Candice Swanepoel and Martha Hunt are photographed by Paola Kudacki for the third issue of 25 magazine. Taken from Fashiontography
All images © Paola Kudacki
European duo René & Radka—René Hallen and Radka Leitmeritz—have long been known for their dynamic fashion and editorial photography. It is with their lush sense of lighting and color that they tackle a watery work of imagination in their newest series, Under Water. Sinking beneath the depths, René & Radka’s young subjects are suspended in an ethereal wonderland, seemingly adrift and dreaming in the dark and colorful waves. A perfect blend of fantasy and technical prowess, Under Water’s sleepers have truly fallen through the looking glass and passed into another world. Taken from Feature Shoot
All images © René & Radka
Iggy Azalea is photographed by Simon Emmett and styled by Lucy Manning in the story ‘Sensation’ for Centrefold magazine, with hair by Sami Knight, makeup by Emma Osborne and nails by Rebecca Jade Wilson. Taken from Fashiontography
All images © Simon Emmett
Who hasn’t had the desire just to be someone else for a while? Dressing up is a way of creating an alter ego, a second skin which one’s behavior can be adjusted to. Regardless of the motivating factors which cause somebody to acquire a costume, the main principle remains the same: the civilian steps behind the mask and turns into somebody else.—Klaus Pichler
In Just The Two Of Us, Austrian photographer Klaus Pichler orchestrates a mysterious series of portraits of people who dress in elaborate costumes, reinventing themselves—be it for fandom, cultural traditions, or just for kicks. Pichler captures his subjects in their homes among their things, juxtaposing the reality of their surroundings with the fantasy of their alternate identity. This perplexing secret life, so to speak, is not the only determining factor in the success of this series—the elaborate costumes along with Pichler’s thoughtful placing and technical approach bring together a humorous and intriguing body of work that is simply stunning to look at. Taken from Feature Shoot
All images © Klaus Pichler
The December 2013 issue of British Vogue features the fantastic story ‘Still Life’, photographed by Josh Olins and styled by Lucinda Chambers with models Sam Rollinson, Anna Ewers and Ashleigh Good. Taken from Fashiontography
All images © Josh Olins
Insula spans across a decade of shooting (2003-2013). During this time I continually made photographs as a means to document the emotional difficulties of living with a chronic mental health disorder, as well as using photography as a tool for recovery. Whilst receiving medical treatment has been beneficial, it is the act of making photographs that address my moods and interrogate my sense of identity that has been extremely valuable in making sense of chaos.—Daniel Regan
Recently graduating from the London College of Communication with an MA in Photography, Daniel Regan chose to exhibit a body of work that has been both his muse and catharsis for nearly ten years. The images are raw and brave, each betraying the deepest of emotions without actually revealing the person before us. A mixture of self portraits and domestic objects, Regan’s everyday surroundings become a stage for struggle and abandon. The dimly lit photographs have a quiet submission even through the pain; time slowly ebbing away to a hopefully brighter dawn. Bound as a small, intimate book, Insula’s diaristic journey is one artist’s method of recovery through the photograph. Insula is showing at the London College of Communication MA Photography Exhibition November 14th – 21st, 2013. Taken from Feature Shoot
All images © Daniel Regan
Lou Doillon is photographed by Serge LeBlon for the November 2013 issue of Vogue Turkey. Taken from Fashiontography
All images © Serge LeBlon
Examined. In 2012 the animal welfare organization Wakker Dier (‘Animal Awake’) launched a campaign against industrially bred broiler chickens. Wakker Dier gave this breed the name ‘plofkip’ (chicken fit to burst) because of its rapid growth within six weeks from a chick to a 2.3 kilo bird, having consumed exactly 3.7 kilos of feed to get there. The chicken in the photograph is getting a health check from a vet at the request of Wakker Dier.
When I was asked two years ago to make an in-depth study of the subject of Food for de RijksMuseum in Amsterdam, I was full of preconceptions about the food industry. I saw it as dishonest, unhealthy and unethical. More than that, it was contributing to the decline of our planet, unlike in the good old days, and I felt that the magic word ‘organic’ was going to solve everything. So when I embarked on this project, my first impulse was to bring to light all the misunderstandings about food once and for all.
After two years of research and photography, I realized that the discourse on food production can be infinitely refined and that this often puts supposed advantages and disadvantages in a new light. Scaling-up can actually enhance animal welfare, for example, and organic production is not always better for the environment. Often, an excessively one-sided approach to the subject of food is a barrier to real solutions. Food is simply too wide-ranging and complex a subject for one-liners or to be describing in terms of black and white.—Henk Wildschut
Dutch photographer Henk Wildschut enters a world of debate and controversy, documenting the modern processing and production of our food. After spending extensive time with those who handle the day-to-day management of various animals and plants, Wildschut concludes that the entire issue of demand, population growth and government regulation is far more complicated than the general public understands. Shot in a clinical but thoughtful method, Wildschut presents us with the facts that are before him, refusing to take up an agenda or make direct comment on what we see. Food was recently published as a photo book, full of further stories and images from Wildschut’s research. Taken from Feature Shoot
All images © Henk Wildschut
Semi-finished. With brown poultry it is possible to breed a variety that makes a visual distinction between a hen and a cock. A young female is brown and a young male white. This difference is essential at a hatchery for layer chickens, as males don’t lay eggs.The selection process is now less complicated and can be carried out by eye by non-specialized staff. Using a conveyor belt, 20,000 brown and white chicks can be separated every hour.
Sexing. As for white poultry, there has been no success as of yet in achieving a clear visual distinction between the sexes. A specialized external firm is enlisted to sex these chicks. The difference can be read off in the wing feathers. One specialist can sex 25,000 chicks a day. The male chicks are carried off on a special production belt to the gassing unit.
Feces. After three weeks in the Patio module, the chicks–now a full 700 grams–are carried by a conveyor belt to the ‘ground floor’, where within three weeks they will grow to 2.5 kilos. After each cycle, the two levels are washed and disinfected. Once the manure is removed, the whole area is cleaned with a detergent and later thoroughly disinfected with a sprinkler. The process of cleaning takes three days for the Patio module and two days for the ground floor.
-196 C. A bull produces an average of 480 doses per approved ejaculation. A popular bull can supply up to 300,000 doses in its lifetime. Each such dose is collected in a straw. The straws are stored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius. Every beaker holds 3000 straws. Altogether there are some 600,000 straws in a container. The colour, together with a code, name and date, makes each straw unique.
Washing. The veal industry took off in the Netherlands at the end of the 1960s as a response to the growth of the dairy industry, which had created a surplus of calves. The Ekro slaughterhouse processes 350,000 calves a year and is the world’s largest veal producer.
Collecting. A calf’s liver has an average weight of 4.5 kilos and after removal of the carcass it cools off to 1 degree Celsius within 24 hours. The racks speed up the cooling process and prevent damage to the delicate organ tissue.
Quarantine. The smoking compartment in the canteen is there to combat infection. Staff are not allowed to leave the building during working hours. The company is hermetically sealed off from the world at large to minimize the risk of infection. There is overpressure throughout the interior to ensure that polluted air is kept out
Growth. Sweet pepper producer De Wieringermeer grows red, yellow and green sweet peppers on a 40-hectare site. The colour is determined by the stage of the ripening process (green is unripe, red is ripe). The plants grow between 5 and 10 cm a week. The red-and-white ribbon marks off a compartment of one hectare. This division into hectares gives a good understanding of the growth process among young plants; the work can then be planned accordingly.
2,400 m2. Torsius has a total of 120,000 laying hens. Besides the standard free-range birds the hatchery has a further 5700 organic laying hens. At Torsius there is no need to debeak the chickens; the barns are minimally lit with special high-frequency strip lighting so that the chickens are kept calm. They also have enough distractions and enough room to move. Stressed-out chickens tend to peck others, something that happens a lot less at Torsius. Torsius produces about 100,000 eggs every day, putting it in the major league among hatcheries.
Pasture. The Brandsma Dairy Farm is a dynamic-organic company of 55 cows and 25 sheep. Brandsma is widely known as an ‘ear-tag objector.’ For them, ear tagging is a violation of the animal’s integrity. After 20 years of legal wrangling, these farmers are allowed to register their animals using the traditional I&R method, that is, hide brands and other surface marks. For six months in the year, Brandsma’s cows have free access to the pastures around the barn. For the product to qualify as pasture milk, the cows need to graze outdoors for 120 days a year, 6 hours a day.
Lavatory. Research on Pigsy, a toilet for pigs, began in 2012. A pig usually looks first for a place to sleep and then–at a comparatively great distance away–a place to defecate. Piglets are trained early on to relieve themselves in a special corner of the shed. A major advantage is that the feces can be collected and removed in a shorter time. This lowers the level of ammonia emissions in the shed, the advantage for the farmer being that there is no further need for air washers.
Shower. Paul Steenbekkers is manager at one farm, Ven/Heide, where they keep 1700 sows and 3300 piglets. Paul works from 7:30 in the morning until 10 past four in the afternoon. All staff and visitors are required to take a shower before entering the farm and don a complete set of company clothes. These strict rules on hygiene have meant a reduction in the use of antibiotics in recent years of 70%. The administering of antibiotics was a preventive measure until 2009.
Export. To avoid the fish becoming dehydrated they are coated in a glaze solution. The deep-frozen fish are then drawn through a shallow layer of water. This treatment, which is sometimes done repeatedly, adds to the weight of the fish so that more can be sold for less.
Infusion. By optimizing plant growth conditions—the ideal mix of water, light, nutrition, CO2 and temperature—PlantLab seeks to revolutionize plant cultivation. According to PlantLab, this way plants produce up to 10 times more than in a regular greenhouse and use something like 90% less water. And there are no pesticides involved. A plant treated this way proves to be no longer susceptible to diseases and epidemics.
Ginta Lapina is photographed by Norman Jean Roy and styled by Anya Ziourova for the December 2013 cover story of Allure Russia, with hair by Deycke Heidorn and makeup by Yumi Mori. Taken from Fashiontography
All images © Norman Jean Roy
By using a combination of portraits and still life elements, I have been able to create an exploration into the idea of identity and imagination, providing an insight into what it is like to live out your fantasies in everyday life. Spanish pirates, Venetian noblewomen and 11th century Vikings have escaped out of the darkness of the past and are now living in the future, placed on a stage for all to see. Laden with armor, treasure chests, maps and lore, these fantasies show the power of our imagination and what we can create if we dare to dream.
— Amber McCaig
Australian photographer Amber McCaig explores when history and storytelling converge in the colorful and elaborate world of Medieval and Renaissance reenactors. The Society for Creative Anachronism is an organization where thousands of dedicated people are committed to researching and recreating the arts, skills, and traditions of pre-17th century Europe. Members feast, fight, and dress all in the era of their choosing, often using the transformation to alter their own personalities and temperaments. Here one can choose who they wish to be and often craft a ‘hyper’ version of themselves in a way unavailable in everyday society. McCaig’s interest in this transformative identity plays out in painterly photographs full of dark, deep tones and stoic poses. The mixture of portrait and still life act as potential clues to who these characters may be and every detail is constructed with great care. Unlike the every day social struggles and pretensions, Imagined Histories is a world where the past and future can be all one’s own. Imagined Histories is currently showing from November 6-23 at the Edmund Pearce Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. McCaig also recently won the Ballarat International Foto Biennale portfolio review prize for the same work. Taken from Feature Shoot
All images © Amber McCaig
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