Alex grew up in one of the coldest regions on the planet, and documented his life and surroundings. Specifically the Sakha Republic aka Yakutia is in Russia and the largest region at that. In an average winter the temperatures range from -35C to -60C easy with warm summers to balance it out. This is the coldest and northernmost region in the world. His images are meant to connect people to his home and his life, and though it is nothing any of us are used to he says it “t doesn’t mean it has to be boring.”. They ice skate in -45C, get fog so thick it freezes and planes stop flying, and in the warmer -35C people go on walks with family. Their biggest worry come spring is river flooding which often drowns homes, but they have a National Summer Festival as their one and only national event to celebrate the Yakut New Year and the awakening of nature and new life. His images are honest and pure, showing true happiness in extreme conditions. Life is put into perspective and reminds us that even in the toughest or darkest of times there is beauty and fun to be found.

She is a current graphic design senior at Chapman University best known for her long-running YouTube channel. Her work is a representation  o f the millennial age. She has a lot to refine and improve on in her craft as most students and new graduates do, but as she intends it to her work speaks to her age group. This age group, being mine, is looking for something to empower, brighten up, and encourage us. Her self-proclaimed emo aesthetic comes out in her work and appeals widely to our generation and comes out in her work. I love and admire her use of color, precision, and intentional use of imagery. Having designed her own merchandise and apparel, she is using her platform to diligently and widely promote her self and her work to her 346k following.

As an Egyptian-American-Swiss Musilm man, Marwan explores Dutch- Muslim culture and the similarities between many of us in order to create a gateway to embracing differences. He has practiced his religion all over the world and experienced how different cultures react to it, in this series New Dutch Views, how Islamic life is synonymous with a Dutch one. He explores literal views of both urban and countryside aspects of the Dutch Landscape through the windows of a Mosque. His work is crisp and bright, going far beyond a nice interior with a pretty landscape outside. It forces you to contemplate their relationship and how they go together harmoniously, or not.

This photographer covered a piece on the Pineapple Appreciation Society which is a close knit group of women, a sisterhood, bringing past to present. The series “Where We Belong” follows this group that calls themselves “Janeites” who recreate this atmosphere  in their life. They are more than just some women who love her work, get together, and dress up to immerse themselves in her world. They have a boundary between modern and traditional life but since it is not a reenactment there are no rules on no phones or a strict traditional lifestyle, they can immerse themselves as much or as little as they please. The images she curated of this societies 10-day house party are as you would  expect a Jane Austen book to look, soft, feminine, and an air of simplicity.

Another photographer based in Egypt, Sima is Syrian-American and centers on daily life, environmetnal and social conditions “in the Arab diaspora and Arab world including refugee and migration issues”. After studying part time in Damascus and part time in Texas, she moved to the middle east and moved around until she settled in Cairo. Her work has been featured in “The New York Times,TheGuardian,  BuzzfeedNews, LA Times, NRC Handelsblad, The Daily Telegraph, The Globe and Mail, Foreign Policy among others, as well have produced international and regional work for aid organizations, like Save the Children, UNFPA and MSIF.“. Her beautiful truthfulness is admirable in her work,  and nevertheless so important.

29  years old, Egyptian freelance visual researcher/photographer, and socia activist through her work. She focuses on the issues of society that are often looked over or forgotten, and as a photojournalist she has covered two revolutions in Egypt and their aftermath.  Now she works to mix her artistic development with her experience in the field.   Recently she has been working on uncovering breast ironing issues in Cameroon, refugees, gay prostitution in Germany, and transgender people in Egypt. Top publications she has been featured in include “New York Times” US, “Newsweek” US\Japan, “Politiken” Denmark, “Internazionale” Italy, “GEO” Germany, “Klassekampen” Norway, “Wordt Vervolgd” Netherlands, “DOC!” Poland, “6mois” France. Activism and humanitarian documentary photography is very interesting to me and close to my heart, something i wish to have the opportunity to explore in the future of of my career.

Another Midwesterner turned Brooklyn artist, I find Krisanne is making the difference we need to see in the art community. Sher has been working with young women in Swaziland and South Africa since 2006 on the topics of post-apartheid youth culture and HIV/AIDS. Publications that have featured her work include The New Yorker, TIME, The New York Times, Fader, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, US News & World Report, L’Espresso (Italy), Vanity Fair (Italy), D la Repubblica (Italy). In temrs of her fashion photography work, she is not your mainstream high fashion photographer. Her work has made appearances in the International Center for Photography’s Year of Fashion in the group exhibit, Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now. Her all black and white work is extremely eye-opening and clear,which i admire her ability to present a subject so beautifully and without mask of colors or editing.

After  a long path of various careers that just didn’t feel right, Paola discovered her passion for photography as well as illustration with the attributes of her past jobs to strengthen her work. Living in Barcelona she dives into deeper aspects of the personal life of her subjects psyche. In her Albino Beauty she explores a rare type of beauty found in Albino people, in Pink Dreams she discovers childhood from they eyes of an adult, and in Sweet Nothings (her work in progress) is a very personal project on motherhood with her own children. The soul and wisdom she brings to her work is evident in her more personal work as well as in the comfort her subjects have towards her and the camera.

She is a Brooklyn based Taiwanese fine art photographer exploring deeply personal stories and turning them into   symbolic images and metaphors. Having been featured in New York Times – T Magazine,  Feature Shoot, and a multitude of fine art blog and magazines. Her images are bold and imaginative in a very subtle and sweet way. She uses her subjects like props to a still life and utilizes advanced editing techniques to create her vision and bring it to the next level. She has “been selected to attend the 27th of Eddie Adams workshop and 2014 New York Times Portfolio Review. She also received Paula Rhodes Memorial Awards for exceptional achievement in Digital Photography, School of Visual Arts.” according to her personal statement,

“I create imagery that makes the status quo uncomfortable”. Dee is a portrait photographer based in Brooklyn aiming to put unconventional models in high fashion clothes. She wants to share the stories of the marginalized. She says that in her art she will create whatever she wants. She is just learning to shoot in as studio as it is not something she could really afford, but slowly she is dipping her toe in and learning how to work around such a controlled space. Diversity is a main priority in her work, which is extremely prevalent. Through city backdrops  and small pops of color mixed with media and the digital age in her work there is a realness to it all. The images are almost as if you lived them, something you could have seen before and just didn’t remember. I admire her tenacity most as an artist, she is running after her ideas and her work wholeheartedly and diving into new situations despite discomfort and fear. This should be the mindset of every young or new artist.