The Return to a Disappearing Childhood

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Jan 202012
 
The Return to a Disappearing Childhood

When you live outside your country of origin, particularly if it’s overseas like, say, America, every trip ‘back home’ turns into a special occasion. If you’re Evgenia Arbugaeva, not only may it take 18 years to go back, it may also be the last time you see your home town. Tiksi is Arbugaeva’s ‘home home’ in Siberia, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, at the true edge of nowhere. A former military and scientific base, Tiksi emptied after the Soviet Union fell apart. Arbugaeva returned after almost two […] Continue reading >

Christmas in America: Happy Birthday, Jesus

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Dec 222011
 
Christmas in America: Happy Birthday, Jesus

They say Christmas in the U.S. begins the day after Thanksgiving, on Black Friday. Consider, then, for a moment, the people whose devotion to Christmas extends into much of their year and whom Jesse Rieser has photographed for his series, “Christmas in America: Happy Birthday, Jesus”: Beyond the glowing green and red lights, past the shimmering silvery tinsel, around the fragrant pine boughs, another Christmas lingers, a Christmas of contradictions. This Christmas is complex and at times, uncomfortable. It’s awkward and sometimes bleak. But it is also sincere and celebratory, colorful and creative. […] Continue reading >

Roma Journeys to the Blue Sky

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Dec 132011
 
Roma Journeys to the Blue Sky

Portland’s Blue Sky Gallery has been on my radar screen since I discovered that it occasionally features photographs from Central/Eastern Europe. Over the past few years, I’ve seen, for example, Julie Denesha’s “Outcasts of Slovakia” (June 2009), Evžen Sobek’s “Life in Blue” (Czech Republic, May 2011), and Dana Popa’s “not Natasha” (Romania/Moldova, October 2011). Showing at Blue Sky Gallery in December, Joakim Eskildsen’s “The Roma Journeys” takes up where Julie Denesha left off. “The Roma Journeys” at Blue Sky is a selection from more than 300 images Joakim Eskildsen compiled on his travels through […] Continue reading >