Photographer #325: Paolo Ventura

Paolo Ventura, 1968, Italy, studied at the Accademia di Bella Arti di Brera in Milan and currently lives and works in New York. He envisioned scenes he wanted to photograph, but these situations could not be found anymore. Therefore he started to construct entire sets by hand. He creates miniature buildings, trees and other objects. At the same time he constructs all the figures himself, making tiny clothes for the little men and women that he uses as actors in his scenes to tell his narrative and magical stories. In 2006 he released his series War Souvenir as a monograph and in 2009 the book Winter Stories came out. In the last five years Paolo has exhibited extensively throughout the USA and Europe. The following images come from the series Civil War, Winter Stories and War Souvenir.

Website: www.paoloventura.com

Photographer #324: Marianne Engel

Marianne Engel, 1972, Switzerland, is a photographer who also concentrates on various other art forms. She creates objects, works on installations and collaborates with various artists. She graduated in Biochemistry at the University of Zürich in 2001. The interest in biochemistry is visible in various bodies of works. On objects as bacteria, fish and bonsai trees she used a glow in the dark pigment creating alien like imagery. Her photographs of trees and other objects in nature, often photographed in the dark using a painting with light technique become magical and fantastical. Her photographs are dramatic and often feel like a hallucination. The following images come from her extensive portfolio.

Website: www.marengel.ch

Photographer #323: GMB Akash

GMB Akash, 1977, Bangladesh, is a socially-engaged documentary photographer focusing on people at the edges of society, often photographed in bright colors. Many of his stories have been made in his home country, but he travels extensively throughout Asia to document various tales of socially isolated groups. He has covered prostitution in Nepal, child labour in Bangladesh, the high suicide rate amongst cotton farmers in India, seasonal workers in Pakistan amongst many other confronting stories. GMB has won numerous awards and his work has been published in countless magazines throughout the world as the National Geographic, Time and Stern. In 2002 he was selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. His work is important and confronting, however it also shows the strength and resilience of the human being. The following images come from the series Stone Scavengers of Jaflong, Survivors and Nothing To Hold On To.

Website: www.gmb-akash.com

Photographer #322: Alec Soth

Alec Soth, 1969, USA, received a BA at the Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville in 1992. In July 2011 his book Broken Manual will be released. The series, created over the course of four years, investigates spaces people would runaway to, away from civilization. He has photographed monks, survivalists, hermits and runaways. In 2004 he released Sleeping by the Mississippi, evolving from a series of road trips along the Mississippi river. It is a mix of portraits, landscapes and interiors that poetically documents this American region. Alec has released several other books and has exhibited extensively. He uses a large-format camera. In 2004 Alec became a nominee at Magnum Photos and four years later he became a full member. The following images come from the series Broken Manual, The last days of W and Sleeping by the Mississippi.

Website: www.alecsoth.com

Photographer #321: Ruven Afanador

Ruven Afanador, 1959, Colombia, is a fashion and portrait photographer who also focuses on personal projects. In 2009 he released the book Mil Besos, a collection of images of Flamenco dansers from Southern Spain. Strong, fearless and fierce women of various generations are portrayed in high-contrast black and white photographs, twisting pre-conceived notions of beauty. The book Sombra contains images using nineteenth century techniques of erotic male nudes in poses inspired by classical ballet. Ruven has seen a vast amount of celebrities in front of his lens, from Britney Spears to Al Pacino. His fashion shoots are larger than life, creating fantastical, dreamy, classy and powerful imagery. The following images come from the book Mil Besos, his portfolio Celebrity and the book Sombra.

Website: www.ruvenafanador.com

Photographer #320: Pari Dukovic

Pari Dukovic, 1984, Turkey, is a documentary photographer who works and lives in New York. In 2010 he went back to his homeland to document Kirkpinar, the longest sanctioned sporting competition in the world. The sport is even under the protection of Unesco. However, it has become more than just an oil-wrestling game, it is an expression of their tradition and identity. This is year the sport will have its 650th anniversary and Pari will return to Turkey to document the event hoping to draw attention to the importance of culture today. Whether shooting boxing matches, burlesque dancers, street photographs of Istanbul or New York or even backstage at a fashion show, Pari's photographs are high in contrast, gritty and dark. The following images come from Fields of Glory, Venues of Immortality and Boxing.

Website: www.paridukovic.com

Photographer #319: Mariano Vivanco

Mariano Vivanco, 1975, Peru, is a portrait, fine art and fashion photographer based in London and New York. He has done editorials for magazines as Dazed & Confused, L'Uomo Vogue and Another Magazine. Uomini is one of the several books he released for the Dolce & Gabbana label. It contains strong and classic photographs of young men either nude or in underwear reminding us of Greek and Roman sculptures. In 2008 he published the book Ninety Five Chapel Market which contains images from his first years in London including some young supermodels that have become household names. He has worked with a large number of celebrities as Lady Gaga, Lionel Messi and Dita von Teese. His images are powerful and vulnerable at the same time. The following images come from his book Uomini, his portfolio Editorial and the book Ninety Five Chapel Market.

Website: www.marianovivanco.com

Photographer #318: Nicholas Alan Cope

Nicholas Alan Cope, 1983, USA, is a photographer who focuses on product, architectural and still-life photography. He graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His work began by focusing on the essential components of LA architecture, creating a set of parameters for photographing the city. Then he moved on to capturing the landscape of LA. Both projects combined formed an idealized survey of the city. The visual language created in these bodies of work is clearly visible in his other works. However, in some bodies of work it is a reaction in opposition to them. Works as Paper or Lipstick contain strong and edgy forms, whilst his still-lifes are much more organic and remind us of the great painters. Within the variety Nicholas states that his aim is always "to present the subject directly and maintain visual clarity". The following images come from the series Paper, Abstract II and Architecture II.

Website: www.cope1.com

Photographer #317: Matt Eich

Matt Eich, 1986, USA, is a young documentary photographer based in Virginia and one of the founding members of Luceo Images. He is currently working on a series in Baptist Town where he started to document the "black" neighbourhood and is planning to do the same in the "white" region. His goal with this series is to remind people that even though civil rights are taught in history classes around the US, the legacies of racism continue to impact the people economically and culturally. In his series Carry Me Ohio, Matt documents the poor communities in Southeast Ohio, a region that once thrived on its mining industry, and how they attempt to recover economically. In recent years Matt has been in numerous group exhibitions and several solo exhibitions. The following images come from the series Sin and Salvation in Baptist Town, An Altered State of Being and Carry Me Ohio.

Website: www.matteichphoto.com

Photographer #316: Kathryn Parker Almanas

Kathryn Parker Almanas, 1981, USA, is a conceptual fine art photographer who also focuses on making collages. She received a BFA at the Massachusetts College of Art and an MFA at Yale University School of Art. Inspired by a personal experience with bodily illness, her work deals with the universal themes of corporeal existence, anxieties and phobias connected to the world of medicine. In her series Pre-Existing Condition she uses food as a stand-in for the body and its organs. Pastry, jellies and fruit juices become flesh and blood, creating abstract images of "the parts of ourselves both essential to our survival and responsible for our death." In her earlier series Pastry Anatomy she "treated" various pastries as a surgeon or lab would. Her work has been exhibited throughout the USA. The following images come from the series Pre-Existing Condition, Spellato and Medical Interior.

Website: www.kathrynparkeralmanas.com

Photographer #315: Marcus Hausser

Marcus Hausser, 1975, Brazil, is a commercial photographer with a long list of clients for whom he has shot campaigns. His career started by assisting renowned advertising photographers in Brazil. In 2002 he launched himself as a freelance photographer, opening a large studio in São Paulo. Amongst his clients are large names as Fiat, Harley Davidson, Sky, Unicef and Fedex. He has been published in editions of the Lürzers Archive 200 best ad photographers worldwide 2008/2009 with four works. His ads range from including a lot of humour to very serious matters. The following images come from the campaigns for ADESF, Abramet and Amnesty International Argentina.

Website: www.marcushausser.com

Photographer #314: Arnau Blanch Vilageliu

Arnau Blanch Vilageliu, 1983, is a Spanish documentary photographer who lives and works between Spain and Colombia. He studied photography at the Institut d'Estudis Fotografics de Catalunya. He completed a six month internship at WpN in New York and participated at two workshops at ICP in documentary photography. In his hometown Barcelona he delved into the world of sex. It is a search for human identity, exploring a range of people who's lives are dominated by sex. In gritty and dark images he shows us people who might use sex as a way of expression and others who need it as a means of survival. Shadows of Paradise is made in Colombia. Arnau shows us the darkness in a place that might, due to the lucious color of the jungle, look like a paradise at first glance. Arnau's narrative photography is raw and instinctive. The following images come from !SEX!, Shadows of Paradise and Untitled Document.

Website: www.arnaublanch.com

Photographer #313: Ville Varumo

Ville Varumo, 1986, Finland, is a young conceptual fashion photographer based in Helsinki. He started taking pictures in his teenage years and hasn't done anything else since. His photography is an extension of his moods and his growth as a human. He is fascinated by the feeling of mystery. Next to his often soft-toned fashion photographs Ville focuses on landscape photography. The tone and style of his landcsape images have the same signature as his fashion photographs. There is a certain calmness and aspects of islation in his imagery. The following images come from the portfolios Fashion, Untitled Work and Tölö Gymnasium.

Website: www.villevarumo.com

Photographer #312: Scott Conarroe

Scott Conarroe, 1974, Canada, is a landscape photographer with a distinct eye. He received a BFA at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2001 and an MFA the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2005. His images of the sea or the railroad tracks in Northern America contain a subtle criticism on how humans interact with their environment. By Rail is the result of an eight month trip in his Chevy Van, often making long exposure photographs on a 4x5" large format camera. His series At Leisure contains images of recreational spaces in built environments that seem unfitting, out of order or just weird. Scott has also created series in Ontario, Halifax and Beijing among other places. He has exhibited in Canada, several places in the US and abroad. Scott is one of the PDN's 30 emerging photographers of 2010. The following images come from the series By Sea, By Rail and London.

Website: www.scottconarroe.com

Photographer #311: Lauren Dukoff

Lauren Dukoff, 1984, USA, is a portrait photographer. A vast amount of celebrities have been in front of her lens including Beyonce, Katy Perry, Sting and Beck. Her most known picture might be the cover of the album 21 by Adele. Lauren has also directed videos for Adele, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan and Devendra Banhart. For several years Lauren had been photographing close friends and Devendra Banhart, including an extended family of artists who share inspiration. The images were released in the book Family in 2009. It includes portraits and candid images of Devendra and many other artists, individually or together, in performance or in more private spaces. Her images have been published in numerous magazines as Rolling Stone, Dazed & Confused and L'Uomo Vogue. The following images come from her portfolios and her diary.

Website: www.laurendukoff.com

Photographer #310: Lalla Essaydi

Lalla Essaydi, 1956, is a fine art photographer from Morocco. She received an MFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Besides photography she uses other media as painting, film and installations. Her art often contains islamic calligraphy in combination with the representation of the female body. She addresses the complex reality of the Arab female identity. She has looked at the western painting tradition, recreating the paintings in an orientalist setting. In Les Femmes du Maroc, all the props used, including the background and the clothes, are covered in caligraphy. The calligraphy is even on the bodies of the females with the use of henna. Essaydi has exhibited extensively, is represented by numerous galleries and her work is in private and public collections. The following images come from the series Les Femmes du Maroc and Harem.

Unfortunately Lalla does not have a website. For more images go to: www.schneidergallerychicago.com, www.houkgallery.com, www.artnet.com or www.lisasettegallery.com

Photographer #309: Jens Assur

Jens Assur, 1970, is a Swedish photographer and film maker. From 1990 until 1997 he worked as a photojournalist at Expressen, then the leading newspaper in Scandinavia, covering stories in nearly 100 countries. From 1997 until 2001 he worked on the project Under the Shifting Skies which resulted in a book comprised of two volumes. In the first volume he traveled through Sweden taking pictures of people slipping through the cracks, Sami, refugees, Hells Angels, neo-nazis and porn stars. As he found out that every situation in Sweden is tied to events in other countries he decided to make a second volume. In 2010 he released the book Hunger which consists of five seperate books dealing with how we consume and how we treat our world. The following images come from the books If you love global warming - honk, Hunger and Under the Shifting Skies Vol I.

Website: www.studiojensassur.com