Photographer Aneta Bartos' Favourite Photos
From the '31 Women in Art Photography' exhibition, which she is a part of.
Aneta Bartos is a Polish-born fashion turned fine art photographer who now lives in New York. Her work is often concerned with female sexuality, portrayed from a female perspective. (Outside of her professional life, she has been cited as a muse to Natalie Joos).
Aneta is currently included in a group show, 31 Women in Art Photography 2012, which is on display at New York's Hasted Kraeutler gallery until August 17. The show brings together 31 female photographers who are paving the way for women behind the lens in the art world. Aneta's inclusion, 'Pond' (2009), is below.
"The image is from 'Morning Dusk', which is a series of young female portraits presented in sequences of dreams of an eerie, fairy tale like scene of maturity and corruption," she told Art Info. "It's Alice in Wonderland-like, where everything on the surface is beautiful and decadent but there is something tragic lurking beneath"
Aneta selected five images included in the show that resonated with her the most, and wrote a little bit about each one for us:
"This collection of 31 female artists was not curated by content but simply with the commonality of the female experience. It is a rarity these days that a single image taken out of a project and presented by itself without any explanation can provide a complete experience for the viewer. I felt that with so much conceptual art out there, without knowing the artist's ideas or her body of work, I would have a slim chance of truly understanding the individual image. But I have decided to choose work that speak to me without any outside influences.
"These five images stir emotions in me that resonate to personal sensibilities and an overall esthetic appreciation. I looked to the thirty one pieces knowing that each artist has a personal story behind the meaning and inspiration, however, I was drawn to the images that I related to personally and moved me in a way that were in accordance with my own sensibilities as an artist."
1. 'Lady 6' by Robyn Cumming, 2008
"This beautifully staged and stylised image of a female figure 'without a face' initially gave me a feeling of intrigue and then uneasy discomfort... 'Mother! Oh, God! Mother! Blood! Blood!"
2. 'Burn No. 26' by Jane Fulton, 2011
"Jane Fulton's beautiful image stirs a nostalgic feeling for me. The ever-changing nature or life, the passing of time, and the cycle of life... Birth, death and rebirth."
3. 'Poolscape #57' by Karine Laval, 2010
"Water is probably one of my favorite forces of nature. The element that sustains life also has the power to take it. Water can be tranquil and beautiful and even dreamy, and in a flash it can turn into a deadly and vicious phenomenon. Karine Laval's image captures the calm and yet the potential power that lies just beneath the surface of this moving image."
4. 'Rashoo (Short Cuts)' by Melissa Steckbauer, 2011
"Fracturing the structure of Melissa Steckbauer's image created a cell like hell that traps me in a dark existence that I can't escape."
5. 'Gæst No. 7: Kindred' by Wendy Given, 2011
"Wendy Given created an image that feels old and ghostly. The energy that once had a form, slowly vanishing."
Hasted Kraeutler is located at 537 West 24th Street, New York. The gallery's opening hours are 10am — 5pm, Mon — Fri.
Introduction: Ingrid Kesa
Words: Aneta Bartos
