Photographer #413: Andrew B. Myers

Andrew B. Myers, 1987, is a young Canadian photographer based in Toronto. He has a very distinct photographic style. His work is aesthetic, using carefully placed objects on simple color backgrounds which creates a large area of negative space. Due to the use of negative space the images gain an awkward flatness. His photographs are well composed, graphic and stylish. The sunlit shadows, washed out colors as well as the objects used refer back to the 1970's and 1980's with a modern twist. Andrew's photographs contain elements of nostalgia and pop culture. The following images come from the portfolio's 2011 PT.1, 2010 PT.1 and 2009.

Website: www.andrewbmyers.com

Photographer #410: Christopher Anderson

Christopher Anderson, 1970, Canada/USA, is an all rounded photographer who is well-known for his documentary / photo-journalistic work. He has traveled extensively to conflict zones throughout the world as Israel, Afghanistan and Haiti. He photographed these conflicts from a personal point of view. In 2009 he released the book Capitolio, a cinematic journey into Caracas, Venezuela. "He notates the country's current incongruities, where the violent and the sensual intermingle chaotically." (Magnum Photos) A recent body of work is called Son. He photographed his wife, his son and his father who was ill with cancer. Due to the birth of his son and several other happenings Christopher has decided to step away from war photography. Son is a very intimate and emotional project, touching themes as the cycle of life. It is a project that defines the real reasons for our existence and our drive as human beings. Christopher joined Magnum Photos in 2005 and became a full member in 2010. He has worked on commercial fashion shoots and had portrait sessions with people as Lady Gaga, Lance Armstrong and Al Pacino. The following images come from his book projects Son and Capitolio and from his story on Bethlehem.

Website: www.christopherandersonphoto.com

 (Video 2008)

Photographer #357: Larry Louie

Larry Louie, 1961, Canada, is a socially engaged documentary photographer who leads a dual career. He runs a optometry clinic in Edmonton where he actively works as an optometrist. Photography had been a serious hobby, but in 2005 he started showing his images and traveling the world. Since then he has been to countries as Tanzania, Tibet, Bangladesh and Turkey. Since 2008 he found a way to combine the photography with his work in eyecare. He worked together with Seva Canada, an organization whose mission is the elimination of preventable and treatable blindness around the world. In his series entitled In the Underbelly of Kathmandu, Larry focused on the simmering crisis currently happening in the Kathmandu Valley. It is quickly becoming the slum central of Nepal with raw sewage and air pollution as a result. Larry won numerous awards including the IPA Lucie Award and the National Geographic Photo Essay award. The following images come from the series Touched by Seva, A Working Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh and In the Underbelly of Kathmandu.

Website: www.larrylouie.com

Photographer #312: Scott Conarroe

Scott Conarroe, 1974, Canada, is a landscape photographer with a distinct eye. He received a BFA at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2001 and an MFA the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2005. His images of the sea or the railroad tracks in Northern America contain a subtle criticism on how humans interact with their environment. By Rail is the result of an eight month trip in his Chevy Van, often making long exposure photographs on a 4x5" large format camera. His series At Leisure contains images of recreational spaces in built environments that seem unfitting, out of order or just weird. Scott has also created series in Ontario, Halifax and Beijing among other places. He has exhibited in Canada, several places in the US and abroad. Scott is one of the PDN's 30 emerging photographers of 2010. The following images come from the series By Sea, By Rail and London.

Website: www.scottconarroe.com

Photographer #300: Lyle Owerko

Lyle Owerko, 1968, Canada, is a portrait and documentary photographer working and living in New York. He studied at the Pratt Institute in NYC. He was the photographer who shot the cover of Time in 2001 of the twin towers on fire on September 11. The happenings he witnessed on September 11th, 2001 have been published as a monograph called And No Birds Sang. The Boombox Project has been released as a book in 2010 for which he has photographed a large amount of vintage boomboxes, taking us back to the 80's. Lyle has traveled extensively for his photography resulting in various projects on the African continent. He works with Human Rights groups documenting cultural groups hoping to contribute to the betterment of the human condition. Owerko also concentrates on film making and commercial work. The following images come from the series The Boombox Project, Radio Simba and The Samburu.

Website: www.owerko.com

Photographer #259: Nathalie Daoust

Nathalie Daoust, 1977, Canada, concentrates in her photographic work on unveiling the secrets hidden beneath the apparent stability of life. Daoust first got recognized in 1997 with her project New York Hotel Story which was published as a book. Since then she traveled the world to Japan, Brazil and Switzerland amongst other places to create conceptual projects. In her series Tokyo Hotel Story she explores female sexuality and subversion of gender stereotypes. She spend several months in one of the biggest S&M 'love hotels' in order to show the "universal desire to escape reality and create fantasy worlds that often oscillate between dream, reality and perversion." The following images come from the series Tokyo Hotel Story, Frozen in Time, Switzerland and Entre Quatre Murs, Berlin.

Website: www.daoustnathalie.com
(Video in French)

Photographer #184: Mike Ruiz

Mike Ruiz, 1964, Canada, is a commercial and portrait / beauty photographer. Many celebrities have been in front of his camera, from 50 Cent to Kirsten Dunst. His images have been on the covers of numerous glamour magazines. In the last few years Mike has appeared in various TV shows as America's Next Top Model. The following images come from the portfolio's Celebrities, Fashion and Beauty.

Website: www.mikeruiz.com

Photographer #146: Mark Peckmezian

Mark Peckmezian, 1985, Canada, recently completed his BFA at the Ryerson University in Toronto. His book Photographs & Pictures was released in June of this year by Pogobooks. Mark focuses on portraits and most of his photography is black & white. He has been featured in several magazines and was selected for the traveling Flash Forward exhibition. The first two rows of images come from his portfolio Photographs and the last row from his portfolio Pictures.

Website: www.markpeckmezian.com

Photographer #095: Joey L.

Joey Lawrence, Canada, 1989, is a young photographer with an impressive client list. Commercially he has worked for big names and has had people as 50 Cent and Danny DeVito in front of his camera. Next to his commercial work he also does personal photography. He travels the world to remote places where he photographs, for example, the Mentawai. Next to his photography he also works on music video's. The following images come from the series Abyssinia, Holy Men and from his commercial portrait portfolio.

Website: www.joeyl.com

Photographer #063: Jill Greenberg

Jill Greenberg, Canada, 1967, lives and works in the USA. She is also known as the "manipulator" because she digitally manipulates her photographs. Her body of work is vast, containing personal projects, commissioned work and a large number of portraits. An example of a project is End Times, a series of pictures in which toddlers cry. Simple and pure emotion. She has also photographed various animals, such as bears and monkeys and then manipulated the images. The following images come from the series End Times, Monkey Portraits and some examples of her human portraits.

Website: www.manipulator.com

Photographer #057: Christian Lamontagne

Christian Lamontagne, Canada, 1978, is a photographer and also works on various video productions. He has covered various stories across the globe. His reportage style of photography comes with a twist through his use of artificial lighting. The following images come from his series Sahel, sous la menace du desert. Photographs on the climate change and the effects on the Nomads of Senegal.

The series Imperial Valley are portraits of the inhabitants in the apocalyptic looking region around the Salton Sea.

The following images are examples of his portraiture in various places in the world such as Bangladesh.

Website: www.christianlamontagne.com

Photographer #056: Lana Slezic

Lana Slezic, Canada, 1973, comes from a Croatian family. Until the war in 1991 she went to Croatia every summer. After the war she went been back to Dubrovnik, a Unesco world heritage site where her roots lie. The following images come from her series Dubrovnik.

In Afghanistan she focused on the women of the country that is at war. Even though people may claim that women are finally free with the Taliban (partly) defeated, Slezic claims that the Afghan women are still subject to abuse, forced marriages and are in rural places mostly illiterate. Basically not a lot has changed since the war. These images come from her book Forsaken.

Another project by Lana is about Mennonites, a movement that finds it's roots in the 1500's.

Website: www.lanaslezic.com

Photographer #053: Tony Fouhse

Tony Fouhse, Canada, 1954, might be an editorial and commercial photographer, it's his personal work that is getting international attention. Since 2007 Fouhse has focused on drug addicts in his hometown Ottawa. In 2007 he made the series USER night, in 2008 USER Women and in 2009 USER Men. Even though the portrayed are evidently addicts, the portraits show people with strength and a drive for survival. Below are shot from User Men and USER Night.

On various trips Fouhse photographs what he sees. This results in series such as Christmas in the Delta.

Website: www.tonyfoto.com

Photographer #050: Christopher Wahl

Christopher Wahl, Canada/USA, 1972, is in the first place a portrait photographer. He has had a wide range of people in front of his Hasselblad. Examples are: Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Mick Jagger, Peter Beard, David Lynch and Jane Jacobs. The images are strong, honest captures of the portrayed.

Wahl also works on projects. He made pictures in Disneyworld and in North Huron that are double exposed inside the camera. Another project focuses on people working in the news business.

Website: www.christopherwahl.com

Photographer #042: David Burdeny

David Burdeny, Canada, 1968, is an award winning photographer. He is well known for his black and white photographs of landscapes taken in near dark situations. Due to the long exposures the images show something not able to be seen by the normal eye. Burdeny has no degree in photography, but a background in architecture and interior design.

In 2007 he made an impressive series on Greenland and Antarctica.

The following images come from the series Sacred & Secular.

Website: www.davidburdeny.com

Photographer #006: Carlos & Jason Sanchez

Two Canadian brothers, Carlos (1976) and Jason (1981) Sanchez make pictures as a team. They work months on a single picture resulting in staged film-like shots. Their photography is all about isolation, fear and tension. They don't work in series, but rather try to put a story into a single picture, but not telling you the end of the story. The pictures are printed in large formats, making them larger than life.

Website: www.thesanchezbrothers.com