PEOPLE & LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY Feb 2010

Sao Paulo-based photographer Allard van Wielink specialises in fashion and advertising assignments. He is currently busy putting together his book about the Pataxos indians of Caraíva in Bahia state.

Allard is a dedicated photographer who works a lot with 'normal' people - usually people who are not used to being in front of the lens. His work for the Dove 'Campaign for Real Beauty' testifies to that effect.

His latest clients include advertising agencies Ogilvy (Brazil, Argentina and Mexico), Young and Rubicam (Brazil and Dubai), Leo Burnett (Colombia), McCann (Brazil), TBWA (Brazil), Age (Brazil), and many others.

Featured in this Spotlight is a selection of work shot over recent years.

Whether it is professional models or people on the street, Barry Willis loves shooting people.

"Photography is all about connecting" he says, "and the proof is in a great image. Most people find being in front of the camera intimidating, so the skill is to help the sitter to expose their personality for the camera. With professional models, you’re looking for role play and acting skills - but in such a way that they are believable as real people. And once that magic starts, you know the picture is working."

For Barry, being a dad helps in relating to kids, and he enjoys the fun element of shooting with children. As well as his camera, he always packs bags of energy, lightness of touch, flexibility and the ability to grab the moment - "because it is highly unlikely you will get a second chance!"

"Young or old, professional or not, I love to come away knowing that there has been a connection and that I've got some great pictures to work on."

Brendan Duffy is based in Dublin, Ireland. Known for his colourful, unique and vibrant style, he enjoys photographing people on location for advertising, design and editorial clients.

Recent work includes commissions from clients such as Britvic, Danone Actimel, Cow & Gate and new comparison website Uchoose.ie, for which Brendan also shot the viral video campaign.

In October last year, one of his images was selected by the OMC Prestige Club in Paris as the winning image for "Global Stylist of the Year 2009" for the commissioning hair salon in Cork. The image, selected out of hundreds of entries from over 40 countries, is featured in this Spotlight.

Brendan is currently seeking representation. Visit his website for more information.

James Carnegie and Sean Conway have a long-standing passion for the outdoors and adrenaline fuelled adventures. Discovering a mutual love of photography and travel they set up in business and together have a wealth of experience in action sports and photographic exploration of some of the most remote corners of the globe. This experience has allowed them to ensure they achieve the most out of product and lifestyle shoots, whatever the budget, studio or location, in sun or snow.

Whether in a tropical downpour, a Kerala bus stop at rush hour or a shot knee-deep in a Welsh river James and Sean have developed a unique style and understanding of how to achieve the kind of shot that says it all. They operate exclusive of assistants, lighting coordinators or digital operators to keep their operation lightweight and flexible. They have a strict no nonsense policy and always aim to involve clients at the heart of every creative process.

The last 12 months has seen Sean and James undertake some great catalogue shoots along the Welsh coastline, across the Peak District and in downtown Toronto for an urban clothing editorial feature. Their diverse client list includes names such as Bloc Eyewear, Lifeventure, Deckers and The Guardian Weekend.

Christine Donnier-Valentin is a French photographer based in London. Her commercial work is predominantly of people shot in both portrait and reportage styles, whether in the studio or out on location.

Her engaging approach and keen eye for detail make for a comfortable and enjoyable experience for every subject - famous or not - who passes in front of her camera. Her work has spanned editorial, corporate and advertising fields, working with clients large and small.

When not working on commercial assignments, Christine pursues personal projects for exhibition, including landscapes, spaces and details inspired by her former architectural studies.

Christoph Siegert  lives and works in Hamburg. He candidly admits to becoming a photographer "only because I was too lazy to paint". His work shows recurring characteristics in both content and style, with colour playing an especially important role. His range covers staged images, reportage and spur-of-the-moment shots.

Christoph's newly launched website shows his latest projects.

He recently worked on a campaign for S-Bahn Hamburg, achieving the empathy and closeness the company wished to express by creating new imagery related to the idea of ‘travelling consciously’. Passengers were the protagonists in this integrated campaign.

He also photographed TV host and actress Sonya Kraus for 4Care AG in his studio in Hamburg, as well as on Germany's most beautiful beaches.

Mensch Stiftung, a foundation for the integration of people with disabilities, asked him to capture and convey its three company values, quality, togetherness and happiness, and Christoph played with a combination of lifestyle and documentary images to create an unprecedented perspective.

Dan Pangbourne is known for his amazing images of children and babies. Based in London, his client base regularly takes him to New York, Cape Town and Buenos Aires.

With global campaigns in advertising and packaging for both fashion and product clients, plus over 500 magazine and catalogue covers to his name, Dan surpasses expectation every time by adding quality and originality to his clients' brands.

Shooting both stills and digital video, Dan brings an incredible amount of creativity and experience to any project.

Visit his website for a full overview of his work and personal projects.

Darius Ramazani was chosen by Meissen to portray its first ever jewellery collection, currently being established across Europe. The richly decorated, unique heritage line made of precious materials, which pays homage to the Meissen porcelain artworks of the past 300 years, was photographed by Darius in the romantic setting of a Bavarian castle.

Turkish food manufacturer Ülker is celebrating its 65th anniversary with an advertising campaign based on the concept "A Happy Moment: Making Life Beautiful". Darius travelled to Istanbul for 10 days to shoot the photo campaign, which will be shown throughout Turkey in the form of large-format ads.

Eric Klein is an advertising photographer based in Chicago. He specialises in location photography and shoots regularly in Miami, New York and LA.

Eric brings a lot of energy and excitement to a shoot and creates a relaxed atmosphere for both the agency and client. Whether with stills or live action he has a passion for capturing the moment and telling stories in the process. His subjects look natural, not overly directed or posed.

A production support crew of the best producers, assistants, stylists and location people is on hand and ready for any type of job. Eric is skilled at getting lots of people (crew, talent, clients) to wherever they're needed, and his productions are always well planned and within budget. Casting is a crucial element, and whether clients are looking for "real people" or professional talent, Eric specialises in casting the right people for the right project.

Brazilian photographer Gustavo Zylbersztajn put his engineering degree and future career as an architect to one side in order to dedicate himself to something more dynamic.

Autodidact, he started shooting and involving himself with photography at the beginning of the decade and has since contributed work to both the editorial and advertising worlds.

Gustavo loves his family, his friends and his dog, as well as shooting and travelling.

Howard Kingsnorth has been continuing his coverage of sporting heroes, as featured in this Spotlight, alongside developing a graphic portrait style for contemporary business people.

Howard is richly experienced both in the studio and on location and is constantly evolving in terms of style and output.

Visit his website for more information.

Irene Peña recently worked with Madrid-based stylist Mariano Puente to create a new series of fashion lifestyle images, and won a PDN 'Editor's Pick' for her efforts.

A Costa Rican native, Irene captures the pura vida lifestyle, including golf, yoga, and resort living imagery for stock and assignments. In applying her motion fashion technique to new lifestyle themes, Irene has created a unique portfolio that captures the energy and enthusiasm of her subjects.

Visit the website or check Irene's previous Spotlight feature for more of her work.

Nick Daly is represented by Lisa Pritchard Agency in London UK. Shooting people in the studio or on location is his speciality.

He is currently working on a number of assignments, including people in care for CQC/Salter Baxter and Boots Opticians/Jupiter.

Visit his website for more information.

Nino Gehrig has been an established advertising photographer in Spain for the past 10 years. He works preferable with kids and 'real' people (no models). His commitment to his work and clients is dedicated to bringing the essence of the people to the surface of the image. He has created a very unique style; spontaneous and natural looking pictures, which are sometimes like reportage but well-defined photographs.
 
Nino works mostly in Spain, for national and international clients, including film production companies. He gained the respect of many international film crews for capturing the perfect moment, without interrupting the shoot, restrained and silently working.

He is member of the LPA and he won one Gold Award for his kid editorials.

His clients include Kas, Pepsi, Damm, Nokia, Media Markt, Pentax, Nikon, Allianz, Knorr, La Caixa, BBVA, Nestlé, Telefonica, Volkswagen, Ayuntamento de Barcelona, Repsol, San Lucar, Nesquik, Metro Madrid, Merck, Pantene, Mini.
 
Agencies: Atletico International, CLM BBDO Paris, Lowe London, Reihnhards Hamburg, SCPF, McCann, Young & Rubicam, BBDO, JWT, Ogilvy and Saatchi&Saatchi.

He is represented in Spain and in the Netherlands by Capetona and for German speaking clients by Pink Orange.

Pete Webb presents his new website, produced off the back of two new portfolios.

Both feature lifestyle, but one is centred around sport and the other around travel, or "adventures", as the photographer likes to call them.

The portfolios show how Pete crosses the genres and how his distinctive style of lifestyle photography is transferred to the worlds of sport, travel, surf/ski wear catalogues, fashion and beauty. The landscapes captured along the way help to reinforce the story and put the work into perspective.

Photographer Phil James shoots on location or from his central studios, creating imagery for clients such as Dyson, McLaren and Peugeot.

Phil has a fresh approach to any project and has a team of colleagues working with him producing everything from high-end retouching to CGI compositing.

His work has a cinematic quality that is notably his own style. He is currently working on CGI car projects and is making the natural move into directing photography.

Sally Montana is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and specialises in people, portrait and lifestyle photography.

Over recent years Sally has exhibited her work in many prestigious locations, including the Swiss Photo Awards and the renowned Stadtmuseum Munich. Her production experience ranges from abandoned mountain areas in eastern Turkey and sandy beaches in Senegal to Hollywood film sets in Madrid and President's quarters in Azerbaijan.

Clients include: Basler Versicherungen, Greenpeace, Gregoryclan Furniture Factory, McDonald’s, Pedigree, Raiffeisen Bank, TravelChannel.com, Weltwoche/Axel Springer Verlag.

Email Sally, visit her website or call +41 (0)76 448 8508 for further information.

Director and photographer Stewart Cohen is known for his boundless energy in capturing the spirit of the people he directs. A recent client commented, "His good humour is evidenced in the work and helps create a great atmosphere on set."

Shooting both stills and motion gives Stewart the ability to maintain continuity in his clients' message. His skill set is now being utilised in interesting ways in the emerging world of interactive technology.

Visit his website to see more of the story. Stewart is represented by Bernstein & Andriulli - (212) 682-1490.