Since 2012, I have contributed to Metal Magazine and metalmagazine.eu on a freelance basis. From November 2015 to July 2016, I worked in-house in Metal’s Barcelona office.

MY RAMONES: PUNK AS NEVER SEEN BEFORE

Hey! Ho! Let's Go! Four words that those of us with a penchant for frequenting dingy nightclubs and bars that have a fondness for punk rock hits hear on pretty much every night out. The Ramones will never cease to be omnipresent because the impact the New York four-piece have had on culture and music will always be prominent.

While their commercial success never quite matched up to the legendary status they left behind, their much-loved tracks will forever be staples on our weekend playlists. Interest in the band seems to be at an all-time peak. Last year, only a month or so after Tommy Ramone (the then last living member of the group) passed away, it was rumored that Martin Scorsese, the acclaimed director also from Queens, New York, had a movie in the pipeline fictionalising the band's story. We don't know much about the project –not even IMDB can enlighten us– but it's something we know we want to see come to fruition. Their story is a fascinating one, and one that –thanks to a new photobook set released today– we're about to get a rare new insight into.

This is an extract from a feature that was first published on metalmagazine.eu on 26 April 2016.

Helmut Newton: A voyeuristic retrospective

Today Foam in Amsterdam opens its doors for an extensive retrospective celebrating the life and work of the legendary photographer and self-confessed voyeur, Helmut Newton. We caught up with co-curator Mirjam Kooiman to talk in length about the multi-layered nature of the collection on show, Newton’s perception of womanhood, and the ambiguity in interpretation.

The collection includes over 200 prints – both images that rarely go on display as well as those considered iconic. What can you tell us about the collection on show? Newton is one of the most renowned photographers in the world. How does the exhibition bring a fresh perspective to his work?

We find it important to show that Newton was much more than a fashion photographer, that’s why in the exhibition we deliberately mix autonomous and commissioned work – he himself made little distinction between the two. He always managed to maintain his own artistic position as a photographer and to hold onto his own style, even in his commissioned works. His innovative and unique way of weaving his own vision into all his pictures binds the various perspectives of the exhibition. Therefore we pay special attention to his working process: Newton was also technically very talented in capturing his personal fantasies in his photos without extensive use of digital manipulation. Important themes in Newton’s work, such as fashion, nudity, eroticism, portraits, humour and surrealistic undertones will form the running thread of the presentation. We will also organise a public program of events that will further reflect on different themes in Newton’s oeuvre, such as his relationship with surrealism and his depiction of womanhood.

This is an extract from an interview that was first published on metalmagazine.eu on 17 June 2016.

Robert mapplethorpe: discovering the man behind the bullwhip

As a child, Robert Mapplethorpe showed little interest in photography, instead reigning supreme as a pogo stick champion. It would be later in life that his father’s pastime would have a subliminal influence on his artistic pursuits (that said, the subject matter Robert would explore would bear no similarity to that of Mr. Mapplethorpe Sr.’s work). Brought up catholic, during his adult years he would transgress and delve into a world of BDSM and sexual curiosity, both of which he documented through compelling portraiture and astonishing still lifes. During the ‘70s he would have a long term relationship with Patti Smith and form part of Andy Warhol’s social circle while living in New York; the likes of Debbie Harry, Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, Isabella Rosellini, Warhol, William Burroughs and his for-a-time significant other and patron, curator and collector Samuel Wagstaff, are among his most iconic subjects. A new documentary, Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures, delves into his mind.

This is an extract from an interview that was first published on metalmagazine.eu on 06 May 2016.

monika mogi: challenging japanese culture

Take note of the cultural references and you’ll find both subtle and blatant meaning in Monika Mogi’s dream-like photography. Her work is a window into a world she would like to see change; she makes it her mission to slip in messages that not only tell sexism to go fuck itself, but prompt the west to take notice of the reality of life for most women in Japan. It was a year or so before Instagram burst onto the scene, propelling photo-sharing culture forward into what it is today, that a then-16-year-old Monika met Petra Collins via Blogspot. This online encounter resulted in the Tokyo-based then-teen sharing her photography as part of the Collins-led collective The Ardorous, through which Mogi saw her work published in print for the first time in an issue of Vice.

This is an extract from an interview that was first published on metalmagazine.eu on 05 September 2016.

Kris Van Assche: Londerzeel

As the creative director of Dior Homme since 2007 and his own self-titled label since 2005, Kris Van Assche has gained an impeccable reputation for accentuating craft and defining ‘nonchalant elegance’ and luxury through his refined collections of exquisite detail.

Prior to attending Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts and later relocating to Paris where he would become Hedi Slimane’s protégé as first assistant at Yves Saint Laurent and later Dior Homme, Van Assche grew up in a small remote village in Belgium by the name of Londerzeel. Despite being a place completely detached from the artistic and influential world of fashion in which the designer is currently so prominent, Londerzeel ironically shares its name with the publication that he and curator/gallerist Barbara Polla launched as a way to communicate the contemporary universe of Kris Van Assche that differs so considerably from his childhood village. Born out of both Van Assche and Polla’s infatuation with exploring the boundaries between fashion and art, the publication unearths this creative world with a beautiful poetic vision.

This is an extract from an interview that was first published on metalmagazine.eu on 26 April 2012.