Aesthetica’s New Artists scheme looks at the best in contemporary photography, celebrating emerging artists who are contributing to wider dialogues about visual art through innovative and experimental work. Our picks for August look at redefining perspectives, calling upon bold iconography and reflections upon the contemporary condition.
Julien Talbot (@julientalbot_photo)
Talbot is an author/photographer born in Paris in the 1980s. His Americana series utilises the bright iconography of the US, restoring a sense of nostalgia whilst layering each image with the notion of personal perspective. Fast food diners, abandoned carnival grounds and shut-up shops are rendered through simple compositions, evoking place as something steeped in memory. Focusing mostly on landscape, whether urban or natural, he offers minimal compositions that include recognisable settings, from Vegas and LA to Coney Island.
William Mark Sommer (@williammarksommer)
Images from Sommer’s Night Light series provide a diffused and captivating angle on nocturnal topographies. Colours glare from the mist and dusk – traffic lights presented as objects of beauty and fairy lights wrapped around trees as an amalgamation of natural and urban forms. Dark roads are a recurring feature in the night-time photography. Illuminated signs come to the fore as a spectrum of colour and activity reflective of the 21st century acceleration – in cities that never sleep and states that no longer rest.
Kelsey McClellan (@Kelseyemc)
Born in Texas, McClellan is a contemporary photographer who calls upon the everyday through a minimalist lens devoid of further context. Working with prop stylist Michelle Maguire, she creates polished compositions that call upon informal diner culture and the globalised food industry. With a bold and undeterred vision, each image pairs colour-coded styling with icons of fast-food Americana. In every composition, the food becomes the centre of attention; the series demonstrates a sleek and well-practiced awareness of co-ordination and aesthetic consideration.
Toby Coulson (@TobyCoulson)
Coluson studied photography University College Falmouth, and has since gone on to be featured in a number of publications including Surface Magazine, The Guardian and Oh Comely. Coulson’s photographs combine formal consideration with a fresh perspective on the use of colour. Capturing the landscape through a minimalist lens, each composition is a vignette that documents contemporary life.
To see more of their work: www.instagram.com/aestheticamag.
Credits:
1. Julien Talbot from the Americana series. www.julientalbot.com
2. William Mark Sommer from the Night Light series. www.williammarksommer.com
3. Kelsey McClellan from the Wardrobe Snacks series. www.kelseymcclellan.com
4. Toby Coulson from the Divided Series. www.tobycoulson.com