MHKBB posted a photo:

Camera: Hasselblad 503CW
Lens: Carl Zeiss C-Planar T* 2.8/80
Film: Ilford XP2 super 400

Szilveszter Makó’s enigmatic photographs carry layers of mystery and introspection. Standing inside curious block-like backdrops and lain against two-dimensional fields of color and texture, his subjects seamlessly meld into stories in which every detail carries intention.

Taking inspiration from art history, the Milan-based artist references Surrealism and grotesque art through his use of chiaroscuro effects via light exploration and contrasting earth tones. Similar to 20th-century Surrealist paintings, Makó’s images delve into uncanny realms and evoke a dreamlike sense of unfettered imagination. It’s no surprise that the photographer was once a painter and has suggested that these impulses may be a subconscious homage to his earlier chapters.

Mystery presents itself in Makó’s photos through tactility that’s difficult to pinpoint. Subtle but moody elements—such as grain and halation surrounding moments of brightness—point to the possibility of filmic qualities achieved by chemical reaction, rather than digital manipulation. While the photographer doesn’t divulge his specific post-production techniques, he explains, “I would not call it a secret but more of an unorthodox process… those who understand the history of analog photography could probably recognize what I am doing.”

Makó’s strong sense of style can be attributed to his distinct mise en scène, consisting of handmade props made with recycled materials, carefully constructed theatrical environments, and bold yet often sculptural garments that add visual interest through elongated lines and exaggerated silhouettes. Often highlighting designer pieces by Schapiarelli, Maison Margiela, Prada, Bottega, and more, the artist has also teamed up with more commercial names, such as Zara, and most recently, Adidas.

“When we come into the studio, everything that my team and I have prepared, like the props, the costumes, and the designs, pile up in one room,” Makó shares in a conversation with Artribune. “I like to see it all collide. As what we imagine beforehand does not always want to come together in the way we planned.”

One of the most distinguishable motifs across the artist’s images is a box. This cubic element appears in many forms—a confined space that models find themselves in, the repeating shapes that make up checkered floors, house-inspired headpieces, or, more recently, its evolution into a two-dimensional compositional element in playful flat-lay photographs. “For me, the box is both a restriction and a liberation,” Makó notes. “It centralizes the host whilst simultaneously amplifying it, preventing energy from scattering across the frame.”

While the box’s formally geometric characteristics lend itself to an evolution of order, structure, and guidance, the photographer also enthusiastically welcomes spontaneous moments, explaining that “control makes images cold and calculated, leaving much without meaning. A shoot should breathe, it should evolve, it should shock even those who are making it.”

Although Makó regularly works with a slew of well-known celebrities—such as Elle Fanning, Bad Bunny, Michelle Yeoh, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, and more—he possesses a unique ability to transcend the veil of fame, artfully translating even the most recognizable faces into something entirely of his own. He shares, “I do not treat celebrities differently from anyone else. We enter the room as equals. The set is not a hierarchy, it is a space where we work together.”

See more from the photographer on Instagram, and find his images published in editions of Vogue, The Cut, Acne Paper, Vanity Fair, GQ, and more.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Szilveszter Makó’s Surreal Photographs Reconstruct the Boundaries of Portraiture appeared first on Colossal.

Op een perron van Rotterdam Centraal vindt in de vroege morgen van donderdag 16 oktober vorig jaar een beroving plaats. De verdachte volgt het slachtoffer naar het perron en daar slaat hij toe tussen 5.46 en 6.07 uur.

Een hoogbejaarde vrouw uit Spijkenisse wordt slachtoffer van een babbeltruc. Ze wordt gebeld door een nepbankmedewerker die vraagt of haar niet iets vreemds is opgevallen tijdens het gebruik van haar bankpas. Hij beweert dat er iets mis is met haar pinpas en dat deze ook verlopen is.

Belligerent bot bullies maintainer in blog post to get its way

Today, it's back talk. Tomorrow, could it be the world? On Tuesday, Scott Shambaugh, a volunteer maintainer of Python plotting library Matplotlib, rejected an AI bot's code submission, citing a requirement that contributions come from people. But that bot wasn't done with him.…

Er is ‘witte rook’ in Brussel. Het Belgische gewest krijgt een regering van zeven partijen, zonder de Vlaams-nationalistische N-VA van premier Bart De Wever.

Met een zege op de 5.000 meter – haar tweede olympische goud – bevestigde Francesca Lollobrigida donderdag definitief de revival van het Italiaanse langebaanschaatsen. Merel Conijn won knap een zilveren medaille.

 

It’s midnight in Tokyo, it’s five o’clock in Mali
What time is it in paradise

Amadou & Mariam bezingen samen met Manu Chao de invloed van de westerse cultuur (fastfood) en de ongelijke kansen die migranten hebben in het zogenaamde vrije verkeer tussen het mondiale Noorden en de zuidelijke helft van de wereldbol.

Wij die ons land verlaten,
de kinderen van ons vaderland, mogen ons niet vergeten.
Wij die in deze situatie verkeren,
in een situatie die niemand van ons kan benoemen.
Wij die in verre landen zijn,
de kinderen van ons vaderland, mogen ons niet vergeten.

Hier de originele Franstalige tekst. En hier een Engelstalige vertaling.

Tax exile has already proven himself a terrible club owner; now his ill-informed diatribe about immigration has poured fuel on wider flames

Well I, for one, am shocked. Shocked to learn that a tax-exiled English expat who made his billions squeezing chemicals plants doesn’t have liberal, let alone accurate, views on immigration. Or at least, in public anyway.

It seems highly likely Sir Jim Ratcliffe knew what he was doing in the course of his now semi-recanted Sky News interview. And it is above all vital that at least one part of his empire of influence – football, sport, Manchester United – rejects it, as the club have done to some extent in their statement.

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Mood indigo, Daniel Heidkamp