Photography

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Art Film Photography Social Issues

JR’s ‘TEHACHAPI’ Goes Behind-the-Scenes of His Monumental Collective Portrait of Incarcerated Men in California

“Can art change the world?” is the fundamental question at the core of French photographer and street artist JR’s global practice. From a participatory public artwork in protest of Iran’s restrictions on women to a giant collective portrait of more than 1,000 New Yorkers, his work takes on architectonic proportions and emerges on the facades of iconic buildings, container ships, and even the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

A new documentary takes us inside the imposing confines of California Correctional Institution, a supermax state prison in Tehachapi, which sits about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Supermax facilities are specially designed to house people who have demonstrated violent behavior in lower-security prisons or require extra protective custody, often including those on death row. Ultra-fortified and sprawling, CCI is also known simply as Tehachapi, housing more than 2,600 men—20 percent more than its capacity as of January 2023.

In the trailer for the forthcoming film, TEHACHAPI, the artist documents his visit to the prison in October 2019, where he embarked on a participatory portrait project with the help of more than two dozen residents. Through this project, JR listened to their personal stories and captured striking black-and-white portraits, taken from above to show light cascading down onto their faces. The group then collectively installed their portraits in a monumental mural on the ground of the prison yard.

Through a range of interviews with men who have been in the correctional system since they were teenagers, those whose sentences are expiring soon, and those who will likely never leave prison, JR illuminates how the justice system perpetuates a sense that the inmates are less than human through the brutal conditions of confinement. He proposes that expression and art can indeed make an enormous difference, both on a personal level and in communities. One participant poignantly reflects that “I was treated like a person, not an inmate.”

TEHACHAPI is scheduled for cinematic release across France on June 12. Find more on JR’s website and Instagram.

 

Climate Nature Photography

‘100 for the Ocean’ Brings Together 100 Photographers from Around the World to Support Marine Conservation

In 2023, the inaugural 100 for the Ocean event raised more than half a million dollars toward ocean conservation, and this year it’s back with 100 world-renowned photographers and artists making a global difference. From June 1 to 30, you can purchase prints for $100, with 100% of the net proceeds supporting three under-funded and under-recognized nonprofit organizations focused on ocean advocacy and action.

This year, recipients of funding include Coral Gardeners, focused on coral restoration; New Zealand-based Young Ocean Explorers, inspiring school-age children to protect and cherish the world’s marine environments; and Oceans Initiative, which communicates data and urgency around threats to British Columbia’s Salish Sea.

Founded by Paul Nicklen, Cristina Mittermeier, and Chase Teron, 100 for the Ocean dovetails with the work of SeaLegacy, an organization illuminating stories about the earth’s vast watery expanses through photography and filmmaking. SeaLegacy partners with countless scientists, artists, and nonprofits around the world to make tangible, lasting progress toward protecting the planet’s delicate ecosystems.

The diverse collection of images for 2024 includes playful polar bears captured by Daisy Gilardini in Manitoba; a curious humpback whale dancing in circles around Kori Burkhardt in French Polynesia; and reef sharks glowing in the sun against a backdrop of a double rainbow, photographed by Emmett Sparling.

“What is so great about 100 for the Ocean is that it is accessible to many people who want to help protect our planet but aren’t sure where to start,” says Cristina Mittermeier. “Our goal isn’t just to raise funds for ocean initiatives; it’s to start the conversation between those behind the lens and those at home. We want to share the stories of our planet with you, create that connection, and make a lasting impact for the collective good of our planet.”

The print shop opens at 12 a.m. EST on June 1, and true to the theme, only 100 editions of each photograph are available. See all available prints and select your favorites in advance by downloading the digital catalog.

 

Books Photography

Winnie Au Photographs 60 Pups with Pizzazz in Her New Book ‘Cone Of Shame’

Protecting an injured paw or pesky stitches never looked so good. Winnie Au (previously) upends the humiliating nature of Elizabethan collars as she photographs hounds sporting stylish takes on the medical devices for her series Cone Of Shame.

Au began the project back in 2017 in collaboration with designer Marie-Yan Morvan as a way to showcase dogs’ unique personalities and turn otherwise torturous ruffs into spectacular accessories. Using materials like paper and tulle, and more unconventional finds like dissolvable insulation foam and candy buttons, the pair fashioned a wide array of designs much more glamorous and charming than their veterinarian-issued counterparts. “Each dog, cone, and backdrop has been conceived as a mash-up of abstract shapes, tones, and textures. No longer turning dogs into laughing stocks, these collars become works of art,” Au says.

A new book published by Union Square & Co. collects photos of 60 dogs donning the fashionable ruffs, 48 of which haven’t been shared before. While the core concept is the same as when the series began, the pair incorporated newer technologies into recent images, including the inflatable rings that have grown in popularity. They also worked with new breeds and materials in what Au describes as “my love letter to all the good dogs out there.”

Cone Of Shame will be released on July 9 and is available for pre-order in the Colossal Shop. Find more from Au and Morvan on Instagram.

 

Nature Photography

The Milky Way Photographer of the Year Contest Celebrates the Dazzling Band of Light in Our Skies

Whether seen from the craggy mountain landscapes of New Zealand or the vast, arid expanses of the Atacama Desert, the Milky Way is a brilliant band of light that glitters in the night sky above every spot on Earth. A photo contest devoted to our galaxy celebrates the diverse, dazzling appearances of the star-studded system from around the globe.

Now in its 7th year, the Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition by Capture the Atlas showcases 25 spectacular images chosen from more than 5,000 entries. Included are Lorenzo Ranieri’s shot of the galaxy shooting across the sky like a kaleidoscopic arch that frames a mass of rocks, along with a photo by Tom Rae taken in New Zealand’s Mount Cook National Park. As the Milky Way bursts upward like a celestial flare in the sky, twinkling stars are reflected in the lake below, connecting Earth and the cosmos.

Find more of the winning images on the contest website.

 

Books Design Photography

Photos from 41 Countries Juxtapose Blocky Architecture and Verdant Gardens in ‘Brutalist Plants’

In the mid-20th century, during reconstruction following World War II, an architectural style emerged in the U.K. and Europe that favored bare, industrial building materials, a monochrome palette, and angular geometry. Both iconic and divisive, the hulking, concrete facades can be seen in the likes of London’s Barbican Centre or the National Theatre. In the U.S., think of Boston City Hall or Met Breuer. These stalwart structures represented modernity, resilience, and strength, serving as civic hubs and governmental centers—the opposite of “soft around the edges.”

That’s where Olivia Broome’s project Brutalist Plants comes in, a repository of photographs featuring gardens and greenery around these iconic buildings, which she has collected on her Instagram since 2018. An eponymous forthcoming book, published by Hoxton Mini Press, showcases some of the most impressive examples that she has collected over time, focusing on incredible pairings and contrasts between architecture and foliage.

“I find it fascinating how much any space can be improved by some plants or greenery,” Broome tells Colossal. “There’s something so pleasing about grey and green, as anyone with some houseplants in their flat can agree with! For me, brutalism gives off such a strong presence when you’re near it, and nature softens that right down.”

Brutalist Plants emerged from a community-led collaboration, as Broome collects and showcases other photographers’ images. She enlisted her father, who is also a fan of photography, to help whittle down the more than 300 images in the project’s Instagram feed to create a selection for the book—ten of which made the final cut. “Something I’m proud of is that images from 41 different countries feature in the book,” she says. “I really wanted to make it as international as possible, so I hope there’s something for everyone.”

Brutalist Plants is out in the U.K. this month, and you can preorder your copy on Hoxton Mini Press’s website. The book’s U.S. release is scheduled for September.

 

Art Books Photography Social Issues

Artist and Activist Zanele Muholi Grapples with Exposure in a New Monograph

Following their lauded 2018 monograph, South African artist and activist Zanele Muholi has released a second book collecting the most recent additions to their series, Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness. Volume II features 80 self-portraits shot in Muholi’s signature saturated black and white along with writings by ten contributors and a long-form interview.

Often adorned in objects like cameras or aluminum can tops that are common to the locations they visit, the artist centers themself in each image and returns the gaze to the viewer, a radical act as a Black queer person. “My practice as a visual activist looks at Black resistance—existence as well as insistence,” they said about the series.

Edited by Renée Mussai and published by Aperture, Volume II reflects on how Muholi’s portraits subvert art historical traditions and respond to the current moment. The book largely contains works taken after the onset of COVID-19, and therefore, many portraits incorporate essential goods like masks and water jugs. Capturing a particularly traumatic time, the photos are a striking and poignant reminder that the human body is vulnerable and worth safeguarding.

Ideas about protection arise frequently, as in works like “Baveziwe I,” which means “exposed to” in Zulu and portrays them swathed in thick fabric, just their face visible. “Taking charge of my representation is one way of dealing with the inevitability of exposure. You think you are covered, but you are not. We are always exposed,” Muholi says in the book. The series “is my way of creating and activating a space of photographic shelter, a personal archive.”

Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness: Volume II is available on Bookshop.