The rise of the internet has allowed us to access and communicate in ways that were not possible in the past.  Being a millennial, most the work & artists I discover usually comes by exploring online or via social media.  To finish off my week of posts I would like to share (in no particular order) some of my fondest images at present. I feel like I am always learning, and these artists have most definitely been an influence on my work.  And so with that being said, I would like to end this post with a quote by Elliot Erwitt –   “The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”

A common pattern that attracts me to certain images is the sculptural use of materials to enhance or exaggerated form, coupled with simple compositions that forces me to look twice and then really stare and study.  Maimouna Guerresi is one of my favourite artists.  The use of flowing material on almost bodiless figures which appear to levitate at times evokes a feeling of mysticism.  She describes her work as her moods being expressed as faces, colour and emotions, where the body is no longer a soul, but rather like a temple to house the augment of the Divine.

www.maimounaguerresi.com

The use of natural light and genuine connection to her subjects makes Laura Panacks work feel timeless. I stumbled upon Laura’s work when she first won the John Kobal Award for The National Portrait Gallery Taylor Wessing Prize in 2014. The almost effortless and fearless connection she has with her subjects is a trait that I admire. In her ongoing project “The Walks” Laura explains her process of just catching a train to some unplanned destination, armed only with her camera, and then just exploring the area and searching or waiting for subject matter to present itself.

laurapannack.com

The great Malik Sadibe once said: “It’s all the same. It’s the same face. We always look for an idea, for the same face, for the same position. There is no such thing as a “European” or an “African photography.” It’s all the same thing. And ironically enough this quote perfectly describes the work of Samuel Fosso a Cameroonian Photographer who has worked for most of his career in the Central African Republic mostly using himself as a subject to portray various characters and stereotype.  Fosso created a body of work that over the years became increasingly provocative and experimental.  After winning an award at the African Photography Encounters, Africa’s most important photography festival, in 1994, Fosso gained international recognition; today, he is widely considered one of Africa’s most important contemporary artists.

I first came across Adrian Samson’s work while living in London.  Back then I was trying to make it as a retoucher and remember being intrigued with the composition, subject matter and just the overall beautiful use of lighting in his work.  Over the years the aesthetic and content of his work have transformed. He is one of those rare artists who has the ability to straddle both the art world and the commercial world successfully and without compromise. His imagery – colourful, playful, unpredictable and in many senses sculptural in quality and composition, forming somewhat of visual language that creates its own rhythm.

www.adriansamson.com