Strolling a little romantically through the streets of Paris, Benoit Lapray had the brilliant idea of replacing the city’s monuments with the heroes of pop culture.

Superheroes, famous protagonists of science fiction movies and even cartoons clamorously take the place of the statues that adorn the French capital.

It is not the first time that the French photographer does such work, long ago he had imagined them far away from the chaotic metropolis, wandering alone between mountains and hills, see here.

“It’s a way to emphasize that these science fiction heroes are now part of the world’s cultural heritage,” says Lapray.

The project was created in collaboration with creative studio 95 Magenta.
A long and complex work, initially made on film, not using any digital camera.

Subsequently, the negatives were digitized and retouched, and then we added our superheroes, which we hold so dear.
Below, we leave you all the photos of Paris, which were captivated by all the heroes of Benoit Lapray.

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.

Words by Federica Cimorelli

InstHunt Special Edition is a collection of your best photos that follow a specific theme. Each month it will have a dedicated title and you will give it life through your shots.

This month’s theme was “Hope”: during this weird time we’re living what gives you hope? Between smiles and memories we have created our gallery. Discover the best photos below and don’t miss the next appointments!

Stay tuned and go follow our Instagram @collateral.photo page to discover the theme of the next issue InstHunt Special Edition. 

Be creative Be part of @collater.al

How many days do we have to stay locked down? This is the question Monia Marchionni has heard her 5-year-old daughter ask dozens and dozens of times during the lockdown. This is the question we all asked ourselves, looking out of our windows into the silent world. It’s the question we didn’t know how to answer at first and then, over time, it became the question we didn’t want to answer.

The days we needed. This is Monia‘s answer, certainly more sensible than many others we have heard.

Monia Marchionni, born in 1981, is a photographer from the Marche region, from Fermo to be precise. After a diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts, a degree in Philosophy, a specialization in Contemporary Art History and work experience in the field of installation, she decided to dedicate herself exclusively to photography.

Since her first works, from the photographic series “Never Again the Fog in the Desert” taken in Chile and “Fermo Visioni Extra Ordinarie”, Monia has won several national and international awards.

Today, however, we want to focus on her latest project, which was born during the quarantine and which takes its title from the answer given to her daughter, “I Giorni Necessari” (The days we needed).

Through delicate shots, deliberately presented as diptychs, Monia Marchionni opens the doors of her house to us during those 56 days that it took to get the situation under control.

Like that of all of us, the photographer’s life was abruptly changed and the outside world became something to be seen, while the inside of her home was transformed into a new object of analysis of her art. The eye, and with it the lens, rest on family members, hands and faces, trying to tell a long period of waiting, boredom, fear, sacrifice, death, but also love.

It is precisely the latter, in fact, love for loved ones, a rediscovered love, which shines through more than anything else, and this suspended time and privations have made it even more essential.