Photo District News' 30 New and Emerging Photographers To Watch In 2012.

above photo by Lauren Hermele, one of PDN's 30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch

Each year, the respected photography publication, Photo District News, chooses 30 up and coming photographers to showcase.

We chose to profile these 30 “photographers to watch” based largely on the photographs they submitted to us way back in October 2011. As we learn each year, though, the striking, intriguing and delightful images these women and men produce are the end product of a ton of effort.

It may seem vulgar to some to talk about business while celebrating creative work, but it’s useful to consider that each of these photographers is also an entrepreneur. And as entrepreneurs do, they produce their work by taking substantial risks—personal, financial, creative and otherwise. Chloe Dewe Mathews hitchhiked from China to England in search of ideas. Markel Redondo traveled with migrant workers from Honduras to the U.S. Peter DiCampo worked by flashlight for three years in Ghana and elsewhere. Ryan Pfluger and AnaStasia Rudenko challenged themselves to photograph difficult family relationships. Peter Ash Lee published a magazine. Mark Fisher regularly hangs out of a helicopter.

In addition to taking risks, these photographer-entrepreneurs find the funding they need to act on ideas. They are disciplined in their approaches. They create markets for their work through persistence, rather than letting the market dictate what they do. They seek out advice, take criticism on-board, and learn all they can from teachers, mentors and peers, with whom they collaborate openly. They value their relationships with their clients, and they are a delight to work with.

While you look at, take in and enjoy the photography in the following pages and read about these intrepid entrepreneurs, keep in mind what it takes to open a successful small business in today’s economy. As Mustafah Abdulaziz notes: “Talent only gets you so far.” —Conor Risch

Below are their picks for The 30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch in 2012 (shown alphabetically by first name) and one example of each of their work:

AnaStasia Rudenko:

Andrea Gjestvang:

Chloe Dewe Mathews:

Christopher Testani:

Daniel Shea:

Dominic Bracco II:

Eliot Dudik:

Ilvy Njiokiktjien:

Ingalls Photography:

Jake Stange:

Jenn Ackerman:

Juco:

Kyle Alexander:

LaToya Ruby Frazie:

Lauren Hermele:

Mark Fisher:

Mark Hartman:

Mark Mahaney:

Markel Redondo:

Meiko Takechi Arquillos:

Michele Borzoni:

Misha Friedman:

Mustafah Abdulaziz:

Peter Ash Lee:

Peter DiCampo:

Ryan Pfluger:

Sam Kaplan:

Sarah Elliott:

Sebastian Liste:

Yasu + Junko:



PDN thanks Sony, Adobe and Canson for their support of the PDN's 30 issue and educational programs. American Society of Media Photographers has given a one-year merit membership to each of this year’s 30. The editors would also like to thank all the people who nominated photographers for the 2012 PDN's 30.

To see complete bios and contact information for the 30 photographers shown here, check out the gallery here.

LaChapelle's Earth Laughs In Flowers. The Photographer's Take on Baroque Still Lives.

above: Lovers (detail) by David LaChapelle

In this new series of ten works photographer David LaChapelle, best known for his wild and elaborate fashion photography, he explores the vanity of life and beauty. With titles such as “Springtime”, “Late Summer”, “Early Fall” and “Deathless Winter” the works refer to the four seasons and allude to the life cycle: from birth to death. A contemporary take on the still life paintings of Flemish and Italian masters, these ornate florals contain references to present day culture and humanity, such as cigarette butts, Barbies, junk food, toys and telephones.

Summer:

Springtime:

detail:

Early Fall:

detail:

Deathless Winter:

detail:

America:

Concerning the Soul:

Risk:

Flaccid Passions:

Lovers:

Wilting Gossip:

detail:


from the press release:
The title of the series is a quotation of the poem “Hamatreya” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in which flowers are the earth’s laughter at the arrogance of human beings who believe they can rule the earth, although they themselves are transient and must return to it.

The title of the exhibition can also be read in the sense of the Baroque vanitas portrayals. The meaning of the Baroque floral still life was always related to the human hubris and transience of earthly existence, with the classical still life often containing many of the following: flowers, fruits, vegetables, animals, insects, mask, candles, watches or skulls. These symbols denote the fugacity and limitations of human life and the meaningless nature of vanity. Just like wilting flowers, albeit their beauty, we will all fade away.

Whilst LaChapelle shows an explicit compositional affinity to Baroque floral still life, he transfers the genre from painting to photography. The artist employs art historical visual traditions, but he also translates them into visual metaphor of and for our time. On second glance the viewer will discover objects of contemporary society in the blooming and fading flower arrangements: burning cigarettes, newspapers from yesterday, old mobile phones, plastic, Barbies, a Manga mask, medical devices, a burning American flag, a model of an airplane, balloons, tins, collages, throw away dinnerware or a tattered dollar bill. These are the metaphors of vanity in our era of an affluent though seemingly troubled society. The often bizarre and excessive symbolical imagery does not fail to remind us however, as in the traditional vanitas, to follow our virtues and to celebrate life before it‘s over.

‘Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds: And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough. Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs; Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet, Clear of the grave.’ -- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Hamatreya, 1846

The series of photographs by David LaChapelle, ‘Earth Laughs in Flowers’ was first shown at Hannover’s Kestnergesellschaft Museum in spring 2011. Since then the exhibit -in conjunction with ROBILANT + VOENA has been presented to the British, Italian and Swiss public, across its two galleries in London and Milan, as well as the Reformierte Dorfkirche, St. Moritz in collaboration with ST.MORITZ ART MASTERS. Now, In collaboration with Fred Torres, the show is now being exhibited in New York.

Earth Laughs In Flowers
Exhibition on view February 23rd through March 24th, 2012. Open to the public, Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Student groups always welcome.
527 W 29th Street, 3FL, New York NY, 10001