Photographer #429: Christoph Bangert

Christoph Bangert, 1978, Germany, is a photojournalist based in Switzerland who studied photography at the Fachhochschule in Dortmund and at the International Center of Photography in New York. He has traveled extensively to countries as Japan, Chad, Lebanon, Nigeria and Palestine for his photography. In Pakistan he covered the story of the cold winter after the earthquake hit in 2005. In 2007 he released two monographs. Travel Notes contains images from a 22,000 mile car trip he made from Argentina to New York in 2002. IRAQ: The Space Between shows the work he did in 2005 and 2006 in Iraq on assignment for the New York Times. In the same year he was also chosen for the Joop Swart Masterclass. His images have appeared in numerous publications as Stern, Time, Newsweek and GEO. Currently Christoph is working on a book that will show the images of a 14 month trip in 2007 and 2008 through 36 African countries with a Land Rover. He was exhausted from all the things he in the years before and needed a break to become "a human being again." The following images come from journeys to Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Website: www.christophbangert.com

Photographer #399: Wei Leng Tay

Wei Leng Tay, 1978, Singapore, is a photographer based in Hong Kong who explores how people live their lives within their homes. She gives the viewers a glimpse into the houses of her subjects. In her series Where do we go from here? she looks at what it is to be Japanese from the inside. The project consists of two parts, all taken in the city of Fukuoka. In the first part entitled Initial Encounters she photographed the people in a studio, which gave her an introduction to the people and the opportunity to continue her project. For the continuation of her project, Impressions of Japan, she went into their homes, discovering their relationships, priorities and lives lived. In her ongoing project Hong Kong Living she enters the homes of people and portrays the inhabitants, seeing how they live in this challenging Chinese city. The portrayed reveal a part of their Hong Kong. Her work has appeared in numerous publications and she has exhibited her photographs at several venues around the globe and extensively in Asia. The following images come from the series Discordant Symmetries - Converge, Where do we go from here?: Impressions of Japan and Hong Kong Living.

Website: www.weilengtay.com

Photographer #388: Kim Boske

Kim Boske, 1978, The Netherlands, is an experimental photographer based in Amsterdam. She studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Her photography deals with time, perspectives and space. It is a research in which time and space run together. She focuses on the mutability of things. In her series Mapping she merged different moments in time, investigating how physical movement in time and space change our perspectives. She photographed trees from different angles and when all the images are combined we actually see the tree in its entirety. She created images of flowers that combine several shots of the same object. The changing of light during the day was an important factor. Kim's photographs reveal phenomena that are impossible to see or witness with the naked eye. Her work has been exhibited at several venues in the world and a large number of Dutch exhibition spaces. The following images come from the series Mapping, Collection of Sleepings and Awakanings and I Go Walking In Your Landscape.

Website: www.kimboske.com

Photographer #373: Martina Bacigalupo

Martina Bacigalupo, 1978, Italy, studied photography at the London College of Printing. For the past four years she has been working as an engaged freelance photographer in East Africa where she focuses on personal projects and collaborates with international NGOs. Several bodies of work were made in Burundi. The series Burundian Elections deals with the rise in tension surrounding the 2010 elections. The other stories in Burundi often deal with physical handicap. For The Backyard Women she followed several women who suffer from an obstetric fistula, a lesion responsible for a permanent and uncontrollable flow of urine or fecal matter, often due to a long and difficult childbirth. More than 80% of these women are thrown out by their husbands creating vast social problems and the resources to treat them are lacking. In Kirundi, fistula is called "the backyard disease". Martina covered stories in several other countries as Somalia, Congo and Italy. In 2009 she released the book Fiore del Mio Pericolo. In 2010 Martina received the Canon Female Photojournalist Award. The following images come from the series Burundian Elections, The Backyard Women and Pianissimo.

Website: www.martinabacigalupo.com

Photographer #352: Anne Lass

Anne Lass, 1978, Germany/Denmark, studied Communication Design at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Since 2004 she has been working on her project Wandeln. The images for the ongoing project have been taken throughout Europe, Australia and the USA. The landscape photographs constitute small stories within a larger story concerning nature as a displaced and estranged object. In her ongoing project Schwinden she documents places that are dissolving due to climate change and intense building construction on the coastal line, reflecting on the limits of our belief in the "manageability" of our natural surroundings. Anne has had a vast amount of group exhibitions throughout the world and several solo exhibitions in Germany, Danmark and the United States. She has also been featured in numerous publications. The following images come from the series Wandeln, Milwaukee Avenue and Schwinden.

Website: www.annelass.de

Photographer #337: Fernando Montiel Klint

Fernando Montiel Klint, 1978, Mexico, is an image maker who concentrates on staged photography often dealing with introspection. He studied photography at the Escuela Activa de Fotografia and Centro de la Imágen. In his series Acts of Faith (Actos de Fé) he has taken the meaning of the word faith in contemporary life without being bound by religion. In various scenes and actions he generates atmospheric and absurd realities. In Nirvana he created scenes within closed spaces, taking the subjects to a state of Nirvana, being the highest spiritual state that can possibly be achieved. The work has a hint of irony yet tries to evoke calmness and silence. Fernando works in a free way similar to a painter and often uses large format camera's. His work has been exhibited extensively and is part of numerous collections throughout the world. The following works come from the series Acts of Faith, Espacio Confinado and Nirvana.

Website: www.fernandomontielklint.com

Photographer #331: Mike Piscitelli

Mike Piscitelli, 1978, USA, is a editorial and commercial photographer and filmmaker who also focuses on his personal work. He spends his time between Los Angeles, New York and Sydney working on various assignments. Amongst his client list are DVS shoes, Columbia records and Vans. He made editorial work for magazines as Another Magazine, Dazed and Confused and i-D Magazine. His photography is full of life, youth and joy. He wants his images to convey a realness that leaves you feeling like they really happened. He has worked with a large number of celebrities, both as a photographer and as a music video director. In 2010, together with director Mike Fleiss, he released his first feature length documentary film called God Bless Ozzy Osbourne. The following images come from the portfolios Book I, Fashion and Accident Prone.

Website: www.mikepiscitelli.com

Photographer #293: Aaron Feaver

Aaron Feaver, 1978, USA, is a Los Angeles based fashion photographer. For a long time he was interested in merely the technical aspects of the photographic medium concentrating on landscapes and objects. Recently he started shooting people and hasn't looked back since. He delicately photographs young women in landscapes and interiors. His soft toned, often poetic and in evening sunlight images show the women in a vulnarable yet strong way. Aaron mixes familiar fashion poses and awkward body positions when shooting his sometimes partially clothed or nude females. He is interested in the way people are capable of unique and unpredictable expressions which is why he prefers to use film; due to its unpredictability which he says is partly the same unpredictability he sees in people. The following images come from various portfolios on his website.

Website: www.aaronfeaver.com

Photographer #088: Peter Beste

Peter Beste, USA, 1978, spent seven years photographing an insulated and secretive community. He documented the world of Norwegian Black Metal. His photographs have been combined into the book True Norwegian Black Metal. For many years Beste also worked on a project in Houston, where he documented the outskirts of this city and the people living there, a community of "fiercely independent and often misrepresented individuals." The following images come from the series: Black Metal, Houston I and After Hours.

Website: www.peterbeste.com

Photographer #057: Christian Lamontagne

Christian Lamontagne, Canada, 1978, is a photographer and also works on various video productions. He has covered various stories across the globe. His reportage style of photography comes with a twist through his use of artificial lighting. The following images come from his series Sahel, sous la menace du desert. Photographs on the climate change and the effects on the Nomads of Senegal.

The series Imperial Valley are portraits of the inhabitants in the apocalyptic looking region around the Salton Sea.

The following images are examples of his portraiture in various places in the world such as Bangladesh.

Website: www.christianlamontagne.com

Photographer #039: Taisuke Koyama

Japanese photographer Taisuke Koyama, 1978, zooms in on the city of Tokyo. With his macro lens he makes photographs of organic abstractions. The images may look like graphic objects at first glance, but when one looks closer you will see overlooked transformations of the city. These photographs come from the series Entropix that he is still working on today, but was also released as a publication in 2008.

Currently he is working on a series called Rainbow Form. He states: "At a glance, these photographs look like graphic design due to its flatness. On the contrary, In reality, this image is composed with more layers; printing dots that compose a image of rainbow, dust of paper, surface condensation, scratch and adheres on the invisible plastic board which exists in the front of the paper, and the shadows on the paper caused by those."

Website: www.tiskkym.com
(Video in Japanese)

Photographer #012: Pawel Jaszczuk

Polish Photographer Pawel Jaszczuk, 1978, currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. He is a self taught photographer who began his career after graduating the School of Visual Arts in Sydney, with a degree in graphic design in 2004. Pawels's work strives to capture the beauty of both traditional and extraordinary style of living. "He has found himself in a still new metropolis known as Tokyo, a city filled with people of ancient culture, practices and beliefs, that has been catapulted into modernism through the rage of war into a nation that has accepted new cultures and new influences through technology and media." In 2009 his book Salaryman came out, about the lifestyle that entirely revolves around work at the office where the don't ask questions and follow the orders of their boss. Nighttime drinking is one way to relieve their daily anguish.

Earlier he worked on a series called Kinky City. The Japanese fetish scene is portrayed in emotionally charged and gritty photographs. A theme that Jaszczuk has photographed extensively in various projects.

Website: http://paweljaszczuk.com