Thomas Dworzak decided to become a photographer at a very young age. Early on, in high school, he traveled to Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and the disintegrating Yugoslavia. Immediately after graduating from Robert-Schuman Gymnasium, Cham (specializing in English, French, and history) he left Germany, always combining his travels and attempts to become a photographer with studying languages. Spanish in Avila, Czech in Prague, Russian in Moscow. In 1993, he ended up in Tbilisi, Georgia, staying on until 1998. At this time he began to discover the Caucasus, its conflicts (Chechnya, Karabakh, Abkhazia), people and culture which resulted in the publishing of his book 'Kavkaz' in 2010. The album combines pictures with excerpts of classic 19th century Russian literature (Tolstoy, Pushkin, Lermontov).

magnumphotos.com

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Jérôme Sessini builds a passion for photography, discovering documentary photography through books shown by a friend, a photographer. He initiates his own practice, shooting people, landscapes and the daily lives of those around his native Eastern France (with Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, Mark Cohen, in mind). In 1998, although nothing predicted he would turn to journalism, Sessini arrived in Paris. Gamma photo agency gave him the opportunity to cover the ongoing conflict in Kosovo. Sessini has since then covered most of the international current events: Palestine, Iraq (from 2003 to 2008), Aristide’s fall in Haiti (2004), the conquest of Mogadishu by the Islamic militias and the war in Lebanon (2006).

magnumphotos.com

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Elena Chernyshova is a Russian documentary photographer. She was born in Moscow, USSR, a country that doesn’t exist anymore. A self-taught photographer, she developed a passion for this visual language during her studies at an architectural academy. After two years working as an architect, Elena quit her job and cycled with Gael de Cevoisier from Toulouse to Vladivostok and back again: 30,000 kilometers, 26 countries, 1,004 days of cultural, human, and challenging experiences. The trip led to her decision to become a photographer.

Photography for her is a way of investigating the daily life of different groups and communities in the context of environmental, political, and economic change. Her work aims at visualizing the impact of human activity, ways of adaptation, and diversity of lifestyles. Elena’s work has been published in National Geographic, Geo, 6 Mois, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Stern, Neon, Internazionale, Days Japan, Courier International, Le Temps, Sunday Times, A/R magazine and others.

elenachernyshova.com

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Zisis Kardianos, born in 1962 in Zakynthos, has been active as a street and documentary photographer since 1985, working independently as well as on self-assigned projects. He works in series many of which have been published in various national and international magazines. He has studied sociology and photography in the FOCUS school of Athens. In 2005 he commenced work on his long term photo-essay about his native island. The essay was self-published in a book in 2012 under the title 'A Sense of Place'.

His work has been presented in Greece and abroad in various solo and group exhibitions. Another of his long term and still on-going personal project titled 'Off Season' was presented in the Athens Photo Festival in 2012. In 2016 he participated in the BSPF where his series 'In Limbo' was honored with the People’s Award.

He is a founding member of the international photographers’ collective Burn My Eye, an associate member of the BULB collective and a contributing photographer in Millennium Images photo agency.

Ilya Shtutsa, born in 1972, is a street and documentary photographer based in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. She is a founding member of OBSERVE collective, winner of Urban Picnic Street photography award 2014 and shortlisted in many other competitions. She worked for Russian newspapers, such as Molodoy Dalnevostochnik in Khabarovsk and Nevskoe Vremya in Saint-Petersburg, studied photography in Saint-Petersburg school Tsekh under guidance of Sergey Maximishin and now works on long-term documentary projects and on applying methods of process-oriented psychology in street photography.

observecollective.com

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Ans Brys, born in 1980, is a Belgian documentary photographer, based in Antwerp. Her focus mainly lies on interpersonal connections and in her work she seeks for the twilight zone, both visually and substantively. She works as an independent freelancer for NRC Handelsblad and her work has been featured a.o. in The New York Times, The Guardian, De Volkskrant, Vrij Nederland, Børsen, De Morgen, De Tijd and De Standaard. Founder of The Female Gaze and member of Women Photograph and The Journal Collective. Since 2009 she teaches photography (non-fiction) in Professional Bachelor Audiovisual Techniques at Sint Lucas Antwerp.

ansbrys.com

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Urbanization is often mentioned as one of the defining characteristics of the 21st century. By 2050, seventy-five percent of the world’s population will live in cities or urbanized environments. In some regions, this number will rise up to 95%. Combine this with the increased mobility of people, everywhere in the world, and it’s not hard to imagine that the world as we know it, is going through profound changes. Not only are we (re)building completely new environments with all the challenges that come with them, the population of these new societies is also rapidly changing.

Through photography, Kurt Deruyter researches cultural-anthropological aspects of this change. Currently he is in the middle of a long term project 'Halfway Home' on the position of migrants in European society, arrival cities and how this shapes and influences the urban environment.

kurtderuyter.be

Barry Talis was born in Bender, Moldova and is currently living in Tel Aviv, Israel. He specialize in photographing documentary style shots using a flash, working on various projects mostly dealing with the orthodox religious street. Being a professional documentary video editor, he approaches street photography with framing in mind, as well as an intuitive understanding of human situations and behavior.

Barry is a member of the international photography collective Burn My Eye.

Just after he got his degree in photography in 1997, Gaël began the personal project 'Aveuglément' (Blindly) photographing the cooperatives for the blind in West Africa, which later became a book 'AVEUGLEMENT' in the Photo Poche series edited by Robert Delpire 2001. The serie has been exhibited in 5 European capitals and awarded twice. In the same year, after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, he got several assignments to make the 'Being 20 in Kabul' book project, published in 2003 ('Avoir 20 ans à Kaboul', Alternatives editions, Paris). The exhibition travelled in different European places. In 2006, Gaël was the recipient of the Golden Clover award (Belgium) to complete his project on the route of the Voodoo cult, from its African origins to Haiti and the United States.

gaelturine.com

Born and raised in Bielsko-Biała, Poland and currently living in Munich, Germany. Jakub started his visual experience around 1997 with drawing & spraying. Photography caught him a few years later. Around 2012 he got his first camera. Since 2013 he is making unposed photographs in public (street/documentary), urban photography & photography in general. He’s been a curator and editor for WorldSP.co, selecting the best work to be published on the website.

Daniel Osorio (Dani Oshi) is a Venezuelan with Italian roots self-taught photographer who lives in Brussels. Life observer and urban explorer. Photography is his passion and he enjoys documenting every day life in the streets. Currently working as a freelance photographer, he uses his free time for learning more about photography and shooting in the streets trying different techniques. He enjoys doing print exchanges and he gets inspired by contemporary photographers.

Daniel was the founder of WorldSP.co and also one of the main editors and curators, helping selecting the best work to display on the website. Daniel is also one of the founders of the Brussels Street Photography Festival as he profoundly believes in promoting street photography as a medium of expression.

daniosorio.com

The son of a diplomat, Chris Suspect was born in the Philippines in 1968. He is a street and documentary photographer hailing from the Washington, DC area. He specializes in capturing absurd and profound moments in the quotidian. His street photography work has been recognized internationally and has been exhibited in Miami, Germany, Georgia and the United Kingdom. His documentary work on the underground music scene in Washington, D.C., was published as a book 'Suspect Device' by Empty Stretch in 2014 and was a featured exhibit at the Kolga Tblisi Photo Festival 2015 in Tblisi, Georgia. This same project was also featured in the Leica Galerie at Photokina 2014 in Koln, Germany. The work is currently held in the Leica Galerie Archives. Since 2012 he has been a member of the STRATA photo collective, focussing on street photography.

suspectdevice.net

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Philippe Vandenbroeck, born in 1965 in Belgium, and trained in engineering, philosophy and urbanism, has been running a consultancy company for over 20 years. A long time ago, on assignment in Mongolia, the photography virus caught up with him. Since he has steadily deepened his practice, pursuing various personal projects. Key in his development has been his close relationship with his mentor Lorenzo Castore. Philippe is also represented by London-based agency Millennium Images.

topophotography.eu

Davide Albai was born in Pescara, Italy, in 1988. He graduated as an engineer and is currently working for a consulting company in Milan. Photography has always accompanied him, since his dad gave him an old film camera when he was just a child. However, it was only in 2014 that it truly became an essential part of his life, when he totally fell in love with street photography. Since then, he enjoys roaming the streets looking for those rare, special moments where people and the surrounding environment beautifully connects together. In recent years, his work has been exhibited in Italy, Europe and the United States. He is the founder and member of the Italian Street Photography collective EyeGoBananas.

Graduated in Paris from the School of Photography and Audiovisual EFET in 2006, he started his professional activity as a cameraman and freelance editor before diversifying also in institutional photography. He occupies a very large part of his free time with personal photographic projects. He is a member of the French collective Fragment.

twennys.com

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Hakan was born in Brussels in 1978. He completed a Masters Degree from the Computer Sciences department of University of Brussels. In 2010, he became involved with photography and hasn’t put down his camera since. After winning some competitions, he gained confidence and started working on personal long-term projects. In 2015/2016 he took a one-year masterclass with Klavdij Sluban and Nestan Nijaradze in Paris.

simsek.be

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Pieter Dumoulin (1989) graduated in 2012 at the School of Arts in Ghent as Master in the Audiovisual Arts. His graduation short film 'Helena' (2012) was selected for the 43rd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2013 and for Courtisane Festival in Ghent that same year. Since 2009 Pieter has been working with Tibaldus, a theatre company founded by Timeau De Keyser, Simon De Winne and Hans Mortelmans. Pieter photographs and films their shows during rehearsals and tours.

Sedaile is a researcher, urbanist and architect specialized in Human Settlement and Strategic Urbanism. She has developed her practice as architect and urban designer working in projects of different scales and in close collaboration with NGO’s, cultural associations and academic institutions in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Middle East. She has a strong interest in the practice of landscape design as a medium for integration between different cultural communities. Sedaile is editor of the Brussels Newsroom and founder of the Brussels Street Photography Festival.

brusselsnewsroom.com

Diego is an architect and urban designer with an special interest in the politics of space. Diego is currently involved in a vast range of high profile and complex regional and urban projects in Brussels and Flanders as part of the team of BUUR (Bureau voor Urbanism). In parallel Diego collaborates with NGO’s and cultural organizations in Brussels, following citizen participation, transversal planning and urban cultural projects. Diego is editor of the Brussels Newsroom and founder of the Brussels Street Photography Festival.

brusselsnewsroom.com