Photographer #448: Rania Matar

Rania Matar, 1964, Lebanon/USA, is a documentary photographer who was born and raised in Lebanon and moved to the USA in 1984. Her career started as an architect before studying photography at the New England School of Photography. She concentrates mainly on women and women's issues as identity and religion both in the US as in the Middle East. In 2009 she released the book Ordinary Lives and this spring her second monograph, A Girl and her Room, will be coming out. This series, inspired by her eldest daughter, focuses on teenage girls within their own private spaces. Both the forthcoming book and her younger daughter were the inspirations for her latest body of work entitled L'Enfant-Femme (the Child-Women). She portrays young teens and pre-teens without giving them instructions apart from not smiling. Due to the freedom the girls have to pose in their own way; they portray an array of emotions and clues to their true self. The angst, confidence and/or body language reveal their sense of selfhood and the developing sense of womanhood. As the teenagers still fluctuate between being a child and a women, Rania asks herself whether "they are meant to see themselves as little girls, teenagers or as young women?" Since 2002 she has also been taking photographs of her four children showing the various stages of their lives. The following images come from the series L'Enfant-Femme, Christian Arabs and Family Moments.

Website: www.raniamatar.com

Photographer #423: Kahn & Selesnick

Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick, both 1964, UK, are two photographers / installation artists based in the US who have been working together since 1988. They met at Washington University in St. Louis. In 1995 they started using photography as the way of telling their stories. Together they have created a large number of series that can best be described as "complex narrative photo-novellas." The fantastical and extremely wide panoramic images are accompanied by texts. They conceive an alternate reality, use costumed actors, construct detailed three-dimensional miniatures and combine all these elements into their compelling and mythical photographs. Even the website takes the viewer on a journey through the world of Kahn and Selesnick. Their work has been released as books on numerous occasions and has been exhibited throughout the world extensively. The following images come from the series Mars: Adrift on the Hourglass Sea, Apollo Prophecies, City of Salt and Scotlandfuturebog.

Website: www.kahnselesnick.com

Photographer #367: Catherine Larré

Catherine Larré, 1964, France, is a fine art photographer who studied at the Royal College of Art in London. She uses unique lighting techniques to achieve her dream-like images that often take us back to our childhood memories. With bold choices she mostly frames her subjects in odd ways and awkward positions making the viewer wonder and reflect on what he/she is looking at. The photographs of Larré contain a certain serenity. They are mysterious, silent and fragile moments in time. This is also visible in her landscape and animal photography that tend to become supernatural reflections of a thought-out reality. The following images come from three untitled series within her portfolio.

Website: www.catherinelarre.com

Photographer #298: Dana Lixenberg

Dana Lixenberg, 1964, The Netherlands, lives and works in New York and Amsterdam. She studied photography at the London College of Printing and at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. She has received commissions from magazines as New York Times Magazine, Newsweek and Vibe among others. Next to her commissioned and editorial work she focuses on long-term projects. She concentrates on humans, often at the margins of society. Dana is capable of stripping down any pretences resulting in pure portraits. Amongst the books she has released is The Last Days of Shishmaref. It explores the intricate relationship between the inhabitants of the island Shishmaref in Alaska and the rough landscape. It shows a community with an uncertain future. Dana works with a 4x5inch camera. In her series United States she portrayed American citizens from various layers within the US population including celebrities as Prince and Leonard Cohen. The following images come from the series The Last Days of Shishmaref, United States and Favela Police.

Website: www.danalixenberg.com

Photographer #270: Danny Clinch

Danny Clinch, 1964, USA, is a music photographer and film maker. The list of musicians that have appeared in front of his camera is endless, from Tupac Shakur to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and from Katy Perry to Tony Bennett. His work has been published in numerous magazines and on hundreds of CD covers. As a director he made music videos, documentaries and concert DVD's which have earned him two Grammy Award nominations. Throughout the years he has photographed Bruce Springsteen extensively which resulted in an exhibition in 2009. Danny released two books, Discovery Inn in 1998 and When the Iron Bird Flies in 2000. The following images come from his portfolio's Bruce Springsteen, Grammys and Showcase 01.

Website: www.dannyclinch.com

Photographer #184: Mike Ruiz

Mike Ruiz, 1964, Canada, is a commercial and portrait / beauty photographer. Many celebrities have been in front of his camera, from 50 Cent to Kirsten Dunst. His images have been on the covers of numerous glamour magazines. In the last few years Mike has appeared in various TV shows as America's Next Top Model. The following images come from the portfolio's Celebrities, Fashion and Beauty.

Website: www.mikeruiz.com

Photographer #158: Pierre Winther

Pierre Winther, 1964, Denmark, makes dramatic, cinematic and storytelling images. The photographs by Winther are often larger than life and, due to the saturated colors and his perspectives, remind us of great movies. Pierre is next to being a photographer also a music video and commercial director. He has worked for clients as Diesel, Levi's and Hugo Boss and made video's for Beastie Boys, INXS and Björk. The following images come from the series Holiday on Earth, Eye of the Beholder and Mr. Ward.

Website: www.pierrewinther.com

Photographer #124: Erica Shires

Erica Shires, USA, 1964, photographs girls. A project she has been working on are a series of photographs that show a girl with anorexia nervosa. Several of these pictures were published in the magazine Foto8. Erica started her career in photography when she was 34, since then she has worked for large clients and exhibited her personal work at various places. Her photographs have a cinematic quality. The following pictures come from various portfolio's of Erica.

Website: www.ericashires.com

Photographer #071: Luis Sanchis

Spanish photographer Luis Sanchis, 1964, moved to New York in 1994. He is a fashion and celebrity photographer. He has worked for a large number of clients such as Gucci and Kenzo and worked with people as Kate Moss, Courtney Love and Leonardo Dicaprio. The following photographs come from various shoots.

Website: www.luissanchis.com

Photographer #036: Valerie Belin

French photographer Valerie Belin, 1964, clearly works in series. These series are very organised. Like a sculptor, working on the final image through use of light and contrast, she carefully makes her photographs. She lives and works in Paris. The following images come from various (untitled) series.

Website: www.valeriebelin.com

Photographer #023: Elaine Duigenan

Elaine Duigenan, Great-Britain, 1964, is like many photographers a collector, and where many photographers might take a step back, she takes two steps forward. She closes in on her objects, erasing often any form of context. This is visible in her projects; Nets and Micro Mundi. The last is a series of round photographs of snail trails. "I am continually drawn the to the line, the web and connecting strands – precarious states where there is an implied tension between unity and the propensity to unravel. Beauty, fragility, fear - all present and tangible."

In another project, Elaine photographed plastic bottles discarded on the beach.

Website: www.elaineduigenan.com