We’re extremely excited to see the response to the Swap Shop global participation project with Magnum Photos.
With more images being made and shared than ever before, creating work that matters has never been more important. Having a vision and a voice, has never been more important. The Swap Shop project connects and celebrates those who are harnessing the power of creating images that tell a story, asks questions, or challenge us to see the world with curious eyes.
To celebrate this we’ll be showcasing some of the images as they come in to the Swap Shop project, along with short statements by the photographers about their work.
See the latest selection below:
Michael Goldrei:
“In the six years I’ve been shooting street photography (that is, photography that is candid and not staged) this is the photo I come back to the most. Thanks to the draped towels, the woman’s shape, the variety of colours, and the backdrop of the baths in Budapest in which I took it, I still like to think about everything that is going on in it and about what may have happened before and after this moment was frozen in time.”
James Robertson:
“I shot this image in Bamyan Afghanistan in 2012 when Mahdi, and several other boys, joined us while we were skiing on the slopes above his village. There isn’t a history of skiing in Bamyan so his skis are based on those of the increasing numbers of western skiers that have visited the area as part of efforts to reinvigorate and expand the local tourism industry, but made from whatever he could source from the bazaar.”
Jack Allan:
“This photograph of Madeleine was inspired by looking at the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, in particular ‘The Milkmaid’. The styling was Madeleine’s own choice, and I found these strong reds paired well with the blue tile and bare wall during her kitchen spaces refit.”
Mick Buston:
“I walked to my local coffee shop, Espressini Dulce, here in Falmouth, Cornwall. There were a lot of customers in this particular afternoon, and I sat on a little stool tucked away by the counter observing the scene. Shadows of figures at the table outside moved across the steamed up window of the shop and the graphical nature make me grab my camera.”
Stephen Leslie:
“The thing I love most about this photograph, other than the quality of light and colour you get with medium format is that, to me, it seems timeless. Take a closer look, when was it taken? There’s no mobile phones, no modern advertising, nothing to ground it at all, it could have been shot in 1970 or 1980 or, in fact, 2014.”
