{"id":426,"date":"2025-09-05T16:03:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T16:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/?p=426"},"modified":"2025-09-05T16:48:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T16:48:58","slug":"through-the-looking-glass-juan-pinnick-and-the-exquisite-art-of-capturing-the-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/through-the-looking-glass-juan-pinnick-and-the-exquisite-art-of-capturing-the-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Through the Looking Glass: Juan Pinnick and the Exquisite Art of Capturing the Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Darling, prepare to be stirred. We\u2019re stepping into the frame with photographer Juan Pinnick, a man who doesn\u2019t just take photographs, he coaxes out souls. From a National Geographic accolade to the profound vulnerability of a \u2018last shoot,\u2019 discover why his lens is a portal to the most authentic, and heartbreakingly beautiful, human emotions. It\u2019s a veritable feast for the senses.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"651\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35-_Q7A7569-651x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-428\" style=\"width:279px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35-_Q7A7569-651x1024.jpg 651w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35-_Q7A7569-191x300.jpg 191w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35-_Q7A7569-768x1209.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35-_Q7A7569-976x1536.jpg 976w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35-_Q7A7569-1301x2048.jpg 1301w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/35-_Q7A7569-scaled.jpg 1627w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 651px) 100vw, 651px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let us, for a moment, suspend the dreary chatter of the day and step into a world painted not with brushes, but with light. A world curated by the visionary Juan Pinnick, a man for whom the camera is not a mere tool, but a permanent, beguiling extension of his very being. \u201cPhotography is the only thing I\u2019ve picked up and never been able to put down,\u201d he confesses, and one can feel the weight of that truth, a delicious, lifelong entanglement with the art of seeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It began, as all great love affairs do, with a gift. A camera in 2014 that unveiled the perfect symphony: the rigorous science of f-stops and shutter speeds composing a sonnet for his inner geek, all while conducting the soaring orchestra of his creativity. He arrived in Bloemfontein, a reluctant portraitist, only to be swept into the glamorous fray of modelling agencies. But, darling, the real discovery wasn\u2019t in the perfect bone structure; it was in the psychology. In the alchemy of making a subject feel so utterly comfortable that their authentic self simply\u2026 spills into the frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"434\" src=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7-IMG_3889-Edit-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7-IMG_3889-Edit-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7-IMG_3889-Edit-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7-IMG_3889-Edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7-IMG_3889-Edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7-IMG_3889-Edit-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/10-IMG_0869-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/10-IMG_0869-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/10-IMG_0869-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/10-IMG_0869-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/10-IMG_0869-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/10-IMG_0869-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"578\" data-id=\"436\" src=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20-PIN_6522-1024x578.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20-PIN_6522-1024x578.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20-PIN_6522-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20-PIN_6522-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20-PIN_6522-1536x867.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20-PIN_6522-2048x1156.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/22-_Q7A1562-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/22-_Q7A1562-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/22-_Q7A1562-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/22-_Q7A1562-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/22-_Q7A1562-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/22-_Q7A1562-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/41-IMGL8165-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/41-IMGL8165-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/41-IMGL8165-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/41-IMGL8165-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/41-IMGL8165-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/41-IMGL8165-scaled.jpg 1919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"435\" src=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/74-IMGL5353-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/74-IMGL5353-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/74-IMGL5353-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/74-IMGL5353-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/74-IMGL5353-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/74-IMGL5353-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His career is a constellation of highlights that would make any artist weep with envy. An email from National Geographic, bestowing a \u201cPhoto of the Day\u201d upon him, a stormy Durban coast captured not long after his journey began. A triumph! But the moment that truly grips the heart? A portrait session for an older lady with terminal cancer. Her \u201cLast Shoot.\u201d He speaks of it not with sorrow, but with awe, a celebration of life so potent, so raw, it forever redefines the purpose of his lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His process is a masterclass in seduction. There is no demanding, only allowing. The first twenty minutes are a delicate dance of presence and energy, of acclimating a subject to the sound of the shutter, a sound he describes as the most beautiful in the world. He is, in his own words, \u201ca funny guy,\u201d wielding humour not as a tool, but as a weapon to shatter inhibition, to procure a laugh that is real, not requested. \u201cI always make sure my shoots are FUN,\u201d he declares, and the word fun, in this context, feels profoundly elegant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And now, the pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance: his own self-portraits. Once focused on the crisp artifice of hair and lighting, his work has undergone a magnificent distillation. He has stripped away the noise to pursue something purer: expression, emotion, vulnerability. His self-portraits are a fearless excavation, a capture of moments that are scary, sad, sexy. They are his greatest tool for growth, a mirror reflecting not just his face, but the entire, complex landscape of his soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an age hurtling towards the cold, sterile embrace of AI, Juan posits that our humanity, our messy, glorious, emotional core, will become our most valuable currency. He trains his eye to find the masterpieces that surround us daily, and he hopes his photography makes you feel. To smile, to cry, to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Darling, he doesn\u2019t just want you to see something beautiful. He wants you to see something true. And that, in this world of endless filters, is nothing short of revolutionary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Follow Juan Pinnick <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/1G1TXfqZsK\/\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/juanpinnickphotography?igsh=aXdmMDlzcmMwazNj\"><strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/juanpinnickphotography.co.za\/\"><strong>www.juanpinnickphotography.co.za<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Latest News: Article About Juan Pinnick Photography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,80],"tags":[87],"class_list":["post-426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight","category-news","tag-juan-pinnick"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unplugmagazine.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}