international group of photographers, writers, artists, filmmakers, videographers and designers

“My practice focuses on producing imagery using mail art and pinhole photography to examine the role of the `stranger` in society and why we are interested in people we don’t know. These images show chance encounters and intimate double exposure visual portraits of people who have not met in person and only meet by the mediated gaze of the pinhole camera. This relates to the way we interact remotely with others in the information age.”

“These images were a result of me sending a call out over the internet for people’s mail addresses. When I received the participant’s addresses, I sent them a pinhole camera disguised as a parcel and asked them to take a portrait of themselves and send it back to me. Then I took a portrait of myself. The resulting imagery is a ghostly spectral trace of two faces with their physiognomic features merged.”

*****

We welcome Jamie House to aamora as a guest artist. Jamie is a socially engaged, practising photographer who uses pinhole cameras. He collaborates with people worldwide, from established artists such as Jo Babcock and Justin Quinnell to emerging talents. Jamie use the collective power of mail art to realise his ideas and empower people.

Jamie’s latest project “Stranger” is a collaborative pinhole photography project that examines the role of the stranger in society, collaborating with people across the globe. Jamie has used pinhole photography and mail art in previous projects such as his Pinhole Parcel Project where he constructed cameras disguised as parcels and posted them around the world, mapping the world with light.

Jamie is a conceptual Pinhole Photographer and also a camera Obscura builder. He tells us: “I recently built England’s largest camera Obscura.

Jamie’s work is currently exhibited in Goa International Pinhole show, travelling to New Delhi, Mumbai and Goa.

For an interview with author of the Pinhole Camera, Brian Krummel in Hub magazine, click here.

*****

We’re always pleased to have Simon Kossoff share his work with us on aamora ! Simon is a photographer and teacher from England now living in Kansas City. He graduated from Brighton University with an honors degree in editorial photography in 99 and has worked on, but more often not in the field since. Kossoff’s continuing search to orientate himself in America and its culture is documented in photographic works including ‘Running on Empty’ and ‘States of Grace’. These works can be seen at Get the Picture, the photo agency where he is a member and his on-going ‘psychic co-ordinate points’ are plotted at his blog ‘Altered States of Agoraphobia’. He also posts his unedited and on-going work at jpg.com where he finds the on-line community there a continuous inspiration.

You will be well rewarded by exploring his work on his blog site and his agency site as well as on JPGmag.

Aamora member Alexis Gerard, in his recent world travels, visited the Dali museum in Figueires, Catalonia, Spain. He shares these images with us:

*****

Alexis Gerard is a member of aamora.com. Alexis has been a passionate photographer since his twenties. He worked at Apple in the pioneering days of the Macintosh launch, then founded imaging think-tank Future Image in 1991. He founded and now chairs the 6Sight® Future of Imaging executive conference. He co-authored the book “Going Visual”, speaks widely on imaging technology, and is a member of the International Advisory Council of the George Eastman House. As a result of his business activities he had the opportunity to begin shooting digital in the early nineties and does so exclusively now. He prefers small cameras he can have with him at all times. Check out Alexis’ other posts on aamora here and see his other work by clicking here.

Recently, aamora members were invited to join in a project called 23 hours. The premise of the project, conceived by Michael Van der Tol, was to cease all verbal communication for 23 hours (continuously) and photograph absolutely anything you are thinking, feeling or seeing during the 23 hours of silence.

Check out John Linton’s wordless day in this slide show (with sound) produced by Michael Van der Tol:

*****
“John Linton is a floundering member of aamora. He lives in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the state with the biggest name and smallest size.” Check out John’s other aamora posts here and see more of his work by clicking here.

An old camera, a much older photographer and a third-age university group sail slowly and peacefully along the Brenta river canal from Venice to Padova on the good ship “Tiepolo” one sunny Saturday in June. This is where noble and rich Venetians built their summer residences in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

*****

Catharine is a founding member of aamora. She grew up in England but has been living in Italy since her marriage in 1969. She spends her winters near Milan and her summers in Tuscany. Check out her previous contribution to aamora – the very first one! – by clicking here and her other contributions by clicking here. You can also enjoy more of her wonderful work on jpgmag.com .

A few months back we asked aamora members to join in a project called 23 hours. The premise of the project was to cease all verbal communication for 23 hours (continuously) and photograph absolutely anything you are thinking, feeling or seeing during the 23 hours of silence.

Below are the words and images of Claudia Luthi’s 23 hours.

Claudia Lüthi is an amateur photographer who lives in Lima, Peru. She is a founding member of aamora. You can see Claudia’s previous aamora posts by clicking here. You can also find her in JPG Magazine and in el lente de la coneja.

Release (b) by Jim Robertson

“Release (b)” could also be referred to as “This is your Polaroid on Drugs” as it is thoroughly baked. The original was taken about six months ago with my SX-70 using Fade to Black film. That’s a type of Polaroid film that literally fades to black 24 hours after initial exposure. It can be scanned throughout the darkening process as seen below shortly after exposure:

Release (a) by Jim Robertson

I placed the photo in storage over the winter. Spring saw the emergence of “Release” as it was relocated to the dashboard of my car where it baked for two months. The sun revived the image in dramatic fashion with plenty of cracklin’ detail as seen in the first image. Fun, huh? Time to get back to some Polaroid cookin’! No digital manipulation necessary!

Jim Robertson is a founding member of aamora. He is following the photographic path in Lexington, KY, USA.  You can find his previous posts on aamora here and more of his work at http://bodhilensphotography.com.

Early evening in Toronto’s Sunnyside Pavillion (formerly the “Bathing Pavillion”) at Sunnyside Beach (formerly “Sunnyside Amusement Beach”) echoes with its rich history. Read here for more.

****
Aaron Schwartz is the founder of aamora.com. You can see more of Aaron’s photography on his own photo site , and at jpgmag.com. You can check out his previous aamora posts here.

You will find the Amsterdam escutcheon everywhere you look. It consists of three white crosses of St. Andrew on a black pale on a red shield. The black probably represents the Amstel River while St. Andrew is the patron saint of fishermen and Amstellerdam began as a fishing community near a dam along the Amstel River. It’s an ironic symbol for a city known for its Red Light District.

After our flight from Copenhagen, our first day was primarily taken up with a tour of Keukenhof. I’d describe it as a flower child’s Disneyland. That evening we watched the Remembrance Day ceremony in Dam Square and were fortunate enough to be on the outer edge of the 20,000 people packed into Dam Square when the panic took hold. More about that here.

Day two, Liberation Day, included a tour of the Anne Frank Huis. That evening we watched the Liberation Day celebration along the Amstel. It was a panic free celebration.

Day three included a walk through the Red Light District, the Rembrandthuis, and Van Gogh Museum. We noticed more and more garbage in the streets as the strike entered it second week.

Day four was taken up with more walking along one canal after another dodging bikes, cars and trams. If you go to Amsterdam you need to always be aware of what’s going on around you. The Rijksmuseum was filled with all the Rembrandt’s, Vermeer’s, and Van Gogh’s (not to mention some other guys who seemed to know their way around a canvass) that anyone could possibly want to stare at.

Day five was a bit of a bummer…we had to head back to the airport for our flight back to Copenhagen, but that’s another slideshow.

****
“John Linton is a floundering member of aamora. He lives in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the state with the biggest name and smallest size.” Check out John’s other aamora posts here and see more of his work by clicking here.

.

.

.

Our impression of the “American Pickers” usually happens once a week..on our days off my husband and I travel the “backroads”..just never know what we will find!

These pictures were made with an Olympus Pens EES, a half frame camera [more info here]. It was a recent gift from a friend..used this opportunity to try it out.

*****

I am an American photographer living on the northern prairies of Idaho. However, my travels throughout the world have given me a perspective on my surroundings and have allowed me to “dream” when creating images I like to imagine are part of my reality. Off beat,sometimes quirky images emerge from my cameras. I like to explore alternative approaches to photography; much of the work I create is fueled by fragments of an imaginary existence. I use vintage, plastic and toy cameras as well as more modern slr’s and dslr’s. I develop all my own black and white film.

To see more of Diane’s work:

http://dianepetersonphotography.net

http://aftertheyellowbrickroad.com

http://holgaville.com