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Song Chao
Song Chao
Song Chao

Song Chao

Country: China
Birth: 1979

Born in 1979 in the rugged landscapes of Shandong, China, Song Chao's journey into the world of photography began amidst the coal mines that defined his early years. From 1990 to 2004, he toiled as a miner, immersing himself in the harsh realities of this demanding profession. It was during this time, in 2001, that he first picked up a camera, finding solace and expression in capturing the lives and landscapes of the mining community. His lens became a tool for bearing witness to the struggles and resilience of the miners, resulting in powerful series such as "Miners," "The Residents of Mining Areas," and "The Sinking Mining Areas."

In 2004, driven by a burgeoning passion for the visual arts, Song Chao embarked on a new chapter, enrolling at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy to formally study photography and art. This period marked a significant transition in his life as he honed his craft and expanded his artistic vision.

Fast forward to the present day, and Song Chao has firmly established himself as a renowned artist on the global stage. His latest project, "Images in the Post-truth Era," delves into the complexities of our contemporary world, exploring themes of truth, perception, and reality in the age of digital manipulation and misinformation.

Now based between New York City and Beijing, Song Chao's work transcends geographical boundaries, resonating with audiences worldwide. His evocative imagery has found a permanent home in esteemed institutions such as Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Réattu Museum, Shanghai Art Museum, and the Shanghai Center of Photography, among others.

Through his lens, Song Chao continues to challenge perceptions and illuminate truths, reminding us of the profound power of photography to capture the essence of the human experience. With each click of the shutter, he invites us to see the world through his eyes, to contemplate the stories untold and the realities often overlooked. In doing so, he leaves an indelible mark on the landscape of contemporary photography, enriching our understanding of both the visible and the invisible.

Agency

Galerie Paris-Beijing

Gallery

Galerie Paris-Beijing

Websites

www.song-art.cn

@songchao.art

 

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More Great Photographers To Discover

Gulnara Samoilova
Gulnara Samoilova
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Gulnara Samoilova is a Russia-born American photographer, living in New York City. Her work in New York City after the September 11 attacks won a World Press Photo award and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Samoilova is the founder of the website, social media platform and travelling exhibition Women Street Photographers, and edited a book of the same name. Samoilova was born and grew up in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. After school she worked in a photo lab, then became a portrait photographer, and later a photojournalist for a local newspaper. She gained a diploma in photography from Moscow Polytech College. In 1992 Samoilova moved to New York City and studied at the International Center of Photography. She worked for the Associated Press and photographed the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in New York City in 2001. In 2017 Samoilova launched the website, social media platform, and travelling exhibition Women Street Photographers, to show street photography by women. In 2021 a book of the same name was published, which she edited, containing the work of 100 photographers.Source: Wikipedia
Jean-Michel Clajot
Jean-Michel Clajot
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Jean-Michel Clajot is an independent documentary photographer based in Brussels. For nearly 25 years, he has focused on intimate stories about African and Asian families and subcultures. As of July 2006, He joined Cosmos Photo Agency (Paris) for 12 years. In 2019, He joined the great Redux Pictures agency (New-York) as a worldwide represented photographer, to focus on a combination of long-term personal projects, breaking news and client assignments. Jean-Michel's work has been published in multiple press media such as Le Monde, CNN.com, National Geographic, Newsweek, Time, Grands Reportages, China News... In 2008, the three years project "Scarifications", photographing the Scarifications Culture in Benin, has been published in a book by Yovo Editions and shown in galleries in Brussels, Paris and Italy. The book was selected in 2008 by National Geographic for the LOOK3 Exhibit in Charlottesville, in the USA. In 2014, "Born To be a Woman" was exhibited at the Hirado Trading Post Museum in Japan. His photography is featured in art galleries worldwide, including Cosmos Gallery in Paris, Ikono in Brussels, the Arte Foto Festival in Italy and Visa Pour l'Image International Festival of Photojournalism.
David LaChapelle
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United States
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David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963) is an American commercial photographer, fine-art photographer, music video director, and film director. He is best known for his photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. His photographic style has been described as "hyper-real and slyly subversive" and as "kitsch pop surrealism". Once called the Fellini of photography, LaChapelle has worked for international publications and has had his work exhibited in commercial galleries and institutions around the world. David LaChapelle was born in Hartford, Connecticut to Philip and Helga LaChapelle; he has a sister Sonja and a brother Philip. His mother was a refugee from Lithuania who arrived at Ellis Island in the late 1960s. His family lived in Hartford until he was 9. He has said to have loved the public schools in Connecticut and thrived in their art program as a child and teenager, although he struggled with bullying growing up. 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Cédric Gerbehaye
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Jaroslav Mares
Jaroslav Mares
Czech Republic
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Jaroslav Mares, graduate of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, lives and works as a designer in Polička, a small town in the Czech Republic. Photography has been his hobby since childhood, he has been intensively creating fine art photography for the last ten years. His work is based on the idea that photographic art should focus on finding extraordinary things in ordinary places. His photographs are mostly a spontaneous reaction to visually interesting scenes and situations that life brings. He realized several author exhibitions and photography projects, and participated in many others. His photos have been awarded many times and published in photography magazines.
Francis Frith
Francis Frith
United Kingdom
1822 | † 1898
Francis Frith was an English photographer of the Middle East and many towns in the United Kingdom. Frith was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, attending Quaker schools at Ackworth and Quaker Camp Hill in Birmingham (c. 1828–1838), before he started in the cutlery business. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1843, recuperating over the next two years. In 1850 he started a photographic studio in Liverpool, known as Frith & Hayward. A successful grocer, and later, printer, Frith fostered an interest in photography, becoming a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Society in 1853. Frith sold his companies in 1855 in order to dedicate himself entirely to photography. He journeyed to the Middle East on three occasions, the first of which was a trip to Egypt in 1856 with very large cameras (16" x 20"). He used the collodion process, a major technical achievement in hot and dusty conditions. Photographs taken by Frith are held in the Conway Library of Art and Architecture at the Courtauld in London. When he had finished his travels in the Middle East in 1859, he opened the firm of Francis Frith & Co. in Reigate, Surrey, as the world's first specialist photographic publisher. In 1860, he married Mary Ann Rosling (sister of Alfred Rosling, the first treasurer of the Photographic Society) and embarked upon a colossal project—to photograph every town and village in the United Kingdom; in particular, notable historical or interesting sights. Initially he took the photographs himself, but as success came, he hired people to help him and set about establishing his postcard company, a firm that became one of the largest photographic studios in the world. Within a few years, over two thousand shops throughout the United Kingdom were selling his postcards. Many of his photographs were collected into published volumes. Initially these works were compiled by established publishing companies. However, by the 1860s, Firth realized that he could profit from publishing his own images and established the publishing company F. Frith & Co. Frith died at his villa in Cannes, France, on 25 February 1898, aged 75. His family continued the firm, which was finally closed in 1971. Following closure of the business, Bill Jay, one of Britain's first photography historians, identified the archive as being nationally important, and "at risk". Jay managed to persuade McCann-Erikson the London advertising agency to approach their client Rothmans of Pall Mall on 14 December 1971 to purchase the archive to ensure its safety. Rothmans went ahead and acquired the archive within weeks. Frith was re-launched in 1975 as "The Francis Frith Collection" by John Buck, a Rothmans executive, with the intention of making the Frith photographs available to as wide an audience as possible. On 25 August 1977, Buck bought the archive from Rothmans, and has run it as an independent business since that time – trading as The Francis Frith Collection. In 2016 the company completed a two-year project to scan the entire archive and now holds over 330,000 high resolution digital images. The company website enables visitors to browse all 330,000 Frith photographs, depicting some 7,000 cities, towns and villages.Source: Wikipedia Born into a Quaker family in 1822 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Francis Frith was a remarkable person, philosophical and devoutly religious by nature and pioneering in outlook. He was a complex and multi-talented man who had a formidable instinct for business. By the time he founded his photographic publishing company in 1860 he had already established a wholesale grocery business in Liverpool which was so successful that by the mid 1850s he was able to sell it for a price which made him a the equivalent of a multi-millionaire today. Frith had been a founder member of the Liverpool Photographic Society in 1853 – only 14 years after the invention of photography, 1839. Between 1856 and 1860, as a gentleman of leisure, he made three pioneering and sometimes dangerous photographic expeditions to the Middle East, taking bulky cameras, equipment and glass plates with him and travelling by boat, donkey, mule and camel. These journeys took him to Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, Sinai, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, and established his reputation as an outstanding pioneer photographer. The photographs he took on these expeditions were marketed by the London firm of Negretti & Zambra as hugely popular stereoscopic views, and were also published in London and New York in limited edition part-works of prints, with sales totalling over £3 million in today’s value.Source: www.francisfrith.com
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Exclusive Interview with Manuel Besse
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