Harlem

Antoinette, Chelsea

“Her photographs are etched into her mind,” the curator Daniel Cooney says of Vivian Cherry, the artist behind the current show at his gallery, titled Helluva Town. Pick out any one of her pictures, and chances are, she’ll be able to tell you the story from memory. Cherry entered the New York photography scene in the 1940s as a darkroom technician when she was a dancer in her early twenties, and she would continue to document her city and its streets for more than seventy years. She lives in Manhattan today.

Squarespace Template: Avenue

Over the last ten years, Feature Shoot has showcased thousands of photographers, and one question we get frequently is, “What advice do you have for emerging photographers?” Breaking into the photo industry can seem overwhelming, but it’s also a fun and exhilarating process. While putting together this handy list of tips for image-makers, we made sure to keep things simple and doable by including some concrete steps to help you achieve your goals.

As a photography website, we’re also cognizant of the value of a powerful internet presence. A strong, clean website gives clients and photo editors insight into your work and your process, takes them behind the scenes, and shows off your skills. We’ve built more than a few websites using Squarespace, so we know firsthand how easy it is to customize their templates. For that reason, we’ve chosen to include a straightforward “web hack” to go with every one of our tips.

Embracing, from the series In here I do exist © Sara Cuce (@sara_cuce)

Morning in Itamambuca © Luciano Fonseca (@lucianosfonseca)

We are still standing © Oliver Takac (@olivertakac)

“Black and white is abstract,” the great photographer Joel Sternfeld once said. “Looking at a black and white photograph, you are already looking at a strange world.” In shades of gray, reality bends, breaks, and coalesces to form something new. For our latest online group show of images from The Print Swap collection, we pulled together these twenty-two monochromatic photographs. The artists featured herein hail from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Romania, Slovakia, Germany,  Belgium, Greece, and Vietnam, and yet they have all traveled outside of time to set foot in that surreal territory known as black and white photography. When my husband was a small child, looking at old photographs, he asked his mother, “When was the world black and white?” It would seem the answer is, “Then and now and whenever we want it to be.”

The Print Swap is a project by Feature Shoot. We invite photographers to submit by tagging their images #theprintswap on Instagram. Alison Zavos, the Founder of Feature Shoot, curates the collection, and selected photographers give a print and receive a surprise print from another participating photographer somewhere in the world. Going forward, Print Swap photographers will also have the option of selling their photographs via our new store, Superfine Prints. Learn more about The Print Swap here, and follow along on Instagram (@theprintswap) for updates.

90% of the immense land mass that is Kalaallit Nunaat, better known to anglophone speakers as Greenland, is covered in ice. The territory is known for its icebergs, wildlife; its vast wildernesses and traditional communities. But how are climate change and modernisation changing the the traditions of those who have long relied on hunting and fishing for subsistence?

As a consequence of climate change, the ice, which has long defined the territory and the cultural traditions of those whose reside there, is melting fast. The exploitation of finite resources and the threat to the fragile biodiversity are issues with which the people of this land are now having to come to terms.

“Modernisation is a problem for these communities too,” explains French photographer Camille Michel. The suicide rate in Greenland was twice the average of Lithuania between 1985-2012. “Greenland’s rapid development has led to a loss of cultural identity among the younger generations,” says Michel.

Jean (Mother), 2017

Sheldon at Sixteen, 2016

The photographer John-David Richardson commutes from graduate school in Lincoln, Nebraska to his hometown in Northern Alabama each winter and summer. He makes stops in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, meeting people along the way. In one town, he spent a series of afternoons with a pair of teenage boys and their two puppies. They had run from home, their foster families, and the police. They hoped to make it to California. “I saw myself in those boys,” Richardson admits. “I remember feeling so lost and having so little hope that escaping was the only way to better my situation.”

© Daniel Rampulla

The New York City curator Efrem Zelony-Mindell likes a little bit of chaos, at least in their art. “Introducing elements that may mean absolutely everything or nothing at all is a kind of anarchy that really interests me,” they tell me. “It leaves a lot of room for play, interpretation, and figuring out.” Their latest show, This Is Not Here: RE 21, opens today at Brooklyn’s former Pfizer Pharmaceutical building.

Rikard Osterlund has photographed his wife, Zara, for thirteen years. “There is an image taken on holiday in Sardinia,” he tells me. “I remember looking at her and thinking ‘How did I get so lucky to be right here, with Zara, sharing this moment?'” Zara is an artist and a poet. She admires Frida Kahlo and enjoys science fiction. Her husband describes her as “a very stylish geek.” Zara also has fibromyalgia, a condition that causes fatigue and all-over physical pain, and hypermobility syndrome, meaning her joints can become “loose” and slip out of normal range. She has OCD and depression. Osterlund’s photo book Look, I’m wearing all the colours, currently being funded on Kickstarter, is a candid record of their shared history.

the straight and narrow © Patrick Woodward (@_patrickwoodward_)

I stopped searching for light. I decided to become it instead. © Anna Bachmeier (@annassky)

We are now in the final stretch approaching the deadline for submissions for the next Print Swap exhibition, scheduled to open in Hyderabad, India, on September 6th as part of The Indian Photography Festival. Over the course of our call for submissions, we’ve seen inspiring images from photographers all over the world, and in the lead-up to the May 29th deadline, we wanted to put together a few online group shows to spotlight the diverse array of pictures up for consideration. For this collection, we selected architectural images from The Print Swap.

The great photographer Ezra Stoller famously said, “I’m not interested in art photography. I’m interested in architecture as it is, to look at and enjoy.” But his pictures were in fact works of art, regardless of his intention. And like Stoller, the photographers in this collection have transformed recognizable and unknown buildings into something new. Janet Lees brings phantoms to life using only a facade and windows in Haunted.  Radu Mihai Iani seems to choreograph a solo dance within a lighted corridor. With tricks of the light, they turn familiar places into scenes from a dream. These buildings, made from metal and concrete, have undergone a strange alchemy and become two-dimensional object. We can’t wait to see where these prints end up.

As a reminder, photographers can submit to The Print Swap at any point by tagging their images #theprintswap on Instagram. While submissions made within the next five days only will be considered by our guest curator, the preeminent photojournalist Ami Vitale, to be part of the exhibition in India, The Print Swap is open year-round. Participating photographers give a print and receive a print from another outstanding artist somewhere in the world, and all selected photographers now have the opportunity to join the roster at our new store, Superfine Prints. The Print Swap is curated by Alison Zavos, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Feature Shoot. It’s free to submit, but selected photographers pay $40 per image to participate. Learn more at our website and Instagram, @theprintswap.

In the remote Matthews mountain range in Kenya, the country’s second largest elephant population are under the tutelage of community-run The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, which endeavours to reintroduce orphaned baby elephants to their herds. Reteti is about protecting elephants, but it’s also about empowering people. The local Samburu have recognised the important role of elephants both in protecting their fragile ecosystem, and improving the region’s economy.

Photojournalist Ami Vitale has paired up with musician Dave Matthews to produce this film about The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary featuring his song ‘Mother of Africa.’ If Reteti looks like a place you might like to support—and if you’re lucky, visit—all it takes is a $10 contribution to enter into the prize draw for a 7-day Kenyan safari along with tickets to see Dave Matthews at the Hollywood Bowl—and more! For more information on the prize draw see here. I spoke with Ami Vitale about elephant conservation, The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and her collaboration with Dave Matthews.