Elliot Cole - A Hull to Hold The Waves At Bay

A Hull To Hold The Waves At Bay considers the subject of mental health and how we manage it. It is a journey of self-exploration that contemplates our interaction with our surroundings and how we reduce the impact of our symptoms. Inevitably my own experiences are intertwined amongst the stories of the subjects. The time spent making the photographs allows for conversation and informs a more collaborative approach. The series presents a culmination of the momentary calm, the warmth and the fleeting clarity afforded by these coping strategies juxtaposed with the difficulties and frustrations encountered along the way.

SAGE NATION - BRIDGING CULTURES THROUGH DESIGN

Inspired by designer Sage Toda-Nation’s dual heritage, Sage Nation is an eponymous label which materializes two cultures by way of streamlined silhouettes, innovative design, and meaningful construction. For his debut collection, the up and coming designer translates Japanese and British culture through a detailed study of traditional combat uniforms; a tangible commonality which offers a harmonious and functional vision of his cultural duality. Paying close attention to the traditional materials and methods of design, each garment is designed in unison to create a modular wardrobe which addresses the nuances of daily life. 

Striking a conceptual balance between style and practicality, his multifunctional pieces are carefully constructed to accommodate the uncertainties of contemporary life. These aims are manifested through both the Hybrid Detachable Jacket and oversized Poncho. The Hybrid Jacket incorporates a removable upper to serve as both a jacket and a utility vest, while the Poncho can be reimagined as an adjustable weatherproof skirt. Alongside these garments, Toda’s collection seamlessly expands on a series of legacy shapes and staples to deliver a collection of non-seasonal, adaptable, and genderless clothing for the current day. The collection will be available soon online and at select stockists. Continue below to view the complete lookbook shot by photographer Matt Marsh, and an exclusive interview between Sage and Alexa.

Besides its most technical purpose, what was photography's role in presenting your collection?

I feel that photography is very important to the DNA of the brand. It’s how we communicate the final product to the audience. Without this communication, the true beauty and intention of the garments may not come across as intended. It’s also an important tool for expressing the mood or feeling that we are trying to convey through the brand. 

From a young age, I was aware of the importance of communication through photography because my mother was a photographer. My right hand man, Louis Flashman, also works in photography, so it is always at the forefront of our minds when working on the collection.

What immediately drew me to your lookbook was the composition and movements of the models. The juxtaposition of using traditional materials/methods of design and the sense of a "non-traditional" lookbook is visually striking. And, I think the movement of each shot really compliments your dynamic pieces. Could you speak more on your intention here?

I’m glad you picked up on this through the visuals. Something I am very conscious of when designing and moving forward with the brand, is that we focus on making ‘real’ clothes for ‘real’ people. A lot of the designs are made to transform and change to adapt to dynamic movement. I want my clothes to be comfortable and to enhance everyday life, not restrict it. 

We also strive to strike a balance between the outdoors and the city. This hybrid lifestyle we are trying to promote is embodied by the range of dynamic movements we use during shoots, and has more recently manifested in a collaboration with the hiking brand Keens, who promote the same lifestyle. I am aware that we already have more than enough clothing in this world, so our clothes need to be able to be worn practically and encourage movement.

I also find beauty in the subtle juxtaposition of things. In life, I think the most beautiful things have an element of contrast to them. This is why I like using playful stances during shoots, which combined with movement, accentuate the very simple, refined clothes. 

Your collection also noticeably disregards visual gender representations and really captures the naturality of timeless, functional, and genderless clothing. What initially inspired you to approach your lookbook/garments from this perspective?

When it came to this idea of the collection being, as we like to say, ‘genderless’, it is not meant as a political decision by any means. As a designer, I believe we should work towards making clothes as inclusive as possible. My favourite part of a garment is always the shoulder, which I feel is often what defines the garment as ‘menswear’ or ‘womenswear’. So I focus on finding the balance in the shoulder, which often leads to many of the pieces having a very relaxed, dropped shoulder that is more versatile. As well as this, a lot of the clothes can be adjusted to fit all sizes: such as the drawstring skirt and the poncho. I get enjoyment from clothes that are not restricted by silhouette, but instead enhanced by it. 

What influenced the photographic vision of your lookbook? Things, places, people, culture? The last shot in your lookbook really brings to mind one of my favourite books "The Beauty of Everyday Things". 

My friends and colleagues influence my work highly. My friend Jesse Crankson and I will spend hours talking about films that have influenced us over the years and even everything down to tv adverts. I also have a great relationship with Matt Marsh: the photographer that shot the lookbook. I use him for all my ecomm shoots. I think it is important to have a good relationship with whoever you are shooting with because it shows through the images. Maintaining continuity going forward is something that is also very important to us. I think to really develop a strong DNA as a brand, you have to keep working with the same people time and time again to build a good foundation for genuine growth.

For some of the shots and compositions, I often draw a lot of inspiration from my all time favourite film director Takeshi Kitano. I love the use of empty space in his movies and the general atmosphere he manages to create through visuals. There’s so much beauty to be found in imagery that utilizes space to a create calm visuals. We also like to experiment a lot with expired film and medium format film, some of which we will be releasing after the lookbook fully released. I find working with multiple mediums is essential for adding another layer to the brand and to create a real mood behind what we are trying to do. 

We carefully chose all the props in the shoot. For example the Eames chair we used, is a chair of great sentimental value to Louis. Everything we do has to have a reason or a purpose. I think it is important to have that depth to even a very simple image.

Gabriel Orłowski - The Big Empty

Another delay on another, different line. I can get nowhere without being lagged. The spectacle is on stand-by, over here no time does pass. It’s a temporary place of deficient, sedative dynamics – just a beat per minute. Slow events for makeshift audiences – shuffling backgrounds, gentle sounds. Most of it is AC anyway and it’s good the damn thing is on. There is good deal of dust floating and it’s hard to guess how long we’ve been here for. The air has been stale for ages. I have seen this before, though, not much of a surprise. It looks the same everywhere – each an instance of one, basic model: hotel room, an airport, duty free, reception hall, a waiting room. A managed, momentary environment, a homogenous non-space. I am cargo, this is limbo. An antechamber of agamic space - for drifting, with vending machines, to be stored up in for the time being.

Ana Vieira de Castro - Memories in Lost Time and Space

Memories Lost in Time and Space clutches onto the liminal, changing moments in our lives. It is about feelings of anxiousness, uncertain expectations, and the difficulty of finding your sense of self when lost in love; the process of forgetting strong memories and feelings as you find new ones, meeting your new self and letting your worn identities go; and the transition periods that lead our lives towards what awaits. 

For photographer Ana Vieira de Castro, this project started as a search for the meaning of true love, and represents her process of falling in love. Last year was a turning point in her life, to which she sought to document her memories through photography and mix them with letters and postcards found in antique stores. A compilation of letters from lover to lover– heartbreak, marriage, being in love and not being together– present the range of emotions felt when falling in and out of love. Through the process, Ana found that somehow, the memories that once belonged to someone are now enmeshed with hers, representing her past self, and what she was once searching for. 

- Alexa Fahlman

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Porto, 9th of September of 1964

João Marcos:

Sorry if I am bothering you again, but I would like to say the thoughts I still carry. At all times I find myself revisiting the latest events and I always end up not coming to a conclusion. Meanwhile, it seems to me, I am sorry and please don’t wish me bad, you did not behave perfectly. You told me in your letter that you took the misunderstanding between us as a result of my youth.

João Marcos, you know, that although I’m already 22 years old, my life has been very simple. Maybe that’s why my head cherishes so many dreams. Don’t think I’m trying to change your mind, but since we broke up I would like to be as honest as possible with you. I was hoping João Marcos, that you would understand the illusions, ideas, aspirations and faith in life that I carry. Although you tried to destroy something in me, I will do everything for that not to happen. I believe that God will help me walk the path of life with the same hope and idealizations that I had and that until now, have been part of myself.

I hoped that you had understood all of this, that being silent does not always mean that I have nothing to say, but there is so much to say that sometimes you end up being afraid of doing so.

Sometimes you want to say yes, but you end up saying no.

You that have a sister, that you care for so much , must understand. It was with you that I got in touch with love for the first time, and for that, like everyone that starts something, I failed.

I failed so many times and for that I’m sorry.

I only ask for you to always remember of

Cidália

May, 19-05-78

Dear Isaurita,

After our phone call I got immensely sad for two reasons, 1st, my son only brings me sadness and sorrows and 2nd, the fact that you can’t come over. Our best years go by as we drift apart. I want you and you are not near.

Kisses from Berto

Dear Isaurita,

How are you? I’m doing fine. A week has gone by and I am closer to being with you, whom I miss so much. It is only unfortunate that you can’t come meet me. Think about it.

Kisses from Berto

2/07/1967

Dear Tereza,

When I get there I want to spend an afternoon with you. We have much to talk about. I loved having you here, we really enjoyed ourselves. Kisses to Terezinha.

Big hug and kisses

Luis

Gabriel Provvedi - Astrographics

Water, rocks, methane and other compounds: the primordial cauldron on earth begins to mix and somehow life is born. For some bizarre and statistically improbable events we live on the planet that we call Earth; our land, our homeland, our home. A singular place. If we observed our existence from the outside, we would appear as aliens. Living beings that move everywhere, far and wide on their planet. From the point of view of a foreigner, coming from who knows what remote place in the Galaxy, we would look just like that. Life on Earth begins thanks to biological compounds that came from the cosmos by means of collisions between planets, asteroids and any other celestial object with physicality, bringing from the cosmic immensity small parts of alien life, giving rise to what we know today. In Astrographics I research and photograph some of my familiar places, depriving them, in some cases, of their three-dimensionality, turning the perception from a realistic place to a fiction place. The perception of the place and landscape activates some neuronal processes that starts a reflection on the nature of the place and on its reality, but at the same time the processes intrinsic to the personality are activated, finding coverage from personal experiences, imagination and dream. Artifact and real places come together, rewarding the perceptual bond that is created with a landscape, making the landscape itself a reason for interior reflection. A meditation on the nature of the landscape, on the origins of the Earth and how our life experience is bizarre and infinitely incredible.

Alexandre Desane - Crépus

Born in France to parents of Haitian descent, photographer Alexandre Desane remarks how natural hair has always been a significant marker of identity and part of his everyday life. His series Crépus, which began in 2019, is an on-going photographic celebration of natural Black hair in France. While working on a global project on racism, Alexandre was continuously confronted with the systemic issue of hair discrimination, “I kept hearing about Black people getting fired because of their hair, and this really became the starting point of this photo series–I needed to celebrate Black hair.” Shot exclusively outdoors and on black and white film, Alexandre’s photographs reject the calculated environment of studio space and lighting; instead, offering pared down, candid glimpses of Black hair. These compositional choices reinforce the core message of his series–the importance of seeing and celebrating the natural beauty and charisma of Black hair in our everyday lives.

-Alexa Fahlman

Noé Vercaemst - Pause

Time is suspended, the world no longer turns, but our absence leaves traces. These forgotten landscapes, sometimes destroyed, are erased from our memories, emptied of colour and life. The grass grows, the asphalt fades and cracks in the wind's breath and the sun's rays.

Aman Deshmukh - Ma / a portrait from memory

Carmen Colombo - Mondo Piccolo

“Mondo Piccolo” is an ongoing personal project that tells about places and situations in the suburbs of Northern Italy, where I was born and I grew up. It’s a research about the meaning of “familiar” with two different connotations. From one side, it refers to my personal background and to the feeling of belonging to something. On the other hand, it concerns people’s usual everyday life habits. I am portraying the micro-realities of a suburban area that is for me calm and reassuring. I am interested in portraying a way of living in these small suburban villages, far away from big cities. Here, typical corners are hidden, still not standardized. My images are quiet moments, in which I slow down and I try to make mine the subject I portray, either a person or an object. Often it’s the light only that creates the right conditions for the perfect image, a non-place where nothing happens.

Axel Serrat - Stills

I’m from Barcelona, Spain. I’m mixed, my dad was Catalan and my mum’s from Benin, a little country in Africa. My work is a clear expression of my self and how I see life according to the values my ancestors gave me. I think my photography relates to our strong, natural component and our capacity to try to get away from nature–that eternal fight we all have inside. I explore how getting closer to nature makes us better humans, and makes us understand humanity from another point of view.

Pawel Jaskiewicz - Zenith

Zenith is an imaginary point, located directly above a particular location. Perspective from there turns landscape into a pattern, creating an ideal, objective order - also imaginary. However, this is a theory. Real perception comes out of empirical experience, filtered through subjective view. 

Zenith is a body of work, collecting topographic views of various non-places. Stating the idea behind this term, Marc Auge coined it to describe places without enough significance to be thought of as proper places, but this also comes down to subjective perception. As man alters landscape, it becomes an imprint of the perception of both the creator and the user, thus being an evidence of their actions and intentions that will eventually last. Even when in perfect order from up above, all places are subjected to a constant reformulation and repurposing. And this is the subject of this story

Men-tal Health (2020)

Men-tal Health by Louis Bever is an ongoing series that encourages men to be open about their emotions and to be honest about how they feel with their friends and loved ones. Each portrait is shot in the home or a comfortable space where they feel they can be their most vulnerable. The stories which accompany Louis’ portraits are diverse in nature, yet the same message resonates within each excerpt–men must prioritize and speak out about their mental health. Having these conversations is the first step. We must also work towards destigmatizing mental illness in BIPOC communities, as well as confront the racial disparities within mental health systems around the world. As June 15-21 marks Men’s Mental Health Awareness Week, take this time to reach out to your friends, spread awareness, and most of all–take care of yourself.

Thank you to all the brave men who shared their stories below.

Mental Health Resources:

Black Minds Matter UK Black, African and Asian Therapy Network UK Black Thrive UK Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation Good Lad Initiative Headspace Inclusive Therapists Invisible Cities Liberate Meditation App MoodMission Moodfit Muslim Wellness National Queer and Trans Therapists of Colour Network Pride Counselling Sanvello Talkspace The Safe Place

Noemi Comi - Alba lux

Alba lux is an artistic project that combines documentation and conceptual photography. The photographs become real symbolic images, reproducing idyllic atmospheres and ineffable realities. It’s a multidisciplinary journey between spirituality and science, which begins within the earthly reality and then takes off within the otherworldly one.

The central topic of the project concern Near-Death Experiences. NDE is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. In fact, people with very different religious, political and social beliefs, have documented their experiences which share many elements in common: the presence of a strong light, a sense of bliss and changes in personality.

I found the subjects within social networks like Facebook and through personal connections. At first they were quite wary but after clarifying my intentions I was able to meet them. 

Each experience is very different and connoted by different religious aspects. Some have experienced it positively, others were traumatized and suffered from depression. Each story is described by three different photographs: the first two want to represent the subject and his changes, the third is a conceptual interpretation of the experience they lived. The writings inserted are texts in Italian written directly by the subjects about their experiences.

Camillo Pasquarelli - Lockdown in Genoa

On March 9th, the Italian government imposed a lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Since then, 60 million people have been living under one of the most severe quarantines in Europe.

When Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the beginning of the so-called “Phase 1” of the lockdown, I found myself stuck in a place I barely knew– the coastal city of Genoa. As time progressed, Genoa became the place I ended up exploring in its pandemic desolation.

The emptiness of the city amplified its celebrated and mysterious past. For centuries, Genoa played a central role in the history of the Mediterranean region. Its port, once a mandatory destination for traders hailing from the East and West, is now facing the consequences of global economic slowdown. This reverberates into the deep identity crisis the whole city has been facing for decades; a crisis and a pandemic. I wondered how I could effectively tell these two stories from the right angle, with an honest and visual representation.

I felt disoriented, caught in the middle of the constant flux of images offered by mass media. To visualize the effects of the virus on our lives is to see the packed hospitals, portraits of doctors and nurses painstakingly fighting the spread of Covid-19, lines and lines of coffins. While locked at home, connecting with the outer world needs mediation, and images play a crucial part in forming our idea of what is going on out there. At first, I was skeptical about portraying a collective experience from an objective and informative approach. But then, while wandering around the narrow alleys of the old town, I realized that in order to find a way to convey this daunting feeling of stillness and suspension, I had to let the emotions take the lead and guide me through my long, lonely walks, and their casual encounters.

An old man enjoys the spring sunshine right outside his home.

The port of Genoa, one of Italy’s most major seaports, is facing a critical moment due to the collapse of cargo and cruise ships.

Luca Bonfiglio, 59. He works at the port and is part of the labourer association–a group helping to deliver food and medication to the elderly or to those unable to leave their homes.

Tiny alleys characterize most of Genoa’s city centre.

The city of Genoa has one of Italy’s highest aging population.

The famous beach of Boccadasse, an old mariner’s neighbourhood, normally overcrowded in the spring with locals and tourists.

An elderly woman receives her medication delivered to her doorstep by a volunteer.

Silvia Calosso, 20; another dedicated volunteer for the labourers association.

“Mangini Cafe”. All the bars, cafes and restaurants are closed. The closed entrance of Carlo Felice, the city’s main theatre.

Tommy Sussex- Black Lives Matter, London, UK.

Photographer Tommy Sussex documents BLM’S global movement as it occurs in London, UK. These photographs were taken during two Black Lives Matter protests- Sunday 31st May 2020 and the 3rd of June 2020.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Nils Davey - Pay With Cigarettes

‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’

Ferris Bueller

Not bad words to live by from the sausage king of Chicago. It’s hard to keep this mantra in mind in today’s world but when I walk the streets of Anytown, USA invariably someone will try and bum a smoke from me. Camera at the ready I state ‘Of course you can have one, but i’ll need to take your photo’. I stop and look around. These photos are the result.

NYC Subway, New York City (2019) | Bar X Salt Lake City (2019)

Outside TAO, New York City (2019) | Lower Manhattan, New York City (2019)

Lower Manhattan New York City (2019) | 6th Street Plaza Los Angeles (2019)

Lower Manhattan New York City (2019) | Bar X Salt Lake City (2019) | Double Down Saloon New York City (2019)

Chevron, Austin (2019) | Short Stop, Los Angeles (2019)

Gold Diggers, Los Angeles (2019) | Little Joy, Los Angeles (2019) | Gold Diggers, Los Angeles (2019)

Yellow Jacket, Austin (2019)

6th Street, Austin (2019)

Gold Diggers, Los Angeles (2019)

Shangri-La, Austin (2019)

Johnny’s Los Angeles (2018) | Unknown Bar, Los Angeles (2018)

Ace Hotel, New York (2018) | Lower Manhattan, New York (2018) | Ace Hotel, New York (2018)

Downtown, Chicago (2018)

Wynwood, Miami (2018) | Lower Manhattan, New York (2018)

Wynwood, Miami (2018)

Norberto Fernández Soriano- Hythloday

Hythloday is a body of work that draws from a community’s fight against fracking, and seeks to present their experiences and beliefs through a visual interpretation of what is positioned between fact and fiction. In the United Kingdom, the trial site for hydraulic fracture (shale gas fracking)–and its potential for national rollout and future commercial exploitation–is located in the countryside between the cities of Preston and Blackpool. A mile down the road from this site, a group of activists known to the local community as ‘The Protectors’, set up camp where they live and fight against this fracking trial.

In what might be described as a “photographic novella”, Hythloday transforms this physical place into an imagined post-fracking scenario, in which the activities, causes, fears, effects and thoughts constitute a potential future landscape. The project draws its title from a character’s name in Thomas More’s Utopia, and is used as a means to explore and understand the place itself, as well as ‘The Protectors’ fight. Hythloday combines the characters and elements on the ground with the suspended mood of an on-going protest to create a journey through an unknown and strange place; ultimately, revealing the tension between the subjects portrayed and the land they inhabit. 

 Continue below for the interview between Norberto Fernández Soriano and Alexa Fahlman 

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What inspired you to document this particular community's fight against fracking?

Initially I was interested in how this activity would modify the landscape and thus, the ways of living. I was also curious about showing the effects on the strained relationship between human and nature, especially in the rural areas where fracking is being tested. Since the effects manifest in the long term and can't be observed on the surface, I decided to explore the community’s fight against fracking, documenting their beliefs, fears and experiences.  

 Is this still an on-going fight? 

The fight is still on-going, as the fracking is still on-going. 

One of the most direct pieces of evidence that reveal the effects of this practice are the tremors which are felt in the surrounding areas. The monitoring system that should guarantee the so-called “safe” levels of fracking show that these have been surpassed on several occasions. Despite the different maneuvers to continue fracking, last December, all activity was finally halted on the site where the project Hythloday had been developed. Nevertheless the records confirm a real risk– trial sites for fracking keep on spreading across the country.  

Is The Protectors' protest entirely for environmental reasons, or were the reasons also more varied, scattered, even?

The Protectors, as a group, is a cluster of environmental activists and people from local communities. The background of this group is very heterogenic, but fracking is what made them come together. Some of them are activists who have been involved in environmental issues their whole lives; some have long given up on today’s society; many were locals, directly affected by this activity; while others, disappointed with the reality they have had to face within their jobs, have decided to put their efforts into something more meaningful. Most of the local community would have never thought of themselves as protesters or environmental activists, they were leading a tranquil life in an environment free of threats to their lifestyle. When the fracking rumours started, people did a little bit of research and they soon realised that this was something they didn’t want happening near to their homes. 

I think it is the communal sense of fight and resistance which ties them all together.

How do you think a liminal community be represented without falling into aesthetic cliches?

The creative process behind Hythloday focuses on the representation of this community through their beliefs rather than their real dimension. In the series, the scenario built up, lacking evidence of location or time. I took advantage of this, and used it as a medium to explore the community’s various state of mind, which is what I felt defined them as “subject matter”. To explore this new landscape, I focused on the seaman character from Thomas More’s Utopia, Raphael Hythloday. Utopia was a fictional story which portrayed the flaws of More’s governmental system through the depiction of an ideal organization located on a non-existent island. For my project, Raphael Hythloday became an inspiration to explore constructed landscapes, where fiction represents a possible future and thus, poses as a challenge to the so-called image of resistant communities.

Why do you think creative approaches are so effective when confronting serious subject matters- whether they be cultural or political?

A creative process allows both artists and observers to tackle projects from a conceptual point of view. This adds new layers of information and constructs a space for a broader sense of reflection. For instance, Hythloday stems from the fight of this community but raises other threads of concern, like the generation and consumption of news, truth and deception, and the privileging of certain opinions versus relating to personal experiences. 

Photography especially seems to evoke empathetic engagement, what do you think it is about visual references which encourage mutual understanding and empathy? It seems that people need to actually see what others are going through to feel compassion.

In my opinion, pictures that encourage empathy and mutual understanding are usually related to what we perceive as familiar or weak. By this I mean that It comes from our inner experiences, but also from the enforced narratives within history. As a photographer, being aware of this will transform your photography. By reverting images that might traditionally confirm certain subjects as victims, and picturing them in a way which is closer to what they want to achieve–rather than what our blind, assuming eye might perceive– is the first step towards visualizing different realities. 

How have you conceptualized a better world? I  know there's no definitive answer for this one, but what do you think a better world might look like? How would you want society to move forward?

This project does not attempt to define in any way what a better world is. The community’s perception on fracking reveals the flaws of the system and many of the characteristics of a dystopian society. Their fight represents the resistance to the advance of environmental destruction and ways of life linked to this. My personal take on the idea of a better world shifts along as I face different situations and realities. To me, a better world should be based strongly on respect and mutual understanding. I believe that we have given up part of our freedom by neglecting certain responsibilities. A better future would mean a greater control through our actions, finding ways of depending less on systematic dynamics of power. 

Matthew Ludak - Northern Gothic

These photos are from a series exploring the de-industrialization of American manufacturing towns and cities. The project started with my interest in photographing the intersection of nature and infrastructure.

As the project changed and grew, I became more focused on documenting small and large cities that, at one point or another, had been major industrial and manufacturing centers in America. Many of the buildings photographed are abandoned, condemned, or in the process of being demolished.

Some of these larger industrial cities have over the years seen government aid and intervention in the hope of revitalizing the local economy. However, many of the smaller cities and towns have been left on their own. 

I see this project as an opportunity to document the unfortunate effects of America moving away from being a nation of producers to that of consumers.

Carl van der Linde - São Paulo Fashion book

This project showcases various subjects from my travels to São Paulo–friends and models to people on the streets, artists and music producers. The aim of my series is to tell the story of São Paulo (Paulista) culture, a Brazilian street subculture that can only be described in a plethora of images. It's a space where the lines between gender and sexuality are very much blurred and for a couple of days during Carnival, the whole city turns into a giant middle finger towards the Brazilian fascist government. São Paulo offers great cityscape backdrops with pastel tones and brutalist buildings. The people are friendly and proud, with absurdly great style - I hoped to have captured and showcased this culture as genuinely as possible.

I reached out to my dear friend, Romy Ortega, who manages numerous electronic music artists in São Paulo and also serves as my unofficial guide to the streets of the city. We decided to collaborate on telling the Carnival story through the eyes of Paulista’s. I stayed with her and her family and was warmly welcomed to the Ortega family and their many dogs. Navigating the Streets of São Paulo during carnival is hard, especial trying to squeeze through crowds at “Bloco’s” or travelling street parties, with my camera gear. The other challenge was that it was pouring tropical rain every afternoon over the giant crowds of people. Romy also served as a subject and muse during my stays with her, her family and her friends.

I met Paolla di Monica and Clara, her roommate, 2 hours before Paula's flight to Paris for fashion week. She is a model from São Paulo and agreed to have me shoot a few photos before her flight. She has amazing tattoos, beautiful orange hair and great Gucci-esque style. I ended up connecting with Clara and she managed to arrange for us to shoot with local music producer Diamante (easily recognised by his style, attitude and tattoos), with his wife Kerolyn, muse Merry Jenny and baby Shine. Clara styled them in her very own Fauve label, a São Paulo based streetwear brand of which she is the main creator and designer. 

The 'São Paulo Fashion Book' is an ongoing photography project and is shot on film exclusively. 

Team Credits:

I would like to credit Romy Ortega for putting me in touch with my subjects and showing me around the city. She is my unofficial guide to Sao Paulo (@romyzeta). The editorial with music producer and artist Diamante (@diamante), his wife Kerolyn (@kerolyngeho), muse Jenny (@m4ryjenny) and baby Shine was styled by Clara Pasqualini (@clarapasqualini), owner and designer of Fauve (@fauvebrand). Special thanks to Bernardo Ferraz (bernardoferazzz) Paolla Di Monica (@paolladimonica) Dj Zago (@zagoreal) Thays Vita (@thaysvita_) Thay Rodrigues (thayrodrigs) Livia Ortega (@liviaortega) Karen (Ka_karecos) and all others that allowed me to document their Carnival experience in 2020.

Matt Lief Anderson - Cultivate, Thrive, Wane

This series is called "Cultivate, Thrive, Wane." Our planet is plagued by flooding, prolonged droughts, and other climate related drawbacks related to global warming. America is particularly implicit in perpetuating the myth that humans aren't contributing to the crisis.

Many parts of the American southwest are now unprotected from oil and mining companies who have begun to capitalize on the newly unrestricted national resources of our Native American tribal lands.

Java, Indonesia is plagued by deforestation and marine pollution. The exploitation of natural resources in Chile are contributing to the extinction of more than a dozen species of animals. These are some of the places I've photographed for this series but they are not unique in their desecration. Earth is facing a barrage of irreversible attacks from all corners.