The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay “A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine.  Fabulous!” Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker Aug 2013 BACK ISSUE Robert Herman To commission Robert or to request prints of his work: www.robertherman.com Robert Herman has been a street photographer since his days as an NYU film student back in the late 70's. Using his father's Nikon F and a 50mm lens, he began by exploring the city as a means to connect with the people in his neighborhood and learn the craft of making images.  His photos of New York City, shot between 1978-2005 on Kodachrome, are now collected in his first monograph: The New Yorkers. His work is part of the permanent collections of the George Eastman House and the Telfair Museum in Savannah, GA. His photographs are also in many private collections including Westin and Marriott Hotels. In 2011, images from The New Yorkers were exhibited at the Istanbul Photography Museum.  Most recently, his solo exhibition "A Waking Dream," was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in Cartagena, Columbia. He has a BFA in Filmmaking from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and received his Masters in Digital Photography from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. His love of light and color, and making images that find the transcendent in the seemingly mundane, continues to this day. Michael Yamashita To commission Michael or to request prints of his work: www.michaelyamashita.com Michael Yamashita has been shooting for the National Geographic magazine for over 30 years, combining his dual passions of photography and travel.  After graduating from Wesleyan University with a degree in Asian studies, he spent seven years in Asia, which became his area of specialty. Returning to the US fluent in Japanese, he began shooting for the National Geographic as well as many other American and international clients. Yamashita is known for epic stories that retrace the paths of famous travelers, like Marco Polo, the Japanese poet Basho, and the Chinese explorer Zheng He. His feature documentary, The Ghost Fleet, inspired by his National Geographic story about the legendary 15th-century Chinese admiral, Zheng He, won the Best Historical Documentary prize at the New York International Independent Film Festival. His National Geographic Channel documentary, Marco Polo: The China Mystery Revealed, based on his three-part National Geographic story, received two Asian Television and Film Awards and was also included in the top twenty most popular NG Channel documentaries of the decade. A frequent corporoate keynote speaker, as well as a lecturer at schools and workshops around the world, Yamashita has received numerous industry awards: including Pictures of the Year, Photo District News, the New York Art Directors Club, and the Asian-American Journalists Association.  He has had exhibitions throughout Asia -- in Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Taipei and Singapore -- as well as in Rome, Venice, Frankfurt, and Perpignan, France, and in the United States, at galleries in Los Angeles and at the National Gallery in Washington, DC. Yamashita has also published ten books: Shangri-La [along the tea road to Lhasa], The Great Wall From Beginning to End; New York: Flying High; Zheng He -- Tracing the Epic Voyages of China's Greatest Explorer; Japan -- The Soul of a Nation; Marco Polo -- A Photographer's Journey; Mekong -- A Journey on the Mother of Waters; In the Japanese Garden;  A Pictorial Tribute to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Lakes, Peaks and Prairies: Discovering the U.S. Canadian Border. While not traveling, Michael Yamashita lives with his family in rural New Jersey, where he maintains a studio and is an active volunteer fireman. Damian Bird To commission Damian or to request prints of his work: www.damianbirdphotography.com Damian Bird, is a photographer and photojournalist with many years of experience, working in war zones and trouble spots around the globe.  He was educated in Photography at the Surrey College of Art and Design and at the London College of Printing where he studied for a post graduate degree in Photojournalism.  In 2011 he founded Life Force magazine with his business partner and wife of ten years, Alice.  As well as Editing Life Force magazine, he is currently engaged in photographing a series of photo- essays on English culture and is also preparing to return imminently to Afghanistan in Aug 2013. He continues to have his work published in national and international newspapers and magazines  including The Times, the Telegraph, the Express, the Observer, GQ, Esquire, Dazed & Confused,The Face, Country Life and Geographical magazine. He lives with his wife and three children in Devon, England. Sergey Maximishin To commission Sergey or to request prints of his work: www.maximishin.com Sergey Maximishin was born in 1964 and spent his childhood in Kerch, the Crimea. In 1982 he moved to Leningrad and served in the Soviet army as a photographer the Soviet Military Force Group on Cuba from 1985 to 1987. He graduated from Leningrad Politechnical Institute in 1991 with a B.A. in physics and worked in the laboratory of scientific and technical expertise in the Hermitage Museum. Maximishin graduated from St-Petersburg Faculty of photojournalism in 1998. In 1999-2003 he was a staff photographer for the "Izvestia" newspaper. Since 2003 he has worked with the German agency 'Focus.'  Maximishin has won many awards for his photography including: World Press Photo:· First Place  in "Arts and entertainment" (single) category in 2004 and World Press Photo:· First Place in "Daily life" (single) category 2006.  Adam Hinton To commission Adam or to request prints of his work: www.adamhinton.net Adam began his photographic career at the age of 12 when his Father bought him a basic SLR camera. He became fascinated with a new way of looking at the world and the ability to record things of importance.When Hinton was 15, he received the first installment of compensation from the Government following a knife attack (his attacker had a thing against punks) and instinctively he knew what he was going to spend the money on: more lenses. When he received the rest of the money at 18 he spent it all on a set of professional cameras and lenses. From that moment onwards, photography has been the constant focus for him. It has enabled him to vocalise his other interest: politics. Studying photojournalism in the 80s enabled Hinton to articulate his feelings, beliefs and values into a visual medium that he could communicate to others. He would take photos at all the demonstrations he went to: anti-apartheid, anti-nuclear, the miners' strike and the picket lines at Wapping. He hoped, and still does, that his images could portray something of the way we live today, how each action has a reaction, that nothing is without cause or response. Hinton believes in the good of people. “Wherever I have travelled, the people I have met and stayed with have been welcoming and open. Even in the most dire situations, when almost  everything seems negative, I find myself photographing the positives. When I stayed with a family in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro I found that in spite of the level of violence surrounding people living there, it was outweighed by the community's cohesion. They had, without any external help, organised football and ballet classes for the children and adults, art clubs, after-school care and had built their own library. Families supported each other and the community had a strong sense of social solidarity. This is what I wanted to photograph, not the violence and danger. When I first started taking pictures I found that the social documentary style of B&W suited my work brilliantly (things were more black & white to me then). However, as time has gone by,  I have moved away from the more traditional image to something I think is more fluid and spontaneous.” Aubrey Wade To commission Aubrey or to request prints of his work: www.aubreywade.com Aubrey was born in the Netherlands to British parents. He studied anthropology at Sussex University and later returned to college to study photojournalism. He is interested in harnessing diverse means of storytelling in documentary practice, with particular reference to conflict affected communities and young people. He has worked in the United States, Latin America, the United Kingdom, South Asia, and extensively in Africa. Over the course of eight years, Aubrey documented the daily experiences of marginalized youth and former combatants living in Sierra Leone's post-conflict period. Later, he co-wrote and produced "Talking Borders", a fiction film based on research exploring causes of tension in the Mano River border region of West Africa.  For the past two years, the film has been touring border communities in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea with moderated discussions, a process designed to contribute to cross-border peace building efforts by facilitating productive dialogue among community members and security officials. His photographs are regularly published in leading international magazines, such as the Telegraph magazine, the Observer Magazine, the Sunday Times magazine, Foto8 magazine, Mare, "D" La Republicca Della Donne, the Guardian Weekend magazine, Newsweek, Smithsonian, and The Fader, amongst others. He is represented by Panos Pictures. Alfons Rodriguez To commission Alfons or to request prints of his work: www.alfonsrodriguez.com Born in Barcelona, 1968 Alfons is a freelance for newspapers and internationals magazines. He has been represented by several agencies around the world.  In the last 25 years, Alfons has travelled across more than 90 countries, reporting from Iraq conflict, North Korea, Jaffna war, t he Potosi Mines, San Pedro Penitenciary or Choquequirao Citadel. Other works covered leprosy, an intense gaze into the bowels of Mumbai, the war in DR Congo, the social truth in South Africa and the genocide of Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina.  His latest effort is a documentary project, The Third Rider, a deep insight on starvation and undernutrition around the world. Now is working on  the Armenian Genocide. His topics are mainly documentary and social stories. Anthropology and archeological expeditions are among his topics too. Alfons sees his job as the way to live and a spiritual exercise. Photography is the tool to express in a tangible way his gaze and his perception of existence. His pictures have been published in several media around the world, including for example National Geographic  Magazine in Spain, Italy and Portugal, Der Spiegel, La Repubblica, Geo, Traveler, The Courrier, Slobodna, La Vie, The Moments Count Journal, Storica National Geographic, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, El País, El Periódico, Lens New York Times and Yo Dona. "Walata and Tichitt, heart and soul of the Mauritanian desert", "Figuig, Memories of an oasis", "Congo, the eternal War", "Between Gazes" and "The Third Rider" are among his books. His work has been exhibited in Spain, United States, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mauritania and Italy.?Alfons teaches photojournalism in private schools and Universities from several countries. He cofounded and runs several projects, such as GEA PHOTOWORDS and Caja Azul Photography, belongs to Reporters sans Frontières, and is part of the international network of voluntary photographers Shoot4Change and his representative in Spain. He has collaborated with the United Nations, Médecins sans frontières, Action contre la faim, Mon-3, OXFAM and other international organizations and NGOs. The awards he has received include the REVELA award, the Spain National Social Reportage Award 2010, a mention in the XIV International Award of Medicus Mundi Luís Valtueña and the Prix Pont in Ars to his career. In 2011 he received one of the most important Spanish awards: the Godó Award of Photojournalism. In 2012 his work The Third Rider has been honored by His Majesty the Prince of Asturias with a diploma on merit. The Catalonian Culture department of Generalitat considers him to be one of the most prominent catalans photojournalists at present. Olaf Schuelke To commission Olaf or to request prints of his work: www.olafschuelke.com Olaf Schuelke is a self-taught German documentary photographer based in Singapore. He holds a master's degree in architecture and urban design from the University of Stuttgart. Before relocating to Singapore he lived in Germany, the U.S. and Ireland. Having travelled extensively over the past 20 years, Olaf has always been fascinated with capturing the different facets of life with his camera. He doesn't concentrate on current political events and affairs. Instead he focuses on self-driven documentary projects around Asia and on the Indian sub-continent, documenting its people and cultures and their daily struggles. His work has been widely published by a number of German newspapers, international magazines and online media including Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel, Berliner Zeitung, Stern, Discovery Channel Magazine, La Vanguardia Magazine and CNN, to name a few. His work is currently distributed by Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo. Pilar Olivares To commission Pilar or to request prints of her work: www.pilarolivares.photoshelter.com Pilar was a soccer specialist photographer before she started working for Reuters as a freelance in Peru.  Since then she’s been covering breaking news.  The years she’s spent as a photojournalist have allowed her to see many complex realities around her country, poverty, political issues, the final years of terrorism that hit almost two decades between the 80s and 90s.   She has recently moved to Brazil, and currently lives in Rio de Janeiro, where she has found an even greater inequality.  She currently likes to explore stories with her native people, their environment, their ways of living.   Giles Duley To commission Giles or to request prints of his work: www.gilesduley.com Giles Duley was born in 1971 in London. After 10 years as an editorial photographer in the fashion and music industries in both the US and Europe, Duley now focuses his work on humanitarian projects. Working with well respected charities such as Medecins sans Frontiers, IOM and UNHCR to highlight lesser known stories deserving of public attention and action. Although documenting challenging, and at times, horrific situations, Duley captures the strength of those who fight their adversity rather than succumb. His photographs draw the viewer to the subject, creating intimacy and empathy for lives differing from ours only in circumstance. In 2011, whilst on patrol with 75th Cavalry Regiment, United States Army in Afghanistan, Duley stepped on an improvised explosive device. He was severely injured, losing both legs and an arm. He is now back working. His work has been exhibited and published worldwide in many respected publications including Vogue, GQ, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Sunday Times, The Observer and New Statesman. In 2010 he was nominated for an Amnesty International Media Award and was a winner at the Prix de Paris in 2010 & 2012. His self-portrait was selected for the 2012 Taylor Wessing Exhibition at the Natinal Portrait Gallery. Mustafa Dedeoglu To commission Mustafa or to request prints of his work: www.mustafadedeoglu.com Mustafa Dedeoðlu was born in Istanbul, in 1978. He started to live in Istanbul after he graduated from Industrial Engineering (Cyprus / EMU) He has been interested in taking photographs since 2007. Projects: Timeless City Istanbul and Faces Anatolia Ashura Mourning Day Captive Birds One / Searching Workers Handmade Gipsys Exhibitions: 2011 May 27-28 France / Nice (free organization) 2012 September 11-29 Photo Vernissage St. Petersburg Russia 2013 May 19-31 Gallery "FotoSoyuz Agency" Dina Oganova To commission Dina or to request prints of her work: www.dikarka.ge Freelancer, Dina Oganova was born in Georgia in 1987.  She was educated at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Faculty Of Business Economy (Georgia.Tbilisi) and at the Yuri Mechitov Photography Art School (Georgia.Tbilisi). Since 2012 she has been a member of Georgian photo agency: "Georgian Photographers". She has been involved in numerous solo and group exhibitions, book and movie projects and has won a number of prestigious awards. She speaks Georgian, Russian and English.