New Member Shout-Outs: November 2017 Edition

We come across impressive new photography portfolios on PhotoShelter every day and through this blog series we get a chance to share them with you, too. This month we are highlighting three unique photographers using three different templates—they’ve each set up their sites in a way that best tells the story of their work. Check them out for some inspiration below.

Featured image by Mariah Tauger

Mariah Tauger

PhotoShelter template: East
Location: Los Angeles, California
Specialty and background:
The career of a photographer is anything but predictable. I always loved to tell stories (mostly exaggerated fiction as a child, sorry mom). Twelve years ago I started down the path to become a photojournalist, but found myself as a sports photographer enthralled by the ability to capture a singular moment capable of defining a story. No longer in the sports world, the desire to capture these singular moments continues to guide me to this day as a freelance editorial and commercial photographer with an emphasis on food, lifestyle and portraiture. I have photographed a vast array of people and subjects and have been fortunate enough to have my work featured in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, People, Variety Magazine, Time Magazine among others.

Regardless of the market for which I am shooting, my goal is to share people’s stories in a way that ignites a positive response or conversation, ideally with good food and good company.

The story behind the photo (below):
Last month I concluded a marketing project for a veterinarian group in New Jersey. Currently, I am working on a visual branding project with the UBaron Group in Colorado for their cafés and bakeries, launching in 2018.

Brice Blondel

PhotoShelter template: Element
Location: Lyon, France
Specialty and background:
I remember the first time I became conscious about the fact that some of the images surrounding me were photographs taken by my father. I also remember noticing the different feeling produced by our everyday family pictures, and some artistic expressions of the way he experienced a trip we made together or a scene he witnessed on his own. Some were black and whites he developed himself in the bathroom of our flat, others had vivid colors obtained with a polarized filter, and we watched diapositives religiously on a dedicated evening. The technical aspects gave me the impression that part of this was magic, and it just increased my curiosity.

More importantly, it gave me the feeling that through pictures I could share the way I saw and felt about the world just like my dad did. This is still what I am trying to do now when I take pictures or shoot videos for clients; I want to make people see and understand situations they might otherwise leave aside. But good images don’t impose themselves to the viewer—they give to the viewer. You will read them the way you want, but hopefully, you will keep something from that smile, that look or that color.

The story behind the photo (below):
At the end of October 2017, I spent a week with an all Congolese demining team in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I shared their routine in a remote village with no running water and little electricity. Far from their families but living like one, they impressed me by their sense of friendship, and their cheery dispositions even though they put their life at risk everyday. But what I most admired was their devotion to the task they’d been assigned. There were sent here ten months ago, to work on a landing strip once used for sanitary evacuation, mined by militias during the conflict of 2002-2003. I took this picture of Ibrahim, one of the team’s drivers on my last morning there.

Nick Agro

PhotoShelter template: Horizon
Location: Long Beach, California
Specialty and background:
I am a photographer at a crossroads in my career. After spending almost four years as a photojournalist at The Orange County Register, a daily newspaper in Southern California, I was recently laid off due to downsizing. I’ve dedicated myself to telling engaging visual stories in creative and striking ways. It’s been an absolute privilege to be a photojournalist and to witness both moments of beauty and sadness in my community. However, I’m excited to explore other avenues within photography with my new freedom. The main page of my website is dedicated to some of the food photography I’ve been playing with in my garage in my free time. It’s fun to be in complete control of the situation, a big contrast from the work I’m used to. I’m excited for the new challenge.

The story behind the photo (below): The Hermosa Beach Ironman is one of Southern California’s weirdest events, and I was happy to be able to cover it once for my former newspaper. The Fourth of July race consists of running a mile, paddling on a surfboard for a mile and then chugging a six-pack of beer. The marriage of physical fitness and debauchery sums up the culture of Southern California quite well.

 

Not a PhotoShelter member? Try us free and start building your new portfolio today.