Box Girls Kenya
[dropcap type="2"]T[/dropcap]hrough the walls of Kariobangi Community Center you can hear the box coaches' orders all the way to the nearby football field. Curious bypassers are peeking in through the windows and in the corner of the gym articles about title matches have been posted on the wall. Kariobangi is one of Nairobi's toughest neighborhoods and home to some of Kenyas most recognized boxers. It is also one of few boxing gyms in Kenya where women take part in the training sessions.
Box Girls Kenya was founded after the post-election violence that struck Kenya in 2008. ”I saw how women were treated especially bad after the election and I felt that I wanted to give women and girls an opportunity to defend themselves”, says the founder Alfred Analo.
Initially it was difficult to engage the women. Boxing has traditionally been considered an activity for men only, but that view is about to change. Nine years ago there were twelve girls and women participating in the work outs. Today there are more than 1500 female members involved in the organization. ”When we first started out, a lot of parents didn’t want their daughters to box. Nowadays it’s the other way around, parents contact us and ask us to come visit their daughters' schools”, says Analo. Apart from teaching boxing, the organization also educates schoolgirls in life-skills and women ́s rights.
Damaris Irungu has been boxing for two years and she spends every morning in the gym, boxing and sparring against professional male boxers. In the afternoons she does outreaches to different schools around Nairobi where she teaches boxing to girls. ”I have become much more brave since I started boxing. I can really stand up for myself now”, says Damaris who's dream it is to one day represent Kenya in the Olympic Games.
About the author:
Adam Daver was born in 1993. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden where he studies photo journalism at Nordens Fotoskola.
Sex and Coffee: a new work by Ruslan Lobanov
The 2017 calendar by Ruslan Lobanov, titled «Sex and Coffee», featuring the most pleasant things in the World: coffee and sex. It goes without saying that they are interrelated. A new calendar represents 13 black and white stories in the cinematic form. For the 2017 edition, the shots were taken in France, Italy, Greece and Ukraine. Ruslan said, «Publishing Calendar is my gift and message for all art lovers». Every copy signed by the artist and hand-numbered. Very limited edition: 100 copies.
In addition to the Calendar Ruslan released his personal photo books: “WORKS” (2014), “Nudes in the City” (2015) and “Not Black and White Cinema” (2016). “Lobanov’s album is just strikingly brilliant. Full point“, said Janusz Leon Wisniewski, a reviewer of “Nudes in the city" book. In order to compile these albums Ruslan travelled around the cities from Cuba to France. Each city poses its own sensuality through Ruslan’s photos.
Ruslan draws his inspiration from cinema and fashion, producing erotic shots in which the bodies of sensual women are brazenly flaunted under his sharp eye. The women thus represent a certain kind of feminine freedom by disrupting established codes. All characters in his works are mostly actress, not models. They have something more than great bodies, they have souls and desire. Ruslan's task is to prove that undressed women isn’t a center of attention, sometimes viewers don’t notice naked body at all. Nakedness in his works is a tool of beauty realization, like an expensive accessory.
There is no doubt that all works by Ruslan Lobanov will involve readers to a lush vision of womanhood - reckless, unafraid and remorseless. Passion for the details with the personal attitude for the heroes, elegant atmosphere whenever the story was shot, all this, is a base for Ruslan's images.
About the author
Ruslan Lobabov is an Ukrainian Photographer. He specialized in portraiture and female nudes shootings. Ruslan has been published by Playboy, EGO, FOTO, L'Officiel, Stern.de, Blur, Normal and other influential magazines. His works were established in Galleries of Belgium (Brussels), Germany (Hamburg), Ukraine (Kyiv), and Switzerland (Zurich).
Interview with: Cristian Dorme
Can you tell us something about yourself?
So, I was born in Chisinau (Moldavia) in 1995 and in few years I moved to Italy, where I live now in Venice. I am a really introvert person and it takes a lot of time before I start feeling at ease with people I'm meeting for the first time. But I have few friends I am really ok with! Regard the photography it's pretty the same, sometimes I let myself go, sometimes not, it all depends on the person I have in front of my lens. Taking pictures helps to find more interesting personalities, by the way.
Separate the photography, I love to listen to the music -which is really important during my shoots as well-, to watch some particular movies and to sleep a lot!