Rising Photographers / I

For over 35 years I have explored the art of portraiture and I am still mesmerized by photography just like when I got my first camera at 15. It's a love affair that not only endured, but has grown as an essential part of my being. I am more in awe of photography as an art form each day

Notorious for it's red-light district and most famous for the fact that the Beatles started their career here more than 50 years ago, this workingman's area in Hamburg, Germany, has always been a melting pot for people from all walks of life and backgrounds. The liberal spirit of the quarter attracted many colorful figures from the fringes of society like sailors, drinkers, prostitutes, crooks, gamblers and dreamers.

'Way for Escape' Magnum's Square Print Sale, runs from Monday July 12, 6AM PST to Sunday, July 18, 11:59 PM PST. Signed or estate-stamped, museum-quality, 6x6” prints from over 100 visual artists will exceptionally be available for $100, for 5 days only, from magnumphotos.com/shop.

So many lives were changed during the pandemic. It forced us to slow down, re-evaluate our life, our purpose and our happiness. The pandemic changed my life for the better. Pre-Pandemic, I was busy, like most Americans.. I was on auto-pilot.. Day in and day out.. freelancing as a photographer for jobs that did not allow me much creative freedom. I was asked to shoot headshots, commercial images that were expected to look perfect to sell and promote business, I was asked to photograph families looking their best and I was always fearful of feedback from clients. Hoping they approved how they looked and of the work I would present to them.

A trip to Uzbekistan is a journey through history, through a country with a clear and evident Soviet past, which keeps, in the meantime, its festivals and traditions alive. A journey that leaves strong marks, in the contrasts that I was able to grasp above all in the people I met along my way, but also in the architecture and urban spaces.

All About Photo is pleased to present Shepherds from Transylvania by Istvan Kerekes. Part of the exclusive online showroom developed by All About Photo, this exhibition is on view for the months of July and August 2021 and includes twenty photographs from the series Shepherds from Transylvania.

Curiouser and Curiouser is a conceptual series of photographs influenced by the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I was inspired to create this series from personally identifying with the theme of not belonging that features prominently in Alice's narrative. Immersed in a world of make-believe, Alice shows her courage and strength by being able to successfully navigate through a fantasy land, appearing more at home in this wonderland than that of Victorian society. In my series, the modern-day Wonderland of Las Vegas provides the backdrop for the protagonist to discover, struggle with, and eventually come to terms with her own feelings of not fitting in.

Dichotomia, with its Greek origin, means two equal contradictory parts, as in public/private; hot/cold; or subjective/objective. It also is: opposition, incongruity, conflict, antagonism, disunion and disagreement. Herakleitos (540-480BC), the Ephesian philosopher, had postulated on universal dichotomia, his claim: the symbiosis of all things opposite.

Shot across Mumbai and Delhi in urban and rural areas... this story is an exploration of education in times of Corona, in a country where literacy is a challenge even in the best of times. My story spotlights kids from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds - slum kids in the cities and village kids on the outskirts of the cities - many of whom were confronted with migration, starvation and loss due to the current pandemic.