In this issue

In the March-April, 2017 issue of Creative Image magazine, we explore the intricacies of not just the act of photographing female but, the photographs that portray women in vivid lights. It pans over ideas and expressions of femininity, of effeminacy, of identities and roles held on to by women in the contemporary world. This issue revolves around the subject of age and sexuality through personal storytelling approaches by photographers from different cultures. This issue brings forth the visual poetry of Inge Morath, which she made out of people and their places over half a century. We also preview the upcoming Focus Photography Festival, Mumbai, which explores Photographing the Female as their theme. This feature in the issue also throws light on photographers like Poloumi Basu, Rania Matar, Sara Zanella, Prarthana Singh, among others, and their work on women, through conceptual, documentary and environmental portraiture and stories. Photostory by Abdollah Heidari, I want my Face, portrays the plight and helplessness of Iranian girls as victims of school blazes which aren’t uncommon in Iran. The special feature showcases photographs of women from everyday life, from various parts of the world by various photographers like Masoud Gharaei, Zacherie Rabehi, Ashoke Ghosh, among others. A poignant photo book by Russian photographer Alexandr Chekmenev, along with an Artist On Art coloumn of Francis Newton Souza’s work also secure a feature in this issue. Through social media collaborations with Camarena and India Pictures, Creative Image throws a limelight on young, talented photographers in this issue. Digging into archives, the issue features intriguing female photo portraiture from Isfahan, compiled by Parisa Damandan.

Photographing The Female

Photographing the Female is a transnational project and exhibition exploring female identity and representation in photography through the lens of contemporary image makers. Formed to reflect the diverse state, condition and role of the female around the world today, we are using the power of photography to inspire new ways of seeing and start conversation!

7 mins

Passport Alexandr Chekmenev

When I witnessed how people were living out the final years of their lives, it made a very strong impression on me. I remember a blind woman. I did not know that she was blind, so I asked her to look into the camera, but she said that she could not see. I thought why would a blind person need a passport? She did not have too much time left anyway.

2 mins

Francis Newton Souza

Ever one to question social convention and norms, Souza’s art was reflective of his strong ideals. It was not concerned with representation of truth, with questions of style and tradition, with problems of nationalism and modernism. His fundamental aim was to challenge the way art was commonly seen and understood, to redefine it, and to expand the horizons of the art scene in India—and so he did.

3 mins

Female Portraiture In Iran Parisa Damandan

Parisa Damandan remembers her portraits taken as a young girl at a local studio in Isfahan. They were snapshots of a small, shorthaired schoolgirl in uniform turning into a young girl with long straight hair and finally into one on the threshold of womanhood. Later in 1978, Iran’s new political regime swept away existing institutions and put in place harsh laws.

3 mins

Read all stories from Creative Image

Creative Image Magazine Description:

A 100-page bi-monthly art photography publication, filled with a host of features and opinion articles, on the aesthetics of photography.

Photography is one of the youngest forms of creative expression, and has seen quite a few changes in its relatively short maturing period. The purpose of Creative Image is to pick up photographs and bodies of work that are intuitive, well-explored, eloquent and offer a look inwards, as well as outwards.

The bi-monthly magazine, produced by Raghu Rai, one of India's most renowned photographers and the first Indian to become an associated of the celebrated Magnum Photos, will look at contemporary, emerging artists as well
 as legendary names. Each issue will
 be thematic and will largely cover work produced in the Indian subcontinent. There will also be showcases of works
 by one master photographer from Asia, and one master from the West, along with conceptual, nature, landscape, abstract and experimental photographers from around the world.