Photographer #417: Ulrich Lebeuf

Ulrich Lebeuf, 1972, France, is a photojournalist and documentary photographer. He has worked on numerous stories for the French and international press. Next to his photojournalistic work he is interested in themes of popular culture, representation, consumption and the notion of immediate pleasure. The series Antonyme de la pudeur takes a look at the sex industry. It is a glimpse into a world in which Ulrich manages to humanize the actresses, making the viewer reflect on the stereotypes of the business and on our own moral judgments. His work has been published in newspapers and magazines as Le Monde, Libération, Time and National Geographic. His photographs have been shown at several venues as the opening of the Rencontres d'Arles festival in 2006. He is a member of the M.Y.O.P agency. The following images come from the series Antonyme de la pudeur, Tropique du Cancer and Alaska Highway.

Website: www.ulrichlebeuf.fr & www.myop.fr

Photographer #416: Chen Jiagang

Chen Jiagang, 1962, China, studied architecture in Chongqing and became a full-time photographer in 2001. His large-scale images, some up to 4 meters wide, are a mix of documentary, conceptual and staged photography. For his series Third Front he visited a large number of abandoned villages and factories. In 1964, due to an unstable foreign policy, China installed heavy industry and factories in the heartland of its country, resulting in the relocation of millions of workers. The third front was born and the region was booming. However, in the early 1980's an economic reform was initiated, the factories were closed and the towns and cities became empty. Chen visited the region on many occasions and photographed the industrial wasteland. Within his images he puts a beautiful woman, often dressed in a Qipao, and sometimes a young girl. They are symbolic and create a reference to China's history as well as raising questions about it. Chen released several monographs and his work has been exhibited extensively throughout the world. The following images come from the series Sample Room, Temptations and Great Third Front.

Website: www.chenjiagang.com

Photographer #415: Thomas Locke Hobbs

Thomas Locke Hobbs, 1976, USA, is a photographer who has been based in Buenos Aires since 2008. Although his background is in economics and finance he decided to dedicate himself full-time to photography in 2008. He started following numerous workshops in order to further his technical skills as well as to define what photography is to him. Thomas works in a very exploratory manner, investigating the city he lives in from various different perspectives. His conceptual series are the work of an organized photographer who looks at the city as an outsider. His series Ochava Solstice is a collection of large format photographs showing the corners of numerous buildings. In the early 20th century the government mandated that buildings on corners in Buenos Aires have diagonal edges to improve visibility for cars. However, from the 1960's onwards, the economic imperatives of real estate development demanded maximum square footage. The ground floors are diagonal edge, the floors above have square edges. This way of building leaves a triangular shadow which tracks the sun as a sun dial would. The following images come from the series Ochava Solstice, Riverbank and Chalet Porteño.

Website: www.thomaslockehobbs.com

Photographer #414: Sabelo Mlangeni

Sabelo Mlangeni, 1980, is a South African documentary photographer. He was able to study photography thanks to a bursary from the Market Photo Workshop and graduated in 2004. In 2010 he released the book Country Girls, an intimate portrait of gay life in the countryside of South-Africa. The areas in which he photographed are rough and poor, yet Sabelo shows that glamour is also present. He worked on this project for six years, focusing on drag queens, hairstylists and beauty pageant contestants who are still often perceived as un-African or un-Christian. Besides Country Girls he also released the series Men Only as a book and a catalogue containing his series At Home and Ghost Towns. Ghost Towns concentrates on small towns that have been abandoned due to immigration towards the country's urban areas. His work has been shown at several venues in South-Africa, UK, Germany, Italy and the US. The following images come from the series Ghost Towns, Country Girls and At Home.

Website: www.stevenson.info

Photographer #413: Andrew B. Myers

Andrew B. Myers, 1987, is a young Canadian photographer based in Toronto. He has a very distinct photographic style. His work is aesthetic, using carefully placed objects on simple color backgrounds which creates a large area of negative space. Due to the use of negative space the images gain an awkward flatness. His photographs are well composed, graphic and stylish. The sunlit shadows, washed out colors as well as the objects used refer back to the 1970's and 1980's with a modern twist. Andrew's photographs contain elements of nostalgia and pop culture. The following images come from the portfolio's 2011 PT.1, 2010 PT.1 and 2009.

Website: www.andrewbmyers.com

Photographer #412: Paulina Otylie Surys

Paulina Otylie Surys, 1979, Poland, is a fine art and fashion photographer based in London, UK. Only recently she has launched herself as a fashion photographer. She studied fine art in Poland and photography in the UK. She uses a variety of camera's, mostly vintage one's working with 35mm, medium format and large format film. Currently she is interested in working on other alternative techniques as tintypes and the wet collodion proces. Her analogue images are hand-painted using a mixture of toners, chemicals, inks and dry dyes. The photographs are often described as outerworldly and have a strong relationship with classic photography and painting. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines. The following images come from the series The Deadly Chair of Moros, Sever and Une Belle Sauvage.

Website: www.paulinasurys.co.uk

Photographer #411: Adam Amengual

Adam Amengual, 1981, USA, is a portrait photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. He studied at Massachusetts College of Art and Parsons School of Design. After graduating he started assisting commercial photographers as Ruven Afanador and Art Streiber. Even though he was photographing for himself and commercially he felt the urge to create his own series. While researching gangs, cults and hardcore religious factions he came accross Homeboy Industries, a non-profit organization assisting former gang members to become positive and contributing members of society. He portrayed the former gang members at Homeboy Industries which resulted in a series named Homies. The images are stylized and aesthetically composed mug shots. He hopes that the viewer connects to the portrayed on a more human level. It is important to Adam that his subjects are always shown in a respectful manner. The following images come from the series Homies: Portraits of Former LA Gang Members, Day Laborers and People, Places, and Things...

Website: www.adamamengual.com