NEOPRIME Contemporary Fine Art Photography
Issue # 1 | October | 2015
Co nte mp l at i n g A nd ré Wa g n e r by M A RT IN D IE T RI C H , C o lo g n e 2 01 4
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N oi r by M A RI US V I E T H , D 端 s s e l do r f 2 0 1 3
Th e View II by MA RTIN DIETRICH, New York City 2 0 13
TABLE OF CONTENT
04
Editorial
60
Francoise Gaujour ”Riders on concrete”
08
Surreal Territory
Photoset by MARIUS VIETH & MARTIN DIETRICH
68
Unstoppable
12
Gear Avoidance Syndrome
72
Submissions
40
Grant Hugh Jones: Selection
76
Urban Sketches
Minimalist landscapes with a surreal edge
46
Florian Leist: Selection
78
Contributors
52
Mika Suutari: Insomnia
80
Imprint
By MARIUS VIETH
It might be healthy for your photography
By MARTIN DIETRICH
Bringing out the heart and soul of the urban jungle
A mystic journey into the infinite depths of finnish surrealism
EDITORIAL
A
lthough digital photography has largely taken over and the new era of presenting art is driven by ones and zeros, NEOPRIME Contemporary Fine Art Photography takes one humble step back. As much as we love seeing photographs on shiny, highdefinition displays, there is nothing better than enjoying a breathtaking photo as a breathtaking print. What you are holding in your hands right now is not just a beautifully designed glossy magazine, but most importantly, it’s a timeless stage for highly talented creative minds from all around the world that we couldn’t be more proud of. This magazine returns to the roots of showcasing photography combined with a highly modern approach. In order to find all these incredible photographers, we went through an infinite jungle of digital photographs. After gathering the finest photographers we could find from America to Zimbabwe, we curated them again and again until we distilled the cream of the crop that you are about to experience. Without the internet and modern technology, this wouldn’t have been possible. No matter where the paths of our featured artists may take them, one thing will always remain: that at this moment in time, they created something extraordinarily special that deserves to be recognized forever. The world of art is a creative heartbeat that is kept alive by all sorts of impulses. Whether it’s the proper artistic education, that one recommendation of an influential collector, the galleries and art dealers who are the birth
attendants and grim reapers of rising stars, that one spark of inspiration or that publicity stunt that changed it all. There are just so many massive factors at play that from time to time the inner light of all this appears to get overshadowed. What this magazine and its core beliefs boil down to is the mere essence and most important driver of breathtaking fine art: bursts of passion. Merging technical excellence with the eye, heart and soul into a creative symbiosis of light and genuine emotion is what makes us leap for joy. Bringing out your inner core as an artist allows you to truly forget the world around you - and that is what this magazine strives to recreate. Forget what was and what will be for a moment and deep dive into the infinite depths of contemporary fine art photography. As an International Fine Arts Label, NEOPRIME deeply cares for photographers from all four corners of the world. That is why you will find artists from a wide range of countries in this magazine. Germany, USA, the Netherlands, Scotland and England are only a few of those. As for the background of these artists, we want to make something perfectly clear: we certainly appreciate the value of an arts degree, but we will always judge an artist by how much they pour their eye, heart and soul into their photography. With that said, please enjoy the new prime of contemporary fine art photography! Marius Vieth & Martin Dietrich
Urban Patchwork by MARTIN DIETRI CH, New York City 20 1 3
I A m The Past by BRANDON KIDWEL L
THE ONE by JACKSON HUNG Busan, South Korea 2014
THE SECOND FOLLOWS QUICK... by MANFRED MAJER Vienna, Austria 2014
LET. US. OUT. by IGAL PRONIN Barceona, Spain 2013
THE SWINGING CITY by MICHELE RIERI Bruxelles, Belgium 2012
FRANCOISE GAUJOUR Surfers On Concrete
I Am Standing Up, Venice Beach, Los An geles 2 01 3
I Am Brokenh earted, Venice Beach, Lo s Angeles 20 1 3
I’m Not A Man, Venice Beach, Los Angeles 2013
„Maybe being a journalist makes me a witness of my time, I‘m not trying to make a picture that shows everything but a picture that suggests and leaves a little room for the imagination. I want to show what the eye does not see, the emotion that arises from nothing, which is so personal. I think there is always a different story. That‘s why I work at the borders of journalism and creation, if indeed there is a difference between these two approaches. And then I try to color the world ... to reveal the color ... I think it has a stong influence on sensitivity. The color is used to capture the souls ... Pictures are dreams that we put on things ... In this series „Surfers On Concrete“ made in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, August 13, I tell the story of our shadows ... Our shadows exist as we do. They are a breath of life. And even if they have nothing in their pockets, even if they play deprivation, they have a soul.“
A shadow, is not a form, it is an energy. It is tonic, it is an action. It has a style, it‘s a line, a profile. It is a contrast, the day and the night. It is a twilight, a silence. Here, the shadow is suspended in midair, it‘s a tightrope walker, a ghost. It sneaks, it‘s an emotion, a mystery, an enigma. It is singular, it is a light. It is an intention, it is my intention...
By F RA NCOISE GAUJOUR
I Am A Breath Of Life, Ven ice Beac h, Los An gel es 2 0 13
URBAN SKETCHES by MARTIN DIETRICH Frankfurt, Germany 2013
Using photographic techniques to create abstract works that appear to be drawings is a concept that ripened in the very back of my head for quite some time. Using the advantages of abstraction to create futuristic visions and highlighting the pure beauty of architectural lines and shapes was the objective. Implementing these visions was what I was chasing after. The idea came up looking at Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany. Locals call this building “Bleistift� (pencil) because it looks like it quite a bit. Making a pencil sketch out of it was what came to my mind and sparked the whole idea. A different approach to long exposure photography finally allowed me to develop my ideas and approach my visions. The technique I came up with finally allowed me to concentrate on lines and reduce the buildings to their pure essence, to their most exciting parts.
Bl owi n’ Smo ke by JOHN WESTROCK, Seat tl e 20 1 4
Contributors Brandon Kidwell
Tomasz Szatewicz
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, USA
IVERNESS, SCOTLAND
w w w.b rand o n ki d w e l l .co m
w w w. l a n d o f l i g h t .co. u k
John Westrock
Grant Hugh Jones
SEATTLE, WA, USA
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND
w w w. j ohn w est ro c k .co m
w w w.g ra n t h u g h j o n es.co m
João Cruz Santos
Jackson Hung
PORTUGAL
CANADA
w w w. j c s gal l e r y.w i x .co m/ p h o to
w w w. j a c kso n h u n g .ca
Michele Rieri
Igal Pronin
REGGIO CALABRIA, ITALY
REHOVOT, ISRAEL
w w w.r ie r i st y l e .co m
w w w. fa cebo o k .co m / i g a l . P ro nin
Hendrik Lohmann
Angelo Giovanni
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY
PUERTO RICO, BASED IN THAILAND
w w w.l ohm a n n fo to g ra f i e .d e
w w w. f l i c kr.co m / p h o to s/a n g e lo84
Klaus Burmeister
Agnès Lapin
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY
BASED IN THE NETHERLANDS
w w w.pe rce pt io n s - si c h t w ei sen .d e
w w w.a g g i e p h o to f l o w.co m
Ron See
Manfred Majer
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
w w w.f l i c k r.com /ph o to s/ ro n se e p h o to g ra p h y
w w w. f l i c kr.co m/ p h o to s/ ma n fre dm ajer
Mika Suutari
Francoise Gaujour
HELSINKI AREA, FINLAND
PARIS, FRANCE
w w w.m i ka su u ta r i . n et
w w w. fra n co i seg a u j o u r.co m
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