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Axakadam | VIP Member | Verified Credits (1)

Seckin Erel, who uses the alias Axakadam, was born in Istanbul and now lives in Strasbourg, France. A lawyer by profession, his journey in instant photography started just 8-years ago as a completely self-taught hobbyist. His work, which went public less than three years ago on Polaroid-Passion.com, and has since been featured in many instant art exhibitions in Europe and published in various forms, including Photodarium Private calendars.

Axakadam shoots exclusively with instant films of all formats and expiry dates, and mainly uses modified Time-Zero SX-70 AF cameras and a Polaroid 195 camera. Nevertheless, because of the large framing required for his theatrical scenes and the visibility of the human expressions, his preferred formats are 4×5 and 8×10 films that he shoots with a Graflex Speed Graphic and a Linhof Kardan Color 18×24.

Axakadam never uses post-production tools, except for reframing or dust removal. Influenced mainly by Sally Mann, Francesca Woodman, Liliroze, Jan Saudek, and Joel-Peter Witkin, his only goal is to reach a distinctive signature in representing “The Woman,” who is a never-ending mystery to him. Thus, he hates the terms “model” or “shooting,” preferring instead to use the term, “collaborators.”

Check out Axakadam’s Model Mayhem portfolio to see more of his work. You can also follow Axakadam on Instagram.