them not to smile and not to look directly at the camera. That’s it.” The book also features an interactive element, pushing the work further into the 21st century. The hashtag directory or so-called “Tweeted Encyclopedia” encourages people to tweet their own images beneath the suggested tags, such as #Cosplay #RolandBarthes and #HorrorPunk. The aim being to sharpen the viewer’s own observations of things around them – if you can just learn to look, you can see the extraordinary exists all around you. A new edition of the book – including a Xerox copy of a forgotten image, some minor alterations to the layout, and the names of the supporters printed inside – will go into print if enough support is provided. You can support the campaign via Kickstarter here.  Junko  Rebecca  Blonder Engel  Taiki  Metro  Sasha All images © Oliver Sieber The post A Collection of Portraits of Underground Youth Culture Shot Around the World appeared first onFeature Shoot.  |
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Posted: 06 Nov 2015 07:18 AM PST
  For his project, the Bangladeshi photographer Farhad Rahman travelled to the outskirts of Dhaka and came across areas where landfills were under construction. Here he met and befriended a small group of local children that made this land their playground. “That moment actually took me to the memory of my childhood,” he said, “When I used to live in a small town and spend lots of time with my friends playing in the field.” The children were lost in their own world and created scenes that amused them, like a fantasy game; their charades unfolded before the camera. Oblivious to the temporary nature of this playground, the children continued to play and entertain themselves over the six months that Rahman visited them. As this project drew to a close, Rahman found out about the death of a 10 year-old girl who had drowned in the nearby pond. This punctured the bubble that Rahman had been included in, the world created by these children and their games. He lost the tempo of his work and found it almost impossible to return. This project titled One Last Playground impacted not only the children, but also Rahman as a photographer. Farhad Rahman is showing at the Delhi Photo Festival until November 8th, 2015.             All images © Md Farhad Rahman The post Spirited Portraits of Bangladeshi Children Who’ve Transformed a Landfill Site Into Their Personal Playground appeared first on Feature Shoot. |
