Dorian Rosenthal

The Practitioner of Photographic Shamanism The main emphasis in photography work is the Otherness in the context of fine art photography. Dorian describes themself as a shaman who records the photographic experience in a symbolic visual language of the photographic ritual. In order to do so, they experiment with digital photography mainly in monochrome to tell the thought-provoking narratives from all sides of the camera. They have always been fascinated with the themes of Eros and Thanatos. The exploits of these themes have opened many doors of possibilities to express different aspects of human life, such as sexuality, gender and the diverse aesthetics of the human body. The photographic shamanism practice in their case can be divided in two main approaches. First of all, it's the body and mind of the shaman whose main visual subject in photography is the Self, a mortal being who thirsts for life, and the interactions between the microcosm (the Self) and the macrocosm (the World). To express the interactions between the Self and the World in photography, the shaman focuses on the body as a mirrored reflection of inner and outer realities of human existence. A significant part of the photographic shamanism practice is interaction with other individuals who seek participation in the photographic ritual. These works greatly emphasize on the bodyscapes of participants who are willing to share individual experience of self discovery during the photographic ritual. Dorian’s photography works can be described as an endless search for new ways to present portraits and bodyscapes of participants with features which sometimes differ from socially accepted norms of femininity or masculinity and into the realm that exists beyond binary gender perceptions. Exhibitions June 2022 Voices, LOW Gallery, Riga, Latvia May 2020 WAG Web Artistik Gallery, France August 2018 Vandalizing Heteronormativity, The Flying Dutchman, London, UK September 2017 EroticaMENTE, SATURA Art Gallery, Genoa, Italy Publications January 2019 CHIMERA MAGAZINE CHIMERA Issue 5 May 2018 Dark Beauty Magazine Issue X 1.18