Sheldon Serkin Archives - TheAppWhisperer

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 29 September 2019

29/09/201929/09/2019 by Joanne Carter

Susan lived “in constant terror that [her mother] would withdraw suddenly and arbitrarily.” […] In the house she grew up in, love was not given unconditionally. Instead, it was extended temporarily, only to be dropped at will: a winnerless game whose rules the girl learned far too well. I am currently reviewing new literature by Benjamin Moser, a heavy tome of a book, entitled “Sontag: Her Life and Work”, sent to me by Allen Lane the publishers and a subsidiary of Penguin Books. I’ve not finished this book, not by a long way (yet). This week has been a tough one personally, not least with the resurgence of early years’ abuse, which actually coincided while I was reading the beginning chapters of this book and I’ve been staggered at some of the similarities with my own early life, as it pushed me back. I experienced much the same but was also berated for it and when it returned again this week, out of the blue, I struggled to climb out of the misery I felt. Fortunately or unfortunately I had other more pressing distressing problems to cope with and these took priority and I think that helped, funny how things work out. Of course, I will publish the full review of this book, in due course, but it will require two or three reads first. What I would say is Sontag was a controversial figure, but I have always truly admired her work. Unlike Sontag, I do know exactly what my feelings are and in respect of mobile photography and art, my perspective is demonstrated brilliantly in this weeks showcase. Enjoy!

Thank you to all the talented artists for submitting your works to our showcase this week. If you would like your work to be considered for entry in to our weekly Mobile Photography and Art Flickr Group, please submit it to our dedicated group, here. You can also submit images to our Instagram tag for this section #theappwhisperer.

@pause.and.breathe – Susan Latty, @ringuin – Dieter Gaebel, @elizabadoiu – Eliza Badoiu, @patragraphy, schwitter.li – Liliana Schwitter, @christinemignon – Christine Mignon, @mitrydate – , @clixit2020 – Clint Cline, @loveanalogcollage1 – Jen, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Deborah McMillion, Cintia Malhotra, Sergiy Beliayev, Lorenka Campos, Hanni K, Sheldon Serkin, Jun Yamaguchi, Russ Merz, Robin Robertis, Rita Colantonio, Jeremy Cassell, Sherrianne100, Karen Axelrad, Lindy Ginn, Laila, Ginaluca Ricoveri, Judy Wahlberg, p.a.hamel, Susan Rennie, Rob Pearson-Wright, Clint Cline, Linda Hollier, @imaco57 – Isabel Afonso, Sandra Martins – Violet, Clarisse Debout, @berleyart – Kim Clayton, Sukru Mehmet Omur, ja_graham – Jennifer Graham, clau_clara, @harkinjoyce – Joyce Harkin, @rkreationsmi, Ilise Harris, hedgehogstudio – Julie Denning, @wallopart.

Music this week is by Laura Doggett entitled ‘Old Faces’

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 30 June 2019

30/06/2019 by Joanne Carter

Her body is “like a car that you park in the projects, you don’t leave anything valuable in it ’cause you can’t keep it from being broken into,” a frustrating but all to realistic quote from ‘Baise-moi’ (1993) a novel by Virginie Despentes. The quote calmly describes her friend who was gang-raped, she reasons, ‘at least they left her alive‘. The book itself is about two young women on a revenge sex and killing spree following the gang rape. The author, Despentes, herself was gang raped at 17 and had a knife in her pocket at the time but was too terrified to use it. She writes in her memoir ‘King Kong Theory’, 2006, “I am furious with a society that has educated me without ever teaching me to injure a man if he pulls my thighs apart against my will, when that same society has taught me that this is a crime from which I will never recover,”. I am not trying to set the scene for a rant here, merely frustratingly mentioning that living a life as a man is a wholly different experience to living life as a woman. Art, for so many is a sanctuary and a necessity and I fiercely guard everyone’s entitlement to it. Some artists get distracted with soul-sucking tasks to make money, it’s a necessary evil. What I see here every single week, are the heftiest and most fascinating inspirational artists. I make this statement not with empty braggadocio but without falsity. This weeks showcase results in an allegory that feels elevated. This is multi-dimensional story telling, of real people because this is what is required, so we can luxuriate in the crevices of our emotional rational irrationality. Enjoy!

Anca Balaj, Clarisse Debout, klimtt – M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Jane Schultz, Mazetman – Monsieur Georges, berleyart – Kim, Niels Brunelli – @niels_b, acciental_artist3 – Ransom Candice, Rosa Perry, Loulou Buntbein, Rita Colantonio, Linda Hollier, Deborah McMillion, Jun Yamaguchi, Lorenka Campos, Albion Harrison-Naish, Damian De Souza, Fleur Schim, David DeNagel, Peter Wilkin, Sheldon Serkin, Alexey Amelyushkin, Jeremy Cassell, Karen Axelrad, Susan Detroy, Clint Cline, woltarise, Rob Pearson-Wright, Yasuo Furue, Laila, Judy Wahlberg, Susan Rennie, Gianluca Ricoveri, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, jilllian2 – Jill Lian, Deborah Field.

Music this week is ‘True Intimacy’ by Leah West

Mobile Photography & Art – Tickle Your Fancy #64

22/06/201922/06/2019 by Joanne Carter

Welcome back to our sixty fourth post in our Tickle Your Fancy section. Tickle Your Fancy includes a round-up of between ten to twelve key links to articles from around TheAppWhisperer over the past few two weeks, ones you may, by chance, have missed.

Just to explain the title for this section Tickle Your Fancy is an English idiom and essentially means that something appeals to you and perhaps stimulates your imagination in an enthusiastic way, we felt it would make a great title for this new section of the site.

Artists cited include: Susan Maxwell Schmidt, Clarisse Debout, Oola Cristina, Deborah Field, Deborah McMillion, Yariv Weinberg, Karen Axelrad, Kathy Clay, Sergiy Beliayev, Catherine Caddigan, Gianluca Ricoveri, Susan Rennie, Lorenka Campos, Damian De Souza, Jun Yamaguchi, borisbschulz2009, Catherine Caddigan, Arko Rayhan, Susan Detroy, Peter Wilkin, Laila, Paul Yan, Dragan Fly, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Clint Cline, Enio Godoy, Lydia Cassatt, Rita Colantonio, Kate Zari Roberts, Sheldon Serkin, Nick Kenrick, Tomaso Belloni, Eleni Gemeni, Jormain Cady, Elaine Taylor, Shelley Benjamin, M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Dr Christophe Christ, Sandra B Martins – Violet Martins, Rita Colantonio, Deborah McMillion, Lisa Mitchell, Dale Botha, Catherine Caddigan.

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 16 June 2019

16/06/2019 by Joanne Carter

“To be excellent at anything, it must cost you something“, a direct quote from ‘In Pieces’ by Sally Field. A book that she spent seven years writing, without ghost writers, unusual for her circle. This book made me weep this week. It’s a beautifully written intimate memoir as well as a gut wrenching self portrait, bordering on a personal investigation. Now at 71, Field felt the compelling need to assemble her fragmented past. Contrast that with ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney, another book I have been reading, a future classic by all accounts and a book the BBC are working on for a new tv drama. It’s a story written in less than one year, showing what it is to be young and in love at any time. It too bought me to tears. I’m always quite close, the price we pay… Whilst putting together this weeks mobile photography and art showcase, each carefully chosen image is so fascinating, assuming and expressing the status of work of art. I like to think of these images as characters I compose with and elevate them to stage, with a realist meticulousness and luscious concern for detail, invoking a narrative of uncommon richness and intensity with a radical reframing of the purpose. Enjoy.

Susan Maxwell Schmidt, Clarisse Debout, Oola Cristina, Deborah Field, Deborah McMillion, Yariv Weinberg, Karen Axelrad, Kathy Clay, Sergiy Beliayev, Catherine Caddigan, Gianluca Ricoveri, Susan Rennie, Lorenka Campos, Damian De Souza, Jun Yamaguchi, borisbschulz2009, Catherine Caddigan, Arko Rayhan, Susan Detroy, Peter Wilkin, Laila, Paul Yan, Dragan Fly, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Clint Cline, Enio Godoy, Lydia Cassatt, Rita Colantonio, Kate Zari Roberts, Sheldon Serkin, Nick Kenrick, Tomaso Belloni, Eleni Gemeni, Jormain Cady, Elaine Taylor, Shelley Benjamin, M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Dr Christophe Christ, Sandra B Martins – Violet Martins.

Music this week is ‘Silver Bullet’ ©Alpha

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 2 June 2019

03/06/201902/06/2019 by Joanne Carter

As humans, we have the unique ability of utilising our skill of habit, to our own disadvantage. We can fail to take note of what is always around us. Thus, we suffer emotionally because we lose sight of the value of what we have and then yearn for imagined attractions elsewhere. We live on auto pilot. As an example, if you think back, to when first learning to ride a bicycle, we become hyper aware of everything, as we sit on the saddle and place one foot on a pedal and the other on the ground, to steady us. As we try to push off and bring up the other foot to its pedal, we are acutely conscious of everything that is going on, we’re highly alert to sound, light, movement, balance and speed. But, after years of practice, we then jump on a bicycle and it’s possible to ride and ride without thinking consciously about changing gears, balancing, breaking or indicating. Our actions become a part of subconsciousness. And it is this autopilot being that can become our misfortune because, we begin to hardly register the important things. So instead of editing out the lesser things, enabling us to concentrate on the road, which is crucial in my example, we end up editing out elements of the world that have so much to offer us. But it is art that can bring us back to a more accurate assessment of what is valuable by working against our habit of autopilot and inviting us to recalibrate what we admire or love. This is called, Appreciation. When an artist creates an image, of an everyday item, objects that we encounter on a daily basis, when we view this image of those same items in a gallery, or look at them in a photograph, our attention is arrested and directed, we start to pay more attention to their shape, design, colour, we see them, as if for the first time. And despite this modest example, in time, we learn to look with kinder and more alert eyes at the world around us. One of the powers of Art is that it enables us to reawaken and value the merit of lives we live.

You’ll see plenty of examples in this weeks Mobile Photography and Art Showcase, as each artists utilises art as a re-sensitisation tool and helps us recover our own sensitivity by finding new ways to view the old. Enjoy!

Poetic Medium, Sheldon Serkin, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Gianluca Ricoveri, Clare Pickett, Ian Clarke, Catherine Caddigan, Oola Cristina, Jun Yamaguchi, Enoi Godoy, Eduardo Mueses, Lorenka Campos, Laila, Deborah McMillion, Jeremy Cassell, Jormain Cady, Song Hui, Anastasia Potekhina, Clint Cline, Rita Colantonio, jillian2 – Jill Lian, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Damian De Souza, Kathy Clay, Judy Wahlberg, Susan Rennie, Michael Hamments, Kate Zari Roberts, Filiz Ak, Amy Ecenbarger, M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Becky Menzies, Carol Wiebe, Peter Wilkin.

Music this week is ‘A Love Song’ by Xenia Dunford

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr/Instagram Group Showcase – 10 March 2019

10/03/2019 by Joanne Carter

Why does anything exist at all? I’m an optimistic, don’t worry, but it’s a question which we all spend our lives trying, increasingly strenuously to avoid. Human life, is always held up against the massive fact of nature, impervious and indifferent to man. If we knew our exact end of life date, would we live our lives differently? When humans have brushed up close to death, they do live differently. I know that I do. I was lucky to survive at 24 years old with very serious liver tumours and luck really did play the main part in my survival. Consequently, I have felt on borrowed time ever since, I may live to be 101 like Dorothea Tanning, however it’s most unlikely, I have a short shelf life. But the great virtue of living to that age, is that you get lots of bites of the cherry, you can keep readjusting your career, keep coming back, keep reinventing yourself. This weeks mobile photography & art showcase is a colossal Kubrickian symphony of images, I am an evangelist for it, enjoy! I’m off to Amsterdam this week for a few days, I’ll fill you in on that, post NDA, have a wonderful week everyone, keep creating, live everyday as your last, as I do.

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Peter Wilkin, David DeNagel, nini_nini, Barbara Nebel, Catherine Caddigan, Ioannis Sidiropoulos, Cristina Rossi, Clare Pickett, Ritacall, Paul Yan, Allyson Marie, Candice Railton, Albion Harrison-Naish, Karen Axelrad, Gianluca Ricoveri, Kate Zari Roberts, p.a. hamel, borisbschulz2009, Gina Costa, Susan Rennie, Jun Yamaguchi, Clint Cline, Sheldon Serkin, woltarise, Arko Rayhan, Deborah McMillion, Ade Santora, Vadim Demjianov, Lydia Cassatt, Fleur Schim, Lorenka Campos, Linda Hollier, Tricia Dewey.

Music this week is ‘Everytime I go’ by Sarah Sample

Mobile Photography Awards Eighth Annual Awards – Results!

05/02/2019 by Joanne Carter

We’re delighted to reveal that the Mobile Photography Awards (MPA) 2018 Results have now been announced. As always the wealth of talent displayed across our screens is phenomenal. This year there has been more entries to this competition than ever before and the quality of submissions has been totally outstanding across all the categories.

Huge congratulations and thanks to the Mobile Photography Awards founder, Daniel Berman and also to the jury, including, James Bacchi, Annette Schultz, Evengy Tchetbotarev, Elaine Taylor, Brendan O Se, Sheldon Serkin, Andy Bulter and Alon Goldsmith.

I have listed every first prize winner, with their winning image as well as each and every runner up for all sections of this competition below. Huge congratulations to you all!

Mariusz Majewski, Eric Mueller, Trevor Messersmith, Joshua Sarinana, Agnieszka Domanska, Waldemar Nowak, Sally Ann Field, Patryk Kuleta, Nobuko Kmiya, Jedrzej Franek, Glenn Homann, Arik Chan, Vesna Luketic, Jose Paulo Andrade, Cara Gallardo Weil, Piroska Boros, Hanqing Qu, Jinhui Wang, RanXingZhi Duan, Xiao Yi Lee, Pierre Hauser, Carles Cosa Parareda, Chunlei Wang, Benny Lau, Keran Wang, Lee Atwell, Song Han, Mandy NG, Mateusz Kubien, Luu, Zoe Chen, Timofey Rodchenkov, Mary Grace Montives, Glenn Homann, Joseph Cyr, Jose-Luis Barcia Fernandez, Rodrigo Vieira, Dina Alfasi, Lea Munjone, Lisabeth Armstrong, Laurence Bouchard, Pier Luigi Dodi, Ileana Montano, Douwe Dijkstra, Dominika Koszowska, Jeanette Serrat, Bartosz Parzyszek, Chong Kok Yew, Andrew Love, Yongmei Wang, Teresa Wang, Eduardo Lopez Moreno, Mohd Zaini Mohd Ariff, Zhang Yihan, Demetrio Jereissati, Dan Liu, SiuMing Chan, Linh Nguyen, Fabiana Costa, Benny Lau, Luis Figeuroa, Robin Robertis, Heather McAlister, Kerryn Benbow, Trevor Messersmith, Lorenka Campos, Marco Prado, Jane Schultz, Nadine Benichou, Juta Jazz, Vladka Kocvarova, Viki Murray, Jill Booker, M. Cecilia Sao Thiago, Eleni Gemini, P A Hamel, Jo Sullivan, David DeNagel, Sasa Prizmic, Laurie Higashi, Kamil Konrad Kawczynski, Dominika Koszowska, Morten Urfe, Liu Bo, Olympia Montaldo, Tim Day, Dan Liu, Natalia Garces, Benny Lau, Joanna Cykowska, Yun Thwaits, Paddy Chao, Lucas Baldissera, Mariko Klug, Yingting Shih, Nicolas Xanthos, Leandro Selister, Dominika Koszowska, Mary Wray, Liz Anderson, Suwandi Chandra, Iam Amanda, Nancy Quach, Kinayatova Meruyert, Oleksandra Vlasiuk, Dan Liu, Chunlei Wang, Amarate Tansawet, Halina Lubas, Leanne Weber, Issac Rodriguez, Will Jawde, Jack Schim, Sheila McKinney, Debbie Cooper, Candice Dutton, Kevin Spencer, Charles Needle, Jarek Bryla, Piroska Boros, Rosie Karel, Kerstin Klinner, Ellen Kemper, James Bush, Bo Peng, Monica Castenetto, Li Wang, Rick Ruggles, Jeff Feeny, Benny Lau, John Strauss, Mandy Ng, Judd Ducios, Unai Momomito, Scott Galloway, Pirjo Laisalmi, Julia Gilbert, Mariko Klug, Simon Clarke, Irene Oleksiuk, Unai Momoitio, Tim Creamer, Kimberly Post, Kate Zari Roberts, Deena Berton, Robin Robertis, Joanna Kegel, Suwandi Chandra, Teemu Laulajainen, Liu Bo, Claudio Marchionne, Frederic Deschenes, Chen Che, Enrique Gonzalez, Colin Howskins, Dan Liu, Wei Lin, Cathrine Halsor, Hong Wan, Eduardo Vaquero, Genesis Morlabaez, Liu Bo, Anthony Palacios, Mary Grace Montives, Dixon Hamby, Tommy Wallace, Leandro Selister, William Carito, Jason Greene, Pascal Davis, Rosie Kerel, Hlaing Myint Min, William Shum, Vivi Paulson, Yuexiang Wang, Huapeng Zhao, Li Yongkang, Kathleen Mazzocco, Tyrone Rodovalho, Zay Yar Lin, Min Min Zaw, Paddy Chao, Leigh Darilek, Erik Lieber, Dave Webb, Mariana Sivakova, Evgeny Biyatov, Hlaing Myint Min, Eduardo Lopez Moreno, Shi Sun, Enrique Gonzalez, Fu Jian Guo, Hao Yao, SiuMing Chang, Tyronne Rodovalho, Laura Hashimoto, Zay Yar Lin, Robert Pearson-Wright, Tunde Valkovics, Satish Radhakrishna, Tim Bingham, Luis Rodriguez, Nico Brons, Karen Izenberg, Rad Drew, Leigh Darilek, Cindy Buske, Jennifer Downing, Joao Batsta Sousa, Jinhui Wang, Lee Smith, Li Yongkang, Russ Quackenbush, Zay Yar Lin, Joanna Cykowska, Mona Nordoy, David Ringelheim, Lily Smyth, Zhang Yihan, Marianna Maksimova, Josee Houde, Nubia Navarro, Damian Kostka, Chong Kok Yew, Evgeny Biyatov, Vince Keresnyei, Gustavo Torres, Jormain Cady, Hao Yao, Colin Hoskins, Song Han, Bikash Rai, Joel Wothington, Tuba Korhan, Cristina Ghilan, Katie Teixeira, Damian Kostka, Po-Yi Li, Pai Hsiao, Teemu Laulajainen, Fleur Schim, Tommy Vohs, Jie Jiang, Yvonne Lu, Kat McClelland, Chuniei Wang, Nicole Christophe, Laurence Bouchard, Jose Luis Barcia Fernandez, Unai Momoitio, Marco Prado, Wang Jian, Douwe Dijkstra, Katarzyna Steblewicz-Plak, Ocean Morisset, Yongmei Wang, Moin Ahmed, Ana Fernandez Quiros, Mario Perez, Xiao Yi Lee, SiuMing Chan, Song Han, Kimberley Wallis, Yiannis Yiasaris, Karen Izenberg, Manuela Mato Monteiro, Gianluca Ricoveri, Alessandro Comandini, Trevor Messersmith, Lynne Daley, Liz Anderson, Teemu Laulajainen, Charles Hively, Amy Ecenbarger, Yuexiang Wang, Lee Smith, Huapeng Zhao, Fu Jian Guo, Melissa Fraser, Nicole Bradbery, Malani Jones, Nobuko Kmiya, Nico Brons, Lisabeth Armstrong, Isabela Pereira, Roy Pan, Anirudh Koppula, Maureen Haldeman, Ted McElroy, Joanna Cykowska, Marina Chrysou, Tee Lip Lim, Tommy Wallace, Agnieska Domanska, Claudine Watanabe, Karen Izenberg, Magdalena De Jonge Malucha, Mariusz Majewski, Richard Barron, Dayen Huang, Liu Bo, Sugiman Widodo, William Shum, Yuexiang Wang, Lee Smith, Demetrio Jereissati, Carles Costa Parareda, Jeff Feeny, Smita Rakshit, Ben Cooper, Juan Carlos Pinto, Luis Figueroa, Judd Ducios, Catriona Donagh, Katrina Stewart, Silvio Rusmigo, Soemyint Winn, Shelby Wilson, Suwandi Chandra, Andrea Dixon, Evgeny Biyatov, Pyae Phyo Thet Paing, William Shum, Roi Shomer, David Kelly, Mateusz Gorny, Chunlei Wang, Zay Yar Lin, Amarate Tansawet, Min Min Zaw, Paddy Chao, Rennee Clark, Timofey Rodchenkov, Moon Park, Christine Sobsczak, Trevor Messersmith, Kamil Konrad Kawczynski, Patricia Leeds, Viki Murray, Amadeusz Jackiewicz, Amanda Parker, Jen McKenzie, Peggy Taylor Reid, Katrina Stewart, Sheila McKinney, Morten Urle, Suwandi Chandra, Rosa Yip, Pai Hsiao, Liu Bo, Mohd Zaini Mohd Ariff, Yuexiang Wang, Shi Sun, Shawn Halsey, Wilhelm Schurmann, Lee Smith, Neng Thanh Toen, Tim Day, Elliot Fergusan, Yihan Zhang, Zena Holloway, Sean Hutchinson, Mimmi Moretti, Alessandra Doederlein, Candice Dutton, Graham Macfarlane.

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr Group Showcase – 6 January 2019

06/01/2019 by Joanne Carter

There’s much humour to be had at my nightstand, not least in the morning when my husband duels with balancing fresh coffee on the piles of books and there’s a particular book, which I feel should be on every woman’s nightstand ‘Milk and Honey’ by Rupi Kaur. It’s a book of poetry, about healing and hope, discussing themes of love and loss, bringing about an enlightened self. Kaur ends the book with a tender love letter to her readers, thus reads “you have made it to the end. With my heart in your hands. Thank you. For arriving here safely. For being tender with the most delicate part of me. Sit down. Breathe. You must be tired. Let me kiss your hands. Your eyes. They must be wanting of something sweet. I am sending you all my sugar. I would be nowhere and nothing if it were not for you. But was too afraid to be. Do you have any idea how much of a miracle you are? How lovely it’s been and how lovely it will always be? I am kneeling before you. Saying thank you. I am sending my love to your eyes. May they always see goodness in people and may you always practice kindness. May we see each other as one. May we be nothing short of in love with everything the universe has to offer and may we always stay grounded. Rooted. Our feet planted firmly onto the earth”. This book will certainly not be everybody’s cup of tea, I know that and I am overlooking it. If it helps just one of you, then I am happy to mention it here.

Thank you to all the talented artists for submitting your works to our showcase this week, it’s one of true splendor. If you would like your work to be considered for entry in to our weekly Mobile Photography and Art Flickr Group, please submit it to our dedicated group, here.

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Aylin Argun, Bob Weil, Kat McClelland, Deborah McMillion, Jean Hutter, Sheldon Serkin, Jun Yamaguchi, Candice Railton, Borisbschulz2009, Lorenka Campos, Kerry Mitchell, Oola Cristina, Mim … Kate Zari Roberts, Chad Rankin, Ger van den Elzen, jillian2 – Jill Lian, Francesco Sambati, Michael Beresin, Tomaso Belloni, Poetic Medium, Rob Pearson-Wright, Jean Hutter, Maurizio Zanetti, Y F, Candice Railton, KalterFisch, Clint Cline, Paul Yan, soul_engine, Juta Jazz, Kathy Clay, Eduardo Llerandi, Fleur Schim, Susan Rennie, Gianluca Ricoveri, Amo Passicos, Andreas L, Rita Colan…, Loulou Buntbein, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Hanni K, Luison.

Music this week is ‘Through the Winter’ by The Woodlands

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr Group Showcase – 18 November 2018

18/11/201818/11/2018 by Joanne Carter

I believe there’s now a universal dilemma we suffer, that feels like a personal problem. We all have so many friends, just look on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, they’re all there but yet so many of us wander ‘lonely as a cloud’ and feel disconnected from our species. I believe it’s important not to collect friends, like trophies but truly value the ones that enhance our lives, bring smiles to our faces and warmth to our hearts. We know that none of our relationships are fixed in perpetuity, letting people go, is as important as keeping them close. But when they leave us, as their lives end, it’s hard to keep the door ajar, so those we once cherished can walk back in. One dear friend, who has passed, used to phone me several times a week, the phone is not my first means of communication. I can’t hear well so it’s not without it’s issues but it was the best way for her to communicate, so I perserved and found using my bluetooth headphones and digital aids, connected to my phone, a great solution. Now she’s gone and I really want to talk to her and I can’t, I really want and need to talk to someone…, not too close… and this is a very modern day problem. So many of my friends communicate with their art, their self-expression is clearly evident in this weeks mobile photography and art showcase and I love them all for it. The answer to this universal dilemma lies in not blaming others, or the advent of technology but in taking action. The joy of the cadence of a friend’s speech and the excitement of a conversation about something unanticipated is something to be relished albeit deeply desired.

Thank you to all artists for submitting your works. If you would like your work to be considered for entry in to our weekly Mobile Photography and Art Flickr Group, please submit it to our dedicated group, here.

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Lydia Cassatt, Candice Railton, Enio Godoy, Clare Pickett, Maarten Oorwijn, Catherine Caddigan, aka Tman, Lorenka Campos, Sheldon Serkin, Jun Yamaguchi, Clint Cline, Poetic Medium, Deborah McMillion, Barbara Nebel, Julia Nathanson, Tomaso Belloni, Gianluca Ricoveri, Gina Costa, Kate Zari Roberts, jilllian2 – JIll Lian, p.a. hamel, Susan Rennie, Jane Schultz – before.1st.light, Catherine Caddigan, Fleur Schim, Fiona Christian, Jo Sullivan, Ile Mont, woltarise.

Mobile Photography & Art – Flickr Group Showcase – 11 November 2018

11/11/2018 by Joanne Carter

‘Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism‘ what perfect timing, if you pardon the pun. Kristen R Ghodsee has published a thoroughly researched exploration proclaiming that capitalism is bad for women. She argues, adopting some ideas from socialism ‘women will have better lives’ and of course, this includes sex. Ghodsee, an acclaimed ethnographer and professor of Russian and East European Studies, spent years researching what happened to women in countries that transitioned from state socialism to capitalism. In this book, she analysed many facets of a woman’s life – work, parenting, sex and relationships, community and authority. One chapter, entitled “Women: Like Men, But Cheaper,” she discusses women in the workplace, deliberating all things from wage gaps to harassment and discrimination. In “What To Expect When You’re Expecting Exploitation,” she addresses motherhood and how “having it all” is impossible under capitalism. With regards ‘better’ sex, naturally it is hard to substantiate, many cultural factors come into play but what’s interesting is her theory that less inequity decommodifies sex, undermining the odious theory of ‘sexual economics’ as she describes, whereby, women raise the ‘price’ of sex by denying it. She explains “in societies with high levels of gender equality, with strong protections for reproductive freedom, and with large social safety nets, women almost never have to worry about the price their sex will fetch on an open market.” As we are increasingly told this is ‘the year of women’ which I find patronising and as we do rise up and speak out against abusive relationships and gain increased support to leave, perhaps this is enabling sexual freedom? In these trying times, she ends the book with “we can share our attentions without quantifying their value, giving and receiving rather than selling and buying.” It struck me, as I read this book, how much the latter sentence I shared co-relates with our mobile photography and art community. How much we give to each other, how much we share, how much we embrace one another and how much we realign our own art society ensuring that each one of us feels equal to the other. This much we do know and it’s clear to see in this weeks Flickr Group Mobile Photography and Art Showcase, enjoy!

Many congratulations to the following artists for being featured this week:

Woltarise, Song Hui, Debara’ Splendorio, Luison, Sergiy Beliayev, Scott Simpson, HQME, Francesco Sambati, Robert Eckhardt, Liliana Schwitter, David Hayes, Amy Ecenbarger, Tomaso Belloni, No Photographer, Livingsta, Mimages, Marina Sergeevna, Oola Cristina, Y F, Sherrianne100, Erik Viggh, AlexandraPhotos, Karen Axelrad, pineider, Sheldon Serkin, Poetic Medium, Cecily Mariece Caceu, Dadi Gylfason, Fleur Schim, Fiona Christian, Kathy Clay, Candice Railton, Gianluca Ricoveri, Catherine Caddigan, Lindy Ginn, Vadim Demjianov, Trish G, Susan Rennie, Clint Cline, before.1st.light – Jane Schultz, Corbicus Maximus, Dieuwke Geervliet, R K, Milly M, Hanni K, TheiPhoneArtGirl – Meri Walker, Jun Yamaguchi, Lorenka Campos, Eduardo Llerandi, Chhororo.

Music this week is ‘Ghost’ by Jacob Lee