Articles and Essays
Written works published in magazines, journals or in online media.
Highlights:
- Creator and author of Riding the Dragon online platform since 2017, including essays, reviews and interviews.
- Contributing writer of GUP Magazine (Guide to Unique Photography) print publication and online platform from 2011-18, including articles, reviews and interviews.
- Contributing writer of essays and creative texts to various artist’s books, including The Kindness of One by Margaret Lansink & Rene van Hulst and White Rabbit Fever by Maija Tammi
- Independent contributor to various platforms and publications, including TimeOut Amsterdam, John Adams Institute, TEDxAmsterdam, Contact Sheet.
Article Highlights
I write essays, reviews, and analysis in the fields of arts and particularly photography. Here is a selection of those publications.
No News Is Good News
“Do you want to go to World Press Photo and feel bad about everything?” TheWorld Press Photo exhibit, featuring the greatest hits of misery, is no exception to the rule that no news is good news.
(Riding the Dragon, 2018)
(Riding the Dragon, 2018)
Dream-Like
"'Dream-like' has become shorthand to describe a whole slew of artistic output... Yet, for all the work that’s described as 'dream-like,' I’ve had very few dreams that actually looked like those photos."
(GUP Magazine, 2012)
(GUP Magazine, 2012)
Picture or It Didn’t Happen
“As uncountable photos of bikinis and cocktails pass by my social networking streams in summer – trophy heads mounted on the wall celebrating the ‘best party ever’, souvenirs marking the sacrifices made at the altar of YOLO – I can’t help but wonder, is there anybody out there still buying into all this?”
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
Horizon Destination
“This wanting, this hole in the soul of our being, is one of the great defining features of the human condition. And images capitalise on it, exacerbate it. They feed us with more desires before we even know we’ve consumed them.”
(GUP Magazine, 2013)
(GUP Magazine, 2013)
The Decisive Moment
"Above and beyond his many iconic photographs, [Henri Cartier-Bresson's] use of a simple phrase transcended into holy verse in the context of photography: the decisive moment."
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
Pause Transition
"Pre-packaged with the camera’s ability to freeze life mid-sentence is also our implicit allowance to sacrifice the entirety of the experience to its souvenir."
(GUP Magazine, 2012)
(GUP Magazine, 2012)
The Desire to Keep
"Which is the greater loss: The loss of the photo I did not take, or the loss of the moment while wishing that I was taking a photo?"
(GUP Magazine, 2012)
(GUP Magazine, 2012)
Pain Isn’t Pretty
“If you sit with the discomfort long enough, it can transform with effort into something else. For example, ecstasy. For example, liberation. For me, what my body brews when percolating over these particular images long enough is transcendence of self.”
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
Plot Points: How Reading and Writing Have Ruined Us All
“While it’s relatively straight-forward to identify relevance in a story, expert constellation-formers that we are, here’s the rub: life is chock-full of irrelevance and we all like to play narrator.”
(Versal Blog, 2014)
(Versal Blog, 2014)
Do Drones Dream of Simulated Celebrities?
"Perhaps an integral part of human vision is the power of, and inclination towards, deception."
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
(GUP Magazine, 2015)
Nothing Is Forever Except Everything
"We are obsessed with all that is fleeting, and our chosen means of showing this appreciation is through capture."
(GUP Magazine, 2017)
(GUP Magazine, 2017)
Selfie-Obsession
"What I find interesting is all the attention that various organized media are heaping towards selfies, repeating ad nauseam the fact that the Oxford dictionary named ‘selfie’ their word of the year. Who gives a shit?"
(GUP Magazine, 2013)
(GUP Magazine, 2013)
Come Hither: A Reframed Means of Seduction
“In one sense, it’s business as usual: a man has photographed a young girl provocatively. In another sense, [Playboy] may have come to recognize that, in modern times, perhaps the most desirable woman is one who is in control over her own image.”
(GUP Magazine, 2016)
(GUP Magazine, 2016)
The Overview Effect
"Rather like the fish who doesn’t realise he’s swimming in water, our relationship with our own terrain is easy to not perceive due to its ubiquity."
(GUP Magazine, 2017)
(GUP Magazine, 2017)
Contributing Writer
Written contributions to art projects and publications.
The Kindness of One
by Margaret Lansink and Rene van Hulst (Kaunas Photography Gallery, 2019)
The Kindness of One is a book of Lansink's photography and Van Hulst's poetry, for which I wrote the introductory text.
The Kindness of One is a book of Lansink's photography and Van Hulst's poetry, for which I wrote the introductory text.
Analog Journal
Indie zine, 2013 - 2014
Analog was an independently published newspaper format creative journal, for which I wrote the introductory texts and copyedited the artist content.
Analog was an independently published newspaper format creative journal, for which I wrote the introductory texts and copyedited the artist content.
Haute Photographie (2016)
xpublishers, 2016
This is a magazine-style catalogue produced for the Haute Photographie art fair, for which I was co-Managing Editor and a contributing writer.
This is a magazine-style catalogue produced for the Haute Photographie art fair, for which I was co-Managing Editor and a contributing writer.
White Rabbit Fever
by Maija Tammi (Bromide Books, 2017)
White Rabbit Fever is a book of the eponymous project by Finnish artist-researcher Maija Tammi, for which I contributed creative texts.
White Rabbit Fever is a book of the eponymous project by Finnish artist-researcher Maija Tammi, for which I contributed creative texts.
Further reading
An extended (not comprehensive) list of my published articles, grouped by topic and sorted A-Z on title
Arts and Cultural Analysis
- An Art of Corruption (GUP Magazine, November 2014)
- Books as Symbols of Awe and Inadequacy (Riding the Dragon, July 2017)
- Celebrities on Celebrities (GUP Magazine, February 2013)
- Come Hither: A Reframed Means of Seduction (GUP Magazine, May 2016)
- Digital in Hindsight (GUP Magazine, January 2013)
- Do Drones Dream of Simulated Celebrities (GUP Magazine, May 2015)
- Dream-Like (GUP Magazine, August 2012)
- Evidence of What Did Not Happen (GUP Magazine, November 2011)
- Horizon Destination (GUP Magazine, November 2013)
- Images in the Era of Hypermedia (GUP Magazine, November 2017)
- Man in the High Castle (GUP Magazine, May 2013)
- Mores No More (GUP Magazine, December 2012)
- No News Is Good News (Riding the Dragon, July 2018)
- Nothing Is Forever Except Everything (GUP Magazine, August 2017)
- On Immortality (GUP Magazine, October 2011)
- Pain Isn't Pretty (GUP Magazine, September 2015)
- Pause Transition (GUP Magazine, November 2012)
- Picture Or It Didn't Happen (GUP Magazine, August 2015)
- Playful Minds (GUP Magazine, October 2011)
- Poison dapple? (Time Out Amsterdam, June 2012)
- Recognising the Previously Unseen (GUP Magazine, October 2014)
- Rencontres d’Arles: The Photofestival Fantasy, Fulfilled (GUP Magazine, July 2016)
- Selfie Obsession (GUP Magazine, December 2013)
- The Desire to Keep (GUP Magazine, August 2012)
- The First Photograph (GUP Magazine, December 2011)
- The Fun of Photobooks (GUP Magazine, April 2017)
- The Overview Effect (GUP Magazine, November 2017)
- War Means This! (GUP Magazine, June 2013)
- White: A Color So Universal it Became Ignorable (Medium, November 2015)
Artistic Development
- Brilliant Failures and Second Chances (Riding the Dragon, March 2018)
- Insight: The Role of a Photography Editor (Life Framer, November 2017)
- On Ruin and Loss (GUP Magazine, May 2012)
- So, What Do You Think? (GUP Magazine, June 2013)
- Worth a Thousand Words: Writing About Your Photographs (GUP Magazine, March 2014)
Essays
- Making Peace with the Machine (Riding the Dragon, March 2018)
- On Maija Tammi (Contact Sheet, July 2018)
- Plot Points: How Reading and Writing Have Ruined Us All (Versal Blog, May 2014)
- The Entrepreneur's Dilemma (Medium, July 2016)
- We are not alone. (Riding the Dragon, November 2017)
Introductions
- Introduction to GUP#44 - Raw (GUP Magazine, February 2015)
- Introduction to GUP#45 - Evolution (GUP Magazine, May 2015)
- Introduction to GUP#46 - Community (GUP Magazine, August 2015)
- Introduction to GUP#47 - The Big Ten (GUP Magazine, November 2015)
- Introduction to GUP#48 - Mixing It Up (GUP Magazine, February 2016)
- Introduction to GUP#49 - Intimacy (GUP Magazine, May 2016)
- Introduction to GUP#50 - Hidden Gems (GUP Magazine, August 2016)
- Introduction to GUP#51 - Hidden Gems (GUP Magazine, November 2016)
- Introduction to GUP#52 - Mirror (GUP Magazine, February 2017)
- Introduction to GUP#53 - Infinity (GUP Magazine, May 2017)
- Introduction to GUP#54 - Playful (GUP Magazine, August 2017)
- Introduction to GUP#55 - Wonder (GUP Magazine, November 2017)
- Introduction to GUP#56 - Transition (GUP Magazine, February 2018)
Book Reviews
- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (American Book Center Blog, October 2011)
- Aspiration by Agnes Callard (Riding the Dragon, August 2018)
- Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (American Book Center, June 2018)
- Creative Intelligence by Bruce Nussbaum (American Book Center Blog, May 2013)
- Deceit and Self-deception by Robert Trivers (American Book Center Blog, November 2011)
- Doing Valuable Time by Cheshire Calhoun (Riding the Dragon, June 2018)
- Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson (Riding the Dragon, April 2018)
- Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler (Riding the Dragon, April 2018)
- How the Body Knows Its Mind by Sian Beilock (American Book Center Blog, February 2015)
- How to Be Everything by Emilie Wapnick (Riding the Dragon, July 2018)
- In One Person by John Irving (American Book Center Blog, May 2012)
- Knowing Emotions by Rick Anthony Furtak (Riding the Dragon, July 2018)
- The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera (American Book Center Blog, September 2015)
Photobook Reviews
- 615 Jefferson Avenue by David Armstrong (GUP Magazine, August 2011)
- A Period of Juvenile Prosperity by Mike Brodie (GUP Magazine, April 2013)
- A Remote Barely Audible Evening Waltz by Max Sher (GUP Magazine, December 2013)
- Ametsuchi by Rinko Kawauchi (GUP Magazine, July 2013)
- Before Color by William Eggleston (GUP Magazine, August 2012)
- Birds of the West Indies by Taryn Simon (GUP Magazine, January 2014)
- Brutal by Michal Luczak (GUP Magazine, February 2013)
- Celebrity by Kenji Hirasawa (GUP Magazine, September 2011)
- Dennis by Ted van der Hulst (GUP Magazine, February 2017)
- Disquiet by Amani Willett (GUP Magazine, June 2013)
- Distant and Close by Alla Mirovskaya (GUP Magazine, October 2014)
- Floaters by Mayumi Hosokura (GUP Magazine, March 2015)
- Frame by Mark Cohen (GUP Magazine, February 2016)
- Gravity Is Stronger Here by Phyllis B. Dooney and Jardine Libaire (GUP Magazine, May 2017)
- Harkala by Iikka Tolonen (GUP Magazine, November 2015)
- Heartland by Thomas Hoepker (GUP Magazine, January 2014)
- Ice by Antoine d'Agata (GUP Magazine, August 2012)
- Impossible Reminiscences by Rene Burri (GUP Magazine, July 2013)
- Interrogations by Donald Weber (GUP Magazine, May 2012)
- KAZAN by Mayumi Hosokura (GUP Magazine, January 2013)
- Kodachrome by Luigi Ghirri (GUP Magazine, December 2012)
- Kolor by Elliott Erwitt (GUP Magazine, September 2013)
- Lamo Lava by Melanie Matthieu (GUP Magazine, June 2015)
- Let Me Fall Again by Julia Borissova (Riding the Dragon, July 2018)
- Lichten by Thomas Ruff (GUP Magazine, November 2014)
- Liquid Land by Rena Effendi (GUP Magazine, November 2012)
- Looking at a Most Wanted Man by Anton Corbijn (GUP Magazine, September 2014)
- No Land Called Home by Wolfgang Bellwinkel (GUP Magazine, April 2013)
- Nowhere Far by Nicholas Hughes (GUP Magazine, January 2018)
- Olympic Favela by Marc Ohrem Leclef (GUP Magazine, July 2014)
- One Another by Alisa Resnik (GUP Magazine, January 2014)
- Personal Matters by Motohiko Hasui (GUP Magazine, March 2014)
- Photojournalisms by Ed Kashi (GUP Magazine, April 2012)
- Planetes by Birgit Krause (GUP Magazine, August 2014)
- Provincial City by Atsushi Yoshie (GUP Magazine, September 2014)
- Présage by Hideyuki Ishibashi (GUP Magazine, November 2015)
- Radical Love by Toni Greaves (GUP Magazine, November 2016)
- Running to the Edge by Julia Borissova (GUP Magazine, September 2014)
- Sam Abell Library by Sam Abell (GUP Magazine, August 2013)
- Side Effects by Kacper Kowalski (GUP Magazine, April 2014)
- Skeletons in the Closet by Klaus Pichler (GUP Magazine, July 2013)
- Son by Christopher Anderson (GUP Magazine, September 2013)
- Sunlanders by Sean Lotman (GUP Magazine, January 2017)
- Tall Poppy Syndrome by Amy Stein and Stacy Arezou Mehrfar (GUP Magazine, January 2013)
- The Big Book by W. Eugene Smith (GUP Magazine, October 2013 and August 2016)
- The Country of the Rising Sun by Shinji Otani (GUP Magazine, April 2013)
- The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson (GUP Magazine, February 2015)
- The End of La Belle Epoque by Misha Pedan (GUP Magazine, August 2013)
- The Epilogue by Laia Abril (GUP Magazine, October 2014)
- The Father of Pop Dance by Tiane Doan Na Champassak (GUP Magazine, March 2013)
- The Kingdom by Stéphane Lavoué (GUP Magazine, February 2018)
- The Last Road North by Ben Huff (GUP Magazine, November 2014)
- The Voyage of Discovery by Carly Steinbrunn (GUP Magazine, October 2015)
- The Whiteness of the Whale by Paul Graham (GUP Magazine, December 2015)
- Tranquillity by Heikki Kaski (GUP Magazine, December 2014)
- Tutorial by Vendula Knopová (GUP Magazine, November 2016)
- Two Rivers by Carolyn Drake (GUP Magazine, August 2013)
- Untouched by Guy Bourdin (GUP Magazine, January 2018)
- Walden by S.B. Walker (GUP Magazine, April 2017)
- Welcome to Camp America by Debi Cornwall (GUP Magazine, September 2017)