Solitary, Half Mad - Interview with Patrick Hogan

Solitary, Half Mad. 

Interview with Patrick Hogan

Interview by Stephen Tierney (originally published in prism #02)

"When I began this story, I moved from an urban area to live alone in a small cottage near a forest in rural Tipperary.  I was interested in people who lived alone and in isolated places. I began to take pictures of my surroundings, finding abandoned homes in the woods and photographing rooms where people had lived and died on their own.  I documented these places largely as I found them, often observing a reality in contradiction to romantic ideals of solitude and escapism.  I began to question the capacity we have as people for isolation. The resulting series borders fantasy and reality, and presents a psychological story of poverty and reclusiveness often at odds with the literary and romanticised ideals regarding solitude."
~Patrick Hogan

There was a man, beside a wood, he was digging holes © 2011 Patrick Hogan

prism nominated in Irish Web Awards 2012!

We are thrilled and excited to announce that prism Photo Magazine has been given a nomination for the Irish Web Awards 2012 in two categories: 'The Best Online Magazine' and 'The Best Web Only Publication'.

This is simply amazing! prism, our independent platform dedicated to contemporary photography and image culture is alive from just last year and we are very happy to be given this nod of recognition and appreciation so soon!

A small step is taken, few more to follow! The competition in both categories is very tough, but being listed amongst such great company like The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and Totally Dublin simply rewards our every effort.

We would like to thank all of you who supported and believed in our project so far! The shortlist will be made up soon. The 2012 Web Awards will take place on November 1st in the Mansion House, Dublin.

For full list of nominations please CLICK HERE.

The Abu Ghraib Spectacle - Fear as a Forger of Perception

The Abu Ghraib Spectacle: Fear as a Forger of Perception

Words by Liisa Neste (originally published in prism #02)

On April 28th 2004, American television viewers were shaken by the CBS news programme 60 Minutes II report on the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces in Abu Ghraib, near Baghdad. The information itself was not new – The Red Cross and Amnesty International had complained about the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees all through 2003 and on the 21st of January 2004, CNN was the first to report how U.S. soldiers posed for photographs with partially naked Iraqi detainees. But the dozen still photographs featured on the 60 Minutes II report were arguably of the sort rarely seen before. This perpetuated their widespread circulation and exposure in the media sphere and beyond.

What makes the Abu Ghraib imagery so intriguing and important to study is the way in which the images’ role appears to be forever changing, as is their influence in all those involved. The torture, which once was an inside joke of the soldiers serving in Abu Ghraib, had fast been addressed in critical news media and art contexts, finally to return to having entertainment value, as the shock appears to have worn off and a large portion of the Western news consumers found themselves detached from the once-horrific events. The various contexts in which the Abu Ghraib imagery have come to appear, it can be argued, follows a logical route of mechanized modern perception guided by social forces and capitalist desires. A deeper look into these two areas should illustrate how and why, but first, a brief recap of the said viewing contexts is perhaps in order.

Walls - Elliott Wilcox

Walls

by Elliott Wilcox

Walls explores the complex relationship between interior and exterior space. The conjunction of contemporary society and the artificial landscape summons a disquieting of reality, hyper-reality, fantasy and fiction. These unvarnished, unpremeditated large format photographs of empty climbing walls, absent of the expected human activity, become estranged from their purpose. The viewer is forced to solve a problem. However, rather than evoke a contradictory relationship between two worlds, the strength of this work arises from the silent dialogue established between them.

Walls © 2011 Elliott Wilcox

Exploring the distinctions between object and representation within constructed leisure space, Wilcox's images deploy the metaphor of de-familiarisation between man and nature to suggest a place that is constructed in its own reality. The current society seems obsessed with bringing the exterior interior. The home cinema, the all in one gymnasium, the inner city ski slope or beach experience. Reality has been replaced with a construction of environment. The human experience can be seen as a simulation of reality.

Amsterdam - Anna Beeke

Amsterdam

Images and Text by Anna Beeke

If I were to introduce this project in a journalistic way, as I have in the past, I would say: Amsterdam, a small city thirty miles northwest of Albany in upstate New York, was once a thriving center of carpet production, but like much of the surrounding region has been in a steady state of economic and physical decline for several decades. My project, Amsterdam, New York, is a photographic document of a city in decline, and the life that continues there. Much of the project is about physical spaces, occupied and unoccupied: I explore the contrast between Amsterdam’s living and dead spaces, how its residents relate to the physical space of the city, and how their lives are informed by the landscape in which they carry out their daily rituals. Though the physical landscape of Amsterdam is not what it once was, its human landscape is alive and vibrant.

Amsterdam, NY © 2011 Anna Beeke

However, the facts are much more complicated than this. I cannot claim to be completely objective and this ‘portrait of a town’ project is also very much about my own particular journey through a wonderful and endlessly fascinating community; it is equal parts topographic document and emotional response. While I may have initially been drawn to Amsterdam by its environment, I have continued to photograph for nearly three years because of the people I have met there and a continual sense of discovery. If an entire city is your subject the possibilities are endless, and in Amsterdam I am continually encountering elements familiar and foreign, common mundane daily ritual and things completely unexpected. I recognize myself in Amsterdam, I find myself, and I also often feel completely lost.  I still can’t say exactly what it is about Amsterdam that draws me to it, it’s a place and a project about which I have a hard time articulating. If my words can’t justly describe it, perhaps my photographs can.

Last Days of W. - Alec Soth

Last Days of W. by Alec Soth

Text by Darek Fortas

'The most advanced form of the contemporary consensual state is that which requires the generation of new situations of insecurity to enforce its governance' (Ranciere, 2010: 14).

'We have no intention, however, of making a fetish of democracy. It may well be true that our generation talks and thinks too much of democracy and too little of the values which it serves' (Stallabrass, 2007: 71).

Priscilla, Girl with Skeleton, Los Angeles © 2008 Alec Soth

In 1845 Karl Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called 'pure communism'.

prism #00, #01 and #02 now available to DOWNLOAD

prism archival issues #00, #01 and #02 are now available to download free of charge from our mediafire account.

The best way to download files is to: 

1. go to our MEDIAFIRE account
2. view files in THUMBNAIL MODE (top right corner)
3. switch the view to [L] LARGE THUMBNAILS (top right corner) 
4. click on DOWNLOAD icon from the panel below any thumbnail to start download or
5. right click on any thumbnail and select DOWNLOAD
6. ENJOY digital copy of prism! 

Should you have any problems downloading files please let us know on our email.

prism #07

The new issue of  prism Photography Magazine is now available online featuring twelve carefully selected profiles of both established names and emerging talents from the international photographic scene + some amazing exclusive material!

Featured photographers:

David Favrod (Gaijin),
Julie Pochron (Umami),
Jeff Rich (Watershed),
Bart and Silvia Pogoda (As if there was No Tomorrow),
Yuta Nakajima (Before You Forget),
Laura Makabresku (Moon is for Adults Only),
Simon Roberts (We English),
Zhe Chen (Bees),
Lisa Kereszi (The Party's Over) and
AM PROJECTS (part 1):
Gert Jochems (Rus)
Tiane Doan Na Champassak (Spleen and Ideal)
Daisuke Yokota (Site)

Enjoy!

Elegant Violence - Amy Elkins

Elegant Violence

Amy Elkins

These works are an extension of my ongoing exploration into masculine identity. In this particular project I am fascinated with rugby, a brutal contact sport rich in tradition, dating back to the 1800’s. I’m interested in the balance between athleticism, modes of violence or aggression and varying degrees of vulnerability within a sport where brutal body contact is fundamental to the game. I am also interested in the history of the game and how it has long been described as both traditional and barbaric, elegant and violent.

Zak (Second Row, University Team Captain), Princeton, NJ © 2010 Amy Elkins