Butterflies and Caterpillars

January 31, 2022

The body of work takes a closely intimate look at the contemporary drag scene in the United States. It’s a photographic examination that looks at the notions of identity and how we construct the self in a space different from society’s pre-established gender-specific roles and expectations.

Recent Stories

Cinematic Decline
With Cinematic Decline — a continuation of Butler's 2019 series and book Odeon Relics — the author traces the remnants of what once were brand-new, purpose-built cinema venues, incongruous with their surroundings back then, and some of them are still so even now. The key point of difference here though, is that none of these buildings continue to screen films, instead they showcase the cinematic afterlife bingo, pubs, churches and dereliction.
Philip Butler
The losses to be never ever forgiven
No words and tears are enough. Evgeny Maloletka [https://www.evgenymaloletka.com/], a Ukrainian freelance photojournalist based in Kyiv, tells the story of the Mariupol attack via the death of a small girl who was brutally attacked with her parents. A list of answers to the questions "What can I do to help?" [https://www.mnngful.com/stand-with-ukraine] Reached Ukrainian friends, checked the sources and give you a list of options, direct links to organizations where to donate. The list is bei
Evgeny Maloletka
The Steel Plant Mothers
Wilfully ignoring the pleas of the local and national population, the Ilva plant, Europe’s largest steel plant, is portrayed as prioritising profit over people's lives.
Valeria Mongelli
Black Eyed Dog
The author opens up about his own struggles with Black Eyed Dog — A Photographic Healing Process. It was born out of a breakdown, a complete shutdown of his nervous system which made him find himself in a dark, gloomy place, one which he has never visited before.
Benedict Stenning
Presence in the Absence
The story takes desolated buildings and structures as its starting point. Devoid of human presence, albeit designed and constructed by humans, these are places that were once the product of a utopian vision.
Karin van de Wiel
Smoking Chefs
Jan Enkelmann lives and works in London where he spends his time observing people. Many would think that photographers, especially street photographers, go to the street, take countless images and that’s it, job done. I would argue that it takes much more than that — many image-makers would spend more
Jan Enkelmann
Interior Design in the Age of Extinction
Conrado Velasco is a photographer and art director born and educated in the Philippines. He currently divides his time between Ireland and Germany and here we present you his body of work Interior Design in the Age of Extinction. By Velasco’s own admission, he tends to look at the environment in zoos as a theatre for the uncanny, exuding the sense of something being ever so slightly off. They are “illusory spaces” devoid of the natural habitat and surroundings of its animal occupants — there ar
Conrado Velasco
Last day of school
Marko Risovic has turned his lens to his home country of Serbia to illustrate this trend. The images are strikingly different from what one would expect from a typical school photograph — it’s a decrepit environment and there are hardly any smiles. Far from the ideal happy atmosphere to foster happy childhoods and promote learning.
Marko Risovic
Mark
I worked with Mark for two years documenting his experience of homelessness, heroin addiction and recovery in south London
James Hopkirk
Southtown
Tommy Lee Grimmer is a young photographer based in Great Yarmouth, East England, which is, in fact, the part of the country which is the furthest East. His project Southtown explores his hometown, the area where he grew up, its physical environment and community as well as the change of his perspective from a child to now an adult. © Tommy Lee Grimmer | SouthtownThe text accompanying Southtown is nostalgic and evocative of innocent childhood — Kickpost, a game similar to hide and seek, late ni
Tommy Lee Grimmer

mnngful Originals

mnngful Members

Annie Y Saldana
PR
,
San Juan

Fine Art photographer, educator, curator. Founder at PRISMA Art Projects.

Shervine Nafissi
CH
,
Lausanne

Self-taught photographer with a passion for sports and politics. Based in Lausanne (CH). Swiss of Iranian origin. In his thirties. Young father. Also Doctor in law.

Brian O'Neil
US
,

Sociologist, currently a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the School of Ocean Futures in the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University. In addition, I am affiliated with the Ocean Nexus Center at the University of Washington’s College of the Environment’s Ocean Nexus Fellows Program.

James Hopkirk
UK
,
London

Documentary photographer, journalist. Began his career as a local newspaper reporter in Kent before moving to The Sunday Times and ITV. Spent six years as Editor of IdeasTap, a charity that helped young people to build careers in the arts and media. As a freelance writer and photographer James worked on stories in Afghanistan, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, India, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda.

Roxana Alison
UK
,
Manchester

Mexican-British photographer based in the United Kingdom with a socially driven focus whose work explores themes of place, belonging and identity. The personal experience is often my departure point to explore universal issues concerned with the human condition. Roxana has worked in the fields of photography and education for the past fifteen years and have extensive experience working with young people and underrepresented communities.

jose artur macedo
PT
,
Ponte de Sor

Self-taught photographer, based in Ponte de Sor (PT)

Keith Osborn
UK
,
Fakenham

I have been making photographs professionally for over 12 years. I focus on self-initiated documentary and art projects, combining that with commercial work for business, charity and non-profit clients.

Hannah Cauhépé
ES
,
Barcelona

Photographer, videographer, photo editor and writer based in Barcelona and working for assignments worldwide.

Ardelle Schneider
DE
,
Düsseldorf

Photographer based in Düsseldorf, Germany, born and raised in Hanover. Schneider is studying photography for a master's degree at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. In 2020 she completed her bachelor's degree in communication design at the Peter Behrens School of Arts (HSD/PSBA) in Düsseldorf. Her work "Familystories" can be seen in the group exhibition "Stopover" at Museum Folkwang (Essen, Germany) until February 6th.

Hussain Ali
UK
,
London

British-Iraqi documentary photographer based in London. His work is rooted in our connection to the land and social identity. He is interested in documenting stories that inspire us to consider our relationship with nature and wildlife.

David Lintern
UK
,
Kingussie

Photojournalist and writer working across the outdoor and environmental sectors, with over a decade of experience creating stories for organisations and magazines including National Trust for Scotland, Visit Cairngorms, John Muir Trust, BBC, the Guardian, Slow Ways as well as most of the UK outdoor press. I’m particularly interested in the links between place and people, and between natural and cultural history. David also works privately as a photo tutor and guide across the Highlands, and the author of The Big Rounds.

Vera Hadzhiyska
UK
,
Portsmouth

Multi-disciplinary artist and curator based in Portsmouth, England. Her practice is informed by the study of migration, cultural and national identity, history and collective memory. Her work begins autobiographically, tracing family narratives and shared traumas. Through the use of photography, archival documents, audio and video installations Hadzhiyska examines historical and political events in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe, their impact on people’s lives and identity.

Barry Rosenthal
US
,
New York

Fine art photographer and sculptor. He studied photography at the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio and at the Apeiron Workshops in Millerton, New York with notable photographers Emmet Gowin and George Tice. Barry‘s fine art images can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Springfield Museum of Fine Art Springfield, Massachusetts. Barry is a resident of Lower Manhattan, along with his wife and daughter.

Isaac Kirby
UK
,
London

London based-photographer and copywriter originally from the Australian town of Snake Valley.

Melanie King
UK
,
Ramsgate

Multi-Disciplinary Artist. Co-Director of super/collider, Lumen Studios and founder of the London Alternative Photography Collective. Melanie is Lecturer In Photography at Canterbury Christ Church University, and a practice-based PhD Candidate at the Royal College of Art. She is represented by the Land Art Agency. To purchase original prints, you can visit the Land Art Agency and Argentea Gallery websites. Books are available via the website store, and monthly limited edition postcards are available on Patreon.

Stories worth seeing

mnngful is a platform supporting independent documentary photography & photojournalism.

Thanks to passionate storytellers, we learn about matters that otherwise stay neglected. Stories that matter, but have not been covered enough are captured and told by passion-driven photographers and journalists.

They create because they care about the world they live in and tell us about matters beyond our eyesight.Their work is often driven by pure enthusiasm, fuelled by own beliefs and dreams for a better world. That's why such independent work is worth special attention.

mnngful is here to support the meaningful stories they tell.

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