Sunday Edition: João Coelho and John Grant
PHOTOSNACK #247
Every Sunday, I reach out to photographers previously featured on PHOTOSNACK and ask them to send me their spontaneous thoughts, observations, reflections, or advice.
Today, I am sharing with you the messages I got from João Coelho and John Grant.
João Coelho
I want to share an image from a documentary project I'm doing with a small community that lives and works on a dump in southern Angola.
This man is scavenging through the piles of garbage that the trucks dump at the end of the day in search of scraps of food to eat, a scene that is unfortunately repeated every day here, with men, women, and children alike. This is a world unknown to most people, a gloomy, gray world eternally populated by flies, where men and women don't know what tomorrow will be like, and children have to invent their toys in order to be children.
I also chose this image and this project because I believe that photography can change the world for the better. It is said that a photograph is worth a thousand words, so I hope that the one I've shared with you speaks all the words it has to say to show how our world needs to improve so that we can say that we are human and that we live in a world that is equal and fair to all.
João Coelho was featured in PHOTOSNACK #183.
John Grant
“Think Different”, Steve Jobs
I have a new body of work, Cubism, in which I explore the theme of encapsulation, both mental and physical.
Working with acrylic cubes that magnify and reflect physical objects, I’m attempting to challenge our rigid viewpoint and suggest that our observations and perspectives deserve to be more expansive and imaginative. Botanical material, feathers, paint, clear acetate prints, and various found objects are used to suggest such overriding themes as transition, focus, relationship, and growth.
I’m not really sure how inspiration works but I do know that I’m happiest when I work on things that require imagination. I’m looking to see common things in a unique way. I’m driven to push the subject and medium into realms that I hope will create a kind of statement or mystery that can be shared. Kind of like a language of its own.
John Grant was featured in PHOTOSNACK #197.
You can follow him on Instagram here.
Sunday Editions connect you with photographers whose work you previously explored through PHOTOSNACK.
I want to reveal some authentic parts of the people behind the cameras.
I don’t ask them any specific questions. I ask them to share whatever comes to mind when they think about YOU, the readers of this newsletter.
It makes their responses genuine and personal.
I hope you enjoyed today's Sunday Edition.
Until next time,
Tomasz
John Grant’s photograph is one of most awful I have ever seen—perhaps in part because it angers me that he has used Steve Jobs’ name in vain, so to speak, but mostly because his photography is awful. Where do you find such people? What are their credentials? I’d love to know.