My photographic practice evolved under the influence of critical theories of ecological economics, emphasized by thinkers as Hermann Daly, who was one of the first to offer an integrated economy-environment model (Daly, 1968) and wrote extensively on the subject of the differences of sustainability from pure economic growth and the dangers that the latter brings…
Category: Informing Contexts
ECOSYSTEMS I: CRITICAL REVIEW OF PRACTICE
Nature is an invaluable gift that we are so bad at protecting and restoring. The authors of the ‘Limits to Growth’ report in 1972 (Meadows et al, 1972) have warned us that not dealing with just three important elements: namely availability of resources, pollution and population growth will lead us to a severe crisis….
Racism, cultural politics and the environment @NatGeo
It is 2018 and every single tabloid is publishing and republishing a confession of the chief editor of National Geographic that the coverage of the magazine in the past was racist. Right. We know it. Yes, in the United State and many other parts of the world, people of different ethnic groups have been misrepresented…
Critique of the Image @umbertoeco_
In his seminal essay, Critique of the Image, the renowned semiotician, Umberto Eco, proposes a clear taxonomy of codes used to interpret an image in the semiotic tradition. He differentiates between the following types of codes (the text below closely follows Eco’s original formulations) : 1) Perceptive codes, which for Eco are establishing the conditions…
Publish Your Photography Book @PAPress
‘Publish Your Photography Book’ by Darius D. Himes and Mary Virginia Swanson is an incredibly stimulating volume aimed at introducing the idea of photobook publishing to an aspiring photographer. As I am currently preparing my first photobook, this text has been a great help. It starts with an chapter devoted to the phenomenon of a…
Photographic gaze @MuseumModernArt
My photographic gaze is searching for three most important elements: the special light, the distinct atmosphere and a significant detail. I am particularly attracted to various manifestations of colour in the real world, and have devoted considerable attention to the colour theories from Chevreul to John Gage. I am inspired by a wealth of tradition…
Valuing Nature @routledgebooks
Valuing Nature? Economics, Ethics and the Environment, a volume edited by J.B. Foster has made a profound impact on me as an ecological economist and a photographer. In this brilliant collection of essays the leading sustainability thinkers present the philosophical issues inherent in the neoclassical environmental economics dominant at university departments today. Dismounting the supremacy…
Fashion Photography @Voguemagazine
The opening paragraphs of Eugenie Shinkle’s book ‘Fashion as Photograph’ assert that ‘photographic images play a key role in defining global fashion culture and in charting its discursive space. They are seen by many as the driving force behind the fashion system, with cultural pundits and industry creatives heralding the photograph as fashion’s ‘ultimate signifier’…
Visible Signs @DavidCrow50
Visible Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics in the Visual Arts is a useful overview of the semiotic theories by Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes and Umberto Eco that introduce this thinking to the visual arts professionals. De Saussure’s Model for a Sign is composed of the two fundamental elements, the ‘signifier’ and the ‘signified’. A…
Constructed Photography @MuseumModernArt
The idea of a constructed photograph is not something that I explored so far because I have been largely focusing on landscape and natural elements. However, I have practiced the transformed and transposed photography and infrared photography. Thus the photograph presented here depicts the iconic landscape of Colombian highlands with the strong diagonals of the…
How to Write about Contemporary Art @gilda_williams
Aimed at contemporary artists, this book explores multiple forms: short news article, press release, auction catalogue entry, exhibition review, a book review or a magazine article. Art writing is often considered a low level job in the gallery world, however writers often are struggling to find the compelling words o translate the actual experience of…
Andre Derain @CentrePompidou
The grand exhibition of Andre Derain at Centre Pompidou in Paris is a landmark show the scale of which has not been seen since the 1994-1995 exhibition at the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Derain had a profound influence on me as a painter and is a constant source of inspiration for…
Eco Art Gallery 