Dina Kantor’s Finnish and Jewish series
by I am immediately drawn to anything that reminds me of my childhood, so I was taken with this photo of Keren, a subject in Dina Kantor’s quirky and playful series, Finnish & Jewish. We caught up with her recently to discuss the photos. What made you embark on this series? ‘I began photographing the Jewish community in Finland a few years ago as a way to explore my heritage, but also to delve into the issues of making a portrait of a group of people. I also wanted to think more critically about how photography helps define our ideas of identity and community. My mother was born in Finland and emigrated to America as a child in 1947. Almost thirty years later, when she married my father, she converted to Judaism. I am not related to anyone in the community who I am photographing, though we share certain cultural characteristics’.
Is there something unexpected that you found all of your subjects have in common? ‘I’ve photographed about 300 people, so it would be difficult to generalize and say that they had something besides the community walls in common. I guess they have themselves in common. The community is small enough that they all seem to know each other fairly well even those people who live in other cities and many of them are related. Everyone was amazing they were all incredibly nice and hospitable, and they seemed to be just as interested in learning about me as I was in learning about them. Many of my photo shoots turned into dinners and drinks and even a weekend away. I am lucky to have spent so much time getting to know such a remarkable group of people’.
Do you read photography blogs? ‘I do read a handful of blogs, but try to keep it to a minimum. If I read them all Id never get any work done! Amy Stein and Cara Phillips are good friends, so I tend to check their blogs fairly regularly. Right now, I am helping my friend Kate, who started The Girl Project, with her blog. The Girl Project is an organization that gives teenage girls disposable cameras to photograph anything they like. The photographs are then collected and will be turned into an exhibition and a book. The Girl Project Blog is a great resource for teenage girls to get introduced to photography, and it showcases some of their amazing photographs’.
Are you working on a new project that you can talk about? ‘Honestly, I still have about 100 rolls of film from my last trip to Finland that I am working on, so I’m not quite ready to move onto the next body of work yet. When Finnish & Jewish is published, I’ll let you know about the next project!’
Tagged: blogs, Finland, New York photographers, portraits
RELATED
Anna Skladmann’s portrait series
I love the rich colours and sense of unrehearsed movement about the photography of New York-based, Anna Skladmann. She studied at Parsons School of Design before undertaking yearly internships at Annie Leibovitz’s studio and the Magnum Photo Agency. Read more
Kate Kunath’s rabbit breeders series
New York photographer Kate Kunath’s series on rabbit breeders captures owners with their furry friends, looking every bit as possessive and enamored of their pointy eared pets as any slightly obsessive dog owner might be. Of the photo essay, she says: ‘I got my big break in 2004 at the American Rabbit Breeders Convention. I’m kidding, but there really is a Best in Show for bunnies every year, similar to the Westminster for dogs, without the high-brow. The first time I went to a show, I was really impressed by the rabbit breeders, so I returned the following year with a photo studio’. Read more
Jacqueline Di Milia grew up in America’s first mass produced suburbia, Levittown, New York. In Spring of 2005 she received a BFA in Photography from the School Of Visual Arts. After a few years of photo assisting with wide range of photographers, including Danielle Levitt and Cass Bird, she began shooting editorially in 2006. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York and obsessively watches French New Wave films. We interviewed her recently. Read more
Also by ALISON ZAVOS
In early 1965, LIFE photographer Bill Ray spent several weeks with The Hells Angels. Ray recalls his days and nights with Buzzard, Hambone, Big D, and other Angels (and their ‘old ladies’) at a time when the roar of Harleys and the sight of long-haired bikers was still new, alien, and for the average, law-abiding citizen, simply terrifying. This is a selection of Ray’s images originally published by LIFE.com, and more images can be seen on their website. [via Feature Shoot] Read more
Photo portraits of Model Railway Enthusiasts
David Vintiner is a British portrait photographer living in London. These portraits are from a personal project, Enthusiasts, which was selected for the Creative Review Photography Annual last year. He writes: ‘My Enthusiasts were shot on location at a model railway exhibition in Birmingham, England. In my photography I’m drawn to the subtlety of the everyday, in this case, passion for a hobby’. Read more
Celestial photographs inspired by dreams
Jaime Martinez was born in Monterrey, Mexico and is currently living in Mexico City. His work is influenced by his many fashionable friends and surroundings. Jaime’s photographs have been featured in many magazines including Fifi, Subterra, and Rolling Stone Germany. [via Feature Shoot] Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
I love the vibrant colours and slippery energy in Japanese artist Aki Matsumoto’s beautiful seaweed art.
I’m loving Josh Smith’s temporary tattoos of classic Mac cursors, as designed by Susan Kare. Put them where you want them. Read more
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a reminder of why the medium of film is so special. It features first rate visuals, performances, direction and acting, all of which fits together into one of the most insightful, powerful and touching pieces of cinema ever. Read more
As a child, I took piano exams in over-sized white rooms, on baby grand pianos that felt unfamiliar and echoed strangely as someone across the room observed me in silence. It felt clinical, intimidating and completely devoid of warmth. Last week, I started noticing upright pianos, some painted haphazardly, others respectfully untouched plonked in the most unlikely places throughout Sydney. There was one on the edge of the baby pool at the local swimming pool, with a young girl in a rainbow striped dress tapping out a happy but disjointed melody; another shaded under a tree at the park on the way home. Read more
Art Traffic is an online platform that offers established, emerging, and up-and-coming artists an opportunity to showcase their work on a global scale and to sell their art at prices decided by them. [artwork by Russ Wheelhouse]
Ian Brown has never been a man to look back. Formerly the lead singer of the Stones Roses – an eclectically talented group that never quite reached full potential – he has since carved out a successful solo career, moving well beyond the poppy melodrama of Fools Gold and into a more left-field sonic terrain. Read more
Wearing this print will not only geek the fashionistas at their own game, but also guarantee inner peace at the bitter end. Or maybe not. But it will strike fear into the hearts of psychiatrists around the world, and you just never know when that might come in dead handy.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Never ever, ever, ever, ever park here
Some friendly advice for the neighbours, who simply don’t get it, or street art? You decide which one it is.
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Christoph Niemann illustrates a nightmare flight
New York Times illustrator Christoph Niemann has created a brilliant visual diary outlining the peril and pitfalls that beset the everyday passenger based on his recent experience flying from New York to his home town of Berlin. Read more
How ’bout this Jose Manuel Hortelano-Pi guy, huh? Quite the illustrator, yessiree Bob. From Spain, too. Spain is great! Read more
Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more
This cool black unisex t shirt by UK label Client is made in England, printed in Berlin, and beautifully packaged in East Berlin cartonage, especially designed for Client. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
