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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

Jerry Uelsmann
Jerry Uelsmann
United States
1934 | † 2022
Jerry N. Uelsmann (born June 11, 1934) is an American photographer, and was the forerunner of photomontage in the 20th century in America. Uelsmann was born in Detroit, Michigan. While attending public schools, at the age of fourteen, there sparked an interest in photography. He believed that through photography he could exist outside of himself, to live in a world captured through the lens. Despite poor grades, he managed to land a few jobs, primarily photographs of models. Eventually Uelsmann went on to earn a BA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and M.S. and M.F.A. degrees from Indiana University. Soon after, he began teaching photography at the University of Florida in 1960. In 1967, Uelsmann had his first solo exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art which opened doors for his photography career. Uelsmann is a master printer, producing composite photographs with multiple negatives and extensive darkroom work. He uses up to a dozen enlargers at a time to produce his final images, and has a large archive of negatives that he has shot over the years. The negatives that Uelsmann uses are known to reappear within his work, acting as a focal point in one work, and background as another. Similar in technique to Rejlander, Uelsmann is a champion of the idea that the final image need not be tied to a single negative, but may be composed of many. During the mid-twentieth century, when photography was still being defined, Uelsmann didn't care about the boundaries given by the Photo Secessionists or other realists at the time, he simply wished to share with the viewer the images from his imagination and saw photomontage as the means by which to do so. Unlike Rejlander, though, he does not seek to create narratives, but rather "allegorical surrealist imagery of the unfathomable". Uelsmann is able to subsist on grants and teaching salary, rather than commercial work. Today, with the advent of digital cameras and Photoshop, photographers are able to create a work somewhat resembling Uelsmann's in less than a day, however, at the time Uelsmann was considered to have almost "magical skill" with his completely analog tools. At the time Uelsmann's work first came to popular attention, photos were still widely regarded as unfalsifiable documentary evidence of events. However, Uelsmann, along with Lucas Samaras, was considered an avant garde shatterer of this popular mindset and help to expand the artistic boundaries of photography. Despite his works' affinity with digital techniques, Uelsmann continues to use traditional equipment. “I am sympathetic to the current digital revolution and excited by the visual options created by the computer. However, I feel my creative process remains intrinsically linked to the alchemy of the darkroom.”[3] Today he is retired from teaching and currently lives in Gainesville, Florida with his third wife, Maggie Taylor.[4] Uelsmann has one son, Andrew, who is a graduate student at the University of Florida. But to this day, Uelsmann still produces photos, sometimes creating more than a hundred in a single year. Out of these images, he likes to sit back and select the ten he likes the most, which is not an easy process. (Source: en.wikipedia.org)
Joris Hermans
Joris Hermans
Belgium
1983
Joris Hermans is a freelance documentary and travel photographer based in Belgium. In February of 2018, after winning a Nikon Press Photo Award in his country, he decided to leave his home behind and travel the world indefinitely. He tries to capture countries and people inbox ways no traveler does and documents everything on THE WORLD AHEAD OF US. He's still accepting freelance assignments. Joris' work has been featured on LifeFramer, Don't Take Pictures, PDN, Booooooom, Aint-Bad Magazine, Positive Magazine, GUP Magazine and Fotoroom Magazine. He was a finalist for the Renaissance Photography Prize and selected for the Kontinent Awards. He was a category winner of PDN World in Focus in 2015 and Nikon Press Photo Awards in 2016/2017. People Being pretty disappointed by today's travel photography, I decided to try and make a change. For me, traveling is not about selfies and "Instagrammable" places but about the people, stories and experiences. People make a country interesting and since I left to travel indefinitely more than one year ago, I've been focusing on the people in every country. Regular people I meet and who share me their story or with whom I have a quick chat in the streets are the stars in my portrait photos. it doesn't matter. They're all special. I try to take my medium format camera everywhere I go because I know an interesting person might pop up any where, any time. I hope one day, I can create a book with all these interesting faces and their stories. This is Varanasi In 2018, I spent two months traveling across India. It's become one of my favourite countries in the world. The history, culture and people inspired me every day I was there. Then, I arrived in Varanasi and it was the highlight of my time in India. Varanasi or Benares is the Holy Grail of India according to many travelers. It's one of the oldest cities in the world sitting on the banks of the river Ganges and that's exactly why it's so important to Indians. Everybody wants to die in Varanasi and/or be cremated on the banks of the holy river. After the cremation, the ashes are being sprinkled in the river and that's when the deceased reaches Nirvana. From all over India people travel to Varanasi; to die or to bring the dead, sometimes even with the corpse on ice in the trunk of a car... Life and death are not that far apart in India... The Ghats that lead up to the river is what I wanted to see. That's where the locals are and where they play cards and cricket or just relax in the evening. And that's exactly what we did too every evening when the sun started to set; just relax at the ghats of Varanasi. The light turned into a magical glow again like everywhere in India went the sun goes down and as a photographer it's an awesome few hours to be out...
Carlos Chavarria
Carlos Chavarria
Spain
1985
Although Carlos Chavarria was born and raised in Madrid, Spain, his photography is strongly influenced by both the classic American documentary Photography and the New color American Photography, unlike the classic genres Carlos uses this aesthetic in his work to explore more conceptual subjects that are directly related to his own experience, moving away from the classic objective documentary approach. Common elements like isolation, identity or references to “the intermediate” are often found in his work. Carlos holds a Masters program in Photography from the European University of Madrid and in 2010 he was selected as one of the best emerging photographers to participate in the international award "Descubrimientos PhotoEspaña 2010",right after that he moved to San Francisco to continue working in his Photography, since that he's shown his work in several galleries and venues in Spain, France and United States, and has worked for magazines like TIME, Monocle, Sunset or Bloomberg Business Week among others.
Jason McGroarty
Jason McGroarty
Ireland
1992
Jason McGroarty is a multi-award winning, self-taught photographic artist who is best known for his conceptual work exploring the relationship between man and nature. The characters of which are depicted in almost tarot-card-like mystical figures. Also known for his minimalist approach to photography, McGroarty creates his masterpieces with only entry-level equipment, often building his own lighting, studio’s and props from unwanted materials. This motto has secured sponsors with international top dogs such as Nikon in their Learn & Explore project promoting the quality of work that can be achieved with a masterful understanding of light & composition. Jason McGroarty won third place at All About Photo Awards 2018 for his work Totem Raccoon. About Totem Raccoon "Through Totem I wanted to capture the heart-stopping moment when the wild breaches the barriers of the city and reminds us that the line between humans and wildlife is not as clear-cut as we would like to believe in, and that in the animal kingdom, the only thing we can count on is unpredictability, that the unexpected should be expected." -- Jason McGroarty
Tatiana Ilina
Tatiana Ilina
Russia/United States
Documentary Photographer, Photojournalist. Have been working in these fields for more than 12 years in different countries around the world. After receiving a Masters Degree in Journalism/Social Media/News Production from International Independent Ecological-Political University, graduated from Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Media Arts. Subsequently, graduated from ESEC Professional School in the field of film and audiovisual techniques. Recently, completed degrees with courses in Advertising and Art-direction from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Sometimes art can change how people see the world, but I want to change how the world sees people. Through my imagery, I am passionate about giving a voice to the voiceless - shining a light on those whom society has often placed in darkness. I was brought to photography by cinema when I was 20 years old, and I was fascinated by the new wave in French movies, in particular by films of Jean Luc Godard. His films immersed me in a special, unlikely reality while watching them I understood that I wanted to stop the moments to capture reality and tell the stories with my photographs. I have traveled around the world, working in different countries, creating social documentaries and art projects allowing me to look at things from the other side.
Nicolas Dhervillers
Nicolas Dhervillers
France
1981
Nicolas Dhervillers is a French artist who works in the field of photography. After multimedia and photography studies, he made a name for himself after an historic commission from the Centre Pompidou in Metz. Inspired by cinematic, theatrical and pictorial writing, Nicolas Dhervillers's approach decompartmentalizes the photographic medium.He works with French Galleries, collaborates with Art Centers and International Museums. He was invited to show his work in many countries like Switzerland, Germany, Korea, China, Netherlands, Usa and to Paris Photo for the past 5 years.In 2014 and 2015 he will have a solo exhibition at the Helmond Gemeente Museum (NL) then he will be in Australia for an International Festival and in Belgium for the "triennale de Photographie et d’architecture".All about Nicolas Dhervillers:AAP: Where did you study photography?I studied cinema first, then theater, and then I came to Paris to make a master in Photography and mixed media. I studied with Mr Jean Claude Moineau, my "chief" in terms of theory.AAP:Do you have a mentor or role model?No, but Jeff Wall influence me off course. AAP: How long have you been a photographer?10 years, but not a Photographer, maybe an artist is more correct, in a way.AAP: What or who inspires you?History of art in generalAAP: How could you describe your style?It is a mix between the painting spirit (about the white page), the cinematographic light and the pose of theater.AAP: What are your projects?Retrospective exhibition in Netherlands.
Antonio Denti
Antonio Denti
Italy
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Antonio Denti is an Italian cameraman and photographer. A Reuters staff video journalist for over 20 years, he covered conflict in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon. He also covered the beginning of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and the epic human migration to Europe across the Mediterranean sea. He often travelled with Popes during their travels, including to Iraq and recently to Canada. He also filmed the aftermath of the death of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and of Queen Elizabeth II in London. The Kid of MosulAntonio Denti He loves still photography, which he tries to integrate more and more in his moving pictures work. His still pictures have won awards (Ippawards, All About Photo awards, International Photography Awards, Urban Photo Awards, ND Awards, Mifa Awards etc...) and have been published on The Eye of Photography magazine, the Social Documentary Network, LensCulture and other international online photography publications. He strongly believes that visual story-telling can bring a precious contributions to counter the contemporary tendency towards a results-focused, speed-obsessed, screamed and over all standardized journalism and push towards a more authentic, respectful and meaningful way to tell about our world.
Carolyn Drake
Carolyn Drake
United States
Carolyn Drake works on long term photo-based projects seeking to interrogate dominant historical narratives and imagine alternatives to them. Her work explores community and the interactions within it, as well as the barriers and connections between people, between places and between ways of perceiving. Her practice has embraced collaboration, and through this, collage, drawing, sewing, text, and found images have been integrated into her work. She is interested in collapsing the traditional divide between author and subject, the real and the imaginary, challenging entrenched binaries. Drake was born in California and studied Media/Culture and History in the early 1990s at Brown University. Following her graduation from Brown, in 1994, Drake moved to New York and worked as a interactive concept designer for many years before departing to engage with the physical world through photography. Between 2007 and 2013, Drake traveled frequently to Central Asia from her base in Istanbul to work on two long term projects which became acclaimed bodies of work. Wild Pigeon (2014) is an amalgam of photographs, drawings, and embroideries made in collaboration with Uyghurs in western China. In 2018, the SFMOMA acquired the body of work and opened a six month solo exhibition of Wild Pigeon. Two Rivers (2013) explores the connections between ecology, culture and political power along the Amu Dary and Syr Darya rivers and was exhibited at The Pitt Rivers Museum, the Soros Foundation, the Third Floor Gallery, and the Photo Book Museum, among other venues. In Internat (2014-17), Drake worked with young women in an ex Soviet orphanage to create photographs and paintings that point beyond the walls of the institution and its gender expectations. The work was exhibited at the Houston Center for Photography in the US, and at Si Fest and Officine Fotografiche Roma in Italy. Drake returned to the US in 2014 and is now based in Vallejo, California, from where she is currently making work that upends perceptions of gender, community, and safety in her own community. Drake is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, the Lange-Taylor Prize, the Anamorphosis prize, an HCP fellowship, a Lightwork residency, and a Fulbright fellowship to Ukraine, among other awards. Her work has been published widely, in publications such as The New Yorker, Aperture, The New York Review of Books, Harpers, The New York Times Magazine, Prix Pictet, IMA, the British Journal of Photography, The Guardian, and Paris Review. She became a member of Magnum Photos in 2019. Source: carolyndrake.com
Aurelien Morissard
Aurelien Morissard
France
1982
Aurélien Morissard, born in 1982, is a self-taught photographer based in Paris. After studying graphic design and computer graphics, he dropped everything in 2013 to devote himself to his passion: photography. He then trained as an author photographer to confirm his years of personal practice. In parallel to his corporate commissions, he discovers a real attraction for photojournalism. In 2015, he joined the IP3 Press agency where he covers all types of news, from daily life to politics, from economy to social, from illustration to corporate. For 3 years, he has been working regularly with Xinhua agency on various news topics.
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