EAST MEETS WEST #2 | EXPRESSIONISM + KOLORIT

EAST MEETS WEST features a unique juxtaposition between the Eastern (Asian) and Western (American/European) experience. This is a showcase for photographers and artists across the globe, shedding insights in to what makes us human. Taking inspiration from the sun's daily trajectory, this feature hopes to discover the parallels between these two hemispheres.

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This week's theme is abstraction and expressionism, using unconventional methods and subjects. What do a four-year-old girl and an ancient Hindu ritual have in common? In both cases, it is up to the observer to extract meaning.

Cosmos 3

Island Princess

Stars, Nebulas, Angels & Bottle

Eagle Nebula

Super Nova

Gold Bug
All paintings and photographs by Aelita Andre

All videos by Aelita Andre via Youtube

"Painting is really beautiful, I don't know how to actually describe it. It's almost like...the breath has gone out of your mouth. But the best thing is just paint and watch the sun rise in your own way." - Aelita Andre, 4

I can't remember how I stumbled across Aelita Andre, but I sure am glad I did. She painted those works of art above when she was four. These jaw-dropping pieces are absolutely gorgeous and I would love to have my own private gallery of her work. There is something so remarkable about abstract art that I never understood before - the ability to find meaning and see something of yourself in a painting is akin to cloud-watching. Some of these are so BRILLIANT it is actually physically painful to look at them and realize that some little girl was just splashing paint around. Island Princess looks like a rat samurai, Gold Bug has incredible texture, and Super Nova belongs on a folding shoji screen in my house, like now.

It is one thing to gaze at her stunning paintings, but another thing entirely to watch her paint. I just had to marvel at the amazing parents who set up a studio for her, buy her a million and one acrylic paint sets, and let her run wild. She obviously loves it, but is serious at the same time! I can't make up my mind whether she is happy or unhappy, a genius or simply a kid. Can you imagine following your creative pursuits with intuition, passion, and unrestricted confidence in yourself to make mistakes and try new things? Ugh. She is brutally fascinating. 

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All photographs by Katrin Korfmann

"The photographs register a Hindu ritual which entail the use of colour pigments and water. Here, Korfmann is not searching for a monochrome background, which reduces the space to a neutral point, yet the human figures themselves form the material which the colour field is created, resulting in an abstract image which has a remarkable likeness to a painting." - Katrin Korfmann

I urge you to visit Korfmann's website to play around with these images - you can zoom in and drag the view around to inspect every minute detail or zoom all the way out to see the image as a whole. Stunning. I am very drawn to abstract photography. 

                

EAST MEETS WEST #1 | TOKYO COMPRESSION + LIFE BEFORE DEATH

EAST MEETS WEST features a unique juxtaposition between the Eastern (Asian) and Western (American/European) experience. This is a showcase for photographers and artists across the globe, shedding insights in to what makes us human. Taking inspiration from the sun's daily trajectory, this feature hopes to discover the parallels between these two hemispheres. 

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This week's theme is suffering and death. What is the role of the photographer when dealing with capturing a human life for whatever end? How far is too far when dealing with faces, identities, and sensitive issues? Keep that in mind. 

All photographs by Michael Wolf via Behold

First, we take a look at Michael Wolf's compelling photographs of subway commuters in Tokyo, their bodies trapped and contorted. It is so painful to see their expressions as they are pressed and squeezed against the windows - breath fogging up, hands smashed, eyes closed. They appear to be suffering, and some of them even look like corpses or ghosts. These are arguably very haunting and even beautiful images, a brilliant commentary on the overcrowding of densely populated cities. But a deeper look at the photographs goes one step further. These are not willing participants - many of the people Michael Wolf photographed for this project covered their faces or flipped him off. These subjects were vulnerable, suffering, and just wanted to be left alone. How far is too far for a photographer to push? Where is the line between insensitivity and getting that great shot. These images don't sit right with me.

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All photographs by Walter Schels via the Guardian

Next, we have Walter Schels' portraits of patients with cancer while they are still living, but with the knowledge that they do not have long to live, paired with a photograph of the patient after they have died. While they are living they convey emotions to the lens: defiance, fear, anger, pain, sadness, disappointment. But notice how they look after they have passed. Peaceful. Expression-less. Even blissful? It must have been such a release of their suffering. Most of them were in so much pain and felt like such a burden on their families that they wished for death, knowing that they would have to face that journey alone. Photographs of the deceased are very rare, but fascinating. It must have been extraordinary for the photographer to work so closely with the dying and dead men and women. What would you think if a photograph of one of your dead family members, friends, or you yourself were circulating around on the internet? There is something quite unspoken but understood that you just keep these things private. The difference between taking a picture of a person and a body is remarkably different - "they" are definitely gone. But where did they go? I don't have the answers - that depends on you and your beliefs, but some hint seems to be hidden in these photos. 

HAMLET

O, I die, Horatio.

The potent poison quite o'ercrows my spirit.

I cannot live to hear the news from England.

But I do prophesy the election lights

On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.

So tell him, with th' occurrents, more and less,

Which have solicited. The rest is silence.

O, O, O, O. (dies)

Act V, Scene II - "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare