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 02

ISSUE
MARJA
26
60
SCHWARTZ PATRICIA
ACKERMAN

MARINKA MASSÉUS MARJA SCHWARTZ MICHIKO CHIYODA

PATRICIA ACKERMAN RALPH GRÄF ANNICK DONKERS

MARINKA
MASSÉUS 10 MICHIKO
CHIYODA 44 RALPH
GRÄF 78
02
Her work has been exhibited in
Belgium at the Mexican Embassy,
the Flemish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Mestizo Arts Festival
in collaboration with the Mexican
Embassy, and CONACULTA; in
the Netherlands at the Wereldmu-
seum in Rotterdam; in Mexico at
the XIII Biennial of Photography,
Fotoseptiembre, the Academia de
San Carlos, and the Centro Cultu-

ISSUE
ral de España; in Argentina at the
MUGAFO in La Plata; in the Uni-
ted States at the Museo Cultural in
ANNICK Santa Fe as part of the AHA Festi-
val of Progressive Arts; and in the

DONKERS United Kingdom at Somerset Hou-

se as part of the Sony Awards 2016

COVER
www.annickdonkers.com competition, among other places.
MEXICO

Annick Donkers is a documentary Lucha Libre Extrema

photographer from Antwerp, Bel- The Lucha Libre Extrema series
gium, who currently lives and works emerged from a personal interest
in Mexico City. After obtaining a mas-from the photographer in Mexican
ter’s degree in Psychology, she decided
Wrestling. This brought her first to
to study Photography. She studied at a more “exotic” aspect of Mexican
different schools in Mexico and par-
Wrestling, the so called Lucha Li-
ticipated in an artistic residence pro-
bre Exótica. She met Cassandro,
gram called Residencia Corazón in La
Plata, Argentina. a cross-dressed wrestler from El
Paso, Texas who started his career
She received a grant from the Mexican just on the other side of the border
Ministry of Foreign Relations in 2008 in Ciudad Juarez.
and was selected to participate in the
2008 Seminar on Contemporary Pho-
tography at the Centro de la Imagen in
Mexico City. She has won both Mexi-
can and international photography
competitions such as Survival Interna-
tional UK (2015), San José Foto Uru-
guay (2016), the Sony Awards orga-
nized by WPO (2016) where she was
awarded the third prize in the Profes-
sional Sports Category, MIFA awards
in Russia (2016).

She has been published in Belgian,

Mexican, and international newspa-
pers and magazines. She currently
works on documentary stories for
VICE and the Mexican online maga-
zine Tercera Vía.
NICK DONKERS
RALPH GRÄF
MARINKA MASS
RJA SCHWARTZ
MARINKA
MASSÉUS
www.marinkamasseus.com
 – 2x winner 2nd place MIFA “Mos-
cow International Foto Awards”
- Featured at Rotterdam.Photo -
“IPA Best of Show Exhibition” New
York – 2x winner 2nd place IPA
2015 - Gold winner at Px3 2015 -
3x Silver and 1x Bronze winner at
Px3 2015 - Exhibition at WM Ga-
llery, Amsterdam - 1st place Inter-
national Color Awards - Featured
at the Royal Geographical Society
in London - Linden Museum in
Stuttgart, Germany - New Dutch
Talent 2014
MARINKA Silent Voices
MASSÉUS In the ongoing photo series ‘Si-
lent Voices’, Marinka symbolically
draws attention to gender inequa-
Silent Voices lity.
www.marinkamasseus.com
HOLLAND Gender inequality disconnects so
After finishing her MBA, Marinka’s
studies in Buddhist Psychology
many women around the world
from their possibilities in life. They
are disconnected from the chance
guided her philosophical journey,
to contribute to society. Discon-
and the Photo Academy in Amster-
nected from the chance to explore
dam stimulated her to channel her
their talents. Disconnected from
concepts and feelings into images.
Her photography revolves around the chance to explore their sexuali-
ty. Disconnected from the freedom
people and is a constant reflection
to fully explore life’s path.
of her passion and fascination for
human nature and the way we live
And although nowadays feminism
our lives.
is often trivialized, gender inequa-
Gender equality is a main theme lity is still one of the most systemic
running through Marinka’s work. inequalities in the world. That fact
Currently she is working on a se- is true for every culture, race or re-
ries on body image and in October ligion.
2016, she will travel to Iran for a
new project. Whether it is the gender pay gap,
inequality in job performance re-
Marinka’s acclaim includes: 2x Sil- views, domestic violence, honor ki-
ver winner Px3 “Prix de la Photog- llings, genital mutilation or the sto-
raphie Paris” 2016 - Bronze winner ning of rape victims, there is still a
Px3 2016 - Px3 Exhibition in Paris lot of work to be done. Everywhere.
- 2x Editors’Pick LensCulture - 1st
place Monochrome Photography In some places inequality is horri-
Awards - Photoville 2015 New York bly visible.
14 | Marinka Masséus
And although in many countries it
seems that we have reached equa-
lity, recent events have shown that
that might just very well be a thin
layer of window dressing. The re-
cent rise in sexual assaults has gi-
ven birth to the worrying term
rape-culture and has uncovered a
deep underbelly of disrespect to
women’s bodies.
The lenient sentencing of a Stan-
ford rapist went viral. His father
commented ‘6 months is already
a steep price to pay for 20 minutes
of action’ and the judge felt that ‘a
long sentence would influence his
bright future’. Never mind that the
14
girl’s life was changed forever by
his crime.
In Brazil, a 16 year-old girl was
drugged and while unconscious
was raped by 31 men, who posted 24
videos online of the rape and of her
genitalia. Their defense “She had
21
done drugs before and had sex be-
fore, so what’s the problem”
In the meantime, girls everywhere
are told to behave modestly as to
avoid trouble. To walk the line. The
subliminal message being that mo-
lestation and rape is their responsi-
bility. It is not.
All these facts and sadly many
more, show us that the struggle for
gender equality is far from over.
Or in the words of former US pre-
sident Jimmy Carter: “There is a
pervasive denial of equal rights to
women, more than half of all hu-
man beings, and this discrimina-
tion results in tangible harm to all
of us. It is the worst and most una-
ddressed human rights violation
on Earth.”
17 22 25
Photo © Marinka Masséus, www.marinkamasseus.com
Photo © Marinka Masséus, www.marinkamasseus.com
Photo © Marinka Masséus, www.marinkamasseus.com
Photo © Marinka Masséus, www.marinkamasseus.com
 There are still a lot
of silent voices.

Photo © Marinka Masséus, www.marinkamasseus.com

Marinka’s wish is
that they will all be
heard.

26 | Marinka Masséus
MARJA
SCHWARTZ
www.francescoridolfi.com
www.marjaschwartz.com
 endangered mountain gorillas in
Rwanda, Indian street life in the
holy city of Varanasi or dreamlike
landscapes in Myanmar, her com-
mon aim is always the same – to
experience new things and to cap-
ture the personality and charm of
each new location as only someone
who truly appreciates it can.
Project Himba Village
The iconic imagery of the Him-
ba people has become a staple in
MARJA
African identity. Historically do-
cumented and photographed for
considered to be semi nomadic,
they do have family homesteads.
These villages are traditional se-
ttlements with little round family
huts surrounding a wooden lives-
tock enclosure and an ancestral
fire, which are the center of each
village. The little huts are made
out of wood and dried grass and
plastered with a mixture of mud
and cattle dung. The ancestral or
central fire is supposed to burn
continuously. During the night,
an ember of this fire is taken into
the Chief ’s hut to make sure the
sacred fire can be relit again in the

SCHWARTZ
their stunning beauty and unique
red skin. A result of the ‘Otijize’, amorning.

Project Himba Village
www.marjaschwartz.com
GERMANY
Born in Germany in 1964, Docu-
mentary and Travel Photographer
Marja Schwartz is an autodidact
photographer. When not on the
road she resides in the picturesque
village of Lake Tegernsee south of
Munich, Germany.
Graduated and working as interior
designer, project manager and real
estate agent, Marja left the business
world in 2012 to pursue her pas-
sions for travel and photography.
From this day on Marja decided to
dedicate herself entirely to photog-
raphy. She views photography as a
method of communication, a way
to share and celebrate the under-
standing and love she has devel-
oped for the places, the people, the
cultures, the nature and the wildlife
she encounters on her travels.
Today Marja works as a freelance
photographer on editorial and
commercial assignments world-
wide. Her range of subjects is fairly
broad, but whether Marja is photo-
graphing nomadic tribes in Namibia
31
blended paste of butter, fat and red
ochre, that they rub on their skins The women have a specific daily
daily. beauty ritual which takes about 3
hours each morning. Due to living
There are many misconceptions in a region where there is often
and unknowns regarding the Him- scarcity of water they have adjus-
ba people, their history and the ted to a life without using water to 38
current state of their culture. One wash themselves. Every morning
thing that is for certain, similar to the Himba woman uses hot ash
the Maasai, they are a threatened
society struggling to maintain
and a cloth to steam each part of
their body as a cleansing method.
34
their customs and heritage. Over- Afterwards an ointment made out
coming many horrendous obsta- of butterfat, red ochre and some
cles in history, including drought, incense is applied to their skin,
war and genocide, it appears giving them the typical red hue.
holding onto their tradition is the
biggest battle they face today. This ancient tradition is said to be
used for purely aesthetic and beau-
There is an estimated population ty reasons. However, it does pro-
of 30,000-50,000 Himba inha- tect their skin as well from insects
biting the unforgiving terrain of and the effects of living in a harsh
northwest Namibia, and across desert climate. If you see these wo-
the border into Angola. They are men, their skin looks (and feels)
still living the way their ancestors very smooth, soft and young.
did. Dressed in nothing more than
a loin cloth made out of animal Another specific feature is their
skin, the Himba people challenge hair. They use hair extensions
the modern world in managing to which are be braided and covered
live according to their beliefs and with the same mixture of butterfat
traditions. and red ochre as applied to their
skin. It takes about three days for
Even though the Himba people are their hairdo to be finished.

30 | Marja Schwartz 33 36 41
This hairstyle is specific to woman
who reach adult age. Men norma-
lly have short hair. For children,
the hairstyle is different between
boys and girls.

Boys typically shave their whole

head except for a single lock of
hair top and center of their head.
This is then braided and allowed
to grow towards the back of their
head. A young girl will have an
‘Ozondato’ meaning double braids.
She leaves two locks of hair on
each side of the head, which will
be braided and grown towards the
front of the face.

Himba women wear minimum

clothing. This is their traditional
way of dress. They never cover
their breasts but will always wear
a type of skirt made from the skin
of cows or other livestock. They
also cover themselves with lots of
jewelry, made from shells, iron
and copper. The way they wear
this jewelry as well as which type
they wear depends on their social
status and age. On the contrary,
men will usually be seen dressed
in western clothing.

A Himba Village is a
fascinating place to
learn, to discover and
to show respect. To
stare history in the
eyes and interact with
an ancient tribe, whose
values and traditions are
vanishing right before
our eyes.

32 | Marja Schwartz
Born in Germany in 1964, Documentary and
Travel Photographer Marja Schwartz is an
autodidact photographer.
A Himba Village is a fascinating place to The iconic imagery of the Himba people has
learn, to discover and to show respect. become a staple in African identity.
ATRICIA ACKERM
MICHIKO CHIYO
JA SCHWARTZ
MARINKA MAS
MICHIKO
CHIYODA

michikochiyoda.com
 One day, Japanese photographer Mi-
chio Chiyoda came across a doll that
had been used in ‘Ningyo JORURI’
Puppet Theater. The doll was so capti-
vating that Chiyoda’s eyes were glued
on ‘it’. ‘Oshichi’ is a name of the doll
and ‘she’ played as a 16-year- old girl
who was put to death by burning at the
stake for committing arson. Oshichi
did arson because she was dying to see
her lover.
The play is a Japanese traditional pu- past and step forward to the future. Expe-
the last day of their lives will come one day
for all of them. There is no exception, and
that fact never changes. They have to keep
it in their mind and carry on living with
the sorrow for death on their shoulders.
The sorrow, on the other hand, is inse-
parably related to love for others. It has a
certain power to empathize with people
and they achieve a committed relations-
hip with them. By sharing it with others,
Chiyoda think they can move out of our

MICHIKO
ppet drama, based on the historical fact riencing sadness makes them grow, and
from the Edo period. Oshichi met him gives them great power to live.

CHIYODA
at a temple where she and her family
took shelter as they lost their house in According to Chiyoda, While she was tra-
the fire one day. The young couple fell veling, she felt everything was pure. They
Oshichi in love with each other soon. But Oshi- were all impressive and every moment she
chi and her family had to leave the tem- was deeply moved by the scenery. Chiyo-
48
www.michikochiyoda.com
JAPAN ple when their house was rebuilt. Os- da felt the great nature surrounding us.
hichi missed him so much and started Through her trip, Chiyoda has realized

57
After graduating from a college of to think that she could see him again if we are all alive on the earth with the same
art, Ms. Michiko Chiyoda started her another fire occurred. So Oshichi tor- fate. Like Oshichi, the last day will come
career as a graphic designer of an ad- ched her house, hopefully to see him one day but Chiyoda feel the strong con-
vertising agency, and now are in the but she was caught by a police after all. nection with this world. Chiyoda wants
position of director of the marketing
communications department of one of
After Oshichi was executed, her lover to value this bond and will keep on going
made a pilgrimage throughout the rest day by day.
54
large optical equipment manufacturers of his life.
in Japan.
While gazing at this doll, Chiyoda be- As contribution to conserve
She has been quite active for creating came to feel deeply Oshichi’s grief of traditional performing arts
her own photo works. Since the first taking care of his later life. With thin-
personal exhibition in 2001, she has that have inherited Japanese
king of Oshichi’s love for him, Chiyoda
held 4 personal photo exhibitions and started to think that she should follow precious culture and beauty
taken part in group’s more than 10 ti- his footprints. During the trip, Chi- down the ages, Ms. Chiyoda
mes. yoda gave a prayer to him at shrines, has been taking herself the
temples and enshrined natural objects task to record and introduce
She has expanded such her activity even as he might have done so to Oshichi.
their activities using the on-
overseas starting from the opportunity Chiyoda also felt Oshichi’s sorrow that
of participating in Photo Reviews in rippled through herself. line media for their popular-
Arles and Huston, provided worldwide ization.Please access the URLs
web magazines with her works. Chiyoda thinks that, people often lose below to touch them.
She is now proceeding some projects, their precious things in every aspect of
and in parallel as social contribution, their lives. And they sometimes see so- *Chikumazawa puppet theater : http://
michikochiyoda.wix.com/puppetplay
recording and distributing photogra- meone who grieves for losing their pre-
phs of traditional cultural activities in cious things. No matter how they do so *Busyu Sato Kagura dancing / Ishiyama
her local area for reviving their popu- on what they lost, they can’t get their troupe : http://delvaux.hatenablog.com
larity. time back. Even if they hope to live forever,

48 | Michiko Chiyoda 52 56 59
Michiko Chiyoda | 51
Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com

52 | Michiko Chiyoda Michiko Chiyoda | 53

Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com

54 | Michiko Chiyoda Michiko Chiyoda | 55

Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com

56 | Michiko Chiyoda Michiko Chiyoda | 57

 Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com

58 | Michiko Chiyoda Michiko Chiyoda | 59

Photo © Michiko Chiyoda, www.michikochiyoda.com

Michiko Chiyoda | 61
PATRICIA
ACKERMAN
www.patricia-ackerman.com.ar
www.francescoridolfi.com
 Fragments
The men act and the women appear,
The men look at the women. The
women contemplated themselves
at the same time while they are
looked. This determines not only
most of the relations between man
and women but also the relation of
the women with themselves.

“The body is the

PATRICIA
battleground where
ACKERMAN all wars have been
Fragments 68
www.patricia-ackerman.com.ar
ARGENTINA
fought”
Patricia Ackerman was born in Bue-
nos Aires. She is a psychologist inte-
64 75
rested in psychoanalysis. She did pho- Be nude is to be without costumes. 
tograph in her youth, and went back, Displayed naked is to turn into a

70
in an uncontrolled way, 8 years ago, as costume the surface of the own
an autodidact. skin.

She likes to take pictures of people in Women referred to themselves

different situations, their expressions.
There are almost always people in her
photos, in presence or in strokes of
his absence. She likes to take photos
in the street, with people immersed in
casual geometries, which change as in
a kaleidoscope. In the last times also
the nature has captured her.
while they are regarded. To be re-
garded is being desired, be built
as sexed object, and at the same
time be fragmented, decomposed
in details, in puzzles. The desire of
fragmenting the body refers to the
impossibility of cover it.

Patricia Ackerman has participated

in various individual exhibitions,
and collective, in Buenos Aires, Chi-
le, USA, London and Colombia. And
her photos have been selected in many
national and international compe-
titions. (first prize in National Sony
Awards 2014, second prize in Nikon
Award 2014-2015, finalist in the Zeiss
Award 2016, pre-selected in Hariban
Award 2015. Honor mentions in many
awards.)

64 | Patricia Ackerman 66 69 73 76
Photo © Patricia Ackerman www.patricia-ackerman.com.ar
Photo © Patricia Ackerman www.patricia-ackerman.com.ar Photo © Patricia Ackerman www.patricia-ackerman.com.ar

76 | Patricia Ackerman Patricia Ackerman | 77

RALPH
GRÄF
www.graef-fotografie.de

RALPH
GRÄF
Vacancy
www.graef-fotografie.de
GERMANY
When his career as a cell biologist
brought Ralph from Munich to Pots-
dam near Berlin, he found a great
creative environment to spend a huge
part of his spare time for his creative
talents. Together with ten friends he
is co-founder of the “Fotogalerie Pots-
dam” a successful gallery project to
promote contemporary artistic photo-
graphy. With regard to his photogra-
phic subjects he focuses on his four
serial projects (“The Traveller, “Bau-
haus”, “With A Holga Through Bran-
denburg” and “Vacancy”). Since 2010
he presented his photographic pro-
jects in nineteen well-acclaimed exhi-
bitions in Berlin, Potsdam, Rangsdorf,
Munich, Neubrandenburg, Gorzow
Wielkopolski (Poland) and Milano
(Italy). He won the Arts Award at the
the 4th “Kunstallee Potsdam” (an arts
fair) in 2011 and several of his photos
won prizes and received placements
in national and international photo
contests such as the Trierenberg Super
Circuit, Al-Thani Award, DVF con-
tests and the Sony World Photography
Award.
82 | Ralph Gräf
by the profit that can be expected
Vacancy in an otherwise sparsely popula-
Emptiness could describe simply a
ted region such as Brandenburg.
condition, yet it could also express
When taking photos in those pla-
a inner sensation, a state of mind.
ces he does not just want to keep
Emptiness can be an inbetween
records of them. Rather his aim is
condition on the verge to re-utili-
to capture the special mood of the-
zation or to complete disintegra-
se abandoned, quiet rooms, which
tion, or it may even be the ultimate
due to their vacancy and darkness
goal or end-condition. In his pro-
evoke the inner cinema in the
ject “Vacancy” (”Zimmer frei“ in
viewer’s mind. Thus, in contrast to
German) the Potsdam-based pho-
documentation of decay in hype-
tographer Ralph Gräf plays with
rrealistic, plastic HDR images, he
these thoughts of viewers contem-
puts emphasis on the aesthetics of
plating his photos of empty rooms
emptiness and abandonment. The
in abandoned houses and military
often employed stylistic device of
bases waiting to be suffused with
symmetry and cental perspective
new life or to fall apart complete-
underscores the tranquility of the-
ly. It is this state of transition and
the inaneness of these abandoned,
se interiors. Despite symmetry eli-
cits calmness, opposing aspects in
82
quiet rooms, which evoke asso-
his images also generate suspense.
ciations in the viewer and send
The often almost clinical cleanli-
him on an emotional, melancho-
lic mind trip. One reflects on eva-
ness of the rooms contrasts with
an at best parenthetically noticed 91
nescence, on the people who lived
aspect of dilapidation. Image parts
their life in these rooms, what ha-
flooded with soft light stand in
87
ppened to them and forced them
contrast with deep shadows. Bright
to leave. When entering his vacant
windows with no visible structures
rooms one instantly is on a search
behind are deliberately created, as
for the silent memories still living
this keeps the secret about the sce-
in these seemingly empty rooms.
ne outside and increases the myste-
Ever since Ralph Gräf was capti-
rious aspect of these rooms.
vated by abandoned and decaying
buildings with their own history
For his projects Ralph uses both
and, thus, they belong to his oldest
analog medium format and digi-
photographic themes. His job-re-
tal cameras. For the series here he
lated move to Potsdam in 2006 fa-
used digital SLR and CSC cameras.
cilitated the pursuit of this theme,
He usually took three different ex-
since the withdrawal of the sowjet
posures and uses the brightest ima-
military forces in Germany, the
ge for the glass part of the window
annulment of the NVA (army of
and the darkest one to improve the
the GDR) and the end of the cold
appearance of the window frame
war has left numerous empty, often
by using masks and brushes. The
historic buildings that are decaying
photos of this series underwent
now for more than 20 years. With
only little retouching, instead Ral-
the exception of sites in the direct
ph usually removes disturbing ele-
vicinity of the growing cities Berlin
ments on site and sometimes even
and Potsdam, they have almost no
used a broom to clean up prior to
chance of preservation as the requi-
taking photos.
red capital assets are not balanced
85 89 94