Conversations

Every month, we’ll be catching up with a past Flash Forward winner to see what they’re up to today. We’ll inquire about their most recent projects, their latest reflections in regards to the photographic medium, the evolution of their practice, the challenges they’ve overcome, the milestones they’ve achieved and those they’re working towards, and what continues to inspire them.

Q&A with Amanda Annand

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Amanda Annand, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published May 1, 2019

In her work, Canadian photographer Amanda Annand examines how mining companies impact local communities. She moved to Mexico to highlight how her home country is shaping the lives of people abroad. She shares her observations on the Magenta foundation Instagram this week.

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Q&A with Eduardo L Rivera

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Eduardo L Rivera, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published April 17, 2019

Q&A with David Degner

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by David Degner, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published April 10, 2019

In his series, Modern Miracle, photographer David Degner looks for the intersection of reality and spirituality. He tells us why and how, as he takes over the @magentafoundation instagram account.

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Q&A with Miia Autio

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Miia Autio, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published April 2, 2019

Q&A with Sarah Blesener

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Sarah Blesener, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published March 27, 2019

The reactions to her work reporting in Russia, led American photographer Sarah Blesener to turn her lens towards her homeland and the tenuous lines between patriotism, nationalism and polarization. She shares a selection of images this week on the @magentafoundation Instagram.

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Q&A with May Truong

Published March 20, 2019

A desire for more diverse representation in front and behind the lens inspires May Truong's personal projects, which she'll be sharing on the @MagentaFoundation Instagram this week.

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Q&A with Nathan Cyprys

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Nathan Cyprys, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published March 12, 2019

For his series "Cosmichronos", photographer Nathan Cyprys, learned how to tether his camera to the rotation of the earth. He explains how and why here, and shares some of his images on the Magenta foundation Instagram @magentafoundation this week.

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Q&A with Nanna Heitmann

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Nanna Heitmann, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published March 6, 2019

A fascination for the industry that built modern Germany led photographer Nanna Heitmann to the heart of the Ruhr region, in Prosper Haniel, where the end of coal is prompting a reflection on the region's unique culture. She takes over the Magenta Foundation Instagram account this week.

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Conversation with Guy Martin

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Guy Martin, 2007 and 2011 Flash Forward Winner
Published March 1, 2019

Published in December, "The Parallel State", by Guy Martin, is both a layered study of the intersection of fantasy and reality in Turkish society, and a meditation on how documentary photography operates informed by years of covering conflicts and revolutions. Frank and self-reflective, the British photographer shares how his thoughts on photojournalism have evolved since his début in the field, how the different pieces of a puzzle come together, and which moments and colleagues have been influential in his practice.

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Q&A with Ryan Arthurs

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Ryan Arthurs, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published February 27, 2019

Childhood experiences roaming in the wilderness shaped how American photographer Ryan Arthurs sees and inhabits today's society. His images, which he'll be sharing this week on the Magenta Foundation Instagram account, are invitations to reconsider our own fascination, or dissociation, with the natural.

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Q&A with Carlos Chavarria

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Carlos Chavarria, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published February 19, 2019

Archival images of American financial districts prompted Spanish photographer, Carlos Chavarria, to wander the streets banks and corporations call their home, creating images that speak to the culture of these spaces. For the next week, he'll be posting his work on the Magenta Foundation Instagram account and here, he explains the reasons behind some of his creative decisions.

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Q&A with Will Hartley

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Will Hartley, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published February 13, 2019

Q&A with Chris Donovan

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Chris Donovan, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published February 5, 2019

A road trip with a "rusty old piece of Michigan steel" led New Brunswick-born photographer Chris Donovan to Flint, Michigan. A local newspaper article led him to the Flint Jaguars, a group of football and basketball players. He'll be posting his work on the Magenta Foundation Instagram account and here, he shares more about how the project came to be and what he's learned along the way

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Q&A with Alia Youssef

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Alia Youssef, 2018 Flash Forward Winner
Published January 28, 2019

Initiated while she was a student at Ryerson University, Alia Youssef series entitled "The Sisters Project" has taken her across Canada to meet over 160 incredible women. She takes over the Magenta Foundation's Instagram account this week and tells us why she's so passionate about the work she's been doing.

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Portrait Victoria Razo

Q&A with Victoria Razo

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Victoria Razo, 2018 Boreal Bash Magenta Foundation Scholarship
Published January 14, 2019

The work of Victoria Razo in her homeland of Mexico, as well as in Chile and Cuba, landed her a scholarship to this year's Boreal Bash sponsored by the Magenta Foundation. As she's about to takeover the Magenta Instagram account, she spoke briefly about why she's constantly studying photography and the realities of being a woman photographer in Veracruz.

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Portrait Matthew Brooks

In Conversation with Matthew Brooks

Photos & Words by Matthew Brooks, 2017 Flash Forward Winner
Published November 20, 2018

Montreal-based photographer Matthew Brooks uses his 8x10 large format camera to create images that play with the viewer’s idea of reality. His work toys with our concept of the photograph as a document, destabilizing the divide between fact and fiction. In discussion with Fehn Foss, Brooks looks at where he is drawing his references from, where his practice began, and where it is going.

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In Conversation with Matt Eich

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Matt Eich, 2009 Bright Spark Award Winner
Published September 28, 2018

Virginia-based photographer Matt Eich has spent the last decade developing a documentary photography practice that blurs spaces and genres. Picturing his family as well as others throughout the United States, he's built an extensive body of work that speaks about memory, belonging, identity, and collective consciousness; themes that are even more salient in today's sociopolitical climate. Candid, he shares some of the lessons he learned along the way, about balance, the creative process, the tensions between personal and journalistic endeavours and what the medium affords him.

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Portrait of Simon Roberts

In conversation with Simon Roberts

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Simon Roberts, 2006 Brights Spark Award Winner
Published August 3, 2018

A glimpse through British photographer, Simon Roberts news section is dizzying. His work is on view at Side Gallery in Newcastle, UK, at the National Maritime Museum in London. It was also featured in the past few months at Cortona on the Move, PhotoLondon, AIPAD, to name but a few. And a new monograph, "Merrie Albion – Landscapes Studies of a Small Island," was published at the end of 2017. How does he do it? Self-reflection, balance and patience.

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Portrait of artist Rachel Burns

In conversation with Rachel Burns

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Rachel Burns, Flash Forward Incubator 2017
Published June 14, 2018

At 18, Etobicoke School of the Arts recent graduate, Rachel Burns made the headlines for the receiving offers from over 25 universities, often accompanied with scholarships and financial aid that, when combined, total 2.2 million dollars. But more than those numbers, it’s her artistic prowess that deserves our attention.

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Maya Fuhr at work

In conversation with Maya Fuhr

Words by Laurence Butet-Roch, Flash Forward Flash Back Editor
Photos by Maya Fuhr, 2017 Project Grant Winner
Published May 17, 2018

Soft hues. A flare for the absurd. A sophisticated kitsch aesthetic. Maya Fuhr, the 28-year-old who grew up in Victoria, Canada and now calls Toronto home, doesn’t take herself too seriously. Rather, as she explained during a recent conversation, she strives to find the comical in everything. Or almost. She’s passionate about the environment and photography, though the two don’t always go hand in hand, especially when it comes to fashion. And so, she doesn’t shy away from playfully biting the hand that feeds her through her personal endeavours. Last year, her series, Malleable Privilege, which, in the words of curator Ariella Starkman “considers the impact of consumerism, the use of clothing as armour and the way the two converge in the development of personal expression” caught the eyes of the Flash Forward judges, who awarded her the Project Grant. Since then, she’s kept busy and is preparing an exhibition of new work for the Fall.

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