Igor Pjörrt: Wallpaper* Next Generation 2021
Our Next Generation 2021 showcase shines a light on 21 outstanding graduates from around the globe, Wallpaper’s pick of the best new talent in seven creative fields. Here we profile Igor Pjörrt, photography graduate of ECAL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Pjörrt’s ongoing series, Apartamento – which means both ‘apartment’ and ‘separation’ in Portuguese – centres on living spaces and the transformations that occur within them. The Madeira-born, Paris-based photographer draws parallels between the evolution of homes and the shifting of gender identities. ‘Such is the experience of inhabiting a body, fluctuating from one state into another and disposing of baggage to accommodate for new visions.’
Igor Pjörrt. Dream collaborator: ‘My first thought is of Onfim, a medieval Russian boy whose school notebook doodles were preserved for several centuries. I guess that in general his drawings are very characteristic of a child's mind and so the answer could simply also be to collaborate with children. I think that in children there is a pure, unfiltered expression of thoughts and dreams that is very precious and which I try to nurture in the way I approach life and how I practise art.’
Pjörrt’s practice recognises the essential support of others. The photographer’s mother joins in playful acts that at once reference the family’s oscillating fortunes and her role as a safe port in a tumultuous world. Apartamento, is a reflection of its moment, offering a glimpse into the inner worlds of Pjörrt and family members as they find themselves confined in their apartment during the pandemic. Through the unusual series of images, Pjörrt offers a timely meditation on the intermingling of gender, sexuality, race, class and domesticity.
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As Photography Editor at Wallpaper*, Sophie Gladstone commissions across fashion, interiors, architecture, travel, art, entertaining, beauty & grooming, watches & jewellery, transport and technology. Gladstone also writes about and researches contemporary photography. Alongside her creative commissioning process, she continues her art practice as a photographer, for which she was recently nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award. And in recognition of her work to date, listed by the British Journal of Photography as ‘One to Watch’.
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