NEW DISCOVERIES OF GREAT TALENT Here are 161 photographers you should know. They live and work in more than 40 countries on five continents. And they are making some of the most interesting photography on the planet right now.
photography networks all over the world, we are committed to finding and rewarding the most deserving photographers, no matter where they are. And we want to share our discoveries with people everywhere who care about photography.
The range of work in this book is wide and diverse—from portraits to street photography, photojournalism, personal stories, documentary, fine art, fictional narratives, poetic beauty and abstraction. Their images will take you on a tour of the world and introduce you to people, cultures, historic events and the wonders of nature. Their imagery will also help you appreciate the richness of photography itself as a powerful creative language in all its variety.
To help us recognize truly outstanding talent, LensCulture draws on the expertise of an international panel of jury members for each award. These jurors are active and influential in the world of photography. Thanks to their experience, they are adept at identifying photographers who are doing something special in their work. You can be assured that the 161 photographers you will discover in these pages are among the best of the best.
We discovered them through four international photography competitions sponsored by LensCulture in the past year. These awards attract entries from photographers all over the world—individuals who have chosen the medium of photography as the best way to communicate and share their experiences, personal visions and points of view.
A few words about the four awards
What’s special about these photographers is their distinctive manners of using photography. With fluency and nuance, they explore a range of diverse topics utilizing a variety of techniques and approaches. They help us to see the world through their eyes — expanding our knowledge and understanding of important ideas, making us ponder complex situations, and exposing us to instances of pure beauty or horrible injustice. This book is designed as a resource for inspiration, a reference guide, and a point of departure that will allow you to discover amazing photographs and stories. These projects will stick in your mind and demonstrate the power of the photographic visual language. Most of these stories run deep, and you can experience every one in full by following the links to each photographer’s website; all of these stories appear online in LensCulture, too. In addition to the unique visual authorship of each work, the short texts (most of them by the artists themselves) allow you to discover different voices and different points of view, offering further insights into the thinking and practice of these talented photographers. Our mission At LensCulture, we believe that photography is the most universal language on the planet. Now more than ever before, it’s part of our daily lives and surrounds us at almost every minute of the day. Yet the worldwide popularity of photography has, in many ways, made it more challenging to discover and appreciate the photographers who are using this language with true visionary expertise. There are a lot of photographers competing for our attention. How to discover the best practitioners amidst our image-filled cultures of the 21st century? Since 2004, LensCulture has sought to discover the most interesting photographers working worldwide. Our editorial team scours the globe—attending festivals, portfolio reviews, exhibitions and graduation shows—in search of new and developing talents. And each year, we organize four annual photography awards to extend our reach even further. Our calls for entries are translated into 15 languages in order to reach photographers in their native tongues. Using the power of the internet, social media and tapping into
6 - The Best of LensCulture
Our longest-running competition is the Exposure Awards. For almost 10 years, the Exposure Awards has been dedicated to discovering the freshest and most exciting photography work being created today, without limitations on genre, style or subject material. These awards celebrate the medium’s variety, seeking out the strongest examples across many styles and approaches, allowing us to appreciate photography in its endlessly inventive forms. We also choose to recognize new and fresh discoveries within a few important genres. One area of intense interest is portrait photography. A compelling portrait can speak volumes about a person, place or situation. Indeed, portrait photography resonates in cultures everywhere, and portraits have been a primary subject for photography since its birth. From celebrity icons to the gaze of the everyday person on the street, people are endlessly fascinated by other people, and photographic portraits allow us to get close, to soak up subtle details and expressions, and to draw conclusions from every bit of information that is included in the frame. Our Portrait Awards aim to discover the full potential of 21st-century photographic portraiture. Another essential genre is street photography: a universal means to capture the instant pulse of diverse people, urban cultures, traditions and communities all over the world. As we discovered through our Street Photography Awards, human nature may remain constant over the years, but shifting fashion, architecture, technology and the collision of urban visual clutter seem to make our shared environments feel new and ever-changing. The photographers discovered by these awards defy any sense of déjà vu and transport us viscerally into varied moments of daily life—both ordinary and extraordinary. Finally, we wanted to create a space for up-and-coming talents to be recognized for their work. Our Emerging Talent Awards celebrate exceptional photographers without regard to age or how long they’ve been practicing photography but rather by two criteria: excellence in the visual language of photography and the fact that they are not yet widely known internationally. The photographers presented here may have already achieved success and recognition on a local or national level where they live or work—but we think they are now ready for the world stage. We urge you to take your time while appreciating all of these photographers. Dig deeper into the stories and projects that interest you. And discover the rewards that repeated viewings can offer to careful readings. Enjoy! Jim Casper, Editor-in-Chief
The Best of LensCulture - 7
NEW DISCOVERIES OF GREAT TALENT Here are 161 photographers you should know. They live and work in more than 40 countries on five continents. And they are making some of the most interesting photography on the planet right now.
photography networks all over the world, we are committed to finding and rewarding the most deserving photographers, no matter where they are. And we want to share our discoveries with people everywhere who care about photography.
The range of work in this book is wide and diverse—from portraits to street photography, photojournalism, personal stories, documentary, fine art, fictional narratives, poetic beauty and abstraction. Their images will take you on a tour of the world and introduce you to people, cultures, historic events and the wonders of nature. Their imagery will also help you appreciate the richness of photography itself as a powerful creative language in all its variety.
To help us recognize truly outstanding talent, LensCulture draws on the expertise of an international panel of jury members for each award. These jurors are active and influential in the world of photography. Thanks to their experience, they are adept at identifying photographers who are doing something special in their work. You can be assured that the 161 photographers you will discover in these pages are among the best of the best.
We discovered them through four international photography competitions sponsored by LensCulture in the past year. These awards attract entries from photographers all over the world—individuals who have chosen the medium of photography as the best way to communicate and share their experiences, personal visions and points of view.
A few words about the four awards
What’s special about these photographers is their distinctive manners of using photography. With fluency and nuance, they explore a range of diverse topics utilizing a variety of techniques and approaches. They help us to see the world through their eyes — expanding our knowledge and understanding of important ideas, making us ponder complex situations, and exposing us to instances of pure beauty or horrible injustice. This book is designed as a resource for inspiration, a reference guide, and a point of departure that will allow you to discover amazing photographs and stories. These projects will stick in your mind and demonstrate the power of the photographic visual language. Most of these stories run deep, and you can experience every one in full by following the links to each photographer’s website; all of these stories appear online in LensCulture, too. In addition to the unique visual authorship of each work, the short texts (most of them by the artists themselves) allow you to discover different voices and different points of view, offering further insights into the thinking and practice of these talented photographers. Our mission At LensCulture, we believe that photography is the most universal language on the planet. Now more than ever before, it’s part of our daily lives and surrounds us at almost every minute of the day. Yet the worldwide popularity of photography has, in many ways, made it more challenging to discover and appreciate the photographers who are using this language with true visionary expertise. There are a lot of photographers competing for our attention. How to discover the best practitioners amidst our image-filled cultures of the 21st century? Since 2004, LensCulture has sought to discover the most interesting photographers working worldwide. Our editorial team scours the globe—attending festivals, portfolio reviews, exhibitions and graduation shows—in search of new and developing talents. And each year, we organize four annual photography awards to extend our reach even further. Our calls for entries are translated into 15 languages in order to reach photographers in their native tongues. Using the power of the internet, social media and tapping into
6 - The Best of LensCulture
Our longest-running competition is the Exposure Awards. For almost 10 years, the Exposure Awards has been dedicated to discovering the freshest and most exciting photography work being created today, without limitations on genre, style or subject material. These awards celebrate the medium’s variety, seeking out the strongest examples across many styles and approaches, allowing us to appreciate photography in its endlessly inventive forms. We also choose to recognize new and fresh discoveries within a few important genres. One area of intense interest is portrait photography. A compelling portrait can speak volumes about a person, place or situation. Indeed, portrait photography resonates in cultures everywhere, and portraits have been a primary subject for photography since its birth. From celebrity icons to the gaze of the everyday person on the street, people are endlessly fascinated by other people, and photographic portraits allow us to get close, to soak up subtle details and expressions, and to draw conclusions from every bit of information that is included in the frame. Our Portrait Awards aim to discover the full potential of 21st-century photographic portraiture. Another essential genre is street photography: a universal means to capture the instant pulse of diverse people, urban cultures, traditions and communities all over the world. As we discovered through our Street Photography Awards, human nature may remain constant over the years, but shifting fashion, architecture, technology and the collision of urban visual clutter seem to make our shared environments feel new and ever-changing. The photographers discovered by these awards defy any sense of déjà vu and transport us viscerally into varied moments of daily life—both ordinary and extraordinary. Finally, we wanted to create a space for up-and-coming talents to be recognized for their work. Our Emerging Talent Awards celebrate exceptional photographers without regard to age or how long they’ve been practicing photography but rather by two criteria: excellence in the visual language of photography and the fact that they are not yet widely known internationally. The photographers presented here may have already achieved success and recognition on a local or national level where they live or work—but we think they are now ready for the world stage. We urge you to take your time while appreciating all of these photographers. Dig deeper into the stories and projects that interest you. And discover the rewards that repeated viewings can offer to careful readings. Enjoy! Jim Casper, Editor-in-Chief
The Best of LensCulture - 7
PORTRAIT AWARDS
“A portrait! What could be more simple and more complex, more obvious and more profound?” Charles Baudelaire, 1859
PORTRAIT AWARDS
“A portrait! What could be more simple and more complex, more obvious and more profound?” Charles Baudelaire, 1859
JUSTINE TJALLINKS THE NETHERLANDS
justinetjallinksphotography.com
NUDE (REACH) She finds herself navigating a world that is full of challenges and prejudices to overcome. Living with albinism not only means an absence of pigmentation in the skin and hair, but also impairment of vision. Still, she does not allow herself to be dispirited. We all fight our battles, with the difference being that she wears her vulnerability on the outside, for all to see. The preconceived opinion being that she is frail.
22 - Portrait Awards - 1st prize Singles - Justine Tjallinks - The Netherlands
JUSTINE TJALLINKS THE NETHERLANDS
justinetjallinksphotography.com
NUDE (REACH) She finds herself navigating a world that is full of challenges and prejudices to overcome. Living with albinism not only means an absence of pigmentation in the skin and hair, but also impairment of vision. Still, she does not allow herself to be dispirited. We all fight our battles, with the difference being that she wears her vulnerability on the outside, for all to see. The preconceived opinion being that she is frail.
22 - Portrait Awards - 1st prize Singles - Justine Tjallinks - The Netherlands
THE LONGINGS OF THE OTHERS: Kajol with a
MALAIKU: SURVIVORS OF BOKO HARAM ABDUCTION: Some of the Nigerian girls who were
customer. She thinks she is 17 years old but does not know her exact age. She was married for 9 years. Her aunt sold her to the Kandapara brothel in Bangladesh. She has a 6-month-old son, Mehedi. Two weeks after the birth, she was forced to have sex again with customers. Because of the baby, her business has not been so good.
infamously kidnapped by Boko Haram did manage to escape their awful captivity. But finding their way back into normalcy hasn’t been easy. It is not uncommon for abuses against children and youth to go unprosecuted in Nigeria. A code of silence prevents justice from taking place, robbing the victims of their rights and preventing their stories from being heard.
SANDRA HOYN GERMANY
RUTH MCDOWALL NIGERIA
sandrahoyn.de
ruthmcdowall.com
66 - Portrait Awards - Finalist
Portrait Awards - Finalist - 67
THE LONGINGS OF THE OTHERS: Kajol with a
MALAIKU: SURVIVORS OF BOKO HARAM ABDUCTION: Some of the Nigerian girls who were
customer. She thinks she is 17 years old but does not know her exact age. She was married for 9 years. Her aunt sold her to the Kandapara brothel in Bangladesh. She has a 6-month-old son, Mehedi. Two weeks after the birth, she was forced to have sex again with customers. Because of the baby, her business has not been so good.
infamously kidnapped by Boko Haram did manage to escape their awful captivity. But finding their way back into normalcy hasn’t been easy. It is not uncommon for abuses against children and youth to go unprosecuted in Nigeria. A code of silence prevents justice from taking place, robbing the victims of their rights and preventing their stories from being heard.
SANDRA HOYN GERMANY
RUTH MCDOWALL NIGERIA
sandrahoyn.de
ruthmcdowall.com
66 - Portrait Awards - Finalist
Portrait Awards - Finalist - 67
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliott Erwitt
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliott Erwitt
GARETH BRAGDON UNITED KINGDOM
garethbragdon.com
RED For me, this picture—more than any other—represents why I love street photography. It was, first and foremost, an absolute mistake. I was walking up Edinburgh’s busy Royal Mile and it started pissing down with rain. I could see through the thick sheets of rain that somebody was hiding in one of those iconic red British phone boxes. I had that gut feeling of needing to take a photograph, so with my flash gun and camera ready to go, I ran up to the phone box, pressed my camera right up to the glass, and surprised the subject. But the flash didn’t go off—I was left with nothing but a black picture. On the way home, I knew I had ruined a potentially great photo. When I got back and uploaded the RAW file, though, I brought up the exposure and this image appeared. I was initially very angry when I thought about what the photograph could have been, but over time, I realized that the subtle nature of the image works in its favor.
90 - Street Photography Awards - 3rd prize Singles
Gareth Bragdon - United Kingdom - 91
GARETH BRAGDON UNITED KINGDOM
garethbragdon.com
RED For me, this picture—more than any other—represents why I love street photography. It was, first and foremost, an absolute mistake. I was walking up Edinburgh’s busy Royal Mile and it started pissing down with rain. I could see through the thick sheets of rain that somebody was hiding in one of those iconic red British phone boxes. I had that gut feeling of needing to take a photograph, so with my flash gun and camera ready to go, I ran up to the phone box, pressed my camera right up to the glass, and surprised the subject. But the flash didn’t go off—I was left with nothing but a black picture. On the way home, I knew I had ruined a potentially great photo. When I got back and uploaded the RAW file, though, I brought up the exposure and this image appeared. I was initially very angry when I thought about what the photograph could have been, but over time, I realized that the subtle nature of the image works in its favor.
90 - Street Photography Awards - 3rd prize Singles
Gareth Bragdon - United Kingdom - 91
TOKYO STREETS: Hustle and bustle; feelings and
frustrations; loneliness and tingling—the feeling of a beat and rhythm that exists here. This series is a breath, a suggestion about the people living in Tokyo today.
STRANGERS IN THE CITY: In recent decades, growing
urbanization in Iran has resulted in dramatic changes to different layers of society. This has had many consequences but, above all, a sharp increase in individualism and the isolation between people. This alienation is evident all along the street, wherever you go.
TATSUO SUZUKI JAPAN
MASOUD GHARAEI IRAN
tatsuosuzuki.com
114 - Street Photography Awards - Finalist
Street Photography Awards - Finalist - 115
TOKYO STREETS: Hustle and bustle; feelings and
frustrations; loneliness and tingling—the feeling of a beat and rhythm that exists here. This series is a breath, a suggestion about the people living in Tokyo today.
STRANGERS IN THE CITY: In recent decades, growing
urbanization in Iran has resulted in dramatic changes to different layers of society. This has had many consequences but, above all, a sharp increase in individualism and the isolation between people. This alienation is evident all along the street, wherever you go.
TATSUO SUZUKI JAPAN
MASOUD GHARAEI IRAN
tatsuosuzuki.com
114 - Street Photography Awards - Finalist
Street Photography Awards - Finalist - 115
EMERGING TALENT AWARDS
“A common trait I have observed in many great photographers is an obsession and passion for the medium. Being an artist was not a career they decided to pursue: photography chose them.� Chris McCall, Director of Pier 24, Jury member
EMERGING TALENT AWARDS
“A common trait I have observed in many great photographers is an obsession and passion for the medium. Being an artist was not a career they decided to pursue: photography chose them.� Chris McCall, Director of Pier 24, Jury member
YOSHIKATSU FUJII JAPAN
yoshikatsufujii.com
RED STRING After many years of unhappiness, my parents divorced. In Japan, legend has it that a man and woman who are predestined to meet have been tied at the little finger by an invisible red string since the time they were born. Unfortunately, the red string tying my parents together came undone, broke, or perhaps was never even tied to begin with. But if the two had never met, I would never have been born into this world. If anything, you might say that there is an unbreakable red string of fate between parent and child.
142 - Emerging Talent Awards - Juror’s Pick
Yoshikatsu Fujii - Japan - 143
YOSHIKATSU FUJII JAPAN
yoshikatsufujii.com
RED STRING After many years of unhappiness, my parents divorced. In Japan, legend has it that a man and woman who are predestined to meet have been tied at the little finger by an invisible red string since the time they were born. Unfortunately, the red string tying my parents together came undone, broke, or perhaps was never even tied to begin with. But if the two had never met, I would never have been born into this world. If anything, you might say that there is an unbreakable red string of fate between parent and child.
142 - Emerging Talent Awards - Juror’s Pick
Yoshikatsu Fujii - Japan - 143
EDUCATION IS FORBIDDEN: Boko Haram, which loosely translates to “Western education is forbidden,” began as an insurgency in the region in 2009 with the aim of creating an Islamic state purged of all Western influence—especially secular education. The insurgents have directly targeted schools, universities, teachers and students, with the result that thousands of students have been abducted, displaced and killed by the group.
PEOPLE OF PATTERN: What do our chosen fashions and clothing say about us as individuals—and how does this affect the attitudes of others towards us? These photos are a meditation on the boundaries, barriers, and exclusion within contemporary society—expressed through faces wrapped in luscious, resonant fabrics.
RAHIMA GAMBO NIGERIA
ALIA ALI YEMEN
rahimagambo.com
alia-ali.com
190 - Emerging Talent Awards - Winner
Emerging Talent Awards - Winner - 191
EDUCATION IS FORBIDDEN: Boko Haram, which loosely translates to “Western education is forbidden,” began as an insurgency in the region in 2009 with the aim of creating an Islamic state purged of all Western influence—especially secular education. The insurgents have directly targeted schools, universities, teachers and students, with the result that thousands of students have been abducted, displaced and killed by the group.
PEOPLE OF PATTERN: What do our chosen fashions and clothing say about us as individuals—and how does this affect the attitudes of others towards us? These photos are a meditation on the boundaries, barriers, and exclusion within contemporary society—expressed through faces wrapped in luscious, resonant fabrics.
RAHIMA GAMBO NIGERIA
ALIA ALI YEMEN
rahimagambo.com
alia-ali.com
190 - Emerging Talent Awards - Winner
Emerging Talent Awards - Winner - 191
EXPOSURE AWARDS
“I’m really impressed by the LensCulture community, clearly made up of dedicated and intensely focused photographic practitioners. The collective diversity offers a resounding celebration of photography’s capacity to express our world and what makes us human.” Charlotte Cotton, Curator, Jury member
EXPOSURE AWARDS
“I’m really impressed by the LensCulture community, clearly made up of dedicated and intensely focused photographic practitioners. The collective diversity offers a resounding celebration of photography’s capacity to express our world and what makes us human.” Charlotte Cotton, Curator, Jury member
JONATHAN BACHMAN USA
jonathanbachmanphotography.com
UNREST IN BATON ROUGE Protester Ieshia Evans is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S., on July 9, 2016. On July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police officers. The shooting was captured by multiple bystanders’ cell phones and quickly spread through social media.
230 - Exposure Awards - 1st prize Singles
Jonathan Bachman - USA - 231
JONATHAN BACHMAN USA
jonathanbachmanphotography.com
UNREST IN BATON ROUGE Protester Ieshia Evans is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S., on July 9, 2016. On July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police officers. The shooting was captured by multiple bystanders’ cell phones and quickly spread through social media.
230 - Exposure Awards - 1st prize Singles
Jonathan Bachman - USA - 231
UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE SUN: In the eastern
THE WORLD THROUGH MY EYES: My photographs have an important semantic burden. I share this—and my vision—with the audience. The title of this image is “Relationship.”
Anatolia region of Turkey, there are traditional villages where internet networks cannot reach. Life continues in these locations where people spend their days touching water and soil, ignored by (and ignoring) technology.
NADIR BUCAN TURKEY
ALLA SOKOLOVA FRANCE
nadirbucan.com
allasokolova.fr
280 - Exposure Awards - Finalist
Exposure Awards - Finalist - 281
UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE SUN: In the eastern
THE WORLD THROUGH MY EYES: My photographs have an important semantic burden. I share this—and my vision—with the audience. The title of this image is “Relationship.”
Anatolia region of Turkey, there are traditional villages where internet networks cannot reach. Life continues in these locations where people spend their days touching water and soil, ignored by (and ignoring) technology.
NADIR BUCAN TURKEY
ALLA SOKOLOVA FRANCE
nadirbucan.com
allasokolova.fr
280 - Exposure Awards - Finalist
Exposure Awards - Finalist - 281