Christian Tagliavini

Cromophobia, Mother's Day. 2007

Christian Tagliavini, born in 1971, lives and works in Switzerland as a photographer and graphic designer. He has been published in numerous magazines and art books. I recently came across his work and it took my breath away. Amazingly rich photographs, exploring the human psyche and also his creative spin on contemporary art and more.

Aspettando Freud, Gustave. 2006

Dame Di Cartone, Cubism III. 2008

1503, Cecilia. 2010

I only chose one picture from each of his collections to feature here, but make sure to head over to his online portfolio to see the rest.

All photos courtesy of Christian Tagliavini.

Portraits

Last summer, while strolling in London, we came across the National Portrait Gallery, near Leicester Square. There was an exhibition inside, the BP Portrait Award, which celebrated its 20th year. The art was incredible, especially for an avid lover of portraits such as myself. I find portraits compelling and incredibly beautiful, a strong face is so interesting and can evoke a plethora of feelings and memories. They also carry a nostalgic vibe, as I find them reminiscent of a bygone era before photography was an option, where people used to sit for hours for their oil portraits.

We had an amazing afternoon there, and I'm glad I bought the gallery's booklet which is filled with some of the most interesting portraits of last year's contest. The photos of this post are taken from the internets, as my scanner won't cooperate. You can check the credits at the end of the post, and also make sure to see this year's entries as well.

Georgie, Mary Jane Ansell

Hats and scarves, Tim Okamura

Agnes, Natalie Holland

Imagine, José Luis Corella

Guillem, Miriam Escofet

Harry Patch, Dan Llywelyn Hall
Changeling 2, Peter Monkman (1st prize)