Magnum
It's a long shot but I have applied for a Magnum Workshop with Carl De Keyser, Mark Power and Donovan Wylie. It's a five day session in October, in Brighton, UK. 22 "advanced" photographers will be admitted (amateur and pro). We'll see. Below is my motivation letter. Not sure whether it is convincing at all. Maybe they find it a lot of conceptual gobbledigook. We'll see. It's not a big deal if it doesn't happen.
I am a self-taught semi-professional photographer. Mentors that have guided my photographic development are Hans Bol (Holland, large format) and Lorenzo Castore (VU).
I am represented by Millennium Images in London. Occasionally I accept commercial assignments. However, 90% of my energy and time is going to my free work.
In this work my focus has firmly gravitated towards “Europe”, which interests me as a 1) geographic datum, 2) a cultural space, 3) a canvas for the unfolding of historical processes, and 4) as a political experiment. In other words, my photographic work on Europe is guided by 4 key themes: space, power, faith and history. These themes run as threads through five different photographic projects. One of these projects is completed, two are at various stages of completion and two will be tackled in the (near) future.
A first project focused on the 27 Capitals of the European Union. This was a stylised study, in B&W panorama pictures, of the power matrix in which European society is embedded. This project is completed and has been featured in a self-published book.
A second project focuses on the eastern Mediterranean basin. In the spirit of Mimmo Jodice, I am exploring the multilayered vestiges of Europe's early history.
A third project surveys the northwestern frontier – Ireland and Iceland - of the European cultural space (working title: “Thule”). Here I am focusing particularly on the tension between the timelessness of these ancient spaces and the impact of societies leapfrogging from an agricultural to a postindustrial logic in just a few decades.
In October I will travel to Serbia to start off a fourth project that will focus on the Balkans and Turkey (working title: “U.S.E. - Uncertain States of Europe”). This will be an attempt to come to grips with the (lost) history and the faith-based fault lines running through these societies.
Finally, I am planning to travel along the 30th eastern parallel (working title: “30E”) to photograph five great metropolises (Saint Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Istanbul and Cairo) and three great cultural spheres (Slavic, Ottoman and Islamic) forming the eastern frontier of Europe.
I have a single, overriding goal in my photographic development and that is to be able to go to quicker and deeper to the essence. This is less about technical challenges (although there is still plenty to learn at that level as well) as about taking a riskier, a more truthful approach to my photography. I would like to be able to shift more organically, intuitively and less driven by conceptual considerations between different technical approaches and vocabularies, within a given project and when switching between projects. I believe this Magnum Masterclass will be a good opportunity to help me pushing the envelope in my craft.
I am a self-taught semi-professional photographer. Mentors that have guided my photographic development are Hans Bol (Holland, large format) and Lorenzo Castore (VU).
I am represented by Millennium Images in London. Occasionally I accept commercial assignments. However, 90% of my energy and time is going to my free work.
In this work my focus has firmly gravitated towards “Europe”, which interests me as a 1) geographic datum, 2) a cultural space, 3) a canvas for the unfolding of historical processes, and 4) as a political experiment. In other words, my photographic work on Europe is guided by 4 key themes: space, power, faith and history. These themes run as threads through five different photographic projects. One of these projects is completed, two are at various stages of completion and two will be tackled in the (near) future.
A first project focused on the 27 Capitals of the European Union. This was a stylised study, in B&W panorama pictures, of the power matrix in which European society is embedded. This project is completed and has been featured in a self-published book.
A second project focuses on the eastern Mediterranean basin. In the spirit of Mimmo Jodice, I am exploring the multilayered vestiges of Europe's early history.
A third project surveys the northwestern frontier – Ireland and Iceland - of the European cultural space (working title: “Thule”). Here I am focusing particularly on the tension between the timelessness of these ancient spaces and the impact of societies leapfrogging from an agricultural to a postindustrial logic in just a few decades.
In October I will travel to Serbia to start off a fourth project that will focus on the Balkans and Turkey (working title: “U.S.E. - Uncertain States of Europe”). This will be an attempt to come to grips with the (lost) history and the faith-based fault lines running through these societies.
Finally, I am planning to travel along the 30th eastern parallel (working title: “30E”) to photograph five great metropolises (Saint Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Istanbul and Cairo) and three great cultural spheres (Slavic, Ottoman and Islamic) forming the eastern frontier of Europe.
I have a single, overriding goal in my photographic development and that is to be able to go to quicker and deeper to the essence. This is less about technical challenges (although there is still plenty to learn at that level as well) as about taking a riskier, a more truthful approach to my photography. I would like to be able to shift more organically, intuitively and less driven by conceptual considerations between different technical approaches and vocabularies, within a given project and when switching between projects. I believe this Magnum Masterclass will be a good opportunity to help me pushing the envelope in my craft.
posted by Philippe at
10:10 AM
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