EDITOR’S PICK
Blinded by
the Light
By Libby Peterson
Dark and ethereal: two words you
don’t see together very often, but they
come to mind synchronously when
you look at Gabriel Isak’s work. Then
again, conflicting concepts are at the
core of what he creates. The Swedish
born, San Francisco-based artist taps
into photography to illustrate some
of the profound experiences he’s
encountered in the past (the years he
battled depression, namely). Though he
dabbled with photography at a young
age, Isak picked it back up in earnest last
year to create work inspired by these
difficult years. “I wanted to depict the
internal world of solitary people who
symbolize our own unconscious states,”
Isak says. This photo, called “Beneath,”
represents blindness, he explains, “of not
being able to see what is in front of one’s
journey and being imprisoned in a dark
place.” The photo, featuring frequent
muse Joep Polderman, is dreamy, surreal
even, but Isak still kept the execution
remarkably simple, relying solely on a
beam of sunlight streaming through
his apartment window. Isak’s work is
rooted in complexity and darkness, but
what blooms is surprising: a revitalized
afterglow.
+
gabrielisak.com
