Ryan James Caruthers: Tryouts

Yes. I know. I've been quiet. No words since December!

Oops.

Ryan James Caruthers: From the Tryouts series

It's June 13th, and as much as I would like to talk about what happened yesterday - I can't. The shooting in Orlando has left me speechless, unable to articulate what I am really thinking, my fears, my anger, my sadness. It's a weirdly numbing mass of thoughts racing through my head, and thus I guess it will be some time until I will hopefully be able to share something on here.

But: It's Monday! And in the past few months I really got into Youtube and the wonderful perkiness of the people on there, and if I learned anything from them, it's to be cheerful, somehow. Let's be cheerful today, yeah? And I've got a thing to be cheerful about: For the first time in a while I am genuinely, genuinely excited about a photography project.

This is quite a big thing, you guys. Because another thing that happened over the last few months is that I decided not to pursue a career in photography, or at least 'not in photography alone'. And one of the reasons for that (and for the awful quietude on here) is that I got increasingly uninterested in, and to some point disgusted by the photography around.

And then this happened. (Of all places, I found it on Buzzfeed! Ssshhhh.) This is Ryan James Caruthers' project Tryouts, and it's eff-ing beautiful. The colours, the angles have a tranquility to them, lending the project a quality both ethereal and very, very real. The projects cuts right down to the bones and tendons of a young man not quite fitting in, a story we've heard and seen so often, and which yet attracts the eye to wander over the hapless, exposed body. It's sweaty and dirty without leaving a mess.

There's a sense of Paolo Ventura's haunting, staged scenes in Caruthers' images, in the red cheeks, the pale skin, the body floating in the swimming pool. But Tryouts doesn't share Ventura's twisted nostalgia, it feels very recent, very now. It is another argument in the discussion of masculinity, gender, sexuality and athletics (the connection of these is scarily demonstrated by everything going on around the Euro 2016 football tournament), and it's an argument which is just, honestly, very nice to look at.

Ryan James Caruthers: from the Tryouts series

So yay! Photography! Exciting! That's my thought for Monday. What a weird thing to come back to this blog with. Sorry for rambling on, and throwing all my thoughts at you pretty much unfiltered. But I just really wanted to share this with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as you do.

Scott Schuman: The Sartorialist

It repeatedly occurred that some photography colleagues of mine used my computer, and inevitably, after looking around my internet browser for a while, noticed that I have the Sartorialist blog as a bookmark. Enter the patronising look and the saucy undertone: "The Sartorialist, eh...?" With just a few words, they make clear what they think: Scott Schuman's street fashion photography is unworthy. In their eyes this little cretin of a blog by a rich guy who shoots whoever he wants and still is not more than a puppet of the devouring fashion industry, shouldn't be anywhere near an aspiring young documentary photographer's bookmarks.
But give me, and him, a break, people!
Sure, that blog is a bit of weird place. Schuman seems to be one of the privileged people who has unlimited access to fashion shows, expensive shops, and industry connections. Yes, he is one of those who think that a jacket for $149 is "cheap". Given the popularity of his blog, he is certainly one of the main players in fashion when it comes to dictating taste and trends. He rolls along with the rich, splendid and spoiled - not everybody's cup of tea.

But when it comes down to his pictures, it is a different thing. The pictures on his blog are nice, simple as that. They look good. They have nice colours, good lighting, interesting framing and setting. You cannot deny that Schuman is a talented photographer, and he's got a good eye. Also, most important to me, he is very open in what he photographs. He doesn't go for one type of people, he is interested in many different styles and self expressions. Therefore, you can sometimes find a "gem" on his blog: A character who captures you, who makes you look twice. It is a wonderful resource when I'm on my regular hunt for gender expressions in photography - because there are these androgynous, playful subjects, and Schuman snaps them so well.
So don't judge me on my bookmarks. You never know what you'll find.

All images by Scott Schuman, found on The Sartorialist.