PRISMA Issue 22

Issue 22

CULTURE - EVENTS - TRAVEL - NATURE

31 December 2024

Editorial Article Another Year of PRISMA: Recapping 2024 in advance of the New Year by: Louise Anderbjörk

INSIDE FEATURES

PRISMA ISSUE OVERVIEW

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

INSIDE THIS ISSUE OF PRISMA Editor-In-Chief: Louise Anderbjörk & Tristan Sharman

Photo: Roman Popelar

Photo: Aaron Maguire

Dramatic Landscapes: Popelar shares the journey that has taken him from capturing cityscapes, landscapes, and wildlife from a small Hampshire hotel, to documenting dramatic weather conditions across the UK.

Photo: Luisa Wasshausen

Photo: Susie Mawhinney

Embracing the Cold: The colder season can pose challenges for wildlife photographers, but Maguire shares his techniques for overcoming the harshness of winter to let creativity thrive in minimalism.

Photo: Anthony Mazza

An Ode to Iceland: Like many others, Wasshausen is captivated by Iceland's wild landscapes, with their stunning waterfalls, volcanoes, and majestic glaciers, to capture the power of nature and its breathtaking beauty.

Reading Winter Light: Mawhinney explores her new passion for photography, finding beauty in nature’s details during cold winters, capturing the enchanting interplay of light and shadow through her lens.

Photo: Fikri Muharom

A Journey Into Photography: Mazza reflects on the balance between rules and creativity in photography, emphasizing emotive storytelling as a key to transforming images into impactful expressions.

Issue Overview

Life Trip of Photography: Fikri Muharom shows how pursuing your passion in photography can lead to achieving international recognition and establishing your very own photography-focused travel agency.

PRISMA

The Editorial Team

1 Inside this Issue 3 Editorial Article 5 Photo Stories 17 Photo Competition

Editor-in-Chief - Louise Anderbjörk Editor-in-Chief - Tristan Sharman Editorial Editor - Alexandra Godfrey Photography Editor - Kailee Parsons Photography Editor - Maggie Zhu Copy Editor - Hermione Hampton Web Editor - Iain Cunningham Media Manager - Lucile Belorgey Content Manager - Amanda MacEachen

editor@prismamagazine.co.uk

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Photo: Fikri Muharom

PRISMA EDITORIAL ARTICLE

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

ANOTHER YEAR OF PRISMA Editorial Editor: Alexandra Godfrey

LOUISE ANDERBJÖRK Dear PRISMA readers, As the years come to a close it is time once again to extend our warmest holiday wishes to you all! Writing this annual concluding editorial is turning into a lovely December tradition for me, giving me a nice moment to reflect on everything that we have done and achieved as a team and a magazine over the past twelve months.

Each time I do, I am filled with so much gratitude to PRISMA’s readers, photographers, and of course, team, for all your hard work and support that allows us to continue doing what we do and to grow every year - just like we have done this year. To start us off, the beginning of 2024 saw PRISMA forming exciting new partnerships with the academic community at St Andrews. In January, we embarked on a semester-long collaboration with the undergraduate module “Visualizing Peace”, taught by Dr Alice König. In this initiative, PRISMA became part of students’ practical learning about photojournalism and enhanced opportunities to explore photography as a medium to promote international peace. Following that, in February, PRISMA received its first photography contribution from a member of the university staff, alongside an exciting feature from Canon ambassador Prelena Soma Owen who shared her experiences photographing Polar bears in Alaska. Come March, we built on our successful exhibitions from last year to host PRISMA’s first digital photography exhibition, showcasing the work of 56 international photographers.

Moreover, our partnership with the Visualizing Peace module culminated in a second exhibition, in April, attracting a wide range of university students and staff to the showcase of 20 finalist submissions on the topic of ‘photography and peace’. As we moved into summer, PRISMA undertook yet another behind the scenes makeover. We warmly welcomed our new Copy Editor Hermione, and expanded our team by adding a Content Manager role, filled by our talented Amanda, who has been behind the making of our new video content on social media and the launch of PRISMA’s TikTok account @prismaphotomag. On that note, we are now also on BlueSky, so be sure to follow us on all socials for the latest updates. In August, PRISMA returned to Edinburgh for another rewarding festival month. We were happy to once again be part of the media community for the Edinburgh Fringe, but we were also thrilled to be granted two new press accreditations this year, for the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. These accreditations, among other things, gained us an

Photo: PRISMA x VIP

invitation to cover James O’Brien at McEwan Hall, and the opportunity to attend a press call with Scottish historian and journalist Alastair Moffat. Back in St Andrews in September, PRISMA received a collaboration request from the esteemed photographer Pogus Ceasar, which led to us being able to showcase his photographs from the ongoing “Friends in Love and War” gallery exhibition in Birmingham.

Equally as exciting, October brought an opportunity to feature the incredible works of Olympic photographer Pauline von Hardenberg, who shared her unique insights from behind the scenes of Paris 2024. Then, a few weeks ago, PRISMA hosted its annual photojournalism competition on the UN’s SDGs in collaboration with the United Nations Association in St Andrews. We were honoured to have BBC’s Hugh Kinsella Cunningham and former war photographer David Cruickshanks join us on the judging panel for this successful event. Looking back on the memorable 2024, I am incredibly proud and inspired by the high-quality contributions PRISMA has received. We are deeply grateful to all of you - our photographers and our readers - for making PRISMA what it is and for supporting us in publishing 22 issues and 156 articles since December 2022, featuring 132 photographers from 33 different countries across the world. We could not have accomplished these milestones without you, and we look forward to showing our appreciation with some exciting new features for PRISMA in the year ahead. So, keep reading, share PRISMA with your friends and family, and enjoy the most wonderful holiday season. See you in 2025!

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Edinburgh: Home to some of the team!

Photo: Kailee Parsons

PRISMA PHOTO STORIES

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

DRAMATIC LANDSCAPES Photography Editor: Kailee Parsons

ROMAN POPELAR My photography journey started in my early twenties when I worked at a beautiful countryside hotel in Hampshire, England. Wanting to send a few pictures to my family and friends back home, I borrowed a company DSLR camera and quickly fell in love with it. Two years later, the hotel closed for several years of construction and renovation, but, luckily, I was still able to stay and continue with my photography. The construction site was an excellent learning experience as it never looked the same from one day to another. When the hotel reopened, to my surprise, a few of my photos had been published by some of the leading publications in the hospitality industry. In my free time, I began to experiment with different genres, such as cityscapes and wildlife. However, travelling through the beautiful British countryside never ceased to amaze me, so I settled on landscape photography. I am fortunate that my travels have taken me to some beautiful places around the world, and like many landscape photographers, I have spent many days chasing sunrises and sunsets. With time, I found a particular interest in photographing weather conditions that are traditionally considered bad and which many try to avoid. Fog, rain, and strong winds don’t put me off. On the contrary, they can create some amazing dramatic photographs with a lot of atmosphere. My attention is now focused on exploring new places throughout the United Kingdom and going back to some of my favourite places like Norway and Iceland, which offer the harsh and dramatic weather that has become my favourite to photograph.

Photo: Roman Popelar

Photo: Roman Popelar

Photo: Roman Popelar

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Mountains amidst the clouds and fog

Photo: Roman Popelar

PRISMA PHOTO STORIES

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

EMBRACING THE COLD Photography Editor: Kailee Parsons

AARON MAGUIRE So you enjoyed the first emerging flowers of spring and the arrival of baby lambs, clumsily gambolling through the fields like little white clouds. Then came summer, full of beautiful sunsets, long hikes, and days at the beach.

Those summer months quickly turned to autumn, the leaves shifted from green to red, and you suddenly found yourself thinking about soup. Now, winter has arrived, highlighting the difficulties of wildlife photography.

Almost half of the bird species have migrated, some mammals have gone into hibernation, while others are far less active—much like the trees, which lose their leaves and become dormant. Daylight hours are reduced, it’s freezing, and, on top of all that, you’ve discovered the joyless wonders of seasonal depression. But don’t be too hasty in packing that camera away—there is still so much you can achieve during the winter months. On frosty mornings, aim to get outside at sunrise. Many species are most active at dawn and dusk, offering opportunities to capture stunning images during the golden hours.

Winter’s minimalistic beauty offers unique artistic possibilities. When natural light is scarce, embrace the challenge.

Experiment with black-and-white photography, silhouettes, and patterns. Use the bare twigs and branches of trees, incorporating textures and shapes to your advantage. Limited light also demands technical adjustments—use slower shutter speeds and higher ISO settings to capture sharp images in dim light.

Wrap up warm, hang in there until spring, and use this time to push your creative boundaries. Embrace the cold, and reap the rewards.

Photo: Aaron Maguire

Photo: Aaron Maguire

Photo: Aaron Maguire

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Many birds stay for winter

Photo: Aaron Maguire

PRISMA PHOTO STORIES

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

READING WINTER LIGHT Photography Editor: Kailee Parsons

SUSIE MAWHINNEY Perhaps before beginning, I should admit I am not a photographer and would not in my wildest dreams consider myself deserving of such a title. I am simply learning—a seemingly infinite task—to read light, to notice the many tiny nuances of nature's grace, to fill my mind with every tiny detail laid before me, to bathe in the elements and record them on film. Here in Aveyron, France, with its deep valleys and gorges, wild rivers, and untouched forest of chestnut and ancient oak, I have discovered an endless paradise of ever-changing light and dark. Aveyron is considered by many to be La France Profonde, the heart and soul of France, and thousands of nature’s secrets are waiting in this enchanted land. I was, and still am, daily and joyfully captivated! When I finally upgraded from analogue to digital photography, many years after most people, I felt like a child with a new toy.

The ability to capture every slanted light hidden in shadow, detail of weather, diversity of shape, and the changing colour of each season glancing and dancing across steeply sloped hills became a compulsive game of visual poetry with no end. At no other time of year can the bare bones of nature's beguiling and limitless beauty be captured more clearly and honestly than in winter. To stand under a slate grey sky, with only the bare branches of trees to discern it from land, to feel the beauty in the sharpness of the wind as it rushes through the trees or the face-tingling glory of a frosted morning as it wraps its icy, filigree fingers around seed heads and fading leaves are gifts bestowed and later gathered in images that I will never tire of.

Photo: Susie Mawhinney

Photo: Susie Mawhinney

Photo: Susie Mawhinney

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Fine details in winter light

Photo: Susie Mawhinney

PRISMA PHOTO STORIES

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

AN ODE TO ICELAND Photography Editor: Maggie Zhu

LUISA WASSHAUSEN Iceland's untouched and wild landscapes captivated my soul ever since my first visit in 2017. As a photographer, I've immediately been drawn to its raw, unspoiled beauty. Spectacular waterfalls crash into rugged rocks, creating a mesmerizing dance of water and mist.

Volcanic black sand beaches stretch endlessly, their stark contrast against the white-capped waves creating a dramatic scene. Glaciers carve majestic paths through the wilderness, their black and blue layered ice fuel to the mysterious atmosphere. The often ethereal light whether it may be during the endless golden hours in summer, the never fading blue hours in winter or the pitch-black absence of it during the night that allows the aurora to dance in the sky in all its splendour - offers endless opportunities to capture its untamed beauty. The ever-changing and unpredictable weather adds another layer of complexity and challenges, with sudden shifts creating dramatic scenes that are a dream for any landscape photographer, but can as well end in a nightmare, wherever gear and humans reach their limits. Sneaky waves, merciless storms, temperatures way beyond freezing and endless deserts of dust and ash can end up being a fatal enemy to photography gear, if underestimated. There is a sense of untouched purity that permeates every corner of the island. This rawness is a powerful reminder of the earth's ancient, untamed nature, offering a stark contrast to the often manicured and controlled environments we are accustomed to and a perfect way to remind oneself of how small our lives are compared to the existence of our planet.

Photo: Luisa Wasshausen

Photo: Luisa Wasshausen

Photo: Luisa Wasshausen

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Splendour of the dancing aurora

Photo: Luisa Wasshausen

PRISMA PHOTO STORIES

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

A JOURNEY INTO PHOTOGRAPHY Photography Editor: Maggie Zhu

ANTHONY MAZZA Since my first steps in photography, I have spent years exploring techniques, mastering composition rules, and learning how to make my images visually captivating.

However, with time and experience, two essential insights have reshaped the way I approach and practice this art. First, after battling with composition rules for years in my work, I realized that they are just a foundation, guiding principles, to help us better understand the essence of photography. While these rules are important, they should not be rigid constraints.

In fact, I discovered that breaking them can sometimes unlock unexpected creativity. Take landscape or wildlife photography, for example: two photographers might share the same subject and apply similar principles, but their vision, interpretation, and the final result can be completely different. In reality, photography has no limits, except those we place on ourselves. Creativity is the true driving force behind an image. The second realization I had is about the immense power of an image when it tells a compelling story. Creating a beautiful image is satisfying, but infusing it with deep emotion, capturing a moment that resonates with the viewer’s soul, brings an entirely different dimension to it. Conveying a feeling, awakening a sense—this is what gives real strength and impact to the photographs we create. Each photographer, through their unique vision and sensitivity, shares a distinct interpretation of the world. For me, creativity and emotion are the very foundations of photography—the pillars that make this art deeply human, personal, and universally relatable.

Photo: Anthony Mazza

Photo: Anthony Mazza

Photo: Anthony Mazza

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Awakening senses through wildlife

Photo: Anthony Mazza

PRISMA PHOTO STORIES

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

LIFE TRIP OF PHOTOGRAPHY Photography Editor: Maggie Zhu

FIKRI MUHAROM My name is Fikri Muharom. I was born and raised in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. I am a landscape photographer who currently lives in Surabaya, Indonesia. I started my photography journey in 2014, at that time, I learned all genres of photography. One year later, in 2015, I decided to focus on landscape photography because it aligned with my passion for being a traveller. While learning photography, I joined the photography community in Indonesia. There are many things I learnt there. One time I was very interested in the work of photographers from outside Indonesia. I learned how they edited, and finally I found my photo character from that process. Throughout 2023 and 2024 I started to be confident in participating in international landscape photography competitions. In 2023, I entered the top 200 in the International Landscape Photographer of the Year event and was the only photographer from Indonesia. The following year, in 2024, I participated in the Pano Awards competition, a photography competition with a panorama concept, and I came out as the best photographer from Southeast Asia.

Currently, photography is my main job. Besides selling my works, I am also the owner of the event organizer photography tour called Lifetrip Journey, a photography concept travel agent that has destinations in Indonesia and several countries in the world. Whether using a drone, tripod, or app to read the stars, proper planning is the key to success. Finding locations when they are at their most beautiful, such as Mount Bromo during sunrise pictured below, will help too.

Photo: Fikri Muharom

Photo: Fikri Muharom

Photo: Fikri Muharom

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Milky Way over Lake Hooker

Photo: Fikri Muharom

PRISMA PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

Issue 22- 31 December 2024

PRISMA PHOTO COMPETITION It is our pleasure to congratulate the winner of PRISMA's November Photo Competition: Richard Smith "A picture precious moment of a stag deer roaming around Epping Forest in Essex, captured just with my phone camera whilst I was out on a walk.”

To enter for your chance to be featured in our upcoming issue, submit a photo through the link on our social media!

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Email editor@prismamagazine.co.uk or contact us on social media to showcase your photography and enter into our monthly photo competition.

@prismaphotomag PRISMA Photography Magazine PRISMA Photography Magazine 17

Photo: Roman Popelar

Cover art: Anthony Mazza

editor@prismamagazine.co.uk (c) PRISMA Photography Magazine 2024