Shadow & Light Monthly #62

Shadow & Light is a list of curated photography stories, features, techniques, news and inspiration that I’ve come across this month.

In this edition we look at six decades of American Beauty and discover the work of Spanish street photographer Manuel Mas Mas. We look at the wonderful musical collaborations of Robert Frank and we explore adolescence through the lens of Roberto Braga.

So, with no further ado, I give you this month’s Shadow & Light Monthly. Go grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy this month’s selections below. Please let me know in the comments what you think.

Pick of the month – Stephen Shore’s American Beauty

Stephen Shore makes remarkable pictures of seemingly unremarkable things: a freeway seen from above, a Texaco gas station, runners on a paved road. His work is consistently a pleasure to look at, especially because it can subvert the conventions of what a photographic composition is, or use a vernacular form uncommon in the art world. Vehicular & Vernacular, an exhibition this summer at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, Paris, reveals these qualities and also offers a moment to reconsider Shore’s output in relation to Pop and Conceptual art.

Spanning six decades, Shore’s work serves as a stunning portrait of everyday America. Visit Aperture to see more of his work.

Additional reads

Spanish Photographer Manuel Mas Mas Captures Beauty Of Everyday Streets

Manuel Mas Mas, a renowned street photographer from Spain, has a unique talent for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Through his lens, he captures not just the visual elements of the streets but the vibrant energy and dynamic stories unfolding around him. His work is a celebration of everyday life, revealing the hidden beauty that surrounds us in bustling urban environments.

I love the interplay of bold colour and harsh shadow in this work. Head on over to 121 Clicks to see the article in full and more of Manuel’s beautiful images. You can find him on Instagram at @manuelmasmas.

Robert Frank’s Genre-Bending Collaborations with Musicians

Long-term readers will know I have a particular love for the work of photographers working closely alongside musicians. Patti Smith, Tom Waits, and the Rolling Stones liked Robert Frank because he turned a sympathetic eye to the margins of American experience.

Frank spent the summer of 1972 crisscrossing America—not in pursuit of the lyrical social documentary for which he was already famed, but as part of the Rolling Stones’ forty-eight-date mobile bacchanal. It had been three years since the disastrous show at the Altamont Speedway, and the band was stateside again, on the heels of a recording session in the south of France that is now etched in the annals of debauched rock excess. The tour was no exception—sex and drugs and everything else, all later mordantly recounted by Truman Capote to Andy Warhol in the pages of the magazine named for the group. The novelist registered his surprise that so much of it was unabashedly documented, that Frank was always there, camera at hand.

Head over to Aperture to read this article in full, and see more of Frank’s intimate images.

And Finally – Roberto Braga – You Don’t Know Me

Adolescence, that strange transitional period when unique identities, personalities and characters are defined, is a time of contrasts and discoveries, often perceived by adults as unfathomable and remote. It is commonly understood as a process of natural progression to adulthood, made up of hormones and changing bodies, when in fact it is a path laden with contrasts, expectations, rejection of conformity, rethinking of roles and social dynamics.

You Don’t Know Me (YDKM) by Roberto Braga tries to tell the adult gaze on this elusive universe, where the protagonists of change become mysterious figures.

Through a series of “anonymous portraits” and still lives of identity objects, You Don’t Know Me explores the ornaments, tools and extensions that adolescents and teenagers use to express themselves, differentiate from other and with which they experience their individuality. With a deliberately aseptic and detached gaze, the project aims to become a metaphysical archive of hypotheses about adolescence.

This image, rendering the subject abstract through the textures glass, really caught my eye. I adore the texture and geometric result created here. Visit Broad to read more about this project and see more of the images. You can find Braga on Instagram at @bragoberto.

Bonus Read – New Short Film

Before I go, I wanted to share a new piece of work with you I’m really proud of this month. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with The Art House, Wakefield on a number of short films focussed on their creative spaces and, specifically, the creative forces that drive them.

This series kicked off with my films focussing on Hannah, the Ceramics Studio Technician and Ellie, the Print Studio Technician. In this, the final film of the series, I met Emily Ryalls, the Darkroom Technician at The Art House. As someone who had their own darkroom growing up I was particularly looking forward to this one! It was such a treat to spend some time in the darkroom again.

In the film Emily talks about what inspired her to first pick up a camera, her love of analogue film and how she helps darkroom members realise their images in the darkroom. You can watch the film below.

You can watch the film below, or read more about it over in the Projects section. I’m currently working on a few interesting Videography projects so watch this space and subscribe to my new YouTube channel to stay up to date.

Until next time…

I hope you enjoy the articles above. Don’t forget you can follow my Shadow & Light magazine over on Flipboard if you’d like to see more of what I’m reading if you like what you’ve seen here.