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issue

 ...a very receptive state of mind... not unlike a sheet of film itself - seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a seconds exposure conceives a life in it.

unless you will presents

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Nicolas Hughes Field (2007 2009) Jonathan Blaustein The value of a dollar
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Minor White

Daniel Freytag Various Benjamin Norman Wall Street Andrs Marroqun Winkelmann All Lillies sold out today

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This selection of photographers was curated by Heidi Romano.

Nicholas Hughes

FIELD (2007 2009)

www.nicholas-hughes.net

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Verse I (Apart)
Initial observations of the geography within my field of vision, despite my exile, were clouded by the congestion carried from elsewhere. Whilst aiming to capture aspects of detachment, there is considerable baggage to shed in order to gain a clearer view of the world in slower mode. Despite carrying these thoughts into open space and wrestling with the expectations of the English landscape tradition - it was noticeable how days became a lot longer when less time was spent travelling.

In the post Romantic period of the British countryside the conflict exists between our mental construction of wilderness and the realities of an overdeveloped world. The demands of industry and the vanity of human ownership have squeezed out the parameters of the rural idyll leaving maybe only the illusions of space available through the constructions of the camera. In overcoming feelings of isolation I concurred with Alpers affirmation that Artists often need to be withdrawn from the world for the purpose of attending better to it. (Modern Painters).
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Verse II (Outside)
As my feelings of separation progressed it became clear under the unyielding presence of the sky that up there or out in the oceans exist the only remaining true wildernesses. The land for its part is divided and fenced off; quarries lurk beyond the freedom of the road. A conflict exists between our mental constructions of nature and the reality of an overdeveloped world.

The demands of industry and the greed of human ownership have squeezed the parameters of the rural idyll, only leaving the possibility of space for the mind to struggle free through the reworking of nature. This sky was not without its invaders, for under certain conditions it offered up atmospheric visions of the distant urban night, disturbing the silent dwelling space with visions of atmospheric pollution.

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Verse III (Surface)

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I had regularly found myself deeply alarmed by the level of destructiveness that accompanies the desire for economic growth, but this localised study of nature eventually offered glimpses of our salvation whilst extending my own metaphysical musing. Looking back on these investigations whilst becoming increasingly distanced from the worlds material desires, I have discovered the temporality of everything. We are here now but soon we are gone, and so too the impressions we make upon the world. By nature our existence is superfluous but the natural world thrives in our absence.

The complexities of the work faded as I grew in this knowledge. It is as though a process of resurfacing has enabled me to consider stretching further afield to re-approach the outside world with hope. Communion with nature ultimately proves a cathartic experience and its curative powers essential to the growth of humanity. The walker in the familiar fields sometimes finds himself in another land than is described in their owners deeds, as it were in some faraway field the world with which we are commonly acquainted leaves no trace. From Walking (Henry David Thoreau).
Nicholas Hughes (October 2009).

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Jonathan Blaustein

The Value of a Dollar

www.jonathanblaustein.com

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Im interested in the way photography is used to deceive.

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Millions, if not billions of advertising dollars are spent annually photographing food and obfuscating reality. Fast food conglomerates are certainly the worst culprits, but everywhere we see glamorized versions of what we eat. Food is clearly a potent symbol of wealth, power, health, and globalization for the 21st Century. Its value is determined by the price of oil, its transnational transport contributes to Global Warming, its ingredients entice America into obesity, and its production processes animals into floss and mush.

The photographs in this project attempt to strip back the artifice; to depict food items as they were sold, (minus packaging,) without styling, retouching, or artificial lighting. Each image represents a dollars worth of food purchased from various markets in New Mexico. The subjects exist as equivalent amounts of commodity, and nothing more. The resulting images allow for a meditation on the power and seductive nature of the photographic medium itself.

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Jonathan Blaustein is a photographer based in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. He received his MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York in 2004. While in Brooklyn, he ran the underground gallery BQE33 in Greenpoint from 2003-4. His photographs are in the permanent collections of Adobe Systems, Inc., the Albuquerque Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. Jonathans work was recently included in the International Exhibition at the Center for Fine Art Photography and the Biennial Southwest 08 at the Albuquerque Museum. He is currently represented by the Zane Bennett Gallery in Santa Fe, and was nominated for the Santa Fe Prize for Photography in 2009. Additionally, he teaches photography to at-risk youth through the University of New Mexico-Taos, and recently founded the online photography magazine Flash Flood.

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To borrow Alan Fletchers words

Its a smile in the mind

daniel freytag
www.freytag.co.uk

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I find it quite hard to explain why I shoot the things I do.

I guess its a sub conscious click.

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daniels prints are available for sale on his website

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benjamin norman

wall street
www.benjaminnorman.com

info@benjaminnorman.com

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Andrs Marroqun Winkelmann

All_Lillies_sold_ out_today

www.andresmarroquin.com

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Most of my works and my photography in general deal with social norms and cultural behaviors. Im interested in finding out why people do what they do or react in certain ways to specific events. In order to deal with social, cultural or political issues, I use everyday life situations, familiar moments and ordinary objects. When Im working on a theme and finding myself in the middle of an arresting situation, I dont just take a picture of it.

Rather than creating an instant reproduction of an incident, I try to compose a visual arrangement of it, including the way it affected me and the thoughts it brought about. Im interested in photography as a result of a mental process, in shaping a project in order to convey a certain message. I believe a photograph succeeds when its visual impact manages to invite us into a certain state, where our thoughts and ideas may have the opportunity to take aspects we normally wouldnt think of.

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Please note: no image can be reproduced without the artists prior permission. All images are protected by copyright and belong to the artist.

unless you will

studio 7, 60 langridge street collingwood victoria 3066, australia

hello@unlessyouwill.com www.unlessyouwill.com