Artdoc Photography Magazine

Artdoc is an international digital magazine dedicated to the world of photography. The name Artdoc refers to our vision of art photography and documentary photography. The two fields have merged, and contemporary photography is a blend of both. Artdoc brings photography as the visual storytelling medium of our time. Artdoc Photography Magazine publishes engaging and high-quality portfolios of established and emerging photographers. Moreover, Artdoc publishes critical essays about the theory of photography.

Invisible Realities

Distorted images of radioactive sites • In the series Project 596, we see photographs of a damaged landscape in China which was used as a nuclear test site. French photographer, Florian Ruiz, explores photography by depicting distortions of the invisible danger of radioactivity with techniques such as assemblage and collage. In this way, he brings together various fragments in one image. “The question I had as a photographer was: how do you portray this invisible danger of radioactivity?”

The violence of the waters

Can digital photos truthfully show reality? • Does digital photography show reality, and has it a direct relation to reality? Many critical accounts have refused the idea of a natural connection photography was supposed to have with reality. The ubiquity of digitality has since called into question more than ever photography’s power of proof, to the point that some claim it has been undermined completely. Digital images have lost some distinctive characteristics of photographic images, a statement which renders exceptionally challenging the task of determining if they are, in fact, photographs.

#Photo Books

Documentary Stories • Our world is in a constant flux of change, with unrivalled challenges for humanity. In our time, we face many big and small social, political and human issues that need to be addressed, but foremost need to be seen afresh. In this exhibition, Documentary Stories, photographers present their documentary projects that show the world in a new, engaging style.

Are the Armenians the founders of Calcutta? • The Armenian diaspora is well known as a result of the brutish genocide, but centuries before, many Armenian artisans and merchants had already settled in different countries. In the Indian city, Calcutta, Armenians were, among many other communities, probably the first settlers. Indian photographer Alakananda Nag delved into her city’s history and concluded that the Armenians might well be the founding fathers of the now bustling Bengali metropolis. Her intimate book The Armenians of Calcutta is an elegy to the community comprising text, photographs, and archival material.

The complex story of Monsanto • The multinational producer of agricultural chemicals, Monsanto, not only poisoned many farm grounds, but the company also threatened the farmers with multiple lawsuits. Meanwhile, Monsanto sells its products with gleaming slogans like: “Without chemicals, many more millions would go hungry”. French documentary photographer, Mathieu Asselin, made an extensive study of their cruel policy and the devastating results for men and the environment. This resulted in the publication of the unsettling book, Monsanto®: A Photographic Investigation. Asselin: “They are an important part of the problem of hunger in the world.”

Recover

Botanical Photograms • In her series Botanica, inspired by the Montpellier Garden, Christelle Boulé made experimental photograms of a real herbarium. Boulé visually translated the invisible, such as scents, sounds, emotions and time, into colourful images. She investigates ways of revealing what we cannot perceive with the naked eye. “I imagined this timeless garden through a series of colour photograms”.

Land of Mines

Vanishing Cuba • New York-based documentary travel photographer Michael Chinnici travelled...