Aperture

Founded in 1952, Aperture is an essential guide to the world of contemporary photography that combines the finest writing with inspiring photographic portfolios. Each issue examines one theme explored in “Words,” focused on the best writing surrounding contemporary photography, and “Pictures,” featuring immersive portfolios and artist projects.

Aperture

Contributors

Agenda • Exhibitions to See

Timeline • A Brief History of the Moon

Viewfinder • In the 1960s, Akihiko Okamura photographed Northern Ireland with understated eloquence.

Studio Visit • Stefan Ruiz’s Brooklyn home is a visual biography of his prolific career.

Curriculum • Alejandro Cartagena

Spotlight • Avion Pearce, winner of the 2024 Aperture Portfolio Prize, creates a world between reality and dreams.

The Design Issue

Duro Olowu Cutting a Figure

Paradise Lost • In his photographs, films, and installations, Hartt reveals the intersections between architecture and history.

Ferrari LUIGI GHIRRI • An artist who saw photography as a means to restore his sense of wonder, Ghirri embraced a commission for the legendary carmaker.

Dayanita Singh Better Living • In her recent projects, Singh portrays the architecture of Geoffrey Bawa and Studio Mumbai.

Daniel Shea Empire Plaza • A Utopian Dream in Albany

Alice Rawsthorn Design Touches Everything

Off the Wall • Exhibitions have always been arenas for experimentation with design.

The Shape of Things • From tombstones to handbags, photographs have long been used to sell just about everything. How do artists make the objects we desire seem irresistible?

Past Lives • In the 1980s, Simpson made portraits of New York’s artistic and nightlife scenes—and later found success as a jewelry designer. Her multifaceted work tells a singular story.

Dream Sequence

The Theater of Paul Kooiker

The PhotoBook Review

Poetic Research • Polymode is known for a wide variety of design projects, including books, exhibitions, and motion graphics. Dori Tunstall recently spoke with Silas Munro and Brian Johnsonabout founding one of the few Black- and Indigenous-led design firms.

Elements of Style • A new book shows why Alexey Brodovitch’s innovative art direction has never gone out of fashion.

The Designer’s Bookshelf

Olivia Laing • Olivia Laing has established herself as one of our most exacting cultural critics. Her new book, The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise, uses the restoration of her own eighteenth-century walled garden as a starting point to consider how we might imagine paradise.