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LAST CALL TO Win a Solo Exhibition in July 2026 + An Exclusive Interview!
LAST CALL TO Win a Solo Exhibition in July 2026 + An Exclusive Interview!
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Marika Poquet
Marika Poquet
Marika Poquet

Marika Poquet

Country: France
Birth: 1972

I come from an artistic family of musicians, painters, sculptors and writers. I was given my first camera when I was ten years old. On every possible occasion, I took pictures of family and friends. What I enjoyed most was catching people in their everyday life. In my late teens, I started wandering the streets of Paris taking pictures of people. I would then shut myself up in a dark room. I still remember the excitement when I discovered what I had shot. After 15 years of working in finance, I decided to put an end to my career and started what I had always wanted to do as a child: photography.

Statement
I love discovering the world, capturing people’s emotion, and soul, documenting their everyday life. I take candid street photography. I wander in the streets with no precise idea following my instincts, trying to be invisible, looking for something beautiful, unexpected, surprising, magical, mysterious, ambiguous, or even funny trying to capture the perfect moment when everything comes together.
Lately I have started working more on documentary projects using my street photography style.

AAP Magazine:

AAP Magazine 43 Colors
AAP Magazine 46 Women
AAP Magazine 53 Travels
AAP Magazine 56 Shadows

Websites

www.marikapoquet.com

@marikapoquet

 

Inspiring Portfolios

Aleksander Rodchenko
© Aleksander Rodchenko
Fabien Dendiével
© Fabien Dendiével
Umberto Verdoliva
© Umberto Verdoliva
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More Great Photographers To Discover

Rineke Dijkstra
Rineke Dijkstra
Netherlands
1959
Rineke Dijkstra was trained at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. Her first solo exhibition took place in 1984 at de Moor in Amsterdam. Dijsktra's photographs have appeared in numerous international exhibitions, including the 1997 and 2001 Venice Biennale, the 1998 Bienal de Sao Paulo, Turin's Biennale Internationale di Fotografia in 1999 and the 2003 International Center for Photography's Triennial of Photography and Video in New York. Solo exhibitions of her work have been shown at the Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Germany (2013), the Guggenheim Museum, New York (2012), the Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2005), and the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (2001). She is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Kodak Award Nederland (1987), the Art Encouragement Award Amstelveen (1993), the Werner Mantz Award (1994), the Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize (1998), and the Macallan Royal Photography Prize (2012). Source: Marian Goodman Gallery Rineke Dijkstra was born in Sittard, the Netherlands, in 1959. She studied photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1981 to 1986. Through the late 1980s, she photographed people in clubs for magazines in the Netherlands and worked for corporations as a portraitist. In 1990 she injured her hip when her car was struck by a bicycle. A self-portrait produced during her rehabilitation, in which she is seen having just emerged from a pool, exhausted, sparked a new direction in her work. Commissioned by a Dutch newspaper to make photographs based on the notion of summertime, Dijkstra took provocative photographs of adolescent bathers. These ultimately formed her breakthrough Beaches series (1992–96), which featured her young subjects in different locations in the United States and Europe. From this point on, people in transitional moments would be a major theme in her work. In 1994 she photographed mothers in the moments after giving birth and bullfighters about to enter the arena; she also commenced a series of images of Almerisa, an adolescent Bosnian refugee, whom she continued to photograph until 2003. Dijkstra ventured into video with The Buzz Club, Liverpool, UK/Mysteryworld, Zaandam, NL, taping adolescents at raves between 1996 and 1997. She has also focused on particular individuals entering the military, as in her images of Olivier Silva, a French Foreign Legionnaire (2000–01), and new inductees into the Israeli army (2002–03). For the series Park Portraits (2003–06), Dijkstra photographed children, adolescents, and teenagers momentarily suspending their varied activities to stare into the lens from scenic spots in Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Madrid’s El Parque del Retiro, and Xiamen’s Amoy Botanical Garden, among others. Source: Guggenheim
Gautam Narang
Gautam Narang
United Kingdom
1984
I found photography by mistake, when doing my GCSE, I was sitting in the study room, then heard a teacher describe the subjects they taught at the school. As he was going through the subjects, he mentioned photography. I thought to myself was this a subject? Photography! It's so easy, all you do is click (How, wrong I was, how very wrong) *sigh*. As a child I used to play around with cameras. I always looked through them as was interested In them. So I sat in the lesson and was very enthusiastic to start a creative art. The journey had begun. One of the first subjects I started to picture was boats .....mmm yes boats. I lived near a canal and started to photograph boats. I don't know why I picked boats, it's quite sad when I look back, but that was one of my subjects. I took thousands of photographs, trying to make the subjects look Interesting. I remember one day I took all my photographs and filled up a whole table. The obsession had started but I hadn't known. Pictures now filled my room. From the start I always wanted to show my best. I would keep a box of my best photographs and then throw away all the one's I didn't like. I always feel the next picture is my favorite picture, wanting to create new work. As I progressed through my studies, I became distracted. There were so many subjects to do and I tried them all. One week I was doing art of history, then chemistry. I then dropped them all and just focused on photography. To this day, I follow photography. I have learned a lot but I am still confused on what to do next. I love what I do, but everybody tells me go into other things. Photography is more than clicking a button. From my first trip In India I have learned more about life then I would from anything. It teaches you to look, understand and observe rather then just walk away.All about Gautam Narang:AAP: When did you realize you wanted to be a photographer?Well after high school, I pretty much knew that is something that I’ve wanted to do, and it’s pretty much all that I’ve pictured myself doing. I’ve tried office jobs, but they usually don’t work, for example being an assistant was not a great experience. Order wold be forgotten and i’m not a office type or person, the stress kills me. So i’ve always gratiated to something creative.AAP: Where did you study photography?I studied at HND Photography at City and islington. Was the youngest student, out of the program my closet friend was Robert Harper who does amazing fashion photography. We used to chill and take pictures, it was really nice experience. Education to me, especially in the arts isn’t what i’ve expected it to be. The real learning happens when your out of school, and making friends with like minded pepole, finding who you are, I know it sounds like a really simple question, but you get asked “Who are you? What is your favorite movie? Favorite Artist and etc.” These days things are getting competitive and to really stand out is to have strong connections with people. AAP:Do you have a mentor?Yes, the teacher at my school. He was in 60’s and was my best friend, he taught me a lot on business, being an artist, encouraged me, let me use his studio and gave experience in the studio with while doing still life photography. He would also make all his own equipment, was really cool learning from him. My other mentor was Jasper James, he introduced me to style. He showed me that movies could be arty, before that I didn’t really watch any arty stuff. We also traveled around the UK on projects and that was a lot of fun. AAP: How long have you been a photographer?12 years.AAP: Do you remember your first shot? What was it?They were pictures of cannel boats, in England I used to live near a cannel.AAP: What or who inspires you?Well Edward Hooper is a great inspiration. His images feel like movie scenes, they have such a powerful mood to them. Artist have always inspired me. William Eggleston is someone would really inspires me.AAP: How could you describe your style?As simple and bold. I’m a huge fan of bold colors and like to keep things simple.AAP: What kind of gear do you use? Camera, lens, digital, film?I use the Canon 5D Mark II and my iPhone 4, it’s great, you can take it anywhere and pepole aren’t imitated by it, you look like a tourist. The iPhone has a look, in 20 years when we have images that are so sharp that you can’t tell if your looking at something real. Images from are primitive cameras and mobile devices will be called “Retro” they come with a time stamp, the actually medium is a time capsule. It’s not about the quality, it’s about the message, that will last longer.AAP: Do you spend a lot of time editing your images?I’m not a fan of editing, i’ve never liked it, only the darkroom.AAP: Favorite(s) photographer(s)?Steve McCurry, Willam Eggleston, Dorothea Lange. AAP: What advice would you give a young photographer?Go out and find your own vision, and all this likes and things mean nothing. It’s hard putting yourself out there, and pepole don’t usually respond. You start to want to appeal to others and worry if you posting to much. Do it for yourself, who cares about all this fame? Who knows if these websites will be around, this data? One day, you might be recognized.AAP: What mistake should a young photographer avoid?Don’t point fingers, point them at yourself first. Don’t blame others, really look at yourself first.AAP: An idea, a sentence, a project you would like to share?My work is constantly changing and I like that. To keep evolving you need to keep changing.AAP: Your best memory has a photographer?Working on location in India, working in a old Indian palace, documenting Indian folk singers. It’s an experience the kings once enjoyed.AAP: Your worst souvenir has a photographer?A broken camera lens.AAP: If you could have taken the photographs of someone else who would it be?Steve McCurry he has my dream jobAAP: Anything else you would like to share?I’m into film making now, really want to be a DOP or camera operator. Currently i’m based in Toronto.
Laurent Spadotto
Laurent Spadotto
France
1972
For Laurent, a photo is a mirror or a window, often both. Born in 1972, Laurent lives in Bordeaux. A self-taught photographer, he is passionate about literature, still and moving images. In the early 2000s, he wrote and directed several short films. After a career in the web world, he put his skills at the service of the community by creating a non-profit webradio. After 13 years of listening and giving voice to different audiences, he felt the need to express himself again. In 2020, at the dawn of his fifties, he plunged him into a long reflection. He decided to change course and to take a difficult but necessary step to give meaning to his life: to become a professional artist photographer. Rather solitary, he likes to spend time in the company of friends he has never met. A heterogeneous tribe where A. Titarenko, D. Arbus, D. Lynch, A. Hitchcock, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others. With a special affection for Jean Cocteau. Very early on, he followed his advice, « What the public reproaches you for, cultivate it, that’s you ». His work has quickly conquered Instagram and the interest of the public and professionals (press, galleries contests, festivals…). Laurent regularly sells his photos in limited editions to clients in France and worldwide.
Colin Page
Colin Page
United Kingdom
1967
I begun my journey into photography thanks partly to the Duke of Edinburgh Awards project and the help of my Dad who set up a make shift darkroom in the cramped spare bedroom. I worked in a professional darkroom and then art studio for nearly 20 years. Using many different film cameras, usually borrowed or second hand, I always developed and printed my own pictures. The new technologies replaced the darkroom and I was made redundant. I tried many different things including an HND in photography as a mature student. BUT…… After a long near death illness, and with the help of my family, I took up photography again. Mostly ‘street photography’ and with new digital cameras. Using a computer instead of a darkroom but only doing that could be done in a darkroom. All About Photo Competitions AAP Magazine 19 Shapes AAP Magazine 44 Street Photographer of the Week 04 AAP Magazine 56 Shadows
Chris Rainier
Chris Rainier
Canada
1958
Chris Rainier is a National Geographic Society EXPLORER and documentary photographer/filmmaker - who is highly respected for his documentation of endangered cultures and traditional languages around the globe. In 2002 he was awarded the Lowell Thomas Award by the Explorers Club for his efforts on cultural preservation, and in 2014 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society of London/UK -specializing in cultural preservation He is the Director of The Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation - a global program focused on preserving Biodiversity and Traditional Cultural Knowledge. During his continued tenure with the National Geographic Society he has been the co-founder and co-director of both the Enduring Voices Language Project and Director of the All Roads Photography Program, designed to support indigenous groups with modern technology desiring to document their traditional culture and create sustainable solutions to preserve the planet in the 21st Century. In addition as a NG Fellow he was an Editor for NG Traveler focused on documentation of traditional culture. Rainier has completed photographic projects for the United Nations, UNESCO, Amnesty International, Conservation International, the Smithsonian Institution, Time Magazine, the New York Times, LIFE Magazine, and the National Geographic Society. Rainier has photographed global culture, conflict, famine, and war in such places as: Somalia, Sarajevo/Bosnia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Iraq for TIME Magazine, - and for NPR Radio. In the early 1980's Rainier was Ansel Adams last photographic assistant- during his tenure with the noted photographer- he worked with Mr. Adams to amplify the use of Art Photography as a social tool - helping to preserve threatened wilderness areas and National Parks. Rainier went on to collaborate with UNESCO and IUCN on a Global Project using photography to preserve endangered wilderness areas around the world. Rainier's photography and books have been widely shown and collected by museums around the world, including the Australian Museum in Sydney, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the International Center of Photography in New York, the George Eastman House International Museum in Rochester, New York, The National Geographic Society, and the United Nations.
Bob Stevens
Bob Stevens
United States
After completing the photo program at Santa Monica College, Bob embarked on a career in the advertising arena and found quick success. As much as he enjoys commercial assignments, he has always found time to create personal projects. His strong attachment to the Hispanic culture and vibrant community in his home town of Los Angeles, led him to explore the poignant story you see pictured here. AAP Magazine AAP Magazine 48: Portrait Article Los Ojos - Life on the Streets of East Los Angeles
TJ Vissing
TJ Vissing
United States
1962
TJ Vissing is a commercial and travel photographer with over 30 years of professional experience. He values the contemplative time spent behind the camera while traveling and is rarely without a window seat on airplanes, observing the landscape below with his camera and telephoto lens at hand. Photography serves as a form of time travel in his practice, slowing the pace of movement and allowing for careful observation. Through this process, he is able to engage more deeply with the places he visits, transforming moments of transit into opportunities for sustained perception. AAP Magazine: AAP Magazine 53 Travels
Heidi Lender
Heidi Lender
United States
1966
Heidi Lender once reported on the fashion universe for national magazines, writing features and styling photo shoots. With a BA in apparel and textiles from Cornell University, she covered style, design, food and travel from New York to Paris. A soulful search led her to India, where she lived part-time studying yoga, and subsequently taught in San Francisco in her own studio. In 2009, she finally found herself – behind the lens of her first digital SLR, and retired her pen and yoga professorship in favor of making pictures. She splits her time between Amagansett, NY and Garzon, Uruguay. Source: heidilender.com
Hardijanto Budiman
Hardijanto Budiman
Indonesia
1968
My name is Hardijanto Budiman aka. Hardibudi, a Visual artist base in BSD City ( about 40 Km west of Jakarta, Indonesia ) My life is overflowing with creating works of art. Since a boy I really love anything related to Art especially Painting & Music. For me Photography is the best media to express my passion in Art. My works just like the Journey of my life! It is all about the expression of Imagination, Emotion & Experiences of my life. My favorite genre are Conceptual & Contemporary Photography. I also love anything about Surreal Art! That's why lots of my works strongly influenced with Surreal touch.
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AAP Magazine #59 Shapes
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Exclusive Interview with Susan Anthony
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Publication
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For over seven years, Of Lilies and Remains has explored the depths of the goth and darkwave underground, unfolding in Leipzig—a city long associated with a vibrant and enduring subcultural scene. Moving between iconic gatherings such as Wave-Gotik-Treffen and more intimate moments on the fringes, the project offers a rare and immersive glimpse into a world often misunderstood, yet rich in expression and community. Created by Luca in collaboration with Laura Estelle Barmwoldt, the work embraces a cinematic and deeply personal approach. Rather than documenting from a distance, it moves within the scene itself, capturing its atmosphere, its codes, and its quiet contradictions. The title Of Lilies and Remains hints at this duality—where beauty and darkness, fragility and strength coexist. As the book prepares for its release, we spoke with both artists about the origins of the project, their process, and what it means to document a subculture that continues to evolve while remaining true to its spirit.
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Read the full interview
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