Instagram Takeover – Brendan George Ko

A portrait of a black man in profile, set against the lilac sky and the rose gold setting sun.

Brendan George Ko seeks to tell stories through his photography, video, installation, text, and sound. In his own words, each photograph is “a document of a memory, a document of a person; a time and place, a feeling and a trace (of something that once was, something worth remembering)”.

Born in Toronto in 1986 and raised in Texas and Hawai’i, in 2010, Ko received his BFA from Ontario College of Art & Design where he majored in photography. During his time in the Masters in Visual Arts programme at the University of Toronto his practice shifted into video and sound. He moves between Canada and Hawai’i, where his research is currently based.

Brendan George Ko is taking over @paperjournalmag from today until 4 June. Follow him @brendangeorgeko and see more of his work at brendangeorgeko.com.

  • A woman, coated in mud, stands alone in a cave.
  • A gleaming white hairy goat stands proud on a mound of soil.
  • Standing inside an empty sea cave, the camera peeks out onto the waves.
  • A man in traditional Hawai'ian dress stands on a beach, gesturing off-camera.