Outstanding photography talents on Cherrydeck—Editors’ Choice Awards of October 2018 have just arrived!
Every month we highlight excellent work from our members and bring together a great selection of top photographers on Cherrydeck. This month, we are proud to once again share amazing work from some of the best photography enthusiasts and professionals on our platform.
For this edition, “Comfort”, a desired state of satisfaction, is the central theme. Since the concept of comfort can mean different things for different people, we asked photographers to interpret and portray what it means to achieve such state of ease and relief through their photographs.
Below you can find 11 interpretations from 11 photographers. Each represents “Comfort” in their own idiosyncratic way along with their explanation for the image choices.
To see more of photography talents, explore our Editors’ Choice search section, where you can discover the best 1% creative professionals on Cherrydeck. Enjoy!
October 2018 Editors’ Choice (not ranked in any particular order):
Julie Toerrissen
Julie is a 28-year-old Norwegian photographer based in Oslo, Norway. Her photographs are inspired by her love for nature, natural lighting, the curves of a body and the lines in a face. Julie likes to tell stories through her photos and enjoys discovering new places and traveling.
“We find comfort in a lot of things in life. Sexual comfort, spiritual comfort, comfort in releasing ourselves into the unknown, and comfort in finding ourselves there. I wanted to go to these places with the selection of photos, and I personally feel some kind of comfort by looking at these moments that I was able to capture. I also think most people can find some kind of calm by looking at this collection. And there is a lot of comfort in feeling calm.”
Julia Shashkina
Julia is a fashion and art photographer, who gets inspired by nature, poetry, and the simple, yet magical moments of life. Originally from Estonia, she graduated from London College of Fashion with a degree in Fashion Photography. She believes in the beauty of the human soul and captures it through her own melancholic dreamy world. The essence of her work lies in her ability to create harmony between colors and her excellent use of light.
“The word ‘comfort’ made me think of the magic that occurs when we give ourselves enough comfort to be ourselves. I think for me it has been incredibly hard to accept the fact that I am doing something different, something which many around me don’t understand (coming from an environment where for some reason scientific subjects are valued higher than arts and fashion). For a long time, I had difficulty accepting my arty soul. It was difficult for me to stop apologizing for my being. And I believe I am not the only one, who has had struggles with accepting oneself.
These 4 pictures are from that time when I began giving myself enough comfort to embrace my soul. These pictures are the result of me becoming comfortable in my skin and letting go of the opinions and ideas that other people had about me.”
Toms Harjo
Toms is a freelance photographer and video artist based in Riga, Latvia. He has graduated from ISSP 2 year program of contemporary photography and has a background in graphic design. In early 2018, Toms had his first major solo show, “In the Truth”, at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Since September he has been taking a Dramatic Theatre BA and acting in The New Riga Theatre (Latvian Academy of Culture).
Raquel Langworthy
NY-based photographer Raquel Langworthy has been taking photos and telling stories since childhood. She earned a BFA in Art History from the University of Michigan, as well as an M.S. from the VCU Brandcenter. After working in advertising as an art director for brands such as Chobani, Amazon Kindle, and CNN, she decided it was time to follow her heart and pursue photography in 2011. Raquel has worked with Discovery Channel, Canon Cameras, the TV show Cake Boss, and a host of other small business clients. Most recently she has been working in the interiors and decor world.
“Comfort is the heart of the home. Full of chats on the couch and memories around the dinner table. Comfort is the childhood memories you have of summer days on the lake and nights under the stars.
Comfort is a lazy breakfast table on a Saturday morning. Comfort is the sigh you let out upon coming home from a long day of work and errands.“
Thomas Holm
Thomas is a former advertising and commercial photographer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Nowadays, he primarily shoots artistic images and mostly art-nudes. Passionate about photography since always, Thomas likes to have full control over content and look, one of the reasons why he shoots artistic material. Through his pictures, Thomas tries to work some emotion and frequently some duality, in order to bring memories to the viewer and thus engage on a different level.
For Thomas, comfort is in the lines, roundness, and flexibility on the first picture. To him, “there is something comforting about roundness.” But also in the womb-like feeling in the second picture, the womb being probably the most comfortable place in the world.
It’s in the feeling of protection on the third picture, with the nude women. Especially in the blond that “looks to be in the best place she could possibly be, leaning on the soft chest of the other model.” And it’s in the vulnerability and beauty of the woman in the last picture, cuddled up in a foster position.
Aks Huckleberry
Born in 1994 in a tiny southern town of Russia, Aks is a young film-maker and a portrait photographer, who for the past years has been working as a freelancer in between London, Moscow, and internationally. She shoots in a variety of genres, including portraiture, fashion editorial, and travel. Whenever and wherever she travels, she also takes a moving portrait of the place, which includes her family, friends, and strangers she encounters on her journey.
“I don’t necessarily ever associate photography with comfort. I think the greatest emotions depicted visually have nothing to do with comfort. So I decided to look for a real definition of comfort, to give me some more ideas. According to the dictionary, “comfort” is a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.
This led me to my traveling series, as paradoxically for me “comfort” is being in a state of in-betweenness and instability, but also the excitement of a new place. Scotland has become my place of peace and calm, and, one can even say comfort – its quiet powerful beauty has a calming effect on my heart and mind.”
Michelle Cho
Michelle is a photographer and filmmaker based in London, where she completed her M.A. in Filmmaking at the London Film School. She is also in a key role of the production company Other People. Her work has been featured by Ignant, Aesthetica Magazine, Elle Decoration, T Magazine, among others. Through her work, she aims to be attentive to the small mysteries and rhythms of ordinary life.
“The idea of comfort resonates in the selected images of people and places that are both known and unknown. Safety and familiarity are interchangeable with unfamiliar places that feel strangely familiar, dreamlike.”
Denis Crickx
Denis is a 33-year-old travel portrait photographer based in Brussels, Belgium. For him, photography is an art between reality and imagination. Photography and travel define his reason for being. Traveling far and wide to capture human’s diversity at its best sets his soul on fire.
Denis finds comfort in the picture of a girl on a train, looking out of the window, who seems comfortable even in an uncomfortable surrounding. He finds comfort in the arms of a mother, because “a child in his mother’s arms is at its most comfortable state of being.”
Comfort is also in being out in nature and in meditating, once “not only does it bring you absolute peace but teaches you to be comfortable in your own skin. A man with his eyes closed, trying to connect with himself and disconnect with his thoughts shows us how to alleviate from pain or grief to a state of wisdom and comfort.”
Enok Holsegaard
Copenhagen based photographer Enok Holsegaard shoots mainly interior and furniture. He received training in New York and Denmark and has been photographing for over 15 years now, being part of the creative collective Yellows Studio. Enok’s work ranges from editorial interiors to international brand advertising for renowned lifestyle design brands. The minimal simplicity of his images is always executed with a critical eye for composition, texture, materials, and concept.
For Enok, comfort is in the big armrests that hold both your elbows and a drink. It’s in soft tones, soft textures, and soft daylight filling a minimalistic space. In a simple comforting comfortable chair, where one can enjoy it all. Or on a couch, big enough to lie down and stretch out.
Michael Deng
Based in NYC, Michael aims to only make pictures that stand out through its natural voice and authentic portrayals. Many of them depict the theme of hope: he wishes to use his storytelling skills to fill the world with cheerful and lovely elements. Michael’s works were exhibited in Carnegie Hall, featured in “Best of Photography” magazine by Photographer’s forum, and won three national medals for Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. His portfolio was awarded the Gold Circle Awards by Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
Michael’s vision of comfort is depicted in a man praying, meditating, and sinking in the moment, and in the family life.
Michele is Italian by blood, an architect by training, and photographer by heart. Based in NYC, he is a visual storyteller, weaving narratives through people’s movements, environments, and emotions. He’s especially interested in the little quirks that connect us as humans.
“The fog is something that was always present in my childhood and is like an old friend. It is comforting and I love the vast blanket of white hung heavy over everything, the silence. I was born in Ravenna, a small town in Italy, where during the winter fog has been a very comforting presence for me.”
The Cherrydeck Team would like to thank all the photographers who participated in this Editors’ Choice edition. If you would like to see more of great work by top photography talents, visit our September 2018 Editors’ Choice, “Summer” or our July 2018 Editors’ Choice, “Architecture”.
To discover talented creatives around the world or to join our list as a professional photographer, visit our website, here. ?
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