Henry Hargreaves

‘Food of the Rainbow’ photographed by Henry Hargreaves

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by Alison Zavos

Henry Hargreaves‘ introduction to the photography industry began in front of the camera as he was the pin-up boy for such revered fashion houses as Prada, YSL, Jil Sander and others and worked with the top photographers in the game. Four years ago, Hargreaves settled in New York and began work out of his studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn shooting fashion and still life for clients such as Ralph Lauren, New York Magazine, GQ, NYLON, Boucheron, Marie Claire and others. This work is from hisFood of the Rainbow series which was styled by Lisa Edsalv.

Mahesh Shantaram

Photographing Indian weddings documentary style yields spectacular results

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by Alison Zavos

Along with being an art and documentary photographer, Mahesh Shantaram also photographs weddings. He writes, ‘Wasting away in a cubicle in Washington, DC, I decided enough is enough, and went to Paris to study photography. When I returned to India in 2006, it was immediately apparent to me that the Indian wedding photography market needed some ventilation. I took it upon myself to breathe fresh air into the art of documenting Indian weddings’.

‘I’m not very much into overly romantic imagery. Shooting at Indian weddings is like war photography meets street photography. I believe what I’m really hired for is the cerebral act of making keen and positive observations in telling the story of the day. Rather than industry trends, I draw inspiration from the rich traditions of documentary photography.

Mark Laita

Breathtaking photographs of deadly snakes

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by Alison Zavos

Mark Laita is an advertising and fine art photographer based in Los Angeles. This work is from his project, Serpentine, of which he writes:

‘The sensual attractiveness of snakes, which coexists with their threatening, unpredictable and mysterious nature is truly unique. This dichotomy, in which their beauty seems to be heightened by their danger, and vice-versa, is what I find so fascinating. Add to these contradictions the rich symbolism of serpents and you have a wonderfully compelling subject’.

Kevin McCollister

East Los Angeles photographed by Kevin McCollister

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by Alison Zavos

Kevin McCollister is a Los Angeles-based documentary photographer. He worked for several years as a deckhand on the Mississippi River before moving to L.A. He has been working on this photography series, East of West L.A., for over six years. He writes:‘Just to be clear, I’m more Walt Whitman than Ansel Adams. I’ve taken only a handful of photography classes, never shot film or stepped in a darkroom. If the digital sensor had never been invented, you wouldn’t be reading this. But it was invented and I’m taking total advantage of its ability to present the easily misunderstood city of Los Angeles. Yes, it’s a ‘mission’ but the only thing at stake is whether or not someone sees something new’.

Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis, New York

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by Alison Zavos

Michael Lewis has spent the last several years working mainly in the world of editorial portraiture. He began taking pictures while going to Temple (and then Tyler School of Art) in Philadelphia and later received a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Lewis then moved to Los Angeles, where he began to establish himself as an environmental portrait photographer. Along with commissioned photography, he has been working on a body of self-portraits taken during the years he lived in Los Angeles through the present. Of this work he writes, ‘Self-portraiture allows me to experience empathy for the peopl

e I photograph. I feel an obligation to my subjects to remain in touch with how it feels to be in front of the camera.

Chad States

Cruising for Sex in Parks and Public Spaces Photographed by Chad States (NSFW)

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by Maja Daniels

Chad States currently lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. His series ‘Cruising’ was recently published as a book by PowerHouse Books. About the series States writes:

‘With my photographs of cruising, the search for anonymous gay sex in parks and public spaces, I am interested in confirming and celebrating the sexual intimacy, however fleeting, that happens there. While a majority of the population see quick sex, especially among homosexual men, to be amoral and dirty; I see it as potentially romantic. The landscapes in which these men make sexual connections in are not dark and terrible places but tranquil and beautiful. When the way that people interact in the world is increasingly virtual I want to reconfirm the desire to enter the natural world and make physical contact with a stranger.

Paul Batt

Photographs of Abandoned Sofas in Suburban Australia

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by Alison Zavos

Paul Batt is currently a PhD candidate in Fine Art (Photography) at Monash University, Melbourne, where he is also a Sessional Photography Lecturer. Paul is a graduate of both the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) photography departments. His work has been exhibited work widely throughout Australia, received several awards and grants and has had work featured in a number of publications including Photofile and ‘Look – Contempoary Australian Photography Since 1980′. He writes:

‘These images represent a series documenting and cataloguing the subtle variations of abandon sofas and couches in the suburban environment. My primary interest in the ‘Abandon Series’ is the apparent state of flux and contrast the subjects exist in. These once intimate, comfort giving, interior objects have become surreally out of place, in the exterior world.

The Disappearing Face of New York

Old School Store Fronts

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by Alison Zavos

James and Karla Murray are professional photographers and authors based in New York and Miami. James and Karla have lectured extensively on the subject of the plight of New York City’s mom and pop stores at The New York Public Library, The Brooklyn Historical Society, The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Their book, STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York, provides an irreplaceable window to the rich cultural experience of New York City as seen through its neighborhood shops.

Claire Martin

Inhabitants of Vancouver’s Sketchy East Side

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by Alison Zavos

Tony lives in the Downtown Eastsidein the same building as his brother and sister in law. They have all been addicted to heroin for around 25 years. Tony lost his wife to AIDS 5 year ago. They had twin daughters who were born HIV positive and were taken away by the state immediately after birth. Tony is on the Methodone program, but continues to use heroin.

Claire Martin began her career by pursuing a degree in Social Work, however, she changed her focus to Photography when she realized that change can also be effected through this medium. Her ongoing documentation of marginalised communities within prosperous nations won her the Magnum Foundation 2010 Inge Morath award for Female Photographers under 30 years of age.

Annie Collinge

Photo du jour

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by Alison Zavos

Maja Daniels

Parisian twins

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by Alison Zavos

Maja Daniels is a Swedish independent photographer currently based in London, UK. Daniels studied journalism, photography and sociology, and her work focuses on social documentary and portraiture with an emphasis on human relations in a western, contemporary environment. Some of her clients include The Guardian Weekend Magazine, The Independent, Monocle Magazine as well as humanitarian organizations and cultural institutions such as UNICEF and the European Commission. She writes:

Monette and Mady are identical twins. They have lived their whole life closely toget

her and are, as they say, inseparable. I used to see them on the streets near my house now and then but mainly on Sundays at our local fruit and vegetable market. I was instantly fascinated by their identical outfits and synchronized corporal language. When I finally approached them I was not surprised to discover that they often finish each other’s sentences and that they refer to themselves as ‘I’ instead of ‘we ‘.

Rachel Bellinsky

Charming Photos of Pets in Windows

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by Alison Zavos

Rachel Bellinsky is a photographer and graphic designer based in San Diego. This series, Fishbowl, was recently featured in Slideluck Potshow Austin. Bellinsky writes:

‘You would not believe how many of these shots I see and miss because I don’t have my camera. The other day I saw a tiny kitten hanging from the curtains as I passed by, and my lack of camera at that moment was criminal. There is an animal in nearly every window of my neighborhood.’

Stefan Fürtbaue

Photographs of Viennese Fast Food Diners

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by Alison Zavos

Stefan Fürtbauer’s Eiterquellen series is an ongoing project about Viennese Wurstel Diners and Viennese fast-food culture. He writes: ‘Most of the time these diners are isolated islands of food supply in ancient

surrounding with a dash of cultural heritage. They are isolated both in the sense of appearance as well as in the sense of resisting against global operating fast-food chains.

Kevin Bauman

Small Churches

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by Paul Batt

A large part of the irony to Kevin Bauman’s series on ‘Small Churches’ is that they are exactly that. Small. The idea of a church, congers thoughts of palace like structures and grand cathedrals. Buildings whose lavish golden interiors are there, to act as the earthy embodiment of the divine and the conduit connecting worshippers to it. Bauman’s churches are the opposite and possibly more honest as a result. These houses of worship are quite literally, former houses or old stores, some are converted workshops but all are run down or abandoned. Often the only signifier distinguishing the building from its own past is the presence of a crudely painted sign and its promise of refuge.

Lauren Fleishman

Portraits and Love Stories of Couples that Have Survived Fifty Years of Marriage

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by Alison Zavos

Everyday my wife expresses her love for me. She says, did I tell you how much I love you today? Everyday. Everyday she says that. —Moses Rubenstein, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Photographer Lauren Fleishman was born and raised in Brooklyn where she continues to live. This series, Love Ever After, is a personal project on love and aging. She writes:

‘This project was inspired by a letter my grandfather wrote to my grandmother during World War II, which I found after they had both passed away. They had been married for more than 50 years. This project is intended as a photographic series of ‘love letters’. The dominant portraiture of my series consists of New York couples who have been together for more than 50 years. This work includes photographs, voice recordings and text. In the past three years, I’ve interviewed over 40 elderly couples, photographed them in their homes and helped them to preserve their love stories.’

Jessica Rosen

Portraits of Transgender Sex Workers in

Rio de Janeiro

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by Alison Zavos

Jessica Rosen is an American portrait and fashion photographer living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. About her series, The girls from Avenida Mem de Sa, Rosen writes:

‘I have spent the past three years working closely with a community of transgender sex workers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All of the subjects of these photos were born biologically male and have since taken steps toward feminizing their identity. These photographs are a celebration of beauty both masculine and feminine and everything in between and beyond.’

Jan Kempenaers - Foarte Division Bell treaba asta

Photos of Abandoned and Mysterious Yugoslavian Monuments

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by Andi Vollmer

Jan Kempenaers is an Antwerp based photographer and is attending the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at the University College Ghent in Belgium where he is working on a PhD in the visual arts about the picturesque landscape.

Kempenaers undertook a laborious trek through the Balkans in order to photograph a series of these mysterious objects for his book Spomenik. These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place, or where concentration camps stood. After the Republic dissolved in early 1990s, they we

re completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were forever lost.

Dane Shitagi

The Ballerina Project

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by Alison Zavos

Dane Shitagi’s photography series, The Ballerina Project, grew from the idea of New York City as a magnet for creativity; each photograph is a collaborative work of dance, fashion design and photography played out against the city’s landscape. Shitagi writes:

‘Crafted over the span of ten years the Ballerina Project is not “dance photography” but an etching of a ballerinas heart and emotions. Every aspect of the Ballerina Project is carefully crafted and cultivated. The majority of ballerinas who have posed for the project are professional dancers and the minority are advanced ballet students in renown dance schools.

’

Dina Litovsky

Untag This Photo

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by Maja Daniels

Born in Ukraine, Dina Litovsky came to New York in 1991. She completed an MFA in photography at the School of Visual Arts and she is currently working on personal projects and teaching at the International Center of Photography. Litovsky’s project ‘Untag This Photo’ deals with the interesting change that we have all witnessed within public behaviour and personal representation since the explosion of electronic media and the arrival of social media networks such as Facebook. About the work she writes:

The recent explosion of electronic media, specifically digital cameras, iphones and networki

ng sites, has had a significant influence on the public behavior and personal representation of women in contemporary society. Social networks provide a perfect platform for wide and instant exposure and familiarize the mainstream audience with overtly sexualized behaviors that in the past have only been permissible in the contained settings of Spring Break or Mardi Gras.

Peter Lippmann

Abandoned Cars Overtaken by Nature

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by Alison Zavos

Peter Lippmann is an American-born photographer who has worked in Paris for over 25 years. He specializes

in still life, advertising, magazine work, food, and trompe l’oeil. This work, Paradise Parking, offers ‘a poetic look at the relationship between the creations of man and mother nature’. Lippman is represented by Gallery SophieMaree in Amsterdam.