Earth and nature are part of a spiritual and mystical experience in the works of 5 of the photographers.
In her project But Abstention from Movement; While the World Moves, Adrienn Szövérrfi explores in a personal pilgrimage the spiritual richness of nature in contrast to our artificial world while Mario Lalau travels in a van accompanied only by his dog Cairu and reflects on the profound personal and collective transformation possible as he explores altered states of consciousness in his series Cairu.
In her tale Fauve,Léna Maria explores our bond with nature, and seeks to awaken our intuitive connection to all living beings and things and Jason Pevey sees the land as the source of human expression and suggests a path beyond industrial collapse in his project Symbol and Ritual. Lara Gilks examines our interconnectedness with the environment, imagining our return and integration into the environment with subtle imprints of our existence in her work To Dust.
In I Will Be Where Eternity Is, Anna Poloneeva digs into her memories and subconsciousness to deal with the trauma of her father’s suicide when she was a child. She uses the motif of a butterfly to bridge the gap between here and the beyond.
Frédérique Gélinas work Under Meszal Influence digs into the mythology surrounding mezcal, and how its consumption is believed to impart magical qualities and explores how this "magic" narrative intertwines with the complex socio-economic and environmental challenges facing the mezcal industry in Mexico.
Three projects address religious education and symbols: Aimilia Balaska and Irina Skoda draw on their personal experiences and each offer a female perspective on the negative impact religion had on them. In Miasma, Aimilia Balaska critiques the misogyny of monotheistic religions, using symbolic rituals to empower the female body while Irina Skoda reinterprets her childhood memories and personal trauma by exploring themes of sin, rebellion and the search for self-definition outside of traditional religious paradigms in her project Miserere. Raised in a strictly Catholic, rural environment, queer artist Alberto de Jesus Lara provides a different perspective. His series Sacrilegio employs satire and explores the search for freedom and redemption within the Mexican Catholic framework.
Lastly we would like to mention that the number of submissions has reached a record high for this issue. We want to thank all the photographers from around the world who submitted and trusted their work to us since we began see-zeen.
