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Win a Solo Exhibition this October, Open Theme. Juror Aline Smithson.
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Melissa Stewart
Melissa Stewart
Melissa Stewart

Melissa Stewart

Country: Australia
Birth: 1963

Born in Melbourne, Australian Photographer Melissa Stewart currently resides between the Victorian country regions of the Macedon Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula. She has an affinity with the Australian landscape, nature and its wilderness. It is through her raw, true Australian aesthetic, she draws awareness towards the environment and the landscape we inhibit to protect it.
Living in the country with horses has helped shape her awareness and interest in connecting and belonging.
After graduating in 1980, she studied Art and Design and then Interior design in 2006 which has only enhanced her focus for detail, shape, line and form, this reflects in her Photography.
Melissa returned to study Professional Photography in 2016 at Photography Studies College in Melbourne, studying part time, she has her final year to complete after deferment in 2019. She has been awarded finalist in Click 17, SE Centre for Contemporary Photography, Brunswick Street Gallery and exhibited in several group shows.
A Finalist in the Australian Photography Awards awarded top 5, Student category and third place student category in the Australian Photography Awards exhibition, 2019.

Statement
Being in nature has always allayed my anxiety; it's my form of meditation. We can so easily forget about those simple needs and pleasure in life.
Isolation has enabled me to reconnect, being at home creates a security a protection and comfort, and it brings me to a peaceful and happier state of mind.
More so now it's imperative to connect with parts of yourself that you haven't before and reconnect with the things that you love.
Given this time to slow down; I have been able to be inspired by books and music, long walks and observing the natural world in a different perspective. I have had wonderful moments where I have really be in awe and wonder with nature, the sea, the trees, and the silence. It is exactly in these moments that we can assess what matters, and what we want our life to mean.
My interest in drawing awareness towards our environment and the landscape motivates my belief that it is essential to our quality and balance of life.

Websites

@equine_by_mellisstew

@mellisstew

 

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More Great Photographers To Discover

Carolyn Hampton
Carolyn Hampton
United States
Born and raised in Southern California, Carolyn Hampton first fell in love with photography at the age of 10 when her parents gave her a Pentax camera for her birthday. With camera always in hand, Carolyn went on to live in two European countries, travel the world, and learn to speak several languages. On a long trip by herself to Sub-Saharan Africa, shooting many rolls of film in that beautiful light amid a wild and unpredictable landscape, an artistic spark was ignited. That passion for photography grew with the birth of her daughter, when Carolyn was inspired to recreate childhood dreams, memories, rituals and fantasies. With her daughter as her muse, and using artifacts that have been passed down through generations of her family, Carolyn’s work is intensely personal and often carries symbolic meaning. Her intention is to create a timeless image that calls to mind the beginning of a story of childlike innocence, for which the viewer can determine what happens next. Many of us are captivated by the same visions, stories and themes, either subconsciously or consciously, because of our shared human experience. Carolyn’s work is held in private collections, including that of Jock Sturges, Kim & Gina Weston, and the Center for Fine Art Photography, has been exhibited in galleries and fine art festivals worldwide, and has been published in books, magazines, newspapers, exhibition catalogues, and on popular blogs. Source: www.carolynhampton.com
Mark Mann
Mark Mann
United States
1970
Mark Mann is a celebrity and advertising photographer. He was born in Glasgow, where he lived until he went to study in the prestigious photographic program at Manchester Polytechnic. Before long, the recent graduate was assisting innovative fashion photographers Nick Knight and Miles Aldridge, learning the ropes and building his own body of work. Three years later, Mark started shooting on his own, relocating to New York City. Mark’s editorial work has appeared in Esquire, Men’s Health, Vibe, Spin, Fortune, Billboard, Parade and Complex, among others. He has shot countless celebrities, including Robert Redford, Michael Douglas, Iggy Pop, Jack Black, the Black Eyed Peas, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Rihanna, Queen Latifah, Simon Baker, Stevie Wonder, Bradley Cooper, Willie Nelson, Sean Connery, John Hamm and Jennifer Hudson. Mark has amassed a sizable advertising portfolio, as well. His clients run the gamut: Reebok, Adidas, Hennessy, Bombay Sapphire, Pepsi, Gillette, Vitamin Water, NHL, Zumba, Ford, Chrysler and Svedka to name a few. Mark has just completed a yearlong project for Esquire Magazine, The Life of Man. He shot 80 American men ages 1 through 80, to celebrate 80 years of Esquire Magazine. This project took Mark to the White House where he was honored to shoot the sitting president, as well as former President Clinton. He also shot numerous other notable people and celebrities all across the country.Source: www.markmannphoto.com Because so many of Mark Mann’s striking celebrity portraits are taken from just a few feet away, he’s often asked, “Why so close?” “I’m not exactly sure where that idea of getting so close to my subjects came from. The simple answer is that I don’t like to have to shout to talk to people so—over the years—I’ve moved closer and closer. If you’re more than a few feet from someone, the nuances of what you are saying can be lost. And I always try to have a conversation to help make a connection with everyone I am photographing.” He may start out four or five feet away from a subject but “bobs and weaves” or “creeps” (as he terms it) closer to three feet or so while chatting and shooting. “That means the camera can be just 24 inches from a person’s face, or smelling distance,” says Mann. He never uses a tripod because he’s always moving, changing his distance and angles. He also shoots close up because he enjoys shooting wide open, explaining that helps give a "dimension” to his images. “They have a shallow depth of field, but I like that they almost feel three-dimensional,” he says. “There’s another reason I like shooting close,” says Mann. “I just love faces. I love looking at them. I can inspect every detail, every angle of a face when I’m just a few feet from someone as I look through my lens. I could never get that close without the camera in front of me.”Source: PPA
Martin Bogren
Martin Bogren
Sweden
1967
Martin Bogren was born 1967 in Sweden and is now based in Malmo. His photographic practice has developed by a personal documentary tradition in the early 90’s – photographing bands and artists. His first book The Cardigans_- Been It was published in 96 after several years touring with the band. Swedish born Martin Bogren first came to attention in 1996 with his book on the Swedish band, The Cardigans, who he photographed over several years while touring with the band. He has since published two photobooks, Ocean and, most recently, Lowlands. A winner of the prestigious Scanpix Photography Award in Sweden he has been exhibited throughout Scandinavia as well as in France, Ireland, Portugal, India and USA. Christian Caujolle is one of the France's leading curators and critics. A founder of Agence VU he has curated major festivals such as PhotoEspaña, Rencontres d’Arles and Foto Biennale Rotterdam, and his extensive writings on photography have been published worldwide.
Pierrot Men
Pierrot Men
Malagasy
1954
At first, I wanted to be a painter, and I pursued this path for 17 years. In my third year of middle school, a painter came to present his profession, and I decided to leave school to follow this path. My father, who was a merchant, would have preferred me to become a grocer like him. He cut oA my financial support, so I left home for the “big city,” Antananarivo, with my childhood friend Léon Fulgence. In a coAee plantation, we made a blood pact, promising each other to become artists—he as a painter and I as a photographer. We experienced poverty and hunger in Antananarivo. After returning to my hometown following the political events of 1972, I worked in the family grocery store. After some time, to show my determination to my father, I drew a counterfeit banknote that he mistook for a real one. He was furious, but he also realized I had artistic potential. After doing various small jobs, I was able to buy an enlarger and, in 1974, opened my first photo lab. I worked on weddings, baptisms, and family portraits to support my family. I used a Soviet Zenit E camera with a 50mm lens, a gift from my sister. My first camera was my father’s old Kodak 6x9, which I used for a long time. I also used contact sheets as models for my paintings, and sometimes even postage stamps, as magazines and books rarely reached the provinces. At the same time, I developed my personal photography, following in the footsteps of my African colleagues Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibé. Today, I have achieved my dream and have been a photographer for nearly 50 years. Statement My name is Pierrot Men, and I'm a Madagascan artist-photographer with a passion for my country, Madagascar, which is rich in human and natural diversity. Photography is not just my job, it's my life. I was born here, I grew up here, and the whole essence of my being is deeply rooted in the culture and landscapes of this fascinating island. My passion for photography finds its purest essence in capturing people in their environment, at the heart of the everyday lives of the people who live in my country. My artistic approach stems from an intimate connection with the people of Madagascar. Every click of my camera is an act of love and a testimony to the Malagasy soul, an immersion in the everyday experiences that shape our lives. By photographing the people of my country, I feel as if I am photographing myself, frozen in situations that I have experienced myself. It's an act of personal exploration as much as it is a visual testimony to the richness of our culture. My favourite tool is a 35mm lens, which allows me to get closer to their intimacy, to feel the warmth of their smiles, the depth of their eyes and the sincerity of their gestures. Each shot becomes a moment frozen in time that reveals the very essence of their existence. When I set out to find my subjects, I don't have any predefined themes in mind. I let my emotions guide me. I photograph everything that evokes a deep feeling in me, whether it's the bright joy of a bustling market, the melancholy of a gaze lost in the horizon or the palpable inspiration of a craftsman creating his art with passion... Each image I capture is imbued with the vital energy of Madagascar, with the love I have for this country and its people. Beyond the lens of my camera, there's communication. I like to immerse myself in the daily lives of the people I photograph. I take the time to get to know them, to listen to their stories, to understand their dreams and struggles. These conversations, often fleeting but always meaningful, allow me to create a bond, a connection that transcends the camera lens. It is in these moments of sharing that I discover the true essence of my subjects, which makes each image even more precious. I admit that writing is not my strong point. My photographic language finds its true expression through my camera. Each image I capture speaks for me, tells a silent story. In conclusion, my images are born of this fusion between my love for Madagascar, my deep connection with its people and my ability to capture the essence of the human being through my lens. Each photograph is the result of a passionate exploration, a total immersion in the daily life of my country. Each one tells a story, not only of those I have photographed, but also of myself, of my own experience as a Malagasy individual. This is how my images come to life, through the prism of my lens, freezing the Malagasy soul in eternal moments.
Anais Perry
Anais Perry
France/Germany
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I was born in Burgundy, France where I also grew up. For the study of Photojournalism at the Hochschule Hannover I moved to Germany. After 2 years, I changed to the HAW Hamburg to develop a more personal photography. The studies of Communication Design with the focus on photography offered me the possibility to discover a large scale of this art and to construct an own picture language. 2013 I earned the BA of Photography in the Class of Prof. Vincent Kohlbecher and Prof Ute Mahler and in 2016 the Master in Photography with Prof. Gesa Lange and Prof Linn Schröder. In 2018, I won the Juror's Pick at the Lensculture Street Photography Award 2018, and in the same year appears a self-published edition of my work "What remains at the end?". To create my works, I find inspiration in the cinema art. The fiction is my starting point to capture the reality and to build a strange or an artificial atmosphere. I'm living and working currently in Hamburg.
Cardell Phillips
Cardell Phillips
United States
1952
I'm a photographer living in Chicago. I discovered photography when I was in high school. My uncle was a photographer, and he showed me what the world looked like through a viewfinder. What I enjoyed the most about it was the freedom to explore the world and then show everyone what I found. When I got a job, I bought my first camera, an Olympus Trip 35, and learned how to use it by taking photographs of family and friends. Basically, anyone who would put up with me taking their picture when they weren't expecting it. When I was in grammar school, my two sisters and I spent our summer vacations at our grandparents' farm in Michigan. It was there that I experienced what it was like to live close to the land. So, when I thought about what kind of photography I wanted to specialize in, I chose landscape photography. Enchanted by the images taken by Ansel Adams and others, I traveled to the Canadian Rockies for a weeklong workshop where I learned some of the finer aspects of photography and gained confidence as a photographer. For years, I only shot portraits and landscapes. My interest in street photography began around 2008, when I came across the work of Walker Evans. His vision of the beauty in everyday life led me to other masters like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Vivian Maier, Roy DeCarava, and Wayne Miller. Their humanist approach to photography, to explore what it means to be human, inspired me. It's what I think about when I'm out with my camera and immersing myself in the flow of life, seeking to capture its disillusionment, solitude, and indigence but also the beauty, joy, and everyday wonders. In September 2021, the Praxis Gallery in Minneapolis chose one of my images for its "Shape of Things," exhibit. It was my first gallery showing. Statement One of the best places to take photographs in Chicago is the Lakefront. There, the beaches are strung out along Lake Michigan, from north to south, like pearls on a string, where there are many opportunities to photograph both people and landscapes. The 57th Street Beach is my favorite. It's a small beach with trees at the north and south ends that give it a touch of wilderness. As I photographed there, I noticed the people who came out to the lake in the early morning to engage in creative or spiritual work. As I began photographing them, I got the idea for a project about the power of the lake and the people who go there to resonate with the sky and water and to energize their hopes and dreams.
Kristoffer Albrecht
Kristoffer Albrecht
Finland
1961
Kristoffer Albrecht is a Finnish photographer, born in Helsinki, Finland in 1961. Albrecht lives in Ingå, Finland, and works as an independent photographer. His photographic work has been exhibited in his native Finland and internationally. Albrecht's work can be seen in collections at Helsinki’s Finnish Museum of Photography, Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, Moscow’s Pushkin Museum, Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and more. Albrecht has published some 30 books, among them Metropol (1998), Memorabilia (2004) and ZigZag in Europe (2009). Kristoffer Albrecht is represented in art museums and other public collections in Finland, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, USA. Kristoffer Albrecht has been exhibiting both at home and abroad since 1983. Previously mentored by acclaimed Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallahti, Albrecht exhibited alongside Sammallahti at in the Print Sales Gallery in 2017. Near the Wind showcased a collaborative body of work specially commissioned by The Photographers’ Gallery. Albrecht has exhibited in solo and group shows across Finland, Russia, Demark, France, Spain and the US since 1983, and his works can be found in international public collections including the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Modern Museet, Stockholm and The Pushkin Museum, Moscow. Making photobooks is an important means of his artistic expression; to date Albrecht has published some thirty photobooks, most recently Domestica (2018). He has been teaching photography and also conducting research in the field for several decades.Source: Invaluable
Richard Steinheimer
Richard Steinheimer
United States
1929 | † 2011
Richard Steinheimer (1929-2011) is considered to be among the greatest American railroad photographers. A pioneer in the field, he documented the railroad's transition from steam to diesel power, using elaborate lighting equipment to photograph by night and even positioning himself atop moving trains to capture them in motion. His appreciation for the American railroad and the landscape of the American West is immediately apparent in his exceptional body of work. Richard Steinheimer was born in Chicago in 1929. In 1939, when his family moved to Glendale, California, their house was located near the Southern Pacific main line. In 1945, he began photographing with a Kodak Brownie camera, and two years later began to work with a medium-format Speed Graphic camera, with which he created some of the most beautiful night photographs of railroads ever made. He attended San Francisco City College and from 1956 to 1962 worked as a photojournalist on staff of the Marin Independent Journal. In 1963, his book Backwoods Railroad of the West was published and eventually became one of the most collectible railroad books. His work has been published in Trains Magazine, Railfan, Locomotive & Railway Preservation, Vintage Rail, and numerous books. Richard Steinheimer passed away on May 4, 2011. Source: Robert Mann Gallery
Melvin Pirard
Melvin Pirard
Belgium
1992
My name is Melvin Pirard, I am 27 years old and I come from Belgium. I practice the photo seriously for a little less than three years. I have a degree in Agronomy and it is therefore as a passionate self-taught that I learned the picture. It was my mother who made me liked the photo, she always had a camera on holiday. I stung her the camera from time to time and I liked immerse myself in my imagination and try to represent at best what I saw with my child's eyes. I had the chance to travel a lot and so a little over two years ago I wanted to be more serious about photography when I was going through in Africa. I already had in mind to become a professional photographer. Now I'm doing it, I start as a professional photographer right now. And winning this 2nd prize is very important for me, it encourages me and pushes me to go further.
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