Sunshine and Olly

by Jonathan Blaustein

Tomorrow is a big day.

(For real.)

It sounds like hyperbole, but I’m off to the other side of the world. 

To the land of (some of) my Jewish ancestors. 

To the Old Country. 

To Poland. 







It feels monumental, as I haven’t been on an art/journalism/business trip in a year and a half.

After nearly a decade of constant travel, I’ve spent a significant chunk of time here on the farm outside Taos.

Working on my health. 
Doing the jiu jitsu. 
Hitting the gym.

(Being a part time, stay-at-home Dad, if I’m being honest.) 

Tomorrow, though, I head off on a massive adventure.

I’m going to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, (MOCAK,) as they’re showing a large installation from my project, “The Value of a Dollar,” in their “Food in Art” exhibition. 

I wasn’t able to visit the last time I had a big show in Europe, (in Germany in 2019,) and this time, I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass.

Plus, the visit opened up the chance to shoot a new photo project in Poland, which I’ll tell you more about when I get home. 

(Unless I blog from Europe. Who knows?)








One benefit of blogging, of working in a milieu inherently online, is it's easy to see visions of elsewhere. 

Really, it's a perfect vehicle for disseminating photography. 

And Zooming allows us to communicate in real time in ways far beyond what I hoped for, growing up in the 20th Century. 

(If you sense I’m building towards something, you’re right.)

Fortunately for us, last Spring, I was invited to review portfolios at an online event produced by the International Center of Photography in NYC, organized for their recent alumni. 

Not sure if it’s because International is in the title of the school, but the student body is always hyper-globally diverse. 







As such, because I’ve put it off for far too long, today’s post will feature five mini-portfolios from six artists I (digitally) met last Spring. 

All of them were professional, interesting to talk to, and talented for sure. 

For my longtime readers, I used to do these articles all the time at A Photo Editor.

The rules are the same, as the artists are in no particular order. 

In a new twist, each artist wrote beautifully about their own work, so rather than doing my own deep blurbs, I’ll just intro their pictures and words. 







Chia Yun Wu hails from Taiwan, which is the inspiration for her work. (Along with family and memory.) 

Needless to say, in a world in which Russia invaded Ukraine, China’s threat to Taiwan is real.

Metaphorically, it pervades her multi-layered images. 

She wrote: 

“Taiwan has been isolated from the world due to its political issues with China. Questions of independence, identity, and territory never have clear answers. 

This lonely island is surrounded by the ocean, waves, and tears. To the people who are waiting to be recognized as an independent nation, the image of water has become a symbol of fluidity, unsettlement, and confusion. I seek to deconstruct these liquid elements by reconstructing a solemn, while hopeful, map.”

Raine Roberts shoots old school, black and white, film based images, and creates photo sculptures from the results. 

Blogging is inherently digital, (as I wrote,) so rather than showing reproductions of the images printed on plywood, I asked to show a group of the originals. 

Her project is called “Things That Spill,” and my favorite part of her writing was:

“Does it ooze, like magma? Does it spill, like milk? Does it roll, like a wave? One with many in the ocean. By the by, it does, lest we remember to cry.”

Lidewij Mulder is Dutch, but currently lives in New York. 

(Though I guessed incorrectly she was Polish.)

Lidewij is making conceptually driven, documentary images that explore masculinity. After our initial meeting, she did a shoot at a military base in Alabama, and sent me some of those pictures too. 

Super-cool stuff. 

She writes, of her project:

“The Great Pretender is a personal exploration of the multifaceted nature of modern masculinity among young adult men. As the concept of masculinity evolves and challenges traditional gender roles, a conflicting message has developed. This encourages men, on the one hand, to express emotions, vulnerabilities, and fears, but on the other, it also leaves conventional expectations intact.”

Maria Giovanna Giugliano is Italian, and it’s fair to call her photographs Baroque.

They’re grotesque, at times, and definitely sensual.

Arresting. 

You look, but maybe you don’t want to look?

MGG wrote: 

“Ordinary Pleasures retraces the visceral connection between humans and nature through food. In the whirlwind of consumer cravings, people have become detached from the origins of their food and the journey it takes before becoming one with their flesh.”

Last, but not least, we have Jake Salyers, a photographer in New York who had the most Gotham of projects. 

Jake became interested in bird-watching, and documented the phenomenon and culture in NYC.

(Including the story of Flaco the owl, which became a news sensation.)

The pictures are terrific, and I’m sure it will become a book.

His statement says:

“At first glance, the dense urban jungle of New York City might seem like an uninviting home for nature lovers. But in this place, a beautiful, unexpected wildlife thrives; New York City is a site for world-class bird watching. Just Look Up is an examination of the birds that live and thrive in our urban environment and the people who obsess over them.”



 

Anyway, we’re done for today. 

Catch you on the flip side, and hope all is well.