Exhibtions

Summary:

Fashion photography has had possibly its best time in the eighties. The photographic style of this era has been characterized by photographers like Sante D'Orazio. Everyone has seen his pictures of stars and supermodels like Naomi Campbell. They made history on the covers of glossy magazines such as Vogue and Elle. His nudes were shown regularly in playboy.

We met Sante D'Orazio at his exhibition 'Double Cross' at the NRW Forum in Dusseldorf. One half of this exhibition deals with photographs taken in the eighties 'behind the scenes'. The faces of the people in those pictures showing the excessive lifestyle of the fashion scene were scratched out to make those photographs publishable.

The second parts of the exhibition shows Sante's new work in which he portrays the high priests of modern art.

Summary:

Araki Nuboyoshi is perhaps the most famous and controversial photographer of Japan. Araki breaks all the rules: His photography is very subjective and direct, it might even be too close for some people.

The interaction of sex, death and beauty has found its place in the works of Araki Nuboyoshi. In his country, he is a pop star. We were lucky to meet him for this interview during his exhibition "Araki Gold" in Rome.

Summary:

The first part of our interview with Albert Watson is about the person behind the camera. This second part is about his photographic works.

Amongst other things, you will learn what the portrait of Alfred Hitchcock means to Albert Watson and why Hitchcock and Watson's father inspired him to photograph Mike Tyson.

Albert Watson also talks about the genesis of the first nude photograph of Kate Moss and the analogue portrait of Mick Jagger.

Summary:

Albert Watson, blind on one eye, has made a name for himself as one of the most successful fashion and advertising photographers in the world. Born and raised in Scotland, Watson studied at the Royal College of Art in London. Since the early seventies he lives and works in New York.

His photographs were used on more than 250 Vogue covers and numerous other publications such as Rolling Stone or Time Magazine.

Many of his pictures are classic portraits of celebrities such as Alfred Hitchcock, the Rolling Stones member Mick Jagger or actor Johnny Depp. But Albert Watson does not only shoot the rich and famous, he also documents his travels around the world, works on still lives and art projects.

We met Albert Watson in Dusseldorf at his exhibition at the NRW-Forum Kultur. In this film he tells us about his life and the versatility of his photography.

Summary:

After studying art, Douglas Busch worked as an assistant to Morley Baer and worked with Al Webber and Ansel Adams. Early on, Busch interrupted his photographic career to join the family business and become a jeweler. But some years later his addiction resurfaced and he founded the de Golden Busch Inc., where he started to build the largest portable camera in the world.

His works ranges from early "Street Photography", to large format black and white photographs with extraordinary landscapes and cityscapes to bizarre portraits. His latest work is a highly abstract series called "Waves."
Douglas Busch's photographs can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art, NY (MoMA), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Getty Museum.

In this interview, Douglas Busch gives an overview of his artistic works.

Summary:

Roger Ballen was practically born to be a photographer. His mother was the first Photo Gallerist in New York in the 1960's. So from an early age, he was surrounded by the masterpieces of the famous photographers of the time. After obtaining a degree in geology and psychology, he has lived and worked for more than 30 years in South Africa.

At first glance, his photos seem mysterious, dark and obscure. Upon closer evaluation, they are multilayered and deep. As a geologist, he looks for things that hide below the surface of the earth. As a photographer he looks below the surface to discover the hidden uniqueness of the subject. Where others see misery, Ballen sees beauty.

"I am clearly interested in the conditio humana and a very specific perception of my surrounding," says Roger Ballen. His pictures represent an interrelationship between the subjects and the photographer; they don’t have a singular meaning.