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Sirli Raitma
Sirli Raitma
Sirli Raitma

Sirli Raitma

Country: Estonia
Birth: 1975

Sirli Raitma is a London based photographer. She was born and grew up in Suure-Jaani in Estonia. Sirli's images span portraiture, landscapes and interiors, but portraiture - especially involving ambiguity via costume or displacement - is her heartland.

Project - Eha

EHA is a series of portraits of my mother, portrayed in a series of unusual situations, poses and attire. Eha was born in Estonia in 1950. Widowed, suffering from epilepsy and lacking great command of English, Eha stayed tightly involved in our lives. In 2015 Eha began to suffer from depression. Life became bleaker. Something had to be done. I came up with a plan to give her something new to focus on, beyond her new procession of doctor's appointments and medications. The 'EHA' project was born.

'Eha revealed herself to be a natural model, happy to play along with my increasingly imaginative visual fantasies. The 'EHA' project has had an effect on both of us. It is encouraging to see that the results for us are also having a resonance for others. The project has featured in UK and Estonian magazines. The feedback from readers has been fantastic and is consistent it that it has prompted many to look at their own family situations and how they treat each other.'

Websites

www.sirliraitma.com

www.instagram.com/sirliraitma

 

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More Great Photographers To Discover

Bence Mate
Bence Mate
Hungary
1985
A wildlife photographer, born in Hungary, 1985. In 2010 he won the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photography of the Year award in London. He is the most effective photographer in the 53-year-old history of the competition, being the only contestant winning the first prize in both the young and adult categories. In 2005 he experimented the one-way glass photography technique, making fundamental changes in hide photography practice. This technique has been widely used all over the world, and most hides are equipped with such glasses. Since 2008 he has been designing wildlife photography hides in different parts of the world (Hungary, Costa Rica, Brazil, Norway, South-Africa and Transylvania, Romania). His enterprise operating in Hungary welcomes photographers with the most exclusive hides in the world. Books: The Invisible Wildlife Photographer (English, Hungarian), The Handbook of Bird Photography (Markus Varesvuo, Jari Peltomäki, Bence Máté; English, German, Finnish, French). Statement "A great wildlife photo is technically perfect, innovative, and unrepeatable. It is a genuine reflection of what took place, and the subjects must be able to move around as they wish. Whilst Photoshop can be used to enhance an image, the sole goal of post-production should be to reflect reality in the most accurate way possible." -- Bence Mate
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Jet Long
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Growing up in the dense, vertical landscape of Hong Kong, Jet Long was captivated by the interplay of light, shadow, and form that defined his urban environment. Surrounded by modern architecture and the constant hum of city life, he developed a deep sensitivity to the structures and rhythms that shape the world around us. After working in Information Technology, he transitioned to photography, channeling his analytical mindset into an artistic pursuit. Now based in Los Angeles, his work involves the abstract forms of modern buildings, capturing the minimalist lines and textures that transform everyday structures into visual narratives. A passionate traveler, he is deeply inspired by the cultures, landscapes, and people he encounters along the way. From remote natural environments to the vibrant street life of cities, he seeks to capture not only the natural beauty of the world but also the rich tapestry of human stories woven into each place.
David Octavius Hill
David Octavius Hill
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David Octavius Hill was a Scottish painter, photographer and arts activist. He formed Hill & Adamson studio with the engineer and photographer Robert Adamson between 1843 and 1847 to pioneer many aspects of photography in Scotland. Hill was born in 1802 in Perth. His father, a bookseller and publisher, helped to re-establish Perth Academy and David was educated there as were his brothers. When his older brother Alexander joined the publishers Blackwood's in Edinburgh, Hill went there to study at the School of Design. He learned lithography and produced Sketches of Scenery in Perthshire which was published as an album of views. His landscape paintings were shown in the Institution for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland, and he was among the artists dissatisfied with the Institution who established a separate Scottish Academy in 1829 with the assistance of his close friend Henry Cockburn. A year later Hill took on unpaid secretarial duties. He sought commissions in book illustration, with four sketches being used to illustrate The Glasgow and Garnkirk Railway Prospectus in 1832, and went on to provide illustrations for editions of Walter Scott and Robert Burns. In the 1830s he is listed as living at 24 Queen Street, in Edinburgh's New Town. In 1836 the Royal Scottish Academy began to pay him a salary as secretary, and with this security he married his fiancée Ann Macdonald the following year. After the birth of their daughter, Charlotte Hill, Ann was invalided, and died on 5 October 1841, aged 36, and was buried with her family in Greyfriars Churchyard in Perth. Charlotte Hill went on to marry the author Walter Scott Dalgleish LLD and is buried in Grange Cemetery. During this period he lived at 28 Inverleith Row in Edinburgh's northern suburbs and he continued to produce illustrations and to paint landscapes on commission. Hill was present at the Disruption Assembly in 1843 when over 450 ministers walked out of the Church of Scotland assembly and down to another assembly hall to found the Free Church of Scotland. He decided to record the dramatic scene with the encouragement of his friend Lord Cockburn and another spectator, the physicist Sir David Brewster who suggested using the new invention, photography, to get likenesses of all the ministers present. Brewster was himself experimenting with this technology which only dated back to 1839, and he introduced Hill to another enthusiast, Robert Adamson. Hill and Adamson took a series of photographs of those who had been present and of the setting. The 5 feet (1.5 m) x 11.4 feet (3.5 m) painting was eventually completed in 1866. Hill moved to "Calton Hill Stairs" in 1850. 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As well as the great and the good, they photographed ordinary working folk, particularly the fishermen of Newhaven, and the fishwives who carried the fish in creels the 3 miles (5 km) uphill to the city of Edinburgh to sell them round the doors, with their cry of "Caller herrin" (fresh herring). They produced several groundbreaking "action" photographs of soldiers and - perhaps their most famous photograph - two priests walking side by side. Their partnership produced around 3,000 prints, but was cut short after only four years due to the ill health and death of Adamson in 1848. The calotypes faded under sunlight, so had to be kept in albums, and though Hill continued the studio for some months, he became less active and abandoned the studio, though he continued to sell prints of the photographs and to use them as an aid for composing paintings. 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Michelle Sank
Michelle Sank
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Robbe Maes & Reynout Dekimpe
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Reynout Dekimpe (Bruges, 1991) graduated as an actor at Luca school of arts. He created his own theatre company ‘RAF’ for which he writes his own plays. Next to acting and writing, creating worlds in miniature is his lifelong passion. Dekimpe's unique blend of artistic talents has led to the development of immersive experiences that blur the lines between theatre, film, and fine arts. Robbe Maes (Leuven, 1990) graduated as a filmmaker at the same school. He has directed several shortfilms and music videos. He his known for his playful and creative style that explores the boundaries of imagination. After meeting on a few filmsets, both artists moved to Antwerp in 2016 where the shared a house together. "Nr7" became their artistic playground for making miniature models and filming them in a darkened kitchen. During that period, they developed their unique style, which is characterized by handmade models as a central theme for cinematographic experiences. In january 2024, their first solo expo "Welcome to Fieldkapelle" premièred at the Rotterdam Photo festival, displaying several scalemodels and their accompanying photographs. Soon after they were awarded as "shortlist" artist for the Belfast photo festival and "longlist artist" for the Aesthetica Art price. Their current expo is now on display in the city center of Bruges. Instagram @robbe.maes @reynoutdekimpe
Charlie Lieberman
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Ben Maciej Pawlowski
Ben Maciej Pawlowski
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Ben Maciej Pawlowski (b. 1977, Poland) is a director of photography and a photographer. He is a Hamburg-based freelancer who shoots non-fiction stories for TV and has an exceptional eye for strong storytelling within the frame. He has been selected for the AAP Magazine, Volume 27. His visual style allows the viewer to communicate with his photographs and gives his often minimalist and abstract works of photography a narrative depth. Artist Statement "Photography decelerates. Both in the crowded city or in the open spaces of nature. I´m interested in attentiveness and indulgence (the state of “flow” in the photography). The complexity of light and the endless possibilities of the composition are profoundly fascinating and a captivating invitation to experiment."
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Interview
Exclusive Interview with Carolyn Moore
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Publication
Exclusive Interview with Luca Desienna and Laura Estelle Barmwoldt
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Exclusive Interview with Jan Janssen
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Interview with Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
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