Photographer #397: Ikuru Kuwajima

Ikuru Kuwajima, 1984, Japan, is a photojournalist and documentary photographer. He studied photojournalism at the University of Missouri. After his studies in the USA he moved to Romania to work on various photographic projects. He relocated to the Ukraine and is currently based in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In Astana, the second coldest capital in the world, he focused on inner tropical resorts and recreational facilities themed with palm trees. He shows the contrasts of the unique winter urbanscape of the oil rich capital. Other projects have concentrated on the traditions of Cossacks, the conflict of the Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, an ethnic group in Tajikistan called the Yagnobi and drug addicts in the Ukraine amongst others. The following images come from the series Astana's Winter Urbanscape, Cossack Revival in Crimea and Ukraine Drug.

Website: www.ikurukuwajima.com

Photographer #387: Sarah Elliott

Sarah Elliott, 1984, USA, is a young, engaged and very productive photojournalist. She received a BFA in Photography at the Parson's School of Design. She also followed courses at the Rhode Island School of Design and the ICP. She is interested in documenting social issues in Africa and focuses especially on women. Within her large archive are stories that deal with reproductive rights in Kenya, maternal mortality in Ethiopia and fistula repair in Central African Republic. Her series Renewed Fighting DRC shows the tense situation in 2008 in North Kivu, Congo which has led thousands of Congolese civilians to flee the intense fighting. Dandora Dump tells the story of the immense Nairobi waste dump that affects the people surrounding it, but also works as a source of income for people sifting through the waste mountains that include medical waste and poisonous chemicals. She has received several awards for her photography which has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines as The New York Times, Stern and The Guardian. In 2010 she was selected to participate in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. The following images come from the stories Renewed Fighting DRC, Women of the Omo Valley and Dandora Dump.

Website: www.sarahelliottphotography.com

Photographer #320: Pari Dukovic

Pari Dukovic, 1984, Turkey, is a documentary photographer who works and lives in New York. In 2010 he went back to his homeland to document Kirkpinar, the longest sanctioned sporting competition in the world. The sport is even under the protection of Unesco. However, it has become more than just an oil-wrestling game, it is an expression of their tradition and identity. This is year the sport will have its 650th anniversary and Pari will return to Turkey to document the event hoping to draw attention to the importance of culture today. Whether shooting boxing matches, burlesque dancers, street photographs of Istanbul or New York or even backstage at a fashion show, Pari's photographs are high in contrast, gritty and dark. The following images come from Fields of Glory, Venues of Immortality and Boxing.

Website: www.paridukovic.com

Photographer #311: Lauren Dukoff

Lauren Dukoff, 1984, USA, is a portrait photographer. A vast amount of celebrities have been in front of her lens including Beyonce, Katy Perry, Sting and Beck. Her most known picture might be the cover of the album 21 by Adele. Lauren has also directed videos for Adele, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan and Devendra Banhart. For several years Lauren had been photographing close friends and Devendra Banhart, including an extended family of artists who share inspiration. The images were released in the book Family in 2009. It includes portraits and candid images of Devendra and many other artists, individually or together, in performance or in more private spaces. Her images have been published in numerous magazines as Rolling Stone, Dazed & Confused and L'Uomo Vogue. The following images come from her portfolios and her diary.

Website: www.laurendukoff.com

Photographer #261: Lisa Elmaleh

Lisa Elmaleh, 1984, USA, is a landscape photographer who uses an 8 x 10" camera and the collodion on glass process. This process from the mid 1800's requires an on-site darkroom which she build in the trunk of her car. She attended the School of Visual Arts in New York and is inspired by the historical photographers of the American West. She documented the Everglades in Florida, an ecosystem that has lost most of it's land to urban and agricultural use. The freshwater flowing into the national park is engineered, making it an ecosystem on life support, "alive but diminished". Lisa hopes to preserve an essence of the Everglades. The following images come from the series Everglades, Rooted and Musicians.

Website: www.lisaelmaleh.com
(Video from Kickstarter)

Photographer #260: Elise Boularan

Elise Boularan, 1984, France, works with polaroids to create her dreamy and sometimes estranged images. Her work is based on a particular perception of photography of which elliptic narration, silence and quietness are key-words in her research. She strives to retrieve something muted and undefinable in her work. Her photographs are both sharp and blurred and contains the saturated colours and haze of the polaroids. In recent years Elise has been published in numerous magazines world wide and exhibited her work mainly in France but also in various European countries and the US.The following images come from the series FEm�le, Lapsus Prompta and her portfolio Portrait / Musique.

Website: www.eliseboularan.com

Photographer #186: Maxwell Snow

Maxwell Snow, 1984, USA, is a young photographer who's works are not always easy to digest. For his project It's Fun to do Bad Things he made three series, one on latin gang members from downtown La, one on the Ku Klux Klan and one on Black metal musicians from Scandinavia. Earlier this year he presented his series Jesus is Showing me Amazing Things. Each image has it's own story, from burning skeletons at a KKK gathering to an image of a girl who had been locked in her room for many years by her parents. The following images come from the series It's Fun to do Bad Things, Jesus is Showing me Amazing Things and Its Only Castles Burning.

Website: www.maxwellsnow.com

Photographer #148: Thom Kerr

Thom Kerr, 1984, Australia, is a fashion and commercial photographer. He started out in production design and wardrobe before getting behind the camera in 2005. Since then he has appeared in various magazines and worked for a large number of clients. His photography reminds us of fairy-tales and fantasy stories, but also the new wave era. Thom has exhibited in several places around the world and appeared on Germany's next top model as a guest photographer. The following images come from his portfolio's Fantasy, Classic and Beauty.

Website: www.thomkerr.com

Photographer #118: Martin Stranka

Martin Stranka, 1984, is a young photographer from the Czech Republic. He has no education in photography. The images he makes are poetic and mysterious. They remind us of dark fairy tales or our own personal dreams. Martin works on commercial projects as book and CD covers. In the last three years Stranka has been in numerous exhibitions, won several awards and has been in many publications. The following images come from Martin's portfolio.

Website: www.martinstranka.com

Photographer #015: Frederik Heyman

Frederik Heyman, 1984, Belgium, has both a masters degree in photography aswell as in graphic and illustration design. This is very clear when looking at his photographic works. He combines illustration and graphic design in his photography. He creates new worlds that look impossible, but he doesn't hide the way it's done. His pictures are like little fairy tales. The following photographs are from various personal and editorial projects.

Website: www.frederikheyman.com