3rd place
bronze star award
Gabriel Isak
sweden 
title
The Blue Journey
I began exploring photography in 2007; around the same time I began to face depression. Photography allowed me to escape into a different world, the once which I was creating, a place and a story that was led by me, not that I was led by. But after a few months, I fell deep into the arms of depression and lost all the passion for the medium, had no urge to live anymore and wouldn’t pick up the camera until seven years later, when I had recovered from the depression.
At this time in 2014, when I had finally won the war against my mental illness, I decided to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Photography, as a way to force myself into a mode of creation and follow my dreams to become a photographer. Immediately I began to unconsciously explore the theme of depression within my work. Everything that I created reflected back on the years I was living with depression while being inspired by psychology, surrealism and the Scandinavian landscapes that I grew up around.
That’s how ‘The Blue Journey’ was born, unconsciously from my mind as a way to put an ending to the years I lived with my mental illness, and for my inner self to express what it was like to live in that dark, foggy and blue world. I also want this project to shine a light on mental illness and allow the spectators to place themselves within the sceneries portrayed and experience the different emotions of the solitary subjects living in the world of depression.
Isak has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions around the world, including Galerie XII in Shanghai, Paris, and Los Angeles, Up on Walls in Hjo, Sweden, The Cannery Gallery in San Francisco, California and at Falsterbo Photo Art Museum in Sweden where his work is hold in their permanent collection. His works have been included in various notable exhibitions including “Acclimatize” at the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden; “Culture Pop” at M Contemporary, Sydney, Australia; and “Camera Obscura” at Last Rites Gallery in New York, USA.
Gabriel’s surreal photography has earned him several awards including Winner in PX3 Prix de la Photographie 2024, 1st place winner in Fine Art Photography Awards and Rangefinder Fine Art Photography Awards, Finalist in Hasselblad Masters Award 2023 and in 2018 he received PDN Emerging Photography Award.
His work has been published in many prestigious platforms such as Juxtapoz Magazine, VICE, Adobe, PDN, and Elle magazine. Isak travels around the world for personal and commissioned projects. His home is in Stockholm, Sweden.
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entry description
In ‘The Blue Journey’ I am presenting a project that is inspired by the seven years I went through depression, where I’m depicting the internal blue world of living with this mental illness.I began exploring photography in 2007; around the same time I began to face depression. Photography allowed me to escape into a different world, the once which I was creating, a place and a story that was led by me, not that I was led by. But after a few months, I fell deep into the arms of depression and lost all the passion for the medium, had no urge to live anymore and wouldn’t pick up the camera until seven years later, when I had recovered from the depression.
At this time in 2014, when I had finally won the war against my mental illness, I decided to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Photography, as a way to force myself into a mode of creation and follow my dreams to become a photographer. Immediately I began to unconsciously explore the theme of depression within my work. Everything that I created reflected back on the years I was living with depression while being inspired by psychology, surrealism and the Scandinavian landscapes that I grew up around.
That’s how ‘The Blue Journey’ was born, unconsciously from my mind as a way to put an ending to the years I lived with my mental illness, and for my inner self to express what it was like to live in that dark, foggy and blue world. I also want this project to shine a light on mental illness and allow the spectators to place themselves within the sceneries portrayed and experience the different emotions of the solitary subjects living in the world of depression.
about the photographer
Gabriel Isak was born in 1990 in Sweden. In 2016, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Photography from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California.Isak has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions around the world, including Galerie XII in Shanghai, Paris, and Los Angeles, Up on Walls in Hjo, Sweden, The Cannery Gallery in San Francisco, California and at Falsterbo Photo Art Museum in Sweden where his work is hold in their permanent collection. His works have been included in various notable exhibitions including “Acclimatize” at the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden; “Culture Pop” at M Contemporary, Sydney, Australia; and “Camera Obscura” at Last Rites Gallery in New York, USA.
Gabriel’s surreal photography has earned him several awards including Winner in PX3 Prix de la Photographie 2024, 1st place winner in Fine Art Photography Awards and Rangefinder Fine Art Photography Awards, Finalist in Hasselblad Masters Award 2023 and in 2018 he received PDN Emerging Photography Award.
His work has been published in many prestigious platforms such as Juxtapoz Magazine, VICE, Adobe, PDN, and Elle magazine. Isak travels around the world for personal and commissioned projects. His home is in Stockholm, Sweden.
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