
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since I was last in China. 340 days, to be exact. Last summer I had an amazing experience traveling through Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, Chongqing and Guangzhou, so I’m really looking forward to what this new journey holds. To make the most of this trip, I will be switching between the roles of explorer, photographer, curator and ethnographer. In addition to learning even more about Chinese culture and history, I’ll also focus on observing people and behavior, which I hope will be reflected in my photography.
Most of my pictures are never published. I just document things I think are important… I do everything, really, for myself.
In his ongoing Armoire City Series, lifestyle journalist Marcus Troy says, “Every city in the world evokes a feeling, an emotion. Whether positive or negative, each place we visit makes us feel something.” Of New York, he says the city raises you, and I couldn’t agree more. In reality, I never actually have a set agenda whenever I visit New York; I just tend to go with the flow, allowing the city to speak to me. One way or another it always ends up being a fulfilling trip… and this last time was no different. Lunch at Baohaus was followed by an unexpectedly underwhelming experience at the AIPAD Photography Show, but really only because I attended the show for the first time last year and sadly its novelty has since worn off. Fortunately, I was able to speak with a photography dealer from Robert Koch Gallery about securing a reprint of “Predtucha”, which they had on display last year, and I’ve since fallen in love with. Then, after getting lost on the subway, a failed attempt to catch the final showing of “Hold Tight” at Ed Varie Gallery landed me at the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge. Luckily, a few blocks later at the NYC Supreme Court Building, I happened upon a skate video shoot in-progress, which led to capturing the “READY, SET, GO!” series. But still nothing beats running into Bill Cunningham at the IWHC Gala. Bill is known for his street photography, so it was a pleasant surprise to find him working during the evening hours. Bill was kind enough to take a picture (or two) with me, but once he noticed I also use a Nikon camera he couldn’t resist doling out some photography advice, which of course I welcomed without hesitance. It was a surreal experience, and one that I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere but in New York… Indeed New York raises you; it lifts you up, it inspires you like no other city. So farewell New York, until we meet again. Hopefully sooner than later.
Within the last two years, I have become keenly interested in taking a minimalist approach to capturing structural forms in relation to their spatial environment. Specifically, my fascination lies in exploring the additional character that can be given to these forms by simply zeroing in on how their edges dig into the sky (see “City Hall”). Last month I finally watched Visual Acoustics: The Modernism Of Julius Shulman and I was both humbled and inspired by Shulman’s dedication to perfection in this regard. Moving forward, I will be creating a distinct photo series to further explore the relation between built and natural environments.
I am in a constant state of trying to balance having a lot of amazing references around and also a blank space where one can think and create.
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