Insomnia issue 1

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inSomnia www.inSomniaphotomag.wixsite.com

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Aleksandra Chaj kowska Nat hanael Coet zee Sasha Yermilova Konrad Rogozinski Simon RĂźeger Mart ina Aliprandi

Sasha Yermilova Gildas Lepet it Cast el Don Springer

Lina Go Takayuki Kawashima Maria Shibanova Bart ek Kubacki

Aleksandra Chaj kowska

Nat hanael Coet zee

Sasha Yermilova

K o nrad Ro g o z i ñs ki

Simon RĂźeger

Mart ina Aliprandi

Cover St ory

We all do care about light . We look for it , t ry t o escape from it , admire it , get annoyed when t here' s t oo much of it , we seek it , we are happy when it is on, or when it is off, but in no case we remain indifferent t o it . It ' s t he first and last t hing t hat we see. Every day.

When we are born and when we die.

I love light . Alt hough, I always t hought t hat I loved t he shadows more, but , well, what are shadows wit hout light ?

Cold, warm, sharp, soft , st rong, weak, color - different . The sun, t he moon, t he lant erns, t he flashlight s, t he light s, and even t he lamps and bulbs.

You can imagine t hat bulbs are fireflies or small suns, or planet s. Or imagine not hing. And never not ice t hem at all.

But I love t o not ice.

Sasha Yermilova August , 2017

Int erview Gildas Lepet it Cast el Gildas Lepet it Cast el was born on 18t h of december, 1979.

Aft er an adolescence spent on learning magic and escapology, he underst ands t hat " image" is not simply t he anagram of t he word " magic" but also a beaut iful way of evasion. It is during his st udies of art s in Belgium t hat he gained passion for phot ography and will end up making t he darkroom his second house.

During his ( ITS) at t he Universit y of Lille 3, he will quest ion t he relat ionships bet ween phot ography and t he cinema of t he New Wave and t hus will be t he foundat ion of his book " Plossu Cinema" , t hen will wonder about t he relat ion of phot ographers t owards books. He will gain a POST-GRADUATE DIPLOMA t here on t he mat t er of hist ory and t he analysis of phot ography.

He lives in Arras where he has been t eaching phot ography for 6 years in t he College of art s in Lille, he works most ly in analogue equipped wit h 50mm opt ics. The development of his films j ust like t he original edit ions is made by himself or ( for t he digit al impressions) under his cont rol.

" I see pict ures as somet hing unreal, t hat doesn' t represent realit y"

1/ Can you int roduce yourself and t ell us how you got int o phot ography?

I was born in 1979 in a lit t le t own called Croix in t he Nort h of France. I act ually got int o phot ography by coincidence, because I want ed t o work in movies and music. I had st art ed learning Magic, and most ly st udied art , I t ouched on paint ings, drawings, sculpt ures and so on. And I finally got t o discover t he dark room while in high school. Funny st ory I had never really held a camera and I remember going t o t he movies t o see Face off ( by John Woo) . At t he t ime we had phot ography classes and t he t eacher had given us assignment s and as I went t o t he movies I got blown away by t he images, t he doves, t he angles, t he images and so on were amazing. So immediat ely aft er I bought a roll of film and a lit t le compact camera and st art ed making images, lat er on my t eacher lent me a more sophist icat ed camera which helped do more t echnical shot s. At t he t ime I used t o hat e phot ography, in my class t here were a lot of girls and because of t he chemicals t hey would always be whining in t he dark room, and I could never enj oy working t here, but one day I got it all t o myself, and as I was developing my image I saw it appear.

It was magical, I fell complet ely in love. I was 17 at t he t ime. I had always liked cinema, and since a young age always want ed t o creat e lit t le st ories, phot ography was like a logical st ep t hat helped me do t hat .

2/ What t ype of phot ography do you pract ise and what or who are your influenced by?

I t end t o do what I call nat ural phot ography, somet hing t hat isn' t forced, like st udio work ( t here' s not hing wrong wit h it ) , but I don' t like t o predict t hings, I like phot ography t hat is candid, vivid, made in t he inst ant , " everyday life" phot ography as I call it . What I really like is t he subst ance of t he image. You see I used t o be a lab t echnician I would develop pict ures for ot her phot ographers, and I st art ed t o have t he will t o make pict ures for myself and of course develop t hem for myself. I didn' t enj oy t aking pict ures, it was more about seeing t he image appear in t he dark room.

And so for a long t ime I searched what it was I want ed t o phot ograph, t he pict ures I want ed t o make, in which direct ion I want ed t o go.

Phot ography was like laying out t hings. And lit t le by lit t le I got int o st reet phot ography, somet hing more at mospheric, which expresses a cert ain mood. Bernard Plossu' s was a big influence.

At t he t ime I was buying lot s of books and magazines, and one day I st umbled on Bernard Plossu' s work. I immediat ely loved his work, t he aest het ic, it was more t han phot ography, it was like paint ings, drawings in a sense. Of course, t here is also Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, all t hese phot ographers of t he inst ant , or t he moment , wit h a very different feel t owards phot ography which seems like cinema, or even lit erat ure somet imes. The way t hey would t reat t he subst ance of t he image, more alive in my belief, more myst erious. Because t o me, it ' s more t han t he subj ect , it ' s about t he way we bring you int o t hat image.

3/ A big part of your work is made in film. Why is t hat ?

I love film, I claim it , I even wrot e a book on it . Wit h digit al ( and t here is not hing wrong if you like digit al) it ' s j ust I feel you t end t o ease yourself wit h soft ware edit ing, even t hough I admit it ' s cheaper and not as complicat ed as developing your own film. But I j ust don' t enj oy it , I can' t really explain. I believe I have spent t oo much t ime in t he dark room ( laugh) . I would say it ' s like writ ing in a t ype writ er or on a comput er, t he feeling is so different and some j ust can' t t ype on comput ers. For me it ' s all about t he grain, even t hough I do somet imes digit al, I rarely keep any digit al images. I j ust can' t consider it somet hing serious, for my t ype of work, and t herefore don' t really do any digit al work, I don' t find any pleasure in it .

4/ Why is your work more in black and whit e, t han in color?

Well, first of all I like classic t hings, and second I am more comfort able wit h black and whit e. It ' s oft en said t hat we dream in black and whit e, I don' t know if it ' s t rue, but I see pict ures as somet hing unreal, t hat doesn' t represent realit y. Plossu used t o say " an image doesn' t freeze anyt hing, it evokes, brings t o mind. " I don' t want t o reproduce realit y, color t o me seems t oo realist ic, and I don' t see colors wit h my eyes. I somet imes do work in color and gladly people like my color work, but I don' t see my images in a color " format " . Then t here is t he development , even t hough it ' s not t hat complicat ed, it asks a discipline and for a big amount of money and since I only work film at some point it ' s going t o cost me a lot , even t hough t here are great labs in Paris I wouldn' t be able t o go t here all t he t ime, because as a lab t echincian I need t o have full cont rol over my images. It doesn' t mean I will never do any, funny t hing is I am now direct ing a movie in color, so in a sense you could say I am approaching it in a different way.

5/ What do you t hink of t he act ual st at e of phot ography?

Shit t y, and it ' s going t o st ay t hat way for a while. There are t oo many images nowadays, it ' s not phot ography' s fault it ' s more t he relat ion we have t o images t hese days. Pict ures have become very accessible, t hrough phones, edit ing t ools, print ers. Not t o ment ion we are const ant ly t hrown images, TV, int ernet , social net works, we' re const ant ly bombarded, and it ' s j ust t oo much. We don' t t ake t ime t o look at images, or even make images anymore, and everyone t hinks t hey are a phot ographer, t rut h t o be t old real phot ographers aren' t t hat many. We have desacralized phot ography t hat it has become somet hing common. It ' s becoming complicat ed and it ' s not going t o st op. I t hink it ' s primordial t o t each people t o see how t o look at images.

6/ If you could give some advice t o new comers what will it be?

As a t eacher I encount er lot s of young phot ographers who idealise phot ography. They eit her want t o do t ravel phot ography, which let ' s face it is slowly dying because of inst agram, or concert , model phot ography.

And if t here is not hing wrong wit h t hat , I t ry t o explain t o t hem, t hat even if t here are solut ions, it ' s going t o be very difficult . You can' t go out and t hink you will do what you want and become famous, it ' s going t o be hard work and you will end up doing st uff you hat e, t hat you will have t o balance bet ween doing what you like ( if you can) and doing services for client s and it cost s t ime, energy, not t hat much sleep, for maybe lit t le result s, or even income.

But again what is primordial is how t o look at images first , and if you want t o live off on phot ography it will be very dififcult , specially now.

7/ Can you t ell us about t he proj ect s you are working on lat ely?

There is act ually t wo approaches, or line of work. The first is more t he phot ography books, books t hat are mainly dedicat ed t o showcasing images t hat I t ry t o build like movies, or like mini st ories, and t hen t here are t he guide books, more t echnical. The guides are made wit h Eyrolles ( French Print er) . I st art ed working wit h t hem five years ago, t hey had reached out and asked me t o make a guide on how t o edit your own phot ography book, and since it went well t hey asked me t o do anot her on st reet phot ography and aft er t hat anot her one on analog phot ography. The st reet phot ography one sold well, got dist ribut ed in China. So aft er all t hose proj ect s I suggest ed we make anot her book, on a larger mat t er, based on t he connect ion bet ween phot ography and different st yles of art , lit erat ure, movies and so on. This one will come out in a few mont hs. It t akes t ime, because I have t o writ e t he books.

Then for t he phot ography books, one is coming out soon called SQ. I was working for Harcourt ( french school of port rait ) in t he cit y of Saint Quent in and in bet ween workshops I st art ed making pict ures, more minimalist , t his one is finished.

Then t here' s a big book on Belgium, regrouping 15 years of pict ures from t he count ry, it keeps get t ing bigger and bigger, I have been working on it for a long t ime. And finally a book on t rain st ories, t hat I made because I oft en t ake t rains, and want ed t o evoke t he st ories I hear t hrough images. And finally I am making a movie.

I have want ed t o make a movie for a very long t ime, and wit h my proj ect " Colorblind" had a first experience in creat ing a short movie, as well as " Wandering" which was a phot o concert ( images wit h an orchest ra) .

Every book is a biography in it self, and lat ely I want ed t o t ell a huge st ory, and t he movie sort of let me do t hat .

The movie is a series of sket ches put t oget her, roughly t en, it ' s a new way t o explore st ory t elling. It ' s medit at ive and a comedy at t he same t ime. It t ells about life and it s complicat ions, mainly different st ories about love and at mosphere. " The cup is full" will come out in DVD wit h a book on t he 18t h of December ( for my birt hday) .

Gildas Lepet it Cast el August 2017

Art icle Don Springer

Phot ography has been in my act ive DNA since before I was 13. I st art ed on t he st reet s where I grew up in Nort h Philly. I wasn' t aware of doing St reet . I had no idea ot hers made images out t here. I was a virgin shoot er wit h lit t le or no guidance. We as shoot ers are blessed wit h t he gift of recording what life on t he planet looked like while we were here. It is said t hat shoot ers should t ry t o see as if seeing somet hing for t he first t ime. I' d rat her see somet hing as if I' m seeing it for t he last t ime. Go in peace but go wit h a camera in your hand. Don

Memory or t he Decisive Moment Don Springer, August 2017 I been reflect ing on myself for awhile and t he past few weeks really get t ing crit ical. See, I have t his nice mirror in my office and I sit and look int o it for a spell and reflect . The import ant kind. The kind t hat says, dude, ya need t o lose a few pounds. So I st art ed t o t hink about t he import ance phot ographs have for us as shoot ers and t he mot ives and int ent for making t hem and t he end result of t he phot os life.

Probably t he most import ant purpose for a phot o is t he making of a memory. This in it self is an oxymoron t o t he int ent of phot ography. If a phot o is a 2 dimensional image, t hen it should be viewed as it s own realit y. The realit y of t he phot ograph. This concept was init ialized and t aught by St ieglit z. He was t he one conscious of t he phenomenon of phot ography and t he one who discovered t he t rue nat ure of a phot ograph.

The idea was t hat when a phot o is viewed it should st and on it s own merit and not need t he crut ch of t he realit y it was capt ured from.

The idea of t it ling a phot o support s t he crut ch of realit y and serves t o dest roy or shat t er t he illusion of t he image. We see a phot o of a person and it ' s t it led, " Grandma, New York 1936. " The t it le support s t he memory but what about t he innat e exist ence of phot ography? If we pract ice t hat a phot o needs only it self t o be recognized as it self, what t hen about Grandma? What about t his memory t hing? Does t his mean t hat phot os really are not what t hey appear t o be? Does it mean t he t he concret e illusion of a phot o being on it s own in our realit y is not a t rut h at all?

St ieglit z said t hat phot os were t he t rut h of t he moment . Bresson coined t he phrase, " The Decisive Moment " . I lived my life adopt ing t hese t rut hs and pract icing t hem and t eaching t hem. So why now at 67yo do I quest ion t he basis of a life in phot ography and st umble upon t he very essence of my belief syst em? Perhaps it ' s an awakening of a dormant concept t hat is now coming t o life and t rying t o creat e a new pat h.

Phot ographs are not an island of t ranquilit y at all. They rock t he very foundat ion of t heir own exist ence. St reet phot ography as import ant and loving as it is, is also t he ant it hesis of memory. When I work t he st reet s, I am not t hinking about memories. I am t hinking and feeling . . . . what ? Damn, ain' t t hat t he $64, 000. 00 quest ion.

I have learned and t aught t hat t he phot ograph exist due t o t he shoot er making it . End result . We look at our work and t ry t o feel and see t he reason for making it . It ' s not a lost soul, it ' s j ust phot ography. The real idea is t hat we had anot her reason for clicking t he shut t er t han t he memory of t he moment .

The t hing t hat I get from phot ography is t he realizat ion t hat I love t he process and I need t he cat alyst t hat phot os present . I am basically a st reet shoot er. I used t o do ot her t hings but for t he last 30+ years, most ly st reet . For me, st reet = life.

So as a life shoot er, what is it I am aft er? I kinda t hink t hat it filt ers down t o a residue of int ent .

When I' m out shoot ing, I am not t hinking about memories. Somet imes but it ' s not a priorit y. So, I make phot os wit h t he purpose of get t ing t hem int o Light Room and t hen making t he phot o represent my vision. Of course I rely on memory but t rut hfully, I am t ot ally aware t hat t here is a new realit y being born. This is my int ent , well part of it . So I make phot os t o serve somet hing different t han memories. Any memory cast forward from t he phot o is really from t he phot o and not so much t he scene or subj ect .

The memory of t he phot o or making t he phot o is secondary t o t he act ual phot o. The experience is not as import ant as t he end result . Don' t get me wrong. I breat he phot ography. It ' s not somet hing I do as a past ime or hobby or as an art form. I do it because I have no choice. I don' t define phot ography, it defines me. " The Clarit y of Int ent " Shhhhh, don' t spread t his around. I hear t ell and I know for a fact t hat some people are very serious about t his phot ography t hing. Seems crazy right ? There comes a point in t ime t hat is marked as a moment of recognit ion of t he self. This moment for t he phot ographer is an awareness of int ent . This is t he cont inuing culminat ion of t he gat hering of info, t hought s and feelings. This is our supply feed for our work.

Let ' s assume t hat we are out working and somet hing kinda capt ures out at t ent ion. At t hat moment , our supply feed and t he ext erior cat alyst j oin t oget her and present us wit h t he birt h or deat h of t he phot o.

We are t hen faced wit h t he opt ion t o make t he phot o or not . Many t hings will happen quickly t o come t o t he conclusion of t he unborn phot o. This is not yet int ent but rat her t he decision t o develop int ent or not .

Things happen and you may or may not make a phot o. You need t o be alert and sensit ive t o t his moment . All t hat you are is present and needs t o be at t he ready. What if you decide t o make t he phot o? Well, t ry t his for size. If you are aware t hat all of you is in t he moment and you have accept ed t he responsibilit y t o yourself and t he unborn phot o, t hen t he int ent of all is showing t he way.

The moment and t he decisive moment are working t oget her but not t he same way. Being in t he moment or t he here and now leads t o t he release of t he shut t er. The release of t he shut t er is t he decisive moment . At t hat exact moment in your life is t he realizat ion t hat you eit her sat isfied your int ent or not . If you feel t hat you got it , t hen t he rest is a very t uned, aware process of giving birt h t o t he phot o. If not , t hen t he decision t o move on is necessary. Just remember t hat not every phot o is considered a keeper.

The t hing is, even if t he phot o is not a keeper, does not mean it fails at int ent . Here' s t he t hing about The Moment and Memory. In t he moment making a st reet phot o, t hat sat isfies your int ent , provides a phot o t hat is more about t he making and sat isfying yourself. This is t he dividing fact or of t he Moment and INTENT. There are a few Decisive Moment scenarios. One is when your working and somet hing st art s t o happen. There is no set rule on Inspiring t he Decisive Moment . This can happen in many ways and t hat in it self will creat e some t ype of masked confusion or a cloudy Decisive Moment . The normal DM ( Decisive Moment ) kinda happens and you make t he exposure because you were so inspired by int ernal or ext ernal st imuli or a combinat ion of each. This is most ly a conscious experience.

Hopefully, t here is an experience t hat seems like all t he rest of t he DM' s but . . . . . . somet hing happens at exposure or at processing t hat marks a real moment . There is a dormant awakening t hat comes t o light usually at sight of t he image in edit ing or processing. Wit h t his image, wakes t he recollect ion of t he t he Decisive Moment but . . . . t here is an awareness of t he experience as an observer and part icipant at t he same t ime. It ' s like you' re seeing yourself, wat ching yourself making t he phot o. Maybe t his is like t he dej a vu of phot ography. It doesn' t happen all t he t ime and not everyone get s t o experience t his. Not because t hey are at a level t hat prohibit s t he awareness but because t hey are not t uned int o t he frequency t hat t his experience lives. " The best images are t he ones we don' t remember making. " Perhaps t here is some t rut h t o t his saying. At my age, 67, I have learned t hat t here are not many t rut hs in life. Even t he ones we t end t o hold dear somet imes end up wit h shades of gray t o t hem. What ' s clear t o me is t hat clarit y is t he rest ing place for t he eye, heart and mind. We don' t oft en achieve clarit y so we make phot os. When we make phot os we have an int ent . Our int ent is cont rolled by our knowledge, our passion and our gear. Yes, t he camera is a crucial element t o our work. There is most definit ely a difference bet ween t he Moment and The Decisive Moment .

When I was a grunt in Nam, I carried a Leica M4. I made b&w phot os. I met a phot ographer from Aust ralia named Jock. He was older t han me and very wise but t uned int o t he moment . I didn' t know t hat t hat meant back t hen. I suppose he was a Ment or for me and I needed t he ment al and emot ional reinforcement . We were all sit t ing around smoking weed and Jock was wit h us and making phot os. He said t o me, " Jingles, where' s your camera?" I looked at him and he nodded his head. I reached in my sack and got my M4. I had made many phot os of t he guys and missions, everyt hing. But now, at t his moment , I had a realizat ion t hat was life effect ing. I underst ood for t he first t ime t he difference bet ween t he MOMENT and t he MEMORY.

I underst ood t he INTENT of each. I underst ood t he import ance of each as an individual int ent and combined. The moment or decisive moment will lead t o phot os t hat add t o t he creat ive j uices. The moment will lead t o phot os t hat inspire you, or maybe fill a void in t he self, or even sat isfy t he art ist ic energy or maybe do t he same for a client . Just realize t hat your most import ant client is you.

The memory. Wow t his is t he hard one. It ' s t he hardest int ent t o act ually realize and do. Back t o t he guys and Jock in Nam. I was making phot os because t he subj ect mat t er is amazing. Everyt hing was working. I was hammering t he decisive moment . Then a slight calm came over me. All t he sudden, t he decisive moment wasn' t so import ant . I looked at t he guys and slowly made phot os of most of t hem. Not one but many of each. I was t ot ally aware t hat I want ed t o, NO. . . . Needed t o make a last ing memory of my friends, my brot hers in arms and t he experience. I got close t o a few and asked t hem t o look int o my lens. I made many exposures. I want ed t o make a port rait or phot o t hat would out live t hem and me. This int ent of so fragile of a moment was MEMORY. So realizing t he difference of t he Decisive Moment and t he Moment of Memory is t he driving force and also t he force t hat will make or break you and your work. All you have t o do is know t he difference and pract ice it .

Don Springer August , 2017

Feat ured Phot ographers

Lina go Takayuki Kawashima Maria Shibanova Bart ek Kubacki

Name: Lina Go Count ry: Germany

Gear: RICOH GRII, Fuj ifilm XT10

When I st art ed st reet phot ography, faces, different expressions, emot ions or basically all I could read in someone' s face, was a big inspirat ion for me

I guess I` m falling in love wit h t hat , finding t hese small and very fleet ing moment s.

Name: Takayuki Kawashima Count ry: Japan

Gear: RICOH GRII

I am influenced by Masat aka Nakano' s " TOKYO NOBODY"

I shoot in urban areas such as Tokyo wit h t he concept of " loneliness"

Name: Maria Shibanova Count ry: Russia

I have always been int erest ed in phot ography since my childhood because my fat her was doing phot os wit h an old analog camera

my real and biggest passion is st reet t ravel phot ography , in black and whit e

I love t o observe people in t he st reet s, looking for t heir st ories, hidden and t ransient emot ions.

Name: Bart ek Kubacki Count ry: Poland

I' ve been t aking pict ures since I remember

To me phot ography is an art of t elling a st ory in one pict ure. . .

. . . an art of evoking emot ions and an art of slowing down, bot h during creat ion and cont emplat ion.

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