Erika Larsen July 31, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in United States.Tags: United States
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Destiny and Daisy from the series; ‘People of the Horse’. Pendelton, Oregon 2012
Erika Larsen’s (b.1976 USA) work uses photography, video and writing to learn intimately about cultures that maintain strong connections with nature. She has been working as a magazine photographer since 2000 specializing in human-interest stories and sensitive cultural issues. Her work has been included in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, National Geographic Society, The Swedish Museum of Ethnography and Ajtte Sámi Museum. Erika’s first monograph, Sami-Walking With Reindeer, was released in 2013. Her work is represented by Redux Pictures. Erika is a recipient of several grants including a Fulbright Fellowship, New Jersey State Arts Council Fellowship, Women in Photography Individual Project Grant, Lois Roth Endowment and a World Press Award.
About the Photograph:
“I took this picture as part of the series People of the Horse to illuminate the unique bond between the horse and Native American culture. Destiny is of the Wampum tribe and is depicted here with Daisy. I met Destiny and her brother Nakia for the first time in Pendleton, Oregon where she was taking part in the yearly Indian princess competition. Even though the horse was first embraced for war, hunting and transport in time they became partners in pageantry and a way to show tribal pride. This tradition of pageantry is still very strong today. A year after I met Destiny I made arrangements to photograph her alone, away from the pageant. The first attempt was in the early evening and she and the horse were both dressed beautifully. But when we began to shoot, something spooked Daisy and in seconds Destiny was thrown in the mud and water and Daisy was also soaked. I was so impressed with her resolve as she rose from the mud, mounted and steadied the horse. However, I asked if we could arrange to shoot again the following day after the regalia had been cleaned. In the early morning this image appeared.“
Annika Haas July 28, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Russia.Tags: Russia
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Slantsy, Russia 2014
Annika Haas (b. 1974, Estonia) started to take photos when she was 13 years old. She studied at University of Tartu specialized in Finno-Ugric languages and also studied photojournalism at Tartu Art College. Annika also attended courses at the Photo Opportunity Studios (2003) and courses in Documentary Photography at the foto8 gallery in London (2012). She is a member of the board the Estonian Association of Press Photographers. Her work has been published in: The Washington Post, Lens Culture Magazine, Freundin and Aamulehti. This year she won a Grand Prize in Estonian Press Photo contest.
About the Photograph:
“As a resident of a state occupied by the former Soviet empire, I found that after closure of our eastern border, a trip from Estonia to Russia seems like time-travel. While standing on the shore of Lake Peipus that separates Europe from Russia, you begin to think about the life on the other shore. After several years, I had the opportunity to visit Russia. In Slantsy – a Russian border zone city, where you need a special permit to stay there – I found a bridal gown hanging on the clothesline in a backyard of dismal barrack housing. It seemed so inappropriate in this lonesome and deserted quarter, the contrast between the shabby surroundings and the glamor of the garment. It’s a reflection of social and public clashes so characteristic of Russia – deep poverty on the one hand, and the yearning for the West, so forbidden, yet so sweet found in the deepest corners of the Russian soul.”
Tom Leininger July 24, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in United States.Tags: United States
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Story Time in my son Alex’s room. Denton, Texas 2012
Tom Leininger (b.1971, United States) knew he wanted to work in newspapers the first time he shadowed a photographer to a high school football game. After graduating from the University of Kansas’ William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, he moved to Indiana where he worked for 11 years as a daily newspaper photographer. Tom holds an MFA from the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design. His photographs have been exhibited at the Photographic Center Northwest, McNeese State University, Texas Woman’s University, Rayko Photo Center and projected at the Annenberg Space for Photography among other venues. Currently, Tom is exploring the intersecting ideas of family and suburban life. He is also an adjunct instructor and photography lab manager at the University of North Texas as well as photography book reviewer for Photo-eye.
About the Photograph:
“I have been documenting the lives of my children from the moment of their births. In a way, they gave the joy of photography back to me. This was the initial spark that carried me into graduate school. When I started school, I was spending more time with the kids because of my schedule. This lead me to document their daily lives, as I would have as a journalist. As the children grow, the project changes. This project has changed as they grow and our lives change. Here is a moment I found after coming home from teaching a night class and found my wife Katrena reading to Sofia and Alex. I am interested in finding pictures that present aspects of life that are real and meaningful.”
Nick Hannes July 21, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in France.Tags: France
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Saint Tropez, France, 2013
Nick Hannes (b. 1974, Belgium) studied photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent. After ten years of working as a photojournalist, he decided to concentrate on self-initiated documentary projects on social and political issues. He published two books: Red Journey’, a documentary about the former Soviet Union, and Traditions, a book on party culture in Belgium. His third book The Continuity of Man, will be launched at the end of 2014 at the Museum of Photography in Antwerp. Nick teaches documentary photography at The School of Arts in Ghent. He has exhibited in Foto Museum (Antwerp), Bozar Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels), Flanders Center (Osaka), Breda Photo (Breda) amongst others. He is represented by Cosmos Paris.
About the Photograph:
“A Senegalese migrant is selling sun hats to two Italian twin sisters on the fancy beach of Pampelonne in Saint-Tropez, southern-France. Travelling the Mediterranean coasts I encountered these African street hawkers all over. They go where the tourists go. When it rains, they sell umbrellas and plastic ponchos, when it’s hot, they carry sunglasses and hats along. Its a matter of survival to them. This photograph is part of my series The Continuity of Man, a visual portrait of the Mediterranean region. From early 2010 untill now I have been travelling the Mediteranean coast in twenty countries in Europe, the Middle East and North-Africa. I focused on various contemporary issues such as migration, mass tourism, urbanization and its impact on the natural landscape. I found out that these topics are often linked to each other, as this picture proves.”
“The Mediterranean region regularly hits the headlines. The eurocrisis in Greece, the Arab spring, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the unverifiable influx of immigrants in Europe, are some other tendencies that determines the region’s zeitgeist. Although The Continuity of Man is not intended to be a journalistic body of work, traces of these evolutions emerge throughout the documentary. In the end this series aims to give a well balanced kaleidoscopic view upon this extremely diverse region, and to put things in perspective. Monaco and Gaza are both situated on the Mediterranean shore. The book‘ will be launched in November 2014, with an exhibition at the Museum of Photography in Antwerp, Belgium.”
Charles Mostoller July 17, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Venezuela.Tags: Venezuela
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Demonstration celebrating the Ninth anniversary of Chavez’s return to power. Caracas, 2011.
Charles Mostoller (b. 1986, USA) is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York, and attended the 25th Eddie Adams Workshop in 2012. His work has been published in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Miami Herald, Mother Jones, MSNBC and The Guardian, Charles is a contributor to Reuters, and has worked with ZUMA Press and SIPA Presss in the past. He is currently working on a book of his work from Venezuela.
About the Photograph:
“In the spring of 2011, I traveled to Venezuela for the first time to explore the political situation, not knowing at the time that I would be covering some of President Hugo Chavez’ last public appearances before undergoing treatment for cancer in Cuba. This photograph was taken on the ninth anniversary of the failed 2002 coup attempt against Chavez. Tens of thousands of people, including thousands of citizen militiamen and women, flocked to the capital Caracas to celebrate the Chavista movement, known as the Bolivarian Revolution. The framed portrait depicts Simon Bolivar, considered the Liberator for his role in South American independence movements in the early 1800’s and the intellectual cornerstone of Hugo Chavez’s socialist regime.”
Paolo Marchetti July 14, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Italy.Tags: Italy
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Skinhead gathering in the Lazio region of Italy. 2010.
Paolo Marchetti (b. 1974, Italy) began his photographic studies with particular attention to anthropology issues. His work has been published in magazines such as TIME, Newsweek, The Guardian, De Spiegel, Geo, 6Mois and others. Paolo’s photographs have been recognized from Photo District News, The National Press Photographer’s Association and Leica. In 2013 he won the ANI Pix-Palace Award in Perpignan. He is based in Rome.
About the Photograph:
“Young Italian skinheads during an Hawaiian party on the coast of Lazio. Each year, the Italian skins come together on the Italian coast (in the region of Lazio) and celebrate the beginning of summer, wearing Hawaiian style clothes. The rules are simple, there are three. No one can speak about the Hawaiian party before participating, everyone must wear Hawaiians and the last rule is that no one should talk about it after attending. The event lasted twenty-four hours from lunch on a Saturday until the following day with plenty of live music. There were skins from England, Spain and Hungary- a strong network exists between European skinheads, a bond of brotherhood but the Hawaian party theme is an Italian tradition.”
Maria Plotnikova July 10, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in Brazil.Tags: Brazil
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Christmas in Sao Paulo, Brazil 2013
Maria Plotnikova (b. 1984, Russia) studied Philology at the Moscow State Pedagogical University. In 2006 until 2010 she worked as a sports photographer in Moscow for Izvestia, Novaya Gazeta and TASS. In 2010 she moved to Buenos Aires and later to Sao Paulo. In Latin America, she became interested in street photography. Since 2012 she has been a member of the international collective Street Photographers. Maria’s work has been exhibited in Argentina (Festival of Light, 2012), United States (The Fence Festival, 2013), Georgia (Tbilisi Photo Festival, 2013), Lithuania (Vilnius Photo Circle Festival, 2013) and Russia (Photovisa Festival, 2013-14).
About the Photograph:
“I love the Christmas season. Beings from Russia, for me winter is as integral a part as the ocean and the heat are for Brazilians. The last few years my husband and I have lived in South America and the one thing to which I can´t get accustomed to is the opposite order of the seasons. Christmas and New Year’s are linked with snow and cold for me. When Christmas holidays are approaching in South America, I’m waiting with nostalgia. I like how people prepare for Christmas in Brazil. Despite the fact that snow doesn’t exist here, every shopping mall is decorated with Santa Claus and all the trappings of a winter holiday: boots, hats, reindeers and Christmas trees. Once in Sao Paulo I passed a shopping mall and a huge Santa Claus drew my attention. People were dressed in summer clothes and Santa, this solitary guest from the defunct Brazilian winter looked very absurd. I think this situation alludes to an eternal contradiction of human existence, expressed in a proverb that the glass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”
Laura Morton July 7, 2014
Posted by Geoffrey Hiller in United States.Tags: United States
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Debutante Ball in San Francisco, 2009
Laura Morton (b. 1984, USA) grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and began to pursue a career in photojournalism during her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated in 2006 with a degree in Political Science and Journalism. Her personal work currently focuses on wealth and the way it affects those who have it. She has received a 2014 Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund grant and is a winner of the 2013 Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographers exchange. Her series The Social Stage was awarded in the 2012 PDN Photo Annual and was a winner of the 2013 Hearst 8X10 Photography Biennial. She is based in San Francisco where she is contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and Getty Global Assignment.
About the Photograph:
“This photo was taken at a debutante ball in San Francisco. I wanted to explore coming-of-age rituals for women and was particularly drawn to debutante balls because of the deep-rooted history of these events. Historically their purpose was to introduce young women to society so that they could find suitable husbands. Today most of the events are focused on giving girls the confidence, connections and social skills to help them succeed in college and later on in their careers. It’s surprising to think about how the opportunities available to women in this country have changed in the last decades. I wanted to explore who these girls were and why they chose to participate in what is often described as an antiquated ritual. This photograph was taken just before the ball. You can see the debutantes and their escorts relaxing after long hours spent preparing for the festivities. I loved this scene because everyone seemed to be engrossed in their own thoughts. As a photographer, I’m particularly drawn to different layers and my favorite photos are often ones you have to study and linger on for a moment. When the employee from the hotel started setting up the chairs in the background, unnoticed by the debutantes and their escorts, I knew I’d gotten the shot I wanted.”
Verve Photo- The New Breed of Documentary Photographers 