The Lab Magazine » Photography

NOELL S. OSZVALD

admin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:43:56 +0000

INTERVIEWED BY DARYA KOSILOVA

Noell S. Oszvald is a self-taught photographer and visual artist from Budapest, Hungary. After becoming a Flickr sensation almost overnight for her deeply dark and sophisticated imagery, it came as a viral shock when this artist revealed that she has only been taking photographs for just over a year.

DARYA KOSILOVA—Hi Noell! Tell me a little bit about yourself.

NOELL S. OSZVALD—I’m a 22 year-old girl from Hungary. I was born in Budapest, the capital and currently living in a small town not so far from there.

DK—How long have you been taking photographs?

NSO—I’ve been taking photos and making photo manipulations for more than a year now.

DK—I feel like I’m in a lost memory or a dream when I look at your photographs. Where does the imagination for your images come from?

NSO—It comes from anywhere and anytime – mostly when I’m listening to music, watching films, or desperately trying to fall asleep at night.

DK—Tell me about the first significant memory that has shaped you as a person and an artist.

NSO—It’s interesting. I remember my very first memory; the first time I was aware of life around me. I was playing with my sister in the garden and I remember running towards ... Read More »

MARGARET DUROW

admin — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 01:51:55 +0000

INTERVIEWED BY AMY WOODROFFE

Margaret Durow is a Wisconsin-based photographer. When she’s not taking poetic, moving photographs, she studies Biological Conservation and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

THE LAB MAGAZINE—Although your images have an intimate and personal quality, the universal themes of love, time, and memory that are present are easy to relate to. Can you explain whether accessibility is a conscious goal or if you think it’s the natural result of honest storytelling?

MARGARET DUROW—I take photos so that I can look back at them later and remember how I felt. I’m not trying to create photos for other people, but I am trying to express to them how I feel, and make them feel something when they look at my photos. I think strangers have felt the same emotions I have, so I share my photographs with them online. I hope that when people look at my photos they understand that the feelings are personal to me – I want the image to make them feel what I felt, but also make them feel something personal for themselves.

TLM—Would you say your images directly document your feeling about each moment, or do you use the camera to intentionally manipulate these ... Read More »

STEFAN MILEV

admin — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:52:04 +0000

INTERVIEWED BY DARYA KOSILOVA

Stefan Milev is a European portrait and fashion photographer known mainly for his 19th-Century inspired photographic style. He resides in Pattonville, Germany with his wife and two daughters.

Darya Kosilova is the art and photography editor of The Lab Magazine. She is a former painting and illustration student at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She currently lives in New York City.

DARYA KOSILOVA—Stefan, who are you and why do you photograph fashion?

STEFAN MILEV—Hmmm, let’s do it quick and short… I’m an observer and a “visualist.” I like simple things and time. Mental freedom is the air I breathe. Limitation and stagnation feel to me very unnatural. I was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1981. In the nineties we fled to Germany. After secondary school I studied photography and worked as a freelance assistant. I had only New York in mind and it was one of my dreams to live and work there. My wife accompanied me and we spent almost three years there. Now I’m a proud father of two beautiful girls. And by the way I see myself, personally, more as a portrait photographer with a passion for fashion.

DK—What has been the photograph ... Read More »

ARSENI KHAMZIN

admin — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:06:50 +0000

INTERVIEWED BY DARYA KOSILOVA

ARSENI KHAMZIN is a visual artist based out of Vancouver, Canada. He is currently traveling through Africa and working on an extensive body of new work. He holds a BFA with a focus in Photography from Emily Carr University of Art & Design and has also studied at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York.

DARYA KOSILOVA is the art and photography editor of The Lab Magazine. She is a former painting and illustration student at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She currently lives in New York City.

DARYA KOSILOVA—Considering we’ve known each other for seven years now, it’s a bit awkward interviewing my best friend…

ARSENI KHAMZIN—Yeah, but it’s not like we necessarily go into discussions about our artwork in this context on many occasions…

DK—So tell me about your artwork. For the record, I’m glad you’re back to calling it “artwork,” considering you were prepared to burn everything you’ve ever made a few months ago.

AK—It’s artwork because it’s hard to find a word that’s easier to connect to. I can call them studies or research, but it’s also something that eventually I do end up showing and that people do end up connecting with. ... Read More »

JEAN-FRANÇOIS LEPAGE

admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:35:34 +0000

INTERVIEWED BY DARYA KOSILOVA

DARYA KOSILOVA—Tell me about a recent dream you had.

JEAN-FRANÇOIS LEPAGE—Strangely, I’ve had no dreams that I can remember for a long time.

DK—Your photographs make me think about the surreal time-fragmented dreams that we all have; the dreams that we can’t explain why or how we have. Do you think our dreams have a way of revealing our real identities?

JFL—I think our strongest dreams are paradoxically the ones we have when we are awake. I always try to be different – not too [involved in] my working habits to still have the possibility to be surprised, and in fact, at the end, to keep dreaming. This is a really important part of my life and my balance. Most people do not have time for that kind of luxury because of their work; taking time to get lost inside the labyrinth of our imagination and escape from reality. It’s not exactly a story or an adventure like in our dreams. In my case it’s more or less like traveling between two space-time [continuums]. I’m there but I’m not really there. Whatever way our dreams happen, they are giving us the chance to transform and illuminate our narrowed vision of ... Read More »

DONALD SILVERSTEIN

admin — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 07:28:51 +0000

WORDS BY SARAH HERMAN

There’s a striking and resonating image of Jimi Hendrix, which is impossible not to recognize. The black and white photograph shows the guitar legend standing front-on, eyes focused down into the camera. With his hair big and dishevelled, haloed by a soft haze, his floral shirt unbuttoned, Hendrix’s expression is as much haunted Mona Lisa as it is celebrated musical icon. The portrait captures brilliance, bravado, and theatrics as well as the subject’s temperance and vulnerability. Most pointedly, fuelled with hindsight, the image encapsulates an era as well as the musician’s ephemeral life with startling grace. The year was 1967 and the artist holding the camera was Donald Silverstein.

“[Donald was] thrilled to shoot Hendrix, who was an idol of his,” Joanne Silverstein said of her husband’s remarkable career highlight – the results of which have been reproduced countless times over the years. Interestingly, Silverstein’s trajectory could have been more akin to his idol’s had his childhood neighbors been a little more forgiving. “[He] took up photography when his dream of becoming a drummer drove the neighbors crazy, so he had to take up another pastime at the age of 12,” Joanne said. “His indulgent mother gave him ... Read More »

FRÄULEIN BY ELLEN VON UNWERTH

admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:57:09 +0000

Fräulein, the new coffee table book by renowned photographer, Ellen von Unwerth, captures a bygone era of sparkles, sequins, and vaudevillian stage performances when women weren’t afraid of serious glam. The 482-page, limited edition collection celebrates vibrant, beautiful, unapologetically single women in an intimate voyeuristic fashion with the up-close and personal approach that von Unwerth has mastered. As a former model, her experience in front of the camera lends to her subjects a vulnerability and familiarity that gives her work a unique duality. Her subjects are exquisitely groomed, in haute couture and Technicolor, yet they feel natural, relaxed, and playful.

Billed as a collection of work from the last 15 years, von Unwerth’s newest production feels as timeless as the seductive cat and mouse chase games she portrays. Her child-like obsession with fantasy and play can be traced back to the lore-like tale of a youth spent in foster care in Bavaria and the circus, which she joined out of high school with wide eyes. The visual kaleidoscope of the big top stayed with von Unwerth as did the wonder of her first visit to ... Read More »

MAKING THE SHOOT

admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:47:48 +0000

AN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITIONFEATURING SELMA BLAIRPHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTA DYMEKART DIRECTION BY LEIGH ANDERSONSTYLING BY JAK [JESSICAANDKELLY.COM]HAIR BY SEAN MIKELMAKEUP BY JO STRETTELL AT MAGNET AGENCYPHOTOGRAPHED AT SMASHBOX STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD

“I’m really honored that I will be published in The Lab Magazine.” —MARTA DYMEK, Making the Shoot winner

The Lab Magazine and Photoculture are proud to present the work of Marta Dymek, the winner of Making the Shoot. Launched in October 2011, this international competition invited photographers, both amateur and professional to submit their best work for consideration for a truly one-of-a-kind Grand Prize – a fully financed editorial shoot at Smashbox Studios, the result of which is featured here.

The Lab Magazine and a judging panel of world-class photographers, agents and creative directors were blown away by the response. Dymek’s high caliber offerings secured her the top spot and the shooting experience of a lifetime. In January the San Francisco Academy of Art University student, a few months shy of completing her BFA in Photography, found out she had won. “I don’t remember my reaction but I think I tried my best not to squeal into the phone,” she said. “After I hung up, I ran around my building a couple of times; I ... Read More »