From London to Paris to Rio de Janeiro: Capturing the Essence of Living

Fashion and street photography have almost always aimed to capture some form of the essence of people and life. For decades photographers have tried to convey visually the reality of the world around them, and the way in which they live. Here are some of the most poignant works by photographers around the world.

Evie Shandilya’s  “I Just Want to Party” captures the nightlife of London’s arts students in the last few years. The London-based photographer, living among them at the time, would photograph both the chaotic and intimate scenes of the highs and lows of student parties, drug use and closeness. Her photography, described by i-D as “loose, unplanned, intimate” and featuring the “early-morning wandering around a house party,” students as they “lounge around smoking in various stages of undress, play music to makeshift dancefloors and pass out wherever convenient, tangled among each other,” doesn’t shy away from social and cultural reality. There is a matter of factness in regard to their way of life, and Shandilya neither alludes to nostalgia nor scandal. In her tagline she explains “This is just what happened.”


Nan Goldin, the incredibly influential photographer and activist, documented all aspects of life. “The camera is as much a part of my everyday life as talking or eating or sex,” she has said. Her work has a poignancy in that its intentions are simply to mirror life as she saw it, from love and sexuality to addiction and identity.  “My work has always come from empathy and love” she clarifies, and, in the words of Fraenkel Gallery, her “intensely personal, spontaneous, sexual, and transgressive photographs of her family, friends, and lovers” act as a celebration of people and life. Her work has been globally recognized and has a prevailing influence on photography.

Dan Boultin’s photography book, Paris Youth, is shot in Paris between 2020 and 2022 amid the protests. His photography in Paris Youth is inspired by Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 film La Haine, with its vivid and gritty visuals. “Protests are part of the fabric of Paris life,” he commented in an interview, and added that, for Parisians, “it comes from a passion to express themselves,” The book is prefaced with the words “La beauté est dans la rue” (”Beauty is in the street”).

The stripped back and simplicity of his work alludes to a directness and sense of resolution that the Parisian youth have in their protesting. Shot standing in the streets of Paris and face on, Boultin captures the unwavering defiance unique to youth.

Orianne Ciantar Olive’s “Stuck in Here” focuses on aiming to represent properly and communicate the people of Ukraine through photography. Disregarding dramatic and sensationalist imagery used by mainstream media that is often misrepresentative of everyday life, Olive said, “I decided to take them by surprise, and show them images that come from the heart of the war but without any images of war.” As commented on by i-D, the work featured aims to chronicle the “progressive youth culture, parties in Kharkiv, friends and lovers embracing.” The images are “joyful moments” but it’s “nostalgic, a snapshot of a period long gone.” Attempting to convey the reality of life in war poses a multitude of challenges, but attempting to capture the people around you as they grasp what’s left of normality seems to be a way of attracting real and heartfelt attention.

Vava Ribiero, a photographer, set out to capture the beach culture of Ipanema, Brazil. He saw the area, especially the culture surrounding the beach, as an epicenter of fashion, music, and self-expression. There is a certain element of individualism, vibrance and passion to capture. The imagery of people, sky. and sea act as celebration of both the world around us and of youth.

Article by Alana Courtney-Gleeson, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Designer, PhotoBook Magazine

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