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Win a Solo Exhibition this February. Juror: Harvey Stein
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Lauren Welles
Lauren Welles
Lauren Welles

Lauren Welles

Country: United States
Birth: 1968

Lauren is a freelance photographer, and former attorney, based in New York City. Her street photography has received several awards and has been exhibited at various venues around the world, including: "The Fence" at Photoville, NYC; the Museum of the City of New York, NYC; Arsenal Gallery in Central Park, NYC; PhotoLeiden, The Netherlands; Gudberg Nerger Gallery, Hamburg, DE; and the Center For Fine Art Photography, HistoryMiami Museum, and Rayko Photo Center, in the US. Her work and interviews have been published in a variety of publications, including PDN Online; ViewFind; CBS News; New Yorker Magazine; Slate Magazine; All-About-Photo.com; Il Repubblica; YourDailyPhotograph.com; Desert Leaf Magazine; Rangefinder Magazine, World Photography Organization, the Phoblographer, Street Photography Magazine, and the Hamburg Journal.

Lauren takes candid photos of people in her surroundings. Her only prerequisite is that each photo tell its own story—one that changes with each viewer.

Find out more about the project Coney Island in this article

Website

www.laurenwelles.com

 

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Call for Entries
All About Photo Awards 2026
$5,000 Cash Prizes! Juror: Steve McCurry
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More Great Photographers To Discover

Justine Tjallinks
Justine Tjallinks
Netherlands
1984
Justine Tjallinks is an Amsterdam-based Dutch Artistic Photographer. She started her career as a magazine Designer and Art-Director and worked for leading fashion titles. After several years of working with photography she wanted to create imagery as she envisioned and took the leap towards a new career in 2014. Justine aims to capture the uniqueness of individuals and the diversity of human beauty, often backed by a story of social importance. Inspired by the master painters from the Dutch Golden Age, her artworks feature muted colours and balanced compositions. Fashion design is used as an additional means of expression. Even though a sense of nostalgia speaks through her art, the aim is to always remain in line with the contemporary zeitgeist. Justine her works have been exhibited in national and international venues and she has won multiple international photography awards.
Phuoc Hoai Nguyen
Phuoc Hoai Nguyen
Vietnam
1986
Now I work for a commercial bank as a cashier. I have a love of photography and traveling. I have been in photography since 2012. Each place I have been in, there is always a unique beauty that attracts me. I am extremely passionate about the scenery, culture, and people at every beautiful moments I experienced. My Vietnam Vietnam is a developing country in Southeast Asia. Although this is a small country but Vietnam still has many things that attract tourists. Vietnam has tropical climate with differently complex seasons in two parts of the country. Through many wars for the past a thousand years, Vietnam has developed continuously and now, it is a beautiful country in the eyes of the foreigners. Vietnam has had a victorious history. It has 54 ethnic groups and diverse cultures. Having tropical climate, Vietnam is known for many beautiful landscapes especially mountains, beaches, caves and even rice fields. Lives of people is one of the most fascinating things of Vietnam. One of the most important festival in Vietnam is Tet holiday, which occurs around January or February. Cuisine is also a highlight when talking about Vietnam. My country still has many things that wait for you to explore. Let's take the look at photos that I luckily have had a chance to take from the North to the South with a view from above .
Arnaud Montagard
Arnaud Montagard
France
1991
Arnaud Montagard is a French photographer, he currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. His photography focuses on composition and details, creating an atmosphere that is often referred to the work of American realistic painters. With emphasis on a minimalist aesthetic, his photography creates a new angle to an ordinary detail.
Savadmon Avalachamveettil
Savadmon Avalachamveettil
Ireland
1984
Savad Mon Avalachamveettil, widely known as Savad.monk, is an award winning travel, aerial and commercial photographer born in Kerala and now living in Ireland. A self taught artist, he began his journey with an iPhone and has since gained international recognition for blending culture, scale and emotion in powerful visual stories. Driven by curiosity for the unseen, Savad captures large cultural gatherings, intricate landscapes and human narratives that often go unnoticed. His distinctive aerial style, rooted in symmetry, geometry and natural patterns, has established him as a rising voice in contemporary visual storytelling. His work has earned major global honors, including IPA 2025 Event Photographer of the Year and GPA 2025 Professional Photographer of the Year. His photographs have been featured by international platforms such as Bored Panda, Nomadict, Muse.world, 121clicks, and several global photography collectives. Today, Savad continues to travel and create, documenting human connections and landscapes from both ground and sky, always searching for the story shaped by scale, light and silence. Statement: Photography, for me, is not just about capturing a moment, “It is about discovering the hidden stories that shape how we see the world". Through aerial vision and thoughtful composition, I explore how culture, people, and landscapes shape one another. I aim to reveal stories that live beyond the surface stories of movement, memory, and the quiet beauty of our shared world. AAP Magazine: AAP Magazine 52 Travels
Paula Aranoa
Paula Aranoa
Argentina
1966
I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1966 and had the privilege of living in cities like São Paulo, Mexico City, and Barcelona. Each of those places has left an indelible mark on me. I love them. They are my second homes. I discovered my passion for photography after exploring studies in philosophy, fashion design, and landscaping. Everything I received back then continues to pulse in my works. Currently, I reside and develop my projects in Buenos Aires. I have actively participated in fairs and exhibitions, both nationally and internationally. The UN has exhibited some of my photos on three occasions. I had the honor of seeing my work published in different internationally renowned books and magazines. I have also collaborated with Sony Alpha Latin seminars. My work focuses on the unnoticed with the intention of making it noticed, and my terrain is the everyday. Introspection and silence are, along with my camera, my best allies when it comes to questioning reality and allowing myself to be questioned by it. I pursue the veiled, not to unveil it, but to point out its mystery. I go after the traces, not the evidence. That which begs to be seen and whose secrets I hear while looking. Photography places me at the threshold of the thousands of half-open doors that I encounter in my routine. Its mystery attracts me for what it suggests as a clue, not for what it holds in darkness. My joy: that the viewer stops at its threshold. STATEMENT I photograph the unnoticed, and my terrain is the everyday. Introspection and silence are, along with my camera, my best allies when it comes to questioning reality and allowing it to question me. My work seeks to capture what words lack. I pursue the veiled, not to unveil it, but to point out its mystery. I go after the traces, not the evidence. That which begs to be seen and whose secrets I hear while looking. Photography places me at the threshold of the thousands of half-open doors that I encounter in my routine. Its mystery attracts me for what it suggests as a clue, not for what it holds in darkness.
Stephanus Meyer
Stephanus Meyer
Zambia/United Kingdom
Stephanus Meyer was born in Zambia and spent most of his childhood in South Africa. He moved out of Africa at the beginning of the 1980s to live in Spain where he is now based. He is self-taught and always inspired by his obsession with light, shadows, contrasts and the way they come together in his images. Street, social, documentary and fine art photography are his great passion. He has lived in various environments and travelled to many different places, and his camera has taught him to see the world and how people live in it from a different perspective. Street photography has taught him to see. He is inspired by people who simply live their lives. He bought his first camera at the age of 16 and so the journey began; more than 40 years later it is still going strong. He has participated in numerous photographic events such as the official section of the international Biennial of Photography of Cordoba 2006 and the International Biennial of Photography and Audiovisual Arts of Granada, among others, and has been a finalist in several international competitions such as the Photography Masters Cup (USA), Chelsea International Photography Competition (New York), Fresh M.I.L.K. (New Zealand) and Festimage (Portugal), in addition to a large number of mentions and national awards. Statement Street photography is often seen as a simple capture of the everyday moments that unfold in the bustling streets of our cities. Yet, within each frame lies a profound narrative of our times, a visual testament to the lives we lead, the cultures we inhabit, and the stories we weave amidst the urban tapestry. In my pursuit of documenting the streets, I find myself drawn not just to the fleeting moments of beauty and serendipity, but also to the deeper layers of societal fabric that unfold before my lens. Each photograph serves as a time capsule, preserving not just the faces and places, but the essence of an era; a social document for future generations to decode and understand. Just as a historian might study the archives for insights into the past, I see my street photography as a form of contemporary historiography. Through the lens of my camera, I strive to capture not just the surface appearances, but the underlying currents of human existence – the way people dress, interact, and navigate the urban landscape. In this fast-paced world of ever-evolving trends and technologies, street photography offers a grounding force, reminding us of our shared humanity and collective journey. It is my hope that these snapshots of life on the streets will serve as a bridge across time, connecting us to the past, grounding us in the present, and inspiring us to shape a more compassionate and inclusive future. Series: Crossing the old city from within Córdoba, a city that was once a melting pot of religions and civilizations lies in the north-central section of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. Córdoba was probably Carthaginian in origin and was occupied by the Romans in 152 BC. In 711 it was captured and largely destroyed by the Muslims. Abd al-Rahman I, a member of the Umayyad family, accepted the leadership of the Spanish Muslims rebuilt it and made Córdoba its capital in 756. The old city has one of the largest Jewish quarters in Europe with its narrow cobble- stone streets and white houses. It leads out towards the Great Cathedral-Mosque and crosses the Guadalquivir river through the Roman arch and bridge. I have been living here for almost 30 years, and have walked and crossed the old city with my camera many times. This series begins within the Great Cathedral-Mosque and takes us across the old city. As a passionate street photographer I try to capture the beauty and diversity of modern urban life in this ancient area. My style is unconventional and experimental, as I use a wide angle lens to create images that are distorted, dynamic, and dramatic. I simply walk and shoot and never engage with my subjects. I want the photos to be as natural as possible. In this series, in post-production, I used various filters to obtain that yellowish colour that for me creates the ancient mood the old city reminds me of when I walk its streets. I want the observer to feel the textures of the old stone, the mood, the pulse of daily life and the incredible light.
Michal Korta
Michal Korta
Poland
1975
Michał Korta, born and raised in Poland, is an award-winning portrait and documentary photographer based near Kraków. He studied Photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and German Literature at Jagiellonian University. Korta’s work spans collaborations with press, publishers, and agencies, alongside personal projects across Central Asia, the United States, Israel, the Balkans, and Africa. His photography explores themes of identity, social dynamics, and the layers of history within landscapes and people. He has published three photography books, including Balkan Playground, nominated as one of Poland’s best photo books in 2018. His photographs have been exhibited across Europe and beyond, and he lectures on photography in Poland and Switzerland. Recently, Korta has focused on portraiture and long-term personal projects, continuing to merge intimate storytelling with striking visual narratives. Statement "For years, I have been irresistibly drawn to the art of capturing the essence of creators—artists, musicians, writers, painters, composers, directors, and actors. Through my lens, I strive to craft portraits that are both unadorned and striking, each frame a vivid testament to their singular personality and unyielding spirit. I believe in the power of simplicity and the devotion to craft—the delicate art of feeling the sitter's energy, observing and shaping the light to honor presence. I’a a worshiper of natural light. Even if sometimes I have to modify it according to needs. Light is god." Awarded Photographer of the Week - Week 48
Zhou HanShun
Zhou HanShun
Singapore
1975
Born 1975, and raised in Singapore, Zhou HanShun is a Photographic Artist, Printmaker and Art Director.After graduating from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Singapore and RMIT University, he went on to make a living as an art director, and continues to pursue his passion as a visual storyteller and photographer.He uses photography as a way to explore, investigate and document the culture and people in the cities he lived in.HanShun has exhibited at the Tumbas Cultural Center in Thessaloniki, Greece for Photoeidolo (2017), the Molekyl Gallery in Sweden, for the Malmo Fotobiennal (2017), the Gallery under Theater in Bratislava, Slovakia for The Month of Photography Bratislava(2017), the Czech China Contemporary Museum in Beijing for the SongZhuang International Photo Biennale(2017), the PhotoMetria "Parallel Voices" exhibition in Greece (2016), the Addis FotoFest in Ethiopia (2016), among others.HanShun was awarded a Special Mention at the Balkan Photo Festival (2016), Shortlisted for the Hariban Award (2017) and was a finalist of Photolucida Critical Mass (2016), among others.About Frenetic City To say life moves fast in a city is an understatement. People go through life in an uncompromising, chaotic pace, overcoming and absorbing anything in their path. Time in the city seem to flow quicker, memories in the city tend to fade away faster. Nothing seems to stand still in a city. I use photography as a way to explore, investigate and document the culture, society and people in the cities that I have lived in. Using Hong Kong as a starting point, this project aims to be a documentation of our increasingly overpopulated world. When I first landed, I was immediately confronted by a society that is in fierce competition for physical and mental space. I decided to capture and re-create the tension and chaos that I experienced in photographic form, using multiple exposures on B&W negatives. The creation of each photograph requires me to be fixed at a specific location from between 5 to 7 hours per session. Through the viewfinder of an old Hasselblad, I created each photograph by overlapping selected individuals or groups of people within the 6 x 6 frame. The resulting photograph is not of a singular moment in time, but a multitude of moments in time captured in a single frame.
Lotta Lemetti
Lotta Lemetti
Finland
1995
Lotta Lemetti is a photographer with a unique vision that embraces the beauty of the simple and mundane. Her minimal aesthetic carries through the diverse work she loves to make and she's not afraid to use alternative processes, mixed media and graphic design in her image making. The native of Finland obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the NewYork Film Academy, and was also the recipient of the highly prestigious Fulbright undergraduate award in 2015, one of only 3 Finnish winners that year and the only grantee in the field of arts. Her work has since been exhibited in galleries around the world, including New York, Los Angeles, Italy, and Finland. Lotta is constantly sought after by leading artists in her field, and has worked alongside many, including award-winning photographer and visual artist Amanda Rowan, named Chromatic Photographer of the Year 2018 for her achievements in color photography and Photo District News' The Curator Fine Art competition in Still Life in 2019, whose work has been exhibited in Photo LA, and Paris Photo as well as the Wall Street Gallery and the Leica Gallery in Los Angeles, and on display at the Palms with Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Takashi Murakami, and Photographer/Visual Artist Naomi White, winner of Photo District News' Objects of Desire award and has exhibited throughout North America and Europe, including with Tobey Fine Arts, Christopher Henry Gallery and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in New York. In 2018, Lemetti's latest photography series Kekta won the title of Latitude Life APS Photographer of the Year. Kekta was then exhibited in New York and the city of Pravisdomini, Italy. Ms. Lemetti's work has been featured in FAYN Magazine, U+I Magazine, NewBeauty Magazine, PhotoVogue and FLOAT Magazine. Kekta is an exploration of cultural blending and national identity. These photographs originate from her own experience of living between two cultures. She created scenes that are inspired by the immemorial beliefs of unity between humans and nature, and cultural traditions that have been passed on for generations in the form of oral folk tales about Finnish mythology. The stories are hand picked from the Finnish national epic Kalevala, which is a book of poems collected from different regions of Finland and then stitched together into one cohesive story. I took these individual stories and photographed them in a variety of American landscapes, with people from different ethnic backgrounds, creating a new narrative of polycultural identity. Today, we live in a global age, which means that we must reconsider the old ways of thinking about national identity. People are no longer bound by the geographical borders of countries and only a few places on earth can be said to remain monocultural. Bigger metropolis cities are starting to resemble a ‘human mosaic' in which we are moving from multiculturalism, which emphasises the coexistence of different individual cultures to polyculturalism, which indicates the integratedness of the cultures.
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Win a Solo Exhibition in February
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Latest Interviews

Exclusive Interview with Marijn Fidder
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Marijn Fidder
Marijn Fidder is a Dutch documentary photographer whose work powerfully engages with current affairs and contemporary social issues. Driven by a deep sense of social justice, she uses photography to speak on behalf of the voiceless and to advocate for the rights of those who are most vulnerable. Her images have been widely published in major international outlets including National Geographic, CNN Style, NRC Handelsblad, Volkskrant, GUP New Talent, and ZEIT Magazin. Her long-term commitment to disability rights—particularly through years of work in Uganda—culminated in her acclaimed project Inclusive Nation, which earned her the title of Photographer of the Year 2025 at the All About Photo Awards. She is also the recipient of multiple prestigious honors, including awards from World Press Photo and the Global Peace Photo Award. We asked her a few questions about her life and work.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Josh S. Rose
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Josh S. Rose
Josh S. Rose is a multidisciplinary artist working across photography, film, and writing. His practice bridges visual and performing arts, with a strong focus on movement, emotion, and the expressive potential of the image. Known for his long-standing collaborations with leading dance companies and performers, Rose brings together authenticity and precise composition—a balance he describes as “technical romanticism.” His work has been commissioned and exhibited internationally, appearing in outlets such as Vogue, at the Super Bowl, in film festivals, and most recently as a large-scale installation for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. A sought-after collaborator, he has worked with major artists, cultural institutions, and brands, following a previous career as Chief Creative Officer at Interpublic Group and the founder of Humans Are Social. We asked him a few questions about his life and work.
Read the full interview
Interview with Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Interview
Interview with Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Photographer Maureen Ruddy Burkhart brings a quietly attentive and deeply human sensibility to her exploration of the world through images. Shaped by a life immersed in photography, film, and visual storytelling, her work is guided by intuition, observation, and an enduring interest in the emotional undercurrents of everyday life. With a practice rooted in both fine art traditions and documentary awareness, she approaches her subjects with sensitivity, allowing subtle moments to emerge naturally rather than be imposed. Her series Til Death, selected as the Solo Exhibition for February 2025, reflects this long-standing commitment to photography as a space for reflection rather than spectacle. Drawn to moments that exist just outside the expected frame, Burkhart’s images suggest narratives without resolving them, leaving room for ambiguity, humor, and quiet connection. We asked her a few questions about her life and work.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Peter Ydeen
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Peter Ydeen
Winner of AAP Magazine #45 Travels, his series reflects this unique vision—capturing the spirit of place through subtle layers of light, color, and emotion. Whether traveling abroad or observing the rhythms of his own surroundings, Ydeen creates images that feel both grounded and enchanted, inviting viewers into a world where reality and reverie meet.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Julie Wang
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Julie Wang
Chinese-born photographer Julie Wang brings a poetic, contemplative sensitivity to her visual exploration of the world. Having lived for nearly equal parts of her life in China, Europe, and the United States, she approaches her subjects with the nuanced perspective of someone shaped by many cultures. This blend of distance, curiosity, and emotional resonance infuses her work with a quiet depth, allowing her to reveal the fragile beauty and subtle tensions that often pass unnoticed.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Ghawam Kouchaki
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Ghawam Kouchaki
American photographer Ghawam Kouchaki brings a sharply observant and introspective gaze to the streets of Japan’s capital. Based in Los Angeles, he approaches Tokyo with the distance — and curiosity — of an outsider, allowing him to uncover the city’s subtle contradictions, quiet tensions, and fleeting gestures that often go unnoticed. His series Tokyo no no, selected as the Solo Exhibition for December 2024, explores the hidden undercurrents of urban life: the unspoken rules, the small ruptures in routine, the poetic strangeness found in everyday moments. Through muted tones, instinctive timing, and meticulous framing, Kouchaki reveals a Tokyo that exists somewhere between reality and imagination — both intimate and enigmatic. We asked him a few questions about his life and work.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Tommi Viitala
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Tommi Viitala
Tommi Viitala, winner of AAP Magazine #44: Street, is a Finnish photographer celebrated for his striking and cinematic street photography. With a keen eye for atmosphere and composition, he captures fleeting urban moments that reveal the poetry of everyday life. His work often explores the tension between solitude and connection within contemporary cityscapes, blending documentary realism with artistic sensibility. Viitala’s photographs have been exhibited internationally and recognized for their strong visual storytelling and emotional depth. We asked him a few questions about his life and work.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Robert Mack
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Robert Mack
Robert Mack is a California-based visual artist, photographer, and filmmaker. His fine art photography and films have been exhibited widely in the United States and Europe, with major shows at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim, Germany. Both institutions hold his work in their permanent collections. Working across different media, Mack has built a career exploring the complexities of human presence and representation. In 1981, while living in Baltimore, he produced The Perkins Project: Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, a rare photographic and film study inside Maryland’s hospital for the criminally insane. These stark yet compassionate black-and-white portraits remain one of his most powerful and controversial bodies of work.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Alan Schaller About Irys
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Alan Schaller About Irys
Alan Schaller is a London-based photographer best known for his striking black-and-white street photography and as co-founder of Street Photography International, one of the largest online communities dedicated to the genre. With years of experience both behind the camera and in building platforms that give visibility to photographers, Schaller has now turned his focus to creating a new digital space for photography itself. His latest venture, Irys, is a photography app designed by photographers, for photographers, with the aim of offering a dedicated platform where images are respected as works of art rather than treated as disposable content.
Read the full interview
Call for Entries
All About Photo Awards 2026
$5,000 Cash Prizes! Juror: Steve McCurry
© Fernando Morales Roca
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