Looking at Luce Lapadula‘s photography, @LuceLapadula, the light of September comes to mind. Her images are capable of painting that shy and warm glow capable of enveloping everything and preparing us for the first shiver of cold. And then everything seems permeated by nostalgia, the memory of a place we have not lived, of a person with whom we cannot be together.

Luce has this gift: she knows how to capture the fragility of her subjects, she strips them of any mask. And she does the same with images of landscapes, ungluing them from reality and bringing them into a dream dimension.

We were lucky enough to hear and talk about her love for photography and art. Enjoy the reading.

How did you discover photography? 

Photography has always held a special place for me, there isn’t a specific event or moment that led me to discover it. Since I was a child, I have always loved art and began to draw my family and friends’ portraits with pastel, watercolour and ink. Back at secondary school and college, I was assigned a task: drawing a series of castles in my home region of Basilicata with ink, and if I remember correctly, they were then turned into adorable books. 

My passion for visual art grew even more during school trips. In fact, I would always buy the latest, and at the time, the best, disposable cameras to capture the fantastic historical scenery and the breathtaking landscapes. It was only a while later when I received a gift from my mum, my first Kodak – a camera with which I could experiment in the new prospects of photography and videography. Growing up, my passion became even more alive with the fact that I was continually aiming to upgrade my equipment, and it was intensified by moving to London.

My first DSLR, a canon 400d – a mere present, really boosted my confidence as well as my creativity in different ways. Whilst in London, I also began working in galleries which continually inspired and motivated me to pursue my route into photography. 

Fast forward a few years and in 2017, I made the decision to make photography my main artistic venture. Now, that is where I’m channelling all my time and energy.

What do you like to tell through your photography?

With my portraits, I really like to tell stories and convey intimacy through simple gestures between the subject and what I feel in that precise moment of time. Softness and strength through vulnerability are the souls of my images, as these are qualities we possess profoundly inside.. There is no strength without vulnerability, as vice-versa. 

When it comes to landscapes instead, I like to reveal what I see around me and what I see inwardly, the images are the outcome of compositions of the confluence between my dreams and my reality. The results are warm, dreamy scenery, with the perception of infinity.

I am faithful to the tones, style and aesthetic of my work, whether I am making portraits or landscapes.

What is femininity for you?

I describe femininity as those gentle and graceful characteristics of human beings.

I like to think that the attribute as we intend it has been exclusively associated with the female gender, because the female’s aesthetic has naturally been deemed as delicate. Femininity does not apply [to], [n]or include only females, but all genders.

Your images can naturally express moments of real intimacy. How do you capture it?

I like to capture real moments of everyday life and create dreamy scenes that project from my inner world; indeed, this is what I will be focusing on in my future personal projects. 

Capturing moments of real intimacy comes naturally really, the subject(s) that I choose are ideal for expressing the stories or messages I want to portray through my images. The locations make a significant impact on the subjects in order for them to be at ease during the shoot. Each location will bring its own atmosphere to the final outcome of the project. Mostly, I’ll use a quiet home or peaceful space deep within mother nature’s grasp, where intimacy will be supremely embodied.

Which artists have influenced your search?

Working as a fine art agent, dealing with all kinds of art has had a rich and diverse influence on my creativity. I would say the Renaissance is where I draw much of my inspiration from. Many contemporary artists also inspire me, such as Marta Bevacqua, Cvatik, and Alessio Albi, to name a few. Alternately, my landscapes are motivated entirely by nature and by the influence of my partner, who is also a photographer.

What are you working on lately? 

I’m working to raise the standard of my portrait photography, to bring it to the next level. Since I feel my style is representative of my own self, I’m now ready and to push forward after years of experimentation; with confidence towards my vision and the stories I want to tell. I’ll be channeling this knowledge into a particular project which I hope to exhibit further down the line.

The photographs of Roeg Cohen are intimate and seductive, talking about life, memory and eternity. His shots tell the most personal aspects of his subjects, they are enigmatic images full of meaning.

Roeg started photography at the age of thirty, but his artistic level is far from immature. He uses photography to express his creativity, it tells as much about himself as about those on the other side of the lens, it communicates independence, courage and boldness.

What Roeg Cohen seems to have with his subjects is an intense and sincere connection. The protagonists of his photographs communicate through body and eyes. They are immortalized in different situations and express opposite and complementary feelings: quiet, peace, silence but also tumult, tension and revolt.

His photographs evoke sensations that are difficult to express in words, which is why we let his images speak for themselves.
Look at a selection here, follow him on Instagram and on his personal website.

Lauren Bamford is a freelance photographer based in Melbourne, Australia, specialising in still life, travel and documentary photography – both editorial and commercial. Her shots combine simple, familiar subjects with eye-catching colour palettes and are the result of careful work on atmosphere and compositions.

Her personal style, discreet and humble, mixes instinct and reason. Lauren Bamford in fact, places great importance on natural light, but when it cannot be used for the image, she reconstructs and artificially imitates it as much as possible.
Design objects, food, people, details are the protagonists of her photographs, they are collections of interesting things put together with harmony and balance.

– Read also: The introspective self-portraits of Handra Rocha

See a selection of her shots here, follow her on Instagram and visit her personal website.

Soft Tissue, a project born from the collaboration between photographer Prue Stent and artist Honey Long, explores female sensuality through the eyes of those who ignore stereotypes.

In fact, always fascinated by the meaning of gender identity, the creative duo wanted to focus the lens on body portions generally not considered sensual.
Skin, hair, veins and defects become the protagonists of shot between the grotesque and the dreamlike.

Everything is focused on the detail that disturbs, on textures and details that almost resemble the beauty of unexplored landscapes.

The aim of the project is to encourage the viewer not to become a slave of a single point of view, rather than to create their own associating different ideas with shapes that have now become descriptive.