Tag: Alex Giles
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By the mid-1800s, photography had already carved out its place, snapping stiff portraits, cataloguing plants, mapping far off lands. But around the 1860s, something fresh sparked in the crowded, buzzing streets of growing cities. Early street photography was born, turning the lens loose on the wild, messy pulse of urban life. This wasn’t about posed…
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Reuben Radding’s “Heavenly Arms,” published by Red Hook Editions, is a book that resists easy categorization. It’s a collection born from a decade of wandering city streets, a search for what Radding calls “the musicality of American life, the scent of human connection and conflict.” And in its sprawling, often enigmatic tapestry of images, it…
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The promise, whispered in the fading light of my first, somewhat ill-prepared visit to East St Clement’s, has been kept. The return journey to the heart of Footdee, camera bag heavier this time with both digital and the more considered weight of my film apparatus, unfolded under a sky washed with the purest April blue.…
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Diana Markosian’s “Father”, presented by Aperture, has settled within me like a quiet ache, a profound meditation on the fractured landscape of family, the enduring weight of loss, and the fragile, often stumbling journey towards reconnection. I spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon with it, the spring sunshine warming my back as my wife…
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Fred Ritchin’s “The Synthetic Eye: Photography Transformed in the Age of AI” is, without a doubt, a fascinating and deeply unsettling read. As a photographer and artist (no laughing), I find myself grappling with the very questions Ritchin poses, particularly as someone who holds a deep-seated suspicion of AI’s ability to create lifelike images. My…
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Lukas Felzmann’s Across Ground, a two-volume stunner from Lars Müller Publishers, isn’t the kind of photobook you just flip through in a fifteen minute sit down like some. It asks you to slow down, breathe, and properly look. It’s an antidote to the noise of modern life, a reminder to appreciate the quiet poetry tucked…
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Every once in a while, a book comes along that isn’t just a collection of images but an experience in itself. Sticks by Patrick Dougherty and James Florio is one of those books. A massive, heavy tome with a presence as striking as the sculptures it documents. The hardcover alone feels monumental, solid, weighty, the…
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St Fittick’s Church is the kind of place that lingers in the background of your mind, a half-forgotten relic standing quiet in a field in Torry near the golf course and new harbour, caught between the past and the slow creep of Aberdeen’s industrial sprawl. It’s been there for centuries, weathered by time, its stone…
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There’s a quiet ache in standing before a scene, camera in hand, poised to capture something meaningful, and feeling absolutely nothing. It’s not just a lack of inspiration; it’s a wall of frustration, a maddening blindness that keeps me from seeing. The grey streets of Aberdeen stretch out before me, chipped mugs clutter my kitchen…
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Conflict photography has played a crucial role in shaping public perception of war, serving as a visual record of historical events and influencing attitudes towards conflict. In the mid-19th century, as photographic technology advanced, early war photographers took on the challenging task of documenting the battlefield. These pioneering efforts paved the way for modern photojournalism…