Dear Reader, In the Summer of 2013, under the mentorship of the Young Photographers Alliance, eleven NYC photographers spent six months completing personal projects expressing their understanding of ESCAPE. We are accustomed to think of escape in relation to the circumstances escaped from: escape from routine, escape from trauma, escape from expectations. Photographing an escape from is stepping out of the action to document it. This type of escape is a rejection of the moment. The photographers represented here, however, use photography as a tool for embracing the moment. We escape into the full spectrum of our lives: the womb, heritage, childhood, trauma, triumph and ultimately death. These are not attempts to cling to the moment - but to accept its transience as itself the escape. We hope you will you enjoy our ESCAPE. Yours truly, Alex & Erica
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Christina Carannante Xiang-Yun Chen Anna Chana Demidova Stephanie Guttenplan Chase Guttman Jessica Kirkham Alex Pergament Erica Price Peter Senzamici Annelise Sforza Yosuke Terada
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Christina Carannante Christina is a photographer and teacher, currently residing in Staten Island, NY. She has earned numerous grants for her personal work, community events and teaching artist residencies from Staten Island Arts, New York Citizens Committee and The Department of Cultural Affairs.
Children carry in their minds portals to other realms. Through them, I am rediscovering the joy and mystery of this existence; sifting through the chaos of life and marveling at the magic that is all around us. chrisc1288@yahoo.com
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Xiang-Yun Chen Born and raised in China, Chen lives in New York City.
The Drive-ins in Massachusetts, USA Escape is [_______] . www.chenxiangyun.com
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Anna Chana Demidova Anna Chana Demidova lives in Manhattan and wants to be a photo editor. You can spot her flipping through photography books when she takes the 1 train to her class at Columbia. She likes (to photograph) confident and kind people.
I photograph people with their most valuable belongings. I asked them to imagine they were going to a deserted island and could only bring a grocery bag full of things they would take with them. www.march13.carbonmade.com
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Stephanie Guttenplan Stephanie Guttenplan is a southern belle runaway born in 1987. Skipping up the east coast, she suddenly found an opportunity to jump over the pond to Italy, greeted with photography. When she returned, she moved to NYC to study photography.
www.srgphotographic.com
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Projected A time comes upon all At one point or another When we wish our feet weren’t planted in a situation Roots inching deeper into discomfort Making us lust out to our surroundings Hoping it would swallow us whole Spitting us up after the fog has risen.
Camouflage our skin Cover our Flaws Smooth over our insecurities Fill our ditches of doubt To avoid the chance of a glance From others to see us crawling beneath it.
Swallowed by surroundings Shielded from everything Including even ourselves Escaped from truth Projected as everything else
Chase Guttman Chase Guttman is an award-winning and internationally published travel photographer. Guttman was named Young Travel Photographer of the Year, won Grand Prize in National Geographic’s International Photography Contest for Kids, and was called a Top Travel Photographer by the New York Institute of Photography.
“Escape into New York” aims to capture how individuals carve out their own unique slice of the city and escape into a world that seems far removed from the iconic views of New York. www.chaseguttman.com
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Jessica Kirkham Jessica is an artist working in documentary and fine art genres incorporating photography, text, audio, and video. Her work explores themes of innocence, isolation, and abuse. Her motivation to create the work stems from her own experiences of abuse during childhood. Jessica is currently exploring her abuse through photography and other various mediums for her senior thesis.
“The Last Day of a Golden Summer” explores the sexual abuse I endured as a child and my ways of escaping it. The photographs are inspired by my memories spent running away to my safe haven, my mother’s garden. www.jessicakirkham.info
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Alex Pergament Alex (b. 1984, Odessa, Ukraine) is a Jersey City-based autobiographical photographer. He is currently working on “Dated, L*ved, and Longed For,” a series of photographs of his ex-girlfriends, and “Black Sheep,” riding the emerging Jersey City arts movement. Alex became a full-time photogra pher in July 2012, after a career as a patent attorney. Who would I be if I followed the default American Dream? A younger version of my Dad was a seeker. After immigrating to the United States at 25 as a taxi driver with a large family and 5 year-old me, he became a chemist, graduated from law school, and opened a successful law firm. On the altar of the American Dream, my Dad sacrificed curiosity, energy, and inspiration, and ultimately failed to achieve any joy from the attainment of the dream. Discovering sailing brought his inspiration back to life. He struggles to learn the ropes with presentness of mind and childish energy. Attainment of a dream undermines joy – the joy is within the struggle towards the dream. This is the foundation upon which my photography is built. www.turtlethebull.com
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Erica Price Erica is an editorial photographer based in NYC. She made her first camera out of LEGOs at age 6.
“Tides” is the sweet spot of combining my passion for water and photography. I search for candid moments that feel special and intimate. People escaping the day to day grind. To capture people in the water, as if they have no other place they’d rather be. www.ericapricephotography.com
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Peter Senzamici Peter grew up in Massachusetts, earned a history degree in Maine, worked in IT in Copenhagen, and now lives in New York. He works as a photographer and digital technician.
Escape is a concrete concept for those who grew up during the war in the former Yugoslavia. This is the start of one young man’s journey to find a future in America and hope for his home country of Montenegro. www.petersenzamici.com 34
Annelise Sforza Annelise Sforza is a 20 year old self taught fine art photographer, born and raised in New Jersey.
“Confronting Deceit� an individual seeking out moments of escape retreats into their mind to explore the limitless opportunities of freedom.
www.annelisesforza.com 38
Yosuke Terada Yosuke Terada is a NYC based Japanese photographer. Throughout his life, he lived in many different places both nationally and internationally. He took up photography to record this ever-changing world.
“Sphere� These images are captured through a ground glass on a Rolleiflex. Incorporating the focus-adjusting circle into the square frame reminds the viewer of the unique potential of photography to show the energy, peacefulness or mystery of a particular place. 42
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