All about photo.com: photo contests, photography exhibitions, galleries, photographers, books, schools and venues.
Win a Solo Exhibition in July 2026 + An Exclusive Interview!
Win a Solo Exhibition in July 2026 + An Exclusive Interview!
  1. Home
  2. All Photographers
  3. Modern Photographers
  4. Michel Kameni
Michel Kameni
Michel Kameni in his studio 2018 © Benjamin Hoffman
Michel Kameni
Michel Kameni

Michel Kameni

Country: Cameroon
Birth: 1935 | Death: † 2020

The work of Michel Papami Kameni tells a unique story of post colonial Cameroon, a period of transition in the wake of a new found independence like in so many other African countries. In his studio in the Briqueterie district of Yaounde, it was the whole of Cameroonian society that passed before his lens.

A mix of stunning portraits and subjects from all social circles and different cultural backgrounds, Christians and Muslims, urban socialites to provincial farmers all travelling through this great city. We see in his images the dreams and aspirations of a nation in transition, new musical influences and western fashions, a natural fusion between the tradition and the modern.

The work of Michel Kameni explores the rapid evolution of a postcolonial Yaounde (from 1963) by portraying its inhabitants with an incredible kindness and passion, these images are more than just a document, they are an intimate study of the relationship between the photographer and his subject.

Studio Kameni is a project that aims to explore, discover and give new life to the photographic archives of this unique body of work brought into public view for the very first time.

Agency

Benjamin Hoffman

Websites

www.studiokameni.com

@studiokameni

 

Michel Kameni's Video

Studio Kameni from Ben H on Vimeo.

Inspiring Portfolios

Aleksander Rodchenko
© Aleksander Rodchenko
Fabien Dendiével
© Fabien Dendiével
Umberto Verdoliva
© Umberto Verdoliva
Call for Entries
AAP Magazine #59 Shapes
Publish your work in our printed magazine and win $1,000 cash prizes
© Barbara Hazen
 
Stay up-to-date  with call for entries, deadlines and other news about exhibitions, galleries, publications, & special events.

More Great Photographers To Discover

Cédric Gerbehaye
Cédric Gerbehaye
Belgium
1977
Cédric Gerbehaye is a Belgian documentary photographer and a founding member of MAPS agency. He is the author of the books Congo in Limbo, Land of Cush, Sète#13 and D’entre eux. Trained as a journalist, Gerbehaye first turned to photography during trips to Indonesia. For his graduation thesis in 2002, he addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the light of the ineffectiveness of the Oslo Accords. After completing his studies, he reported on the situation in Hebron and Gaza and on the economic crisis in Israel. He has also covered the Kurdish question in Turkey and Iraq. Since 2007, he has reported on the conflicts between the militias and the national army in the eastern Congo. His work in the Congo was facilitated by the humanitarian organization Aviation sans frontières which flew him into rebel zones and camps in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces where he was able to photograph adults and children involved in both sides of the conflict. He also travelled to remote areas with Médecins Sans Frontières where he reported mainly on the victims, rather than on the violence. "I’m not looking for the combat," he explained. "I’m interested in trying to tell the story of the people." Keen to bring unreported disasters into the open, he thinks of himself as a "concerned photographer. If there is only a slight possibility that it has an impact, it’s my duty to do it so that people cannot say, 'We didn’t know, we had no clue'."Source: Wikipedia
Girithar Jeevasuba
Girithar Jeevasuba
India
1996
Girithar Jeevasuba is a visual storytelling photographer based in Chennai, India. He finished his photographic studies at Don Bosco College of Arts and Design. After that, he started his career as a cinematographer and used the money earned from it to make photostories by traveling across various parts of India. This empiricism drew him entirely into the ocean of photography. 6 years of experience sculpted him into a free-spirited, dedicated, and passionate photographer. He always wanted to reflect the true feelings & essence of the moment which are diffused into the atmosphere in his shots. His work has been featured in leading publications like Smart photography magazine. According to Girithar, "Photographs not only make the moment immortal but also discloses many truth and realities that had been silently buried or neglected by the world".
David Salcedo
David Salcedo
Spain
1981
My maternal grandfather had a grocery store in the town, the paternal grandfather did a thousand jobs throughout Spain, the grandmothers made a living sewing clothes and faced continuous worries. My parents had to emigrate to and they ended up having a bar, where the whole family worked. I, perhaps, should have stayed with the bar, but I chose the path of light. There was no shortage of those who told me that it would be difficult and hard, but no one in my family has had it easy. Why would I be less? Years later I am full of new physical and spiritual scars, which have added to what already existed within me and always defined my way of seeing the world. And it is that I will never be able to escape from what is close to me and is the measure of everything I discover, of the tenderness that they taught me to have in my heart and the silence with which I lived for years. It is in this mixture that my photographs are macerated. The set of these circumstances, nothing special, is what has led me to win several prizes and scholarships, exhibit nationally and internationally, participate in a good number of catalogues, publish several fanzines, collaborate with the Kursala of the University of Cádiz, to publish with the publishing house Ediciones Posibles And it seems that everything was an instant. Statement Next you have Fuchina, a work on the festivals of my parents’ town, Caravaca de la Cross. To do so, I fled from the traditional way of approaching parties with three very clear ideas, also looking for them to be protagonists in a subtle way. The first of the ideas is to do a job where the sound was extracted in the middle of all the noise of some parties with more than 20 music bands and more than 50 brass bands. The second of the concepts is to play with the plans, cuts and compositions to make the viewer feel as if they were inside the festivities. Third is to create a metaphor about the general situation of the town itself with strong light and faded color. The name Fuchina refers to a liquor that decades ago was distilled illegally for parties.
Cesare Simioni
Cesare Simioni
Italy
Originally from Italy and based in Brazil since 1998, I have been developing my work as a documentary photographer with a sensitive and committed perspective on reality. My intense experience in the interior of the country was decisive in building my own visual language, capable of capturing the essence of the people, places, and traditions. I began my career photographing landscapes, but it was in documenting popular Brazilian culture — especially religious festivals and manifestations of faith in rural communities — that I discovered my true vocation and the greatest recognition for my work. Self-taught, I base my practice on constant study and the inspiration of photography masters like Ernesto Bazan. I seek to portray moments where identity, tradition, and beauty intertwine in a unique way. Over the years, my photos have been awarded in major national and international competitions, consolidating my presence in the field of authorial photography. All About Photo Competition: All About Photo Awards 2026
Joel Sternfeld
Joel Sternfeld
United States
1944
Joel Sternfeld (born June 30, 1944) is an American fine-art color photographer. He is noted for his large-format documentary pictures of the United States and helping establish color photography as a respected artistic medium. Sternfeld's work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Sternfeld earned a BA from Dartmouth College and teaches photography at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. He began taking color photographs in 1970 after learning the color theory of Johannes Itten and Josef Albers. Color is an important element of his photographs. American Prospects (1987) is Sternfeld's most known book and explores the irony of human-altered landscapes in the United States. To make the book, Sternfeld photographed ordinary things, including unsuccessful towns and barren-looking landscapes. On This Site: Landscape in Memoriam (1997), is about violence in America. Sternfeld photographed sites of recent tragedies. Next to each photograph is text about the events that happened at that location. From 1991 to 1994 Sternfeld worked with Melinda Hunt to document New York City's public cemetery on Hart Island, resulting in the book Hart Island (1998). Sternfeld has also published books about social class and stereotypes in America: Stranger Passing (2001), an abandoned elevated railway in New York: Walking the High Line (2002), and Sweet Earth: Experimental Utopias in America (2006). When It Changed (2007) contains close-up portraits of delegates debating global warming at the 2005 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal.Source: Wikipedia Joel Sternfeld is an artist-photographer whose work is concerned with utopic and dystopic possibilities of the American experience. Ever since the publication of his landmark study, American Prospects in 1987 his work has maintained conceptual and political aspects, while also being steeped in history, art history, landscape theory and attention to seasonal passage. It is a melancholic, spectacular, funny and profound portrait of America. The curator Kevin Moore has claimed that the work embodies the “synthetic culmination of so many photographic styles of the 1970s, incorporating the humor and social perspicacity of street photography with the detached restraint of New Topographics photographs and the pronounced formalism of works by so many late-decade colorists” (Kevin Moore, Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970-1980). On This Site (1996) examines violence in America while simultaneously raising significant epistemological questions about photographs as objects of knowledge. Sweet Earth: Experimental Utopias in America (2006) “can be seen as a generous respite from the traumatic history in On This Site... It is a survey of American human socialization, alternative ways of living, of hopeful being” (Elin O’Hara Slavik, 2018). All his subsequent work has sought to expand the narrative possibilities of still photography primarily through an authored text. All of his books and bodies of work converse with each other and may be read as a collective whole. His work represents a melding of time and place that serves to elucidate, honor, and warn. The images hold a certain urgency, as their histories survive solely through their photographic representation— they are an archive for the future. Sternfeld is the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships and spent a year in Italy on a Rome Prize. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, where he holds the Noble Foundation Chair in Art and Cultural History.Source: www.joelsternfeld.net Joel Sternfeld is well known for large-format color photographs that extend the tradition of chronicling roadside America initiated by Walker Evans in the 1930s. Sternfeld's projects have consistently explored the possibility of a collective American identity by documenting ordinary people and places throughout the country. Each project he embarks on is bound by a concept that imbues it with subtle irony, often through insightful visual juxtapositions or by pairing images with informational text. Another characteristic aspect of Sternfeld's work is that color is never arbitrary; it functions in highly sophisticated ways to connect elements and resonate emotion. Sternfeld earned a BA in Art from Dartmouth College in 1965. He began making color photographs in the 1970s after learning the color theory of Johannes Itten and Josef Albers. He initially made street photographs with small- and medium-format cameras, but by the time he produced what would become a seminal project, American Prospects (1987), he was working with an eight-by-ten-inch camera. This enabled him to achieve the crisp details his work is known for. Sternfeld's style-his careful attention to visual qualities combined with an insightful and often ironic view of his subjects was first articulated in American Prospects. One of his best-known images, for example, depicts a fireman shopping for a pumpkin as a house burns in the background. The pumpkins' vibrant oranges match the autumnal colors of the countryside, and ironically, the fire's flames.Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum
Magdalena Berny
Magdalena Berny
Poland
1976
Magdalena Berny is a graduate from the Pozna? University of Physical Education, self-taught photographer, passionate, mother of two. Over the years, she managed to create her own quite distinctive style. Works by Magdalena were published in Polish and foreign press dedicated to photographs, illustrations used as guides to photographing children and for projects of book covers.About her:" Children as the subject of my photos appeared with their coming into the world. They were and are the cause, they determine the choice of subject of my photos. Photography for me is not only to catch the moments lived with children is also a record of my own emotions, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. How I " steal " look and emotions of children is due in large part to my own feelings. In addition to the joy and smile on my photographs often guests reflection, thoughtfulness and even sadness. In photography,I avoid references to the modern world while I often try to embed them in a climate of fairy tales. The inspiration for me as a photographer is all that surrounds me - broadly defined art, but also the place where I live every day as well as those that I manage to visit , and would later become sceneries of my photos".
Marcin Ryczek
Marcin Ryczek
Poland
1982
Marcin Ryczek was born 1982 in Lublin (Poland). He lives and works in Cracow. His photography refers mainly to symbols and geometry. "Minimum form, maximum content" is the essential principle that characterizes his photos. His photographs have been presented at exhibitions in USA, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Austria, South Korea, England, Romania, France, Poland, Germany, Japan, China, India … His photos have been published in the press and other media around the world, among others: The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Yedioth Ahronoth, La Repubblica, Politiken, Athens Voice, The Daily Telegraph, National Geographic... Awards: - Grand Prix de Découverte 2013 - Grand Press Photo 2013 - LensCulture Exposure Awards 2014 - IPA – The International Photography Awards 2014 - Chelsea International Fine Art Competition 2014 - ND Awards 2014 - The Miami Street Photography Festival 2015 - New York Photo Festival 2015 - StreetFoto San Francisco Festival 2016 - XV edizione del Premio Internazionale “Giuseppe Sciacca” 2016 - Siena International Photography Awards 2016 - Finalist All About Photo Awards 2017 One of the most influential American website The Huffington Post has recognized his photo as one of the 5 best photos in the world in 2013. This photo "A man feeding swans in the snow" was admitted to the prestigious collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and the Silesian Museum in Poland.
Jimmy Nelson
Jimmy Nelson
United Kingdom
1967
Jimmy Nelson, born in 1967, embarked on a transformative journey across Tibet at age 17, captured by English National Geographic. He became a photojournalist, covering war zones and producing "Literary Portraits of China" for Shell Oil. Later, he celebrated global diversity with "Before they Pass Away" and "Homage to Humanity. " Through his lens, Nelson immortalized indigenous cultures, inspiring cultural preservation and appreciation worldwide. James Philip Nelson, born in 1967 in Sevenoaks, Kent, led a diverse childhood marked by travels across Africa, Asia, and South America alongside his father, a geologist for International Shell. At 16, he developed Alopecia totalis, triggered by stress and malaria medication. A year later, he embarked on a two-year trek across Tibet, capturing the journey with a small camera. Upon his return, his images were published by English National Geographic. Subsequently, Nelson ventured into photojournalism, documenting war zones and later commissioned by Shell Oil for Literary Portraits of China. Transitioning to commercial advertising in 1997, he continued to document remote cultures. In 2010, Nelson embarked on his second book, Before they Pass Away, a three-year endeavor photographing over 35 indigenous tribes worldwide. Using a 50-year-old 4x5in camera, Nelson drew inspiration from Edward S. Curtis, aiming to romantically portray his subjects. He emphasized that the project was not about factual accuracy but rather his artistic interpretation of diversity and beauty. Tribes photographed included the Huli and Kalam tribes of New Guinea, the Tsaatan of Mongolia, and the Mursi people of Ethiopia's Omo River valley. Financing came from Dutch billionaire Marcel Boekhoorn, resulting in a published book with photographs, texts, and limited editions. In September 2018, Nelson released his third book, Homage to Humanity, featuring over 400 photographs showcasing 30 indigenous cultures. The book includes interviews with tribal members, infographics about the depicted locations and cultures, and an application incorporating 360° film material linked to the images, along with behind-the-scenes videos and travel background information. Nelson collaborated with assistant Stephanie van der Wiel, whom he met at Leiden's National Museum of Ethnology. "Homage to Humanity" aims to be more inclusive than Nelson's previous work, addressing criticisms of his earlier book, "Before they Pass Away." Papuan chief Mundiya Kepanga emphasizes in the foreword the importance of preserving cultural values and identity for future generations.
Vincent Laforet
Vincent Laforet
France / United States
1975
Vincent Laforet is a French-American director and photographer. He shared the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography with four other photographers (Stephen Crowley, Chang Lee, James Hill, Ruth Fremson) as a member of The New York Times staff's coverage of the post 9/11 events overseas that captured "the pain and the perseverance of people enduring protracted conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan." In 2006, Laforet became The Times' s first national contract photographer. He has been sent on assignment by Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, and Life. He is represented by the Stockland Martel agency. In 2002, PDN named Vincent Laforet as one of the "30 photographers under 30 to watch″. In 2005, American Photo Magazine recognized Laforet as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Photography." He and four other photographers were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography for their post-9/11 coverage overseas in 2002. His work has been recognized in the Communication Arts Annual, PDN Annual, The SPD Magazine Cover of the Year (Society of Publication Designers), The World Press Photo Awards, The Pictures of the Year Competition, The Overseas Press Club, The National Headliners Awards, The Pro-Football Hall of Fame. Vincent is a Canon Explorer of Light and Canon Printmaster and serves as consultant to companies such as Apple, Adobe, Carl Zeiss, Leica, Canon, Bogen, Lexar, and X-Rite. He and his work have been profiled on CNN and Good Morning America. In 2008, Laforet directed Reverie, the first widely available short film shot with the Canon 5D Mark II camera. The video has been cited by proposers of the use of DSLR cameras in digital cinematography. In 2010, he launched a nationwide film competition Beyond The Still and he directed the final chapter the film which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. He is a DGA Director (Directors Guild of America) and of the ICG (International Cinematographers' Guild – Local 600.) He has directed a number of short films and numerous commercials. In 2011, he was chosen by Canon to be one of the first 4 filmmakers to shoot with their first cinema camera, the Canon C300, and he directed the film Mobius which premiered at Paramount Studios. The opening was attended by Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Robert Rodriguez, and JJ Abrams. The same year, his first book Visual Stories was released by Peachpit and describes his thought process and approach to a variety of assignments throughout his photography career. He has been awarded 3 of the prestigious Cannes Lions (Platinum, Gold, Silver) for his commercial directing work. Vincent Laforet attended the Dalton School and received his B.S. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1997. He is fluent in French and English, and speaks Russian and Spanish. He lives in Manhattan Beach, California. Laforet was an adjunct professor at the Columbia Journalism's Graduate School of Journalism, the International Center of Photography and the Poynter Institute. He was inducted in Northwestern's Alumni Hall of Fame in 2010. In the fall of 2020 Laforet joined Apple Inc, with a focus on photography, video and future technologies.Source: Wikipedia
Advertisement
AAP Magazine #59 Shapes
Win a Solo Exhibition in July
AAP Magazine #59 Shapes

Latest Interviews

Exclusive Interview with Susan Anthony
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Susan Anthony
American photographer Susan Anthony brings a painter’s eye to documentary photography, creating nuanced portraits of people and places shaped by time, community, and tradition. Her work is rooted in observation, empathy, and a deep curiosity about the lives of others. Through long-term projects, she explores the relationship between individuals and the environments they inhabit, revealing the stories that connect people to a place and to one another.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Carole Mills Noronha
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Carole Mills Noronha
Carole Mills Noronha is an Australian photographer whose deeply personal work explores memory, family, loss, and the fragile nature of identity. Living with epilepsy and a lifelong sensitivity to light, she has developed a distinctive photographic language rooted in observation, empathy, and emotional connection. Her images are shaped by lived experience, revealing intimate stories with remarkable honesty and tenderness.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Trevor Cole: Pastoral Peoples and Practices
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Trevor Cole: Pastoral Peoples and Practices
For this interview, we wanted to focus specifically on The Face of the Mundari and the wider Pastoral Peoples and Practices series. We spoke with Trevor about his long-term work among the Mundari, what continues to draw him back to their cattle camps, and the experience of documenting a culture whose identity remains deeply connected to livestock, tradition, and the natural environment.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Frank Meo
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Frank Meo
In our latest exclusive feature for All About Photo, I speak with veteran photography representative Frank Meo about what it truly takes to build a sustainable creative career today. Frank brings decades of experience working with Fortune 500 companies, major agencies, and documentary photographers to the table. We dive into the critical business skills often left out of art school curriculums, the power of mentorship, and the inspiring evolution of PROJECTIONS—his international salon platform for visual storytellers. It’s an essential read for anyone navigating the commercial or editorial photography landscape today.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Carolyn Moore
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Carolyn Moore
American photographer Carolyn Moore explores the inner landscape of emotion, memory, and personal transformation through a deeply intuitive photographic practice. Her work unfolds as a quiet dialogue between artist and viewer, where images become a space for reflection, vulnerability, and connection.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Luca Desienna and Laura Estelle Barmwoldt
Interview
Publication
Exclusive Interview with Luca Desienna and Laura Estelle Barmwoldt
For over seven years, Of Lilies and Remains has explored the depths of the goth and darkwave underground, unfolding in Leipzig—a city long associated with a vibrant and enduring subcultural scene. Moving between iconic gatherings such as Wave-Gotik-Treffen and more intimate moments on the fringes, the project offers a rare and immersive glimpse into a world often misunderstood, yet rich in expression and community. Created by Luca in collaboration with Laura Estelle Barmwoldt, the work embraces a cinematic and deeply personal approach. Rather than documenting from a distance, it moves within the scene itself, capturing its atmosphere, its codes, and its quiet contradictions. The title Of Lilies and Remains hints at this duality—where beauty and darkness, fragility and strength coexist. As the book prepares for its release, we spoke with both artists about the origins of the project, their process, and what it means to document a subculture that continues to evolve while remaining true to its spirit.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Matthew Finley
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Matthew Finley
American photographer Matthew Finley turns inward, using photography as a way to explore identity, memory, and emotional truth. Based in Los Angeles, his practice moves between performance, gesture, and found imagery, creating a visual language that is both intimate and deeply personal
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Jan Janssen
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Jan Janssen
Dutch photographer Jan Janssen explores universal human experiences through his long-term project It Matters, winner of the May 2025 Solo Exhibition. Begun in 2016, the series captures intimate moments of everyday life—love, loss, connection, and belonging—across Central and Eastern Europe. Working in countries such as Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, Janssen spends extended time within communities, building relationships based on trust and respect. His approach allows him to move beyond observation, revealing deeply human and authentic moments. Rooted in travel and personal discovery, It Matters reflects Janssen’s search for what connects us all in an increasingly divided world. The project is ongoing and will culminate in a photobook scheduled for publication in 2026.
Read the full interview
Exclusive Interview with Henk Kosche
Interview
Exclusive Interview with Henk Kosche
German photographer Henk Kosche turns his lens toward the streets of Halle an der Saale, capturing everyday life in the late years of the former German Democratic Republic. At the time, Kosche was studying design and exploring the city with his camera, drawn to the atmosphere of its industrial landscape and the quiet rhythms of daily life. His series Street Photography at the End of the 80s, selected as the Solo Exhibition for July 2025, revisits a body of work created just before a period of profound change. Rediscovered decades later in a small box of 35mm negatives, these photographs offer glimpses of a city and its people at a moment suspended between the familiar and the unknown.
Read the full interview
Call for Entries
Win A Solo Exhibition in July
Get International Exposure and Connect with Industry Insiders
©
Explore All About Photo
All About Photo
About Us
Contact Us
Link Back
Press
Blog
Newsletter
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Competitions
All About Photo Competitions
Our Jurors
All Photo Contests
Open Photo Contests
Amateur Photo Contests
Professional Photo Contests
Portfolio Reviews
Photo Competition News
Artists
Photographers A-Z
Masters of Photography
Modern Photographers
Rising Photographers
Articles
Interviews
Inspirational
Photography Exhibitions
Photography Festivals
Photo Fairs
Photo Museums
Galleries & Centers
Photographer Monographs
Technique Books
History of Photography
Miscellaneous
Paper Magazines
Online Magazines
Resources
Schools and Classes
Photography Agencies
Equipment Rentals
Studio Rentals
Photo Labs
Camera Repairs
Framing Stores
Photo Tips & Tools
Photo Gear
© 2026 © All-About-Photo.com, All Rights Reserved  •  Photographs © the Respective Artists, All Rights Reserved.