4 minute read
DPOTY 2021 - Student Category Commended
DPOTY 2021 - Student Category Commended
Alexander Komenda
'Tiramisu'
The term Tiramisu can be understood as a pick-me up or cheer me up. Visual stanzas, gathered into a multi-narrative piece, that are a testament to connecting with those closest to our living space, and what can be accomplished as a team through wit, spontaneity and action. Friends, roommates and neighbours. What’s closest to home, the opposite of the photographer’s obsession to exoticize - fellow foreigners that convene in the familiar feeling of being somewhere new. Covid-19 and the stark winter darkness of the 60th degree.
Exploring via dialectic, with emphasis on the collaborative process where the subjects provide ideas on where and how to be photographed; casting aside the dictatorial picture-maker; a wolf leading from behind. Members of the Chinese student community in Espoo, Finland, aiming at subverting stereotypical categorizations of what’s typically viewed in the media and a chance at writing their own tale.
The undertaking itself as a healthy social support system that culminates in a document that is situated between fact and fiction - sporadically implementing a collective imagination that shapes experience, interconnectivity and memory. A familiar life ritual at a crossroads of larger global phenomena. An opportunity to knock at the neighbour’s room and showcase the thrill of togetherness; a simplicity slowly dissipating via virtual hyperconnectivity. A chance to reimagine quotidian surroundings, the stairs used weekly to do the laundry, the bed that’s slept on, the expressions that are manifested after a profound statement or an embarrassing instant. Sitting at the common room table, sharing home-cooked meals, continuing the evening’s gathering by placing the mirror uncannily in an attempt to reveal something new.
www.alexanderkomenda.com
Jimmy Bi in the reeds, Espoo, Finland, 2021.
Alexander Komenda
Jing Li in Jimmy Bi’s room, Espoo, Finland, 2021.
Alexander Komenda
Dreams of outer space and socks, Espoo, Finland, 2021.
Alexander Komenda
Xiao and the Snowman, Espoo, Finland, 2021.
Alexander Komenda
Xiao, Espoo, Finland, 2021.
Alexander Komenda
Nicole Mullan
''North with the Spring
North with The Spring is an on-going body of work which explores issues around Irish Diaspora and losing one’s identity after migration.
It looks at the familiar through a new perspective, one that changes and alters over time but is always present and never forgotten. It often results in feelings of placelessness; living in-between worlds, neither existing fully in Ireland or in England, reflecting a constant shift or movement between places we call home.
It highlights religion and borders as both physical and emotional boundaries, a reflection of my own identity, a constant search for belonging.
www.nicolemullan.com
Stranded
Nicole Mullan
The Vanishing Irish
Nicole Mullan
Double Exposure
Nicole Mullan
Maritime Sale
Nicole Mullan
The Crossing
Nicole Mullan
Nico Froehlich
'South of the River'
Growing up in Britain as a child of immigrants, I would hide certain elements of my life and upbringing. As an adult and a photographer, I actively seek out and champion the very things I obscured and disregarded as a youngster.
South of the River is an ongoing, long-form project that incorporates various genres and approaches. Partially social realism, partially biographical, but ultimately a celebration of the working-class spirit and the enriching diversity of South East London. The streets I call home…
nicofroehlich.com
from the project 'South of the River'
Nico Froehlich
from the project 'South of the River'
Nico Froehlich
from the project 'South of the River'
Nico Froehlich
from the project 'South of the River'
Nico Froehlich
from the project 'South of the River'
Nico Froehlich
