Photography is a constant challenge to find something unique and beautiful in the world.

Name: Andrew Jensen. My friends call me AJ.
Hometown: Okemos, Michigan. I am currently studying photography at Northern Michigan University.
Style of photography: Landscape, mostly.
Type of camera(s): Mamiya 7II
Website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajtatersalad/

What gives you inspiration?

Long walks alone with my camera, empty strange places, wasted landscapes, and overcast skies. Also unexposed rolls of film and cold beer.

What are your influences?

I am always looking at the work of young photographers on flickr, especially the work of Salva Lopez, Jordan Small, Daniel Ribar, and Bruno Zhu. Robert Adams and Stephen Shore are also big influences on me, as well as my photographer friends Andy and Julian.

Why did you choose these photos?

These photographs are all fairly new, and I’m very excited about them. They may be part of a larger series eventually.

What does photography mean to you?

Photography is a constant challenge to find something unique and beautiful in the world.

Photos:

Copyright reserved by Andrew Jensen

It’s mind-blowing how humans shape the physical world. 

Name: Wouter Van de Voorde
Hometown: Canberra, Australia
Style of photography: Landscape
Type of camera(s): medium format rangefinder, 35mm point and shoot, …
Website: woutervandevoorde.com & blog.woutervandevoorde.com

What gives you inspiration?

Reality, it’s mind-blowing how humans shape the physical world. 

What are your influences?

Aboriginal art, surrealism (beyond Dali), American History X, Philip Lorca Dicorcia and the cool people that surround me.

Why did you choose these photos?
 
These are 4 pictures of my ‘fifteen’ series, I just picked some of my darlings.

What does photography mean to you?

More than it should, a big chunk of my happiness and sanity depend on me creating images.

Photos:

Copyright reserved by Wouter Van de Voorde

Interview Shane Lynam

Photography is as much about making my own photos as it is about looking at other’s work.

Interview Jeroen Arians

I use a tripod and release cord so I don’t have to look through the camera during photographing.

Interview Asia Chmielewska

Photography is an addiction.

Interview Thomas Manneke

Photography means learning about life and becoming a better person.

Interview Amy Harrity

Photography is intuition.

Interview Sarah Amy Fishlock

It’s a truly democratic medium.

Interview Maggie Harrsen

Photography means sharing beauty with others.

Interview Akasha Rabut

Photography is how I relate to the world.

Interview Vivien Ayroles

Photography is my way to express my love for someone or something.

Interview Claudia Costantini

Photography has always chased me.

Interview Jeff Seltzer

Without the solace of photography, I’d probably go crazy!

Interview Tony Luong

Photography means I can let my voice be heard, or seen for that matter.

Interview Maarten Kuypers

I just want to take a picture that is finished when you look at it.

Interview Danny Ghitis

I’m just projecting the way I feel into a little rectangle.

Interview Egor Rogalev

Photography is the main thing that gives meaning to my life.

Interview Arturo Soto

At this point in my life, photography means everything.

Interview Jordan Swartz

Photography for me is a catharsis of sorts.

Interview James March

Photography is the tool.

Interview Brian Maryansky

My photographs are a timeline of my life.

Interview Caroline Grijsen

Photography means filling emptiness.

Interview Stacy Kranitz

Photography is a survival mechanism.

Interview Caroline Keî

Photography is a way to tell a story with memories.

Interview Martin Petersen

It’s what you put in the frame that matters.

Interview Guido Gazzilli

Photography could be a reason to create a story of my experiences.

Interview Sarah Bernhard

Photography is a great medium for reflecting emotions.

Interview Sebastien Tixier

Photography is a very rich form of expression.

Interview Pato Hernán

Truck typography gives me inspiration.

Interview Ruth Bartlett

I think we’re all a little cheesy at heart.

Interview Audrey Leignel

Photography is a lifestyle.

Interview Erik Osberg

This will probably be the first time anyone sees them.

Interview Johnathon Kelso

I get to exchange life with the people that I photograph.

A subtle combination of pleasure and pain.

Name: Pascal Fellonneau
Hometown: Bordeaux, France
Style of photography: Landscape photography
Type of camera(s): Nikon F3, Nikon D300s, Mamiya 645
Website: http://pascal.fellonneau.free.fr/

What gives you inspiration?

Walking.

What are your influences?

August Sander, Irving Penn, William Eggleston, Boris Mikhailov, Wolfgang Tillmans, Alex McLean, Sophie Ristelhueber, Walker Evans.

Why did you choose these photos? 

Because they’re part of a project that I’m reconsidering and re-editing as a diary and choosed to display as a blog : http://reykjavik-area.tumblr.com/. It’s a series about Reykjavik, Iceland and in its satellite cities.

What does photography mean to you?

A subtle combination of pleasure and pain.

Photos:

Copyright reserved by Pascal Fellonneau

I love that it gives me the possibility to go to places where I normally never would go.

Name: Lisa Van Damme
Hometown: Ghent, Belgium
Style of photography: Documentary – reportage
Type of camera(s): My eyes
Website: www.lisavandamme.be

What gives you inspiration?

Travelling gives me inspiration. If I go on a big trip I mostly see a lot that inspires me to make a new photo documentary. 


What are your influences?

I think that everything I see gives me input and influences me. Also work that I don’t like.
Work that I love the most is work by http://www.andreadiefenbach.com, http://www.laurengreenfield.com/ and Nick Hannes.
 
Why did you choose these photos?
 
I chose to show my latest series “a dog’s life”. As a result of a Romanian law proposal to massively kill all stray dogs. I went to Romania and there I made a series about the daily life in a dog shelter.

What does photography mean to you?

It’s a way to be more conscious of the things that happen around me. And I love that it gives me the possibility to go to places where I normally never would go.
 
Photos:

Copyright reserved by Lisa Van Damme

It’s very difficult to pinpoint my influences.

Name: Noémie Stegmüller
Hometown: Munich, Germany
Style of photography: Conceptual
Type of camera(s): Hasselblad, Mamiya, Linhof Panoramic Camera, Holga Medium Format
Website: www.noemiestegmueller.de

What gives you inspiration?

Traveling and discovering new and odd places, architecture, and isolated urban spaces. 

What are your influences?

It’s very difficult to pinpoint my influences but here are a few of my favorite photographers:
Gregory Crewdson, the early Gursky, Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus, Sam Tayler-Wood, Philip Lorca DiCorcia.

Why did you choose these photos? 

I chose these photos, as they represent an intersection of my work.

What does photography mean to you?

Questioning the possibilities of artistic photography is a central subject in my work.

Photos:

Copyright reserved by Noémie Stegmüller

By showing some of the environment I give the viewer space to make up their own story around the one that has been portrayed.

Name: Marije Kuiper
Hometown: Vinkega, the Netherlands
Style of photography: Documentary
Type of camera(s): Canon 5D Mark II en Canon 5D
Website: www.marijekuiper.nl

What gives you inspiration?



People who dare to be themselves and who are pure and authentic. Also those who dare to chase their dream by making choices in life so they can discover and develop their passion. I found these people very inspiring to portray, but they also inspire and encourage me to stay close to myself and to keep chasing my own dream.

What are your influences?

My pictures are influenced by a combination of my background as a graphic designer, the tiny village where I grew up as a farmer’s daughter and my character of being romantic, integer and unprejudiced.

Why did you choose these photos?



These pictures come from four different projects but I think it shows that I like to capture people or animals in their own natural surroundings. 
By showing some of the environment I give the viewer space to make up their own story around the one that has been portrayed.

What does photography mean to you?

One big fantastic voyage of discovery.


Photos:

Copyright reserved by Marije Kuiper

Life is unfortunately too short to fulfil all ideas. So I am in a hurry.

Name: Rob Hornstra
Hometown: Utrecht, The Netherlands
Style of photography: Storytelling / documentary
Type of camera(s): Mamiya 7II / Horseman 45HD
Website: www.borotov.com & www.thesochiproject.org

What gives you inspiration?

It would be better for me if there were a little bit less inspiration in this world. I can be inspired by the work of an artist or an article in a newspaper or a person I meet at the supermarket or what ever. Life is unfortunately too short to fulfil all ideas. So I am in a hurry.

What are your influences?

My inspiration is my biggest influence. But I guess you would like to hear projects / names. Here is an old one: Mr. Mkhize’s portrait (Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin).

Why did you choose these photos?
 
This is my most recent work (partly from the North Caucasus). I am working there on a project entitled Putin’s Nightmare. It is a photographic investigation into the roots of violence in the North Caucasus and the role that the region’s image plays in this and it will be a book in 2012.

What does photography mean to you?

I can live without photography.

Photos:

Copyright reserved by Rob Hornstra

When I took them I had that special feeling they were going to be nice photographs.

Name: Mikel Aramendia
Hometown: Pamplona, Spain
Style of photography: Landscape
Type of camera(s): Medium Format
Website: http://www.mikelaramendia.com

What gives you inspiration?

The lack of understanding of our relationship with enviroment and lanscape.

What are your influences?

I dont have any particular influence. If the question is about photographers, obviously I’ve been influenced by the New Topographics pioneers and many other contemporary photographers, but I have really learnt a lot from amazing photographers at the Flickr community. Together with photography I’ve been interested in architecture, urban planning, landscape design, etc.

Why did you choose these photos? 

I think they are quite visual, eyecatching. When I took them I had that special feeling they were going to be nice photographs.

What does photography mean to you?

Photography for me does not really have a meaning itself. For me its not an end, but a medium. Its a powerful tool for a deeper understanding of our enviroment and habits.

Photos:

Copyright reserved by Mikel Aramendia