2019 North Shore Salon

Delighted to win a plethora of awards including seven medals at this year’s North Shore Salon! “Don’t enter again please” said one of the volunteers who helped out on the opening night…

“I am very excited to win these prestigious awards” says Ilan. “I am a portrait photographer, so winning both Gold and Silver in the People category is especially meaningful to me. I first entered this wonderful competition in 2010”, says Wittenberg “and it’s a big honour even to get an Acceptance”.

Established in 1995 by the North Shore Photographic Society [NSPS], the North Shore National Salon of Photography aims to promote the art of photography in New Zealand through a respectful and inspiring annual event. Founded in 1954, the NSPS has 150 members ranging from amateurs to professionals and from beginners to experts. Affiliated with the Photographic Society of New Zealand, it is part of a network of photographic clubs and societies across New Zealand. Each year, the Salon has run a competition for New Zealand photographers, with the 2019 Salon attracting 1,800 entries from 600 entrants including members from 33 photographic clubs and societies from Whangarei to Southland and overseas. The Salon convenes independent panels of six selectors to judge entries in various categories such as Impressionism, Scapes, People, Open, Abstract, Fantasy, Street Photography, Monochrome and Colour.

All awarded prints and digital images will be publicly exhibited at Mairangi Arts Centre and all accepted photographs are reproduced in a beautiful printed catalogue. The show is currently exhibited at Mairangi Art Centre until June 17 – entry is free.

Where
Mairangi Bay Art Centre, 20 Hastings Rd, Mairangi Bay, Auckland

When
Mon-Fri 9:30am-4pm
Sat-Sun 10am-2pm

2019 North Shore Salon of Photography

Gold medal – 2019 North Shore Salon – People category, print

Silver Medal – 2019 North Shore Salon – People category, print

Silver Medal – 2019 North Shore Salon – Street Category, digital

Silver Medal – 2019 North Shore Salon – Scapes category, print

Bronze Medal – 2019 North Shore Salon – Scapes category, print

Honours – 2019 North Shore Salon – Street category, digital

Acceptance – 2019 North Shore Salon – Street category, digital

Honours – 2019 North Shore Salon – Open category, digital

Acceptance – 2019 North Shore Salon – Open Monochrome, print

Honours – 2019 North Shore Salon – People category, print

Highly Commended – 2019 North Shore Salon – Open category, digital

Honours – 2019 North Shore Salon – Open category, digital

Bronze Medal – 2019 North Shore Salon – Open Colour category, print

Bronze Medal – 2019 North Shore Salon – Open Monochrome category, print

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Drought

Drought © Ilan Wittenberg 2018 Limited Edition of 9 + 2AP

This image represents drought. Climate change has brought drastic changes to many regions on earth. Global warming is causing severe drought. Huge areas that were once fertile are no longer suitable for agriculture. Millions of people are already impacted by these catastrophic changes. A deadly civil war in Syria has erupted when the government decreased the allocation of irrigation water to farmers. Vast regions in Iran are no longer cultivated and the population is helpless. They cannot grow any fruits or vegetables. The earth is dry and so is the woman’s skin, both are cracked. The woman is bare, she is completely exposed – just like our land. This is a desperate call to stop the devastating impact of industrial pollution on our planet.

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Woman with a Musket

Nat Hugill

Sarah-Lee

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Davi Santos

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Kristine Green

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Woman on a Tree

Gold Award – NZIPP 2019 Iris Awards

Woman on a Tree is an exploration of opposing forces: life and death, young and old, power and vulnerability, soft and hard. Its pertinence lies in the symbolism of contradictions. Contradictions are all around us.

Humans continue to exploit and overwhelm the natural environment with industrial pollution despite global warming, and its ever present impact on earth. The dead tree, scarred from fires, represents mother nature’s vulnerability to the forces we inflict upon her. I explore the paradox that humanity needs trees to live, yet we keep cutting them down. Despite the beautiful environment being subject to incessant abuse, western society considers itself to be thriving, ignorant to greater issues.

The interaction between the human form and the tree is like a love dance. An intimate moment, where the body caresses the tree and with that, offers a gentle apology, a moment of compassion. Humans can empathise with nature’s scars. We have scars too. Some are visible and others are hidden: scars from neglect, abuse, addiction or violence. We have the power to conceal our scars yet the tree is forever exposed.

This woman is bare, reflecting the state of the tree. Demonstrating that despite paradoxical contradictions which taint our relationship with earth, we can still find comfort, as she does here. Comfort in one’s skin and comfort in the company of nature. The story that accompanies this piece invites the viewer to reflect on their own identity politics, creating a moment to contemplate our complex relationship with nature.

I depict the woman in her most natural state, one with nature. By embracing the human form in all its glory and portraying the woman and tree side by side, it is my vision that the viewer embraces nature as a precious ephemeral organism that needs to be cherished and protected.

Bare Truth Interview

Freckles

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

2018 Auckland Photographer of the Year

Delighted to win the prestigious title: 2018 Auckland Photographer or the Year by the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography! The award goes to the Auckland and Northland NZIPP member with the highest accumulated score from their four top prints in the annual NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards. Held in Wellington this year, the Iris Awards is New Zealand’s only professional photography competition. The aim of these print awards is to recognise and honour the best in contemporary photography from New Zealand and overseas. The awards showcase cutting-edge imagery and top, creative photographic talent. They celebrate the excellence, providing a platform for recognition within the industry and the wider public. The event also raises the profile of photography throughout New Zealand, providing an annual showcase of superb imagery and creative photographic talent. It provides an excellent opportunity for photographers to gain widespread exposure for the fruits of their creative efforts. The Iris Awards are open to all photographers in New Zealand and to members of approved overseas professional photography organisations by entering up to 10 prints across a range of categories. All prints are judged in an open forum over a three-day period, the best of which are awarded gold, silver and bronze awards.

Here is a collection from Ilan award winning prints:

Cracked
“It took more than two hours to apply the paste onto Alicia when small pieces started falling apart. I love the sad look in her eyes!” The two each other online and began brainstorming ideas for a portrait photograph that was ‘timeless’. “I loved the idea of applying a mask onto her face and extending it to her torso. The idea was to create a cracked earth background using drought as the theme”, Ilan says.

“We actually first discussed doing something quite elaborate but the more we talked the more it developed into more of a personal piece”, Alicia comments.

Collaborating with someone else is always a risk Ilan states, it may not always work out the way you envision it to. After finding a potential model, the next challenge is to ensure that there is a shared vision. “We plan, we talk, we think about the outfit, about the theme. We talk about what the model is comfortable doing etc. The stars have to align too… The model and I have to be on the same wavelength and if they bring an idea that I think works then together we’re a great team.”

Ilan and Alicia both stress the importance of having an open mind when it comes to collaborating with someone, particularly for a creative project. “It’s difficult to add anything new to the creative space without honesty because it allows our unique selves to come through”, Alicia says.

Ilan focuses on monochrome portraits that allow the subjects to really shine in their channel of storytelling. His portraits often involve “ordinary people”, posing nude, which opens them up to a new sense of vulnerability and allows the audience to focus on the bare elements. “Most people stay hidden behind technology these days and lose that special human connection with each other so it’s a real art to work with people and bring out that magic in them.”

In a world overloaded with information and sensationalistic “visual clutter” which are competing for our attention; Ilan states that his goal is to create pieces that distinguish themselves as “extraordinary” “Forgetting the technicality of the picture, you really need to ask yourself, ‘is there a visual statement? Does it have any emotional impact?’”

Alicia agrees, “There are plenty of photos out there, of women especially, who try to look how they think they should look when in front of a camera due to the huge pressure on us to look a certain way. So the idea of was to try and work against that”.

Beauty and the Beast

I met Catalin and Elena at the Takapuna Sunday market and this is the result!
Catalin’s message for life is written on his face – and his head – in Times Roman: “another beautiful day”, his first face tattoo, on his forehead, beneath “watch your thoughts” in large italics, circling his shaven head.

Below his right eye, a clearly defined “look within” contrasts with a vertical “un-comfort” running from above the left eye down his cheek but divided by the eyebrow.
And the word FREEDOM is highly visible around his neck. His message is “it doesn’t matter what you look like. You don’t have to impress people. Look within yourself. Respect each other. Don’t give up on dreams”. He dropped out from school at 17, having developed depression because of back injuries.

By the age of 18, he began using alcohol and drugs, because “that was the message in the media”. At 21, he decided to run away from his problems and went to Australia. There he was arrested three times and collected minor convictions for bad behaviour.

Then “it all changed”. He left behind his bad associates, stopped using alcohol and drugs, and focused on “being the best I could be, every day”. His mission is to “inspire and motivate teenagers and young adults to make wise decisions, stay on the right path and never give up on dreams”.

Convergence
“I photographed this beautiful underpass of two merging lanes in Vancouver. The bird is not really a lucky coincidence, just some creative Photoshop.”

“I met young Riley and mum at the Radiology clinic and said that he should be a model! Bronwyn called me about six weeks later and I met them both at Wow Photography studio – this is the result! I love his innocent and confident eyes, his beautiful hair and the way his fists grab the large hammer – simply classic!

The Hunter

“I met stunning Kaitlin at an old barn. We set up her stags on the wall and the skins on the floor. Kaitlin posed beautifully with one foot on the horse saddle which I purchased three days earlier at the Takapuna Sunday market. Kaitlin is a body builder and a hunter, the dog’s photo was created in my studio.“

Jesus Christ

“This is life-size sculpture of Jesus Christ with his hands tied behind his back which was placed at the entrance to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Most people think that this is a real person – that is really cool! I love the leading lines and the majestic arches with the massive columns on both sides!”

Trellick Tower ©Ilan Wittenberg
Trellick Tower is located on the Cheltenham Estate in Kensal Town, London. Opened in 1972, it had been commissioned by the Greater London Council and designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger. “I waited for the right formation of clouds to enhance the tower’s gritty and ominous look. I love the leading lines and the texture of the bare concrete!”

Stuff Article: Ilan Wittenberg exposes the Bare Truth

Photographer Ilan Wittenberg exposes the Bare Truth in portrait exhibition

Britt Mann 05:00, May 22 2016

A former drug addict, a burns victim and a burly builder are hardly typical male models.

But these men – and around 100 more – are the subjects of an Auckland photographer’s latest exhibition.

Ilan Wittenberg began his project, Bare Truth, a year ago, with an idea to portray New Zealand men as they truly are.

Bare-chested, blemished, scarred, and tattooed, the men’s histories are etched on their skin. One of the men had received skin grafts as a child – a pot of boiling jelly had ended up on his chest. Another has a prayer inked onto his arm.

“It’s interesting where people find strength,” Wittenberg says.

At first, his subjects were friends and family (Wittenberg’s 21-year-old son is among the men featured in the exhibition).

But as his collection and his confidence grew, Wittenberg began approaching strangers on the street. Market-goers, roadworkers, hedge-trimmers – any man who looks like he might have a story to tell.

“Out of every 10, four say ‘no’, four say ‘maybe’, two say ‘yes’, and one shows up.”

Wittenberg spent an hour speaking with the men before they went in front of the camera, asking them about their families, jobs, and the tales behind their tattoos.

The first photograph was of a friend who’d resisted participating in the project until the day before he departed New Zealand forever.

“He wasn’t very tidy – not scruffy, but he didn’t take great care of himself,” Wittenberg says of the man.

“In the photograph, you will see he puts his hand up to chest and he touches his heart… he has a little bit of sadness in his eyes.

“I thought, ‘this is real’.”

Wittenberg has about 100 photographs in the Bare Truth collection. Each of his subjects received an A4 copy of their photo, as thanks.

Some of the men were happy with the result, others felt confronted by the image.

“They didn’t actually show it to their wives, because they never saw themselves that way,” Wittenberg says.

The series is inspired by the work of famed photographers Robert Mapplethorpe and Platon. Shot before a blank background and converted into monochrome, the photographs depict a stark spectrum of Kiwi masculinity.

“When people look straight into the camera they actually look at the person on the other side, they look at the person who views them, and you can read their eye, you can actually see their soul – that’s what I felt.”

Bare Truth is Wittenberg’s third exhibition this year, showing in Sydney earlier this month, and in Auckland in June.

While images of topless women have become cliches of Western society, there’s something about a photo of a shirtless man – unretouched – which makes observers take a closer look.

“We see thousands of photos every day – on social media, in magazines, on tv, on the internet, billboards – and we ignore…” Wittenberg says.

“If you go to an exhibition, it’s not like looking at something on the computer… you stand in front of a photograph… and you let it talk to you.”

Visitors to the Sydney exhibition offered a range of interpretations, Wittenberg says.

“They say this person is looking very confident, very strong. And that person looks a bit… shy, and that person looks dangerous like, I wouldn’t want to meet that guy down a dark alley or something like that.

“It’s so interesting how in a fraction of a second we judge other people, even when they’re not there, just based on their body language – their eyes, their shoulders.”

But Wittenberg hopes the exhibition will also raise awareness of men’s health issues. Without a shirt, it’s difficult to hide the hallmarks of past surgeries, or chemotherapy.

And the camera offers insight into the soul.

“When people look straight into the camera they actually look at the person on the other side, they look at the person who views them,” Wittenberg says.

“You can read their eye, you can see their soul – that’s what I felt.”

Wittenberg emigrated from Israel with his wife and two children in 2001. The North Shore resident had been working as a business analyst before he took up portrait photography full time in 2011.

While portraits pay the bills, the Bare Truth project was a labour done for love, not money.

Quoting business leader Stephen Covey, Wittenberg says: “We’re here to live, to laugh, to love and to leave a legacy.”

“We’re not getting any younger… my legacy is about pictures I do.”

Bare Truth will be exhibited at Northart gallery in Northcote, Auckland from June 5 – 22. Admission is free.

The exhibition will also feature in the 2016 Auckland Festival of Photography.

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Beautiful Kemi

I received an email from beautiful Yemi with the title “Model from the USA”! It turned out that Yemi is also a fashion designer who was staying in Davenport for holiday and was looking to get a few editorial shots to add to her portfolio. Yemi was flying back to the States then next day so we quickly got together to create a series of beautiful portraits. During lunch, Yemi was very hungry and said she might be pregnant… We spoke about the possibility of her having an abortion when Yemi explained that her mom conceived her behind stage at the end of a rock concert and that her mom chose to keep her. Yemi is now a proud single mom.

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Lest We Forget

New Zealand entered the Second World War by declaring war on Nazi Germany on September 3rd 1939. Around 140,000 New Zealand personnel served overseas for the Allied war effort. At its peak in July 1942, New Zealand had 154,549 men and women under arms. By the end of the war a total of 194,000 men and 10,000 women had served in the armed forces. On Anzac Day, April 25 2014, NZIPP members across the country combined their efforts for a project of national significance: to photograph New Zealand’s last surviving World War Two servicemen and women. These portraits are gifted to the Royal New Zealand Returned Services Association and to the National Archives, showing our veterans that they are remembered and that the sacrifices they made for our freedom is still honoured. This is the story of 21 World War Two veterans.

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Julia-Ruth Smith

(c) Ilan Wittenberg

Emil Bilinski

Portrait Photographer Auckland

Austrian photographer Emil Bilinski lives and creates between Warsaw, Berlin and Vienna. His work is internationally recognised throughout Europe and Australia. A member of the Ilford masters, the Coloratti Pro and the Rotolight masters of light. His professional path started at the side of Andreas Bitesnich. Throughout 20 years of his career, Bilinski has collaborated with remarkable artists, including Anne Leibovitz, Peter Lindbergh and David La Chapelle. His editorial work featured in renowned publications, such as Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Matador, Diva, Women, Playboy, Schön, Sunday Times Perth and others. He is frequently a jury member at the tv modelling competition shows such as Top Model (Austria and Poland) and Supermodel. Emil Bilinski specialises in beauty, fashion and commercial photography. He created signature campaigns for L’oreal, Carlo Rossi, Timotei, Wella, Sebastian Professional, Samsung and Braun among many others. His photographs have continued to contribute to the Schwarzkopf Austrian hairdressing award for the last 11 years. His imagery inspires with subtlety of aesthetics, timeless vision, remarkable perception of reality and meticulous approach to the construction of light.