Apocalypse

by Clotilde Nogues

“By looking back at those pictures, it kind of jumped out at me. What if this was ‘The World Afterwards’, the one we’ve been imagining, fantasizing, and overthinking about during lockdown. What if we were left to ourselves after all this, not being able to live civilized as we used to, packed in cities. Would it look like that?

Devoid of human contact and sociability, we could let go little by little. Struggling from this new life, discovering new environments, and finally, rest. Return to our wilderness.”

Clotilde is a 23 year-old French girl who likes to captivate the human in his moments of freedom : (half) naked in nature. Some might struggle while others might enjoy it or just be curious about how it feels. Let’s discover it together.

Q&A WITH CONTRIBUTOR BY DIMITAR DIMITROV

Why do you like to capture the human form in a stripped and bare way?

To my opinion and beliefs, nudity is a representation of freedom. It shows the man in its purest authenticity, released from artifacts and associations. I think nudity shows a certain lightness and strength at the same time. Lightness for its natural and simple side, strength for its raw and audacious side to show what is. With this said, I capture the human in a stripped and bare way because that’s where I get inspiration.

There's a rawness and a graciousness in the photos with female subjects. How do you think your work illustrates the female experience in our world? What do your photographs say about being a woman perhaps?

I actually didn’t think about the female experience while taking the picture. I did think about it when thinking about publishing it. The person in the picture actually doesn't like one of them because she’d like her body to be different, to be more « perfect ». I think those imperfections are what makes it raw and true. The pictures don't lie and that’s what I like. It shows authentic woman bodies, assumed.

Are you afraid that the female subjects in your photos could be objectified or sexualised by a certain audience? Or are you perhaps conveying a non-erotic experience of the freedom of a human being in their pure form?

I am not afraid the female subject could be objectified or sexualized. Being afraid of that would be a step backwards I think. I can’t stop anybody from doing it though, but being free of showing the woman's body could also help people to think about it in another way maybe. The more we hide our bodies the more it gets eroticized or fantasized. So to show it is also a way to normalize it.

Is this how you envision the world after the pandemic is over?

I have many visions of the world after the pandemic is over. This one is one yes. It could be. « Nature regains its rights » and the human, devoid of his urban dweller attributes, rediscovers what it is to live connected with his environment.

Would you say your photographs reflect on a personal desire for escapism and discovery? How drawn are you to nature and the wilderness and how do your photographs potentially reflect that?

Yes totally. My photographs reflect this desire for escapism, wilderness, discovery... I think the moments in my life I felt the most happier and fulfilled were the ones where I was close to nature, free from work and city life. That's also the moment I like to shoot the most, where I am the most inspired. In those environments, I feel letting go from all thoughts and I have then a virgin ground to experiment.

Space as Reassurance

by Defne Oruc

The series of photographs are developed from old negatives (end of 80s) that I came upon in a family album back in Turkey. Only blown up segments of the negatives are exposed onto the photographic paper, while the total scene remains inaccessible. The resulting images revolve around the notion of estrangement and temporality, questioning the role of the archive as both a personal and collective reserve for oblivion/memory.

Defne is a 1 st year on the BA Fine Art and History of Art course. She spends her time trying to write and make/sculpt things that trouble the notion of inhabitance. She wishes she was an active Instagram user with an impressive profile showing her works but that is not really the case.

Holiday 2017

by Winnie Lee

Set in Zhangjiajie, a city in the northwest of China's Hunan province, is the famed Wulingyuan Scenic Area. This protected zone encompasses thousands of jagged quartzite sandstone columns which inspired Avatar (2009). However, this photo series taken during a holiday in 2017 focuses on the intense tourism in the territory and it's juxtaposition of humanity and nature.

Winnie is a Singaporean 1st year Journalism BA student with a prior background in filmmaking. She has a visual documentation and archiving fetish, which manifests in street and food photography, along with the occasional short film. You can find more of her work on Instagram @dumplingmumplings, which exists as a portfolio for her food photography.

Brayard’s Boys

by Mike Glenton

Brayard’s Boys is a project exploring my personal view and experience of masculinity as well as challenging and deconstructing societies norms and expectations of the modern-day man. I constructed these series of images with the intention of showcasing an ambiguous dynamic between two men. The ambiguity that was produced from them evoked a need to question the relationship between the two individuals. This project made me question why two men can’t enjoy the embrace and comfort of each other without there being other implications or societal judgements. I want the audience to look at themselves and their views on masculinity, and how their set of values can have an effect on the continued pressures on men, which results in toxic masculinity.

Mike Glenton is a student from Manchester currently studying a BA in Media & Communications with a specialisation in Photography at Goldsmiths. Mike’s work so far has revolved around themes of masculinity, specifically how he sees himself and the men around him in this world. You can find more of Mike’s work on his Instagram @mikenvy7

Unknown Expectations

by Lingrui Feng

I was addicted to thinking about my desire behind my actions, and through the photos, I found out the power push me ahead was an expectation that I didn't know what it exactly was.

My name is Lingrui Feng, from Mainland China. I was a student learning Photography: Image and Electronic art in Goldsmiths. The course changed my mind on photography and bordered my view of seeing, which is also the main reason why I created more mix-media works than before. It is always interesting for me to explore what photography is and what photography can be. Under the contemporary context, photography is different from 100 years ago. It’s not only about light, chemicals, machine, but also program, imagination, illusions, etc. To play with photography and its possibilities always please me.

Instagram: lingrui_feng

Photography by Jinsun Park

Jinsun Park is a South Korean photographer and artist. Born in Seongnam, a city south of Seoul and raised in Yongin she moved to London in 2015 to pursue her passion for photography and is currently studying an MA in Media & Communications at Goldsmiths. Jinsun likes to capture the natural side of the people she photographs whilst expressing her own emotions and thoughts through these shots. This series is a collection of Jinsun’s work over time, all surrounding the theme of love. She elaborates on the idea that her wearing the heart hat in public became a ‘random spectacle’ to strangers who naturally perform the interaction of love through direct or indirect interaction. She believed that by seeing something you don’t expect to see in your day-to-day life, she could ‘warm your hearts up’. For more of Jinsun’s work, visit her Instagram page: @sajinsun

The Red Pepper

Pablo Rosenthall is a first year student in BA Curating. His focus is primarily studio, macro and product photography. This triptych features different shots of sliced intersections within a red pepper. With Christmas around the corner, Pablo encourages getting creative with cooking festive dinners - an excellent idea to bring the family together is Patatas Bravas with the red pepper, ideal for a full table spread. For more of his work, go to: www.rosenthallart.co.uk

Words by Melissa Heane

Jaded

Melissa Heane’s love for art and design originally stems from her A-levels in Photography, English Literature and 3D Fashion Design. A current English Literature & Media student, Melissa is now delving into a deeper passion for film and creative writing. However, she still dedicates her spare time to photography and is particularly interested in the exploration of femininity through the female gaze. Shot on 35mm colour film to create a soft dreamy image that represents the liminal spaces between the live subject and the reflection caught.

Words by Anna McNutt

Photo by Rachel E Joy Stanley

by Rachel E Joy Stanley

Rachel E Joy Stanley is a fine-art photographer based in London. A recent Goldsmiths graduate, her work is about people — how they create and occupy spaces, and the traces they leave behind. Rachel's photographs are largely observational and attempt to organise and make sense of contemporary life, asking questions about power, ownership and the balance between natural and human worlds.

Scotland Landscape

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by Jaber Al-Tobaishi

I am a third year Media & Communications student specialising in Photography. Currently I am working towards my final photography project which explores our understanding of landscape photography and the forest as a space of experience and emotional engagement. This simultaneously aims to incorporate and consider the concepts around the fictitious and the sublime.

 The image I have decided to contribute as part of Goldsmiths’ new creative platform is a photograph I have exposed on sheet film - on my first solo photography trip to Scotland. To me, this landscape photograph is a testimony of my labour – hiking for hours under the blazing sun with my 20-kilograms rucksack uphill a mountain. But more than anything, I believe this photograph is a reflection of the memories, the experiences and the effort I have invested to improve as a photographer and in accomplishing something remarkable.