The groundbreaking annual Flash Forward competition was launched by the Magenta Foundation in 2004 to showcase the top new photographers in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. This selection is focused around a theme of balance; as defined by subject, by compositional dynamic or by disruption. The competition, judged by an international panel of photo influencers, also includes a festival component. To celebrate the competition’s tenth anniversary, the Magenta Foundation is publishing Flash Forward 10, a collection of work by some of the most successful emerging artists to be part of this program in its first decade. The images in the book reflects a mix of themes, methods, interpretations and disciplines, underlining the wide variety of talent the program represents. Here is a selection of that work.
Evgenia Arbugaeva’s shipwreck floats in a frozen space, suggestive of a moment just passed, evidenced by the ripples on the water. A figure balanced on the edge of precipice leans towards disruption.
James Nizam's formal studies of light puncture the architectural space to create new dimensions that hover in the balance of an imagined domain.
Mustafah Abdulaziz's work is focused on a photographic typology exploring water from his series, The Purifying Ganges. Pontoon bridges span the Allahabad creating false horizon lines. This is the aftermath site of one of the largest gatherings of people in the world during the religious festival of Kumbh Mela.
Karen Laval's aquatic series plays with balance by using an intersection of architectural pool forms to frame her sunlit subjects.
Peter DiCampo’s work frames the photo in an awkward intersection of lines cutting through the centre of the frame. This disrupts the gentle spatial balance and the man’s return to the ruined surroundings.
Michal Chelbin’s confrontational image of a young ballerina is starkly balanced against a wall of father figures dressed for blue-collar work.
Alex Kisilevich makes reference to famed editorial fashion photographer Melvin Sokolsky, whose iconic work from the '60s placed fashion models in well-known cityscapes.
Performance-based artist Alma Haser puts herself at the helm of a centrally placed chair to playfully act through a sequence of positions to contain her form within first the frame, and then eventually the box.
Parachute training. From the ongoing series: In Reserve by Philip Cheung
The Excavation from the series Self Portraits by Gabriela Herman