As Halloween is tomorrow i thought it best to do this weeks feature on something supernatural.
NYC photographer Josh Bartky has been interested in all things ghostly since the age of six.
His new project RITUALS is an archive of photos from top young photographers such as Maggie Lee, Sophie Curtis, Sean Vegezzi, Katheryn Love and more: rituals
I e-mailed Josh some Questions about the project and what was going down.
Where did you get the idea from?
While I was working on my own project concerning ghosts. I researched a lot of issues regarding paranormal beings and eventually this lead me to the idea of rituals. I read a lot about summoning ghosts or other-worldly beings which made me curious about the idea behind the term “rituals” and how it can be interpreted in various manners. I wanted to incorporate the term in my own work then realized that it would be even grander if I collected an ongoing collective of artists to showcase how the word could translate through different photographers and their work.
Is there any plans to make a zine of do an exhibition?
Yes, I would like to do both in the near future. Currently I am trying to sift through submissions that I have received, but there are so many good ones it’s hard to decide!
What do you like about rituals?
I like the idea that a ritual is something constant, whether it be religious or something that you do everyday like making out with the posters in your Robert Pattinson shrine behind the garage. While a ritual is constant, it can occur once every 100 years or every week, depending on its purpose and desired effect. My intention for the website is to bring together and promote young artists under a common theme that can translate in multiple ways to the viewer yet keep a strong aesthetic and not distract from the work itself. I couldn’t have started it without such great artists!
In your own work you look a lot at and ghost and supernatural things,what is it about the mystical world that interests you?
The fact that they exist within our world yet most people are blind to them, or at least choose to be. My fascination began when I was six and I woke up in my bedroom in Florida to a room filled with bats and a dark figure hovering in the corner. Ever since then I knew that supernatural beings existed, and the more I discuss it with other people and the more stories I hear the further I am convinced of their presence.
