If there’s one thing, and one thing only, that productivity vortex Instagram is good for, it’s finding incredible imagery. So, in 2020, it’s time to unfollow @fuckjerry — all the good memes are on Twitter anyway — and instead enjoy its original purpose; unearthing brilliant photographers that offer your feed something truly original.
The Black Yearbook, Adraint Bereal
When Adrain Bereal arrived at University of Texas in Austin, just 4% of the 52,000 student population was Black. His photo project, The Black Yearbook, highlights the experiences of the university’s wider body of Black students.
We Are Going to Live this Summer, Min Hyun-woo
In this series Korean photographer Min Hyun-woo shoots his subjects surrounded in verdant greens and lush, calming bodies of water. “A welcome, and timely, escape to nature.”
The Muslim Trans Community of Yogyakarta, Fujio Emura
Learning about Indonesia’s only Islamic school for transgender people in Yogyakarta, Fujio Emura decided to create this touching portrait series. A Gofundme for its subjects is live here.
In the Life, Myles Loftin
This series by Myles Loftin is queering Black history by challenging the lack of visual representation accorded to queer identities. Myles intends to create an archive of images that Black queer people can look to for solace or inspiration.
Mud Spring Break, Will Hartley
These photographs taken at an alternative Spring Break location in Florida offer a serene glimpse at the entirely chaotic affair.
Miami 2018-2019, Rosie Marks
Granted a press pass to Art Basel Miami, allowing her to move freely between its many different exhibitions and parties, Rosie Marks quietly observed the extreme opulence and extravagance of the infamous annual art fair.
Anti-racism Protest in Paris, June 2020, Aliocha Boi
These photos taken at one of Paris’ first demonstrations capture the energy and the emotion powerfully and succinctly.
Anti-racism Protest in London, June 2020, Craig Bernard
Similarly these images by Craig Bernard, who’s spent years documenting demonstrations in London, capture the thousands of peaceful protestors marching towards the American embassy with an artfulness and precision rarely afforded to unknown persons on the street.
Love’s Fire Song, Enda Bowe
Silhouettes against a backdrop of fire, kids assembled 25 metres high on wooden pallets… Enda Bowe’s photos frame the longings, yearnings, aspirations and vulnerabilities of young kids growing up on either side of Belfast’s ‘peace walls’.
FREE FILM: JUNE 2020, Andre D. Wagner and Neil Hamamoto
Handing over disposable cameras to protestors at BLM marches across the USA, photographer Andre D. Wagner and artist and creator of the project Neil Hamamoto created a zine out of their favourite images.
La Kaz, Fabien Vilrus and Nicolas Guichard
Fabien Vilrus and Nicolas Guichard — a young photographer and fashion designer respectively, who both originate from the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean — travelled back to shoot the local youth in their own environment.
Tonatiuh, Juan Brenner
Juan Brenner, a photographer based in Guatemala City, decided to embark on the same journey as the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado did in 1524, to photograph a nation still anchored to ancient traditions and customs of the past, whilst in a phase of profound transformation.
BODY, Lotte van Raalte
The photographer Lotte van Raalte spent over a year shooting 46 women — aged 13 to 94 — to create an ode to the female body.
Pampara, Renell Medrano
Returning to the Dominican Republic, Renell Medrano worked closely with her friend, stylist Nathan Klein, to exaggerate or highlight certain elements that are tied to Dominican culture.
Anti-SARS protests in Lagos, October 2020, Manny Jefferson
The SARS protests are considered by some to be ‘the most significant civil movement in contemporary Nigerian history’. Manny Jefferson was there to capture a few hours of this historic moment in time.
Project 365, Zhong Lin
Zhong Lin challenged herself in April to take one portrait a day for an entire year, after finding herself at home during lockdown. The project aims to rediscover what it means to start from nothing.
The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer, Alessandra Sanguinetti
Magnum photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti has been photographing two cousins in rural Argentina since 1999. Guille and Belinda, her subjects, experience everything from teenage boredom and young love to pregnancy and motherhood.
The White Sky, Mimi Plumb
A dreamlike vision of American suburbia that sometimes dips into the nightmarish, social documentary photographer Mimi Plumb made a series about the Californian suburbs she grew up in from 1972 to 1979.
People of the Mud, Luis Alberto Rodriguez
A dancer before he took up photography, the body and movement has always been key to Luis Alberto Rodriguez’s practise. With this series, he wanted to see how he could ‘physicalise’ Irish cultural heritage.
Close and Intimate, Dana Kasap
Dana Kasap spent Tel Aviv’s first lockdown shooting people — both friends and strangers — lying entirely naked on their sofas. Need we say more?