CONTENTS COCO MARTIN 7 MARYANNE GOBBLE 21 BELINDA MULLER 34 The Endless Internet and Where You Fit In By Sandra Djak Kovacs 47 JONATHAN BOURLA 53 FRANCOIS PRINGUET 66 ANTIGONE KOURAKOU 77 BACKSTAGE CHRIS KOVACS Editor SANDRA DJAK KOVACS Executive Editor TIM ANDERSON Editor at Large LESLIE HILTS Editor at Large ELLEN KEITH Contributor Publisher: Adore Noir Publishing Online: adorenoir.com Email: admin@adorenoir.com Adore Noir Magazine 1202 West Pender Street PO Box 17514 Vancouver, BC V6E 2S8 Adore Noir online magazine is published bimonthly. All images are copyright of their respective artists and may not be copied or distributed. All rights reserved. Interviews may be edited for length or content. Some images may be censored to comply with App Store policies. Please email us via our website if you have a censored version and would like an uncensored version. ISSN 1925-5160
Editor s Notes Coco Martin says I don t do what I do looking for success in terms of appreciation since it is a collateral consequence of your photographic approach and might not be entirely in your hands. I do what I do because it makes me feel alive. Martin s series, The Visitor, is beautiful and haunting; the light catches each woman, looking for her eyes, finding a way in. Jonathan Bourla started his career as a mechanical engineer, as a full time fine art photographer he became fascinated with photographing moving water, he says, I can t remember exactly when this happened, but all of a sudden I knew I wanted to photograph the hydro electric power stations. His series Hydro Electric is an awe inspiring testament to the beauty of the science that goes into all that is necessary to create the power and the light in our daily lives. Francois Pringuet, on the other hand, takes us into the wild with his series, African Wildlife. Pringuet captures the knowing in the eyes of each animal that tells us they are firmly a part of this earth; the zebras drink communally, elephants stride purposefully as a family and the hyenas are ready to pounce. In Antigone Kourakou s series In the Shadow of Things, hands rise from above and below, searching out the light, they hold broken glass with care, and cover faces that might not be ready to see just yet. Kourakou s work asks the viewer, to perhaps look at what they may be covering up from themselves. Belinda Muller s series African Hauteness, is a striking series of pictures that fuses fashion and, as Muller says, the unique textures unique to African fashion and culture. The photos fuse present day fashion culture with that of the tribal. Maryanne Gobble, says of her feature, Human, If I do one thing right in life, I want it to be this. Her photos transcend the viewer to a place where the earth cradles us and keeps us safe, showing us the powerful voice always calling us home. Gobble says it best, It s about the seeking of wholeness, the discovery of forgotten resources, and the experiences that lay outside of language or time. In my essay we dive into a discussion of what it means to be on the Internet as an artist. In The Endless Internet and Where You Fit In, I discuss the overwhelming nature of social media today and how finding a way to create an online presence can be daunting, especially if your goal is to be discovered. So...Dim the lights, go to your favorite place, sit back, relax and enjoy! Sandra Djak Kovacs
ON THE COVER BELINDA MULLER 4
FEATURED I isolate everyday elements and create metaphors pictures that hover between reality and fantasy. 77
THE SHADOW OF THINGS Interview with Antigone Kourakou AN: Please introduce yourself. Where are you from? AK: My name is Antigone Kourakou. I was born in Athens and currently reside here. I work as an art conservator and restorer, I have been involved in photography over the last six years. AN: How did you become interested in photography? both on a theoretical and on a technical level, and strengthened my love of it. I started to work systematically on photography in 2010, by which time it was already functioning as a means of seeking and expressing a personal aesthetic. AN: Please tell us about your series The Shadow Of Things. AK: The Shadow Of Things is a series of images which materialized quite accidentally out of AK: My relationship with photography began the collection of photographs I have amassed in 1998 while still studying the conservation of over the last five years. Their shared element, works of art. This experience served as motias it turned out while I was selecting and exvation for further involvement in the medium, amining them, was that, despite the disparity in 78
their themes, these pictures were characterized by a common approach. For me, it is an inner process, though often not an absolutely lucid one. I isolate everyday elements and create metaphors pictures that hover between reality and fantasy. For me, these pictures principally function as symbols, but they can eventually mean something different to each viewer. If there is something that connects them, this is the common approach to depicting people or spaces that imply human presence. start with a specific theme in mind or a general idea about what I want to photograph. In a way, I imagine the pictures but this is not necessarily unconditional. I succumb to unforeseen circumstances, leaving my initial idea behind, drifting elsewhere. For example, I get carried away by spatial details, by the light, by a person s expressions and movements, as well as by their wish to participate. Image processing is basic and mainly concerns adjustments to exposure and AN: How do you capture and process your im- contrasts, which aim at intensifying the atmoages? sphere that I intend to render in each separate picture. AK: I try to devote time to observation, whether this is of a person, landscapes or routes AN: What inspires you? across the city, I often act as a film director, I 79
AK: Anything that is intriguing enough for me to observe. Inspiration comes from the way I observe my subject from the one element that I choose to isolate and turn into my main theme, it is an evolutionary process. Over time, you can make out the theme or the detail that can lead you to a good photograph much more easily. amining the figurative function of my photographs even further. My aim is to define the context of a story right from the start and experiment more in directing the narrative. AN: What is your final say? AK: What I consider most important is for one to support and try hard to achieve what they rean: What are your influences? ally want no matter what it may be. I would be particularly happy to keep on expressing my AK: Very good photographs, both contempoworries and my thoughts through photography rary and classic. The investigation and under- well into the future. My wish is that the result standing of the reasons that make a photograph of this process will reach more viewers, in the very good are processes that exercise a useful hope of triggering a creative interaction. and creative influence on my work. Thank you very much for featuring my work in AN: Do you have any upcoming projects or Adore Noir magazine. shows? See more at: antigonekourakou.com AK: I keep moving in the same direction, ex- 80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91