portraiture & celebrity photography Jul 2009

Ale Burset was born in Buenos Aires in 1970. He began his career as a sports journalist and in 1995 he started working at Caras and Noticias magazines. He moved to Italy where he continued as a correspondant for both, and whilst on an assignment was required to take pictures. Since then his focus has switched to photography.

In 1999, Ale published his first book, 'Primer Ensayo' (First Draft). Since collaborating with Para Ti magazine, fashion has become his main passion. In Mexico, he worked in advertising and fashion photography, and in 2003 his second book 'Claroscuro' (Lights and Shadows) was published.

In 2008 he began working in films as a director and is now represented by Red Creek Productions in New York, London and Argentina, and AProductions in Europe. His latest book, 'Walking in the Shadows', was published in 2009. Ale is currently one of the Gallery Stock artists and regularly contributes to the prestigious AtEdge magazine.

In this Spotlight he presents a selection of major work as a portrait photographer. Visit his website for more images and further information.

Alun Callender photographs people on location and in their own spaces to reflect their character and lifestyle.

He enjoys telling stories either within one picture or a sequence of pictures, bringing together portraiture, interiors and still life. Through his images, Alun encapsulates how a person lives, their values and their influences to deepen the viewer's understanding of the subject.

Alun's pictures are regularly seen in the UK's leading fashion and lifestyle magazines including Red, Marie Claire and House & Garden.

After nearly 10 years of shooting mostly in the studio, Andreas Jung is currently enjoying meeting people in their own locations all across Europe.

His portraits of actors, artists and designers are regularly commissioned by Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Elle Decor, Blueprint, Artforum, Stern, Zeit Magazine, and many more.

Andreas' classic photography style fuses the personality of his subjects with their environment, creating images with genuine authenticity and radiant power.

In addition to editorial work, Andreas' shoots people and lifestyle photography for advertising and commercial clients including Bayer, Canon, Allianz, Dresdner Bank, Vitra and Peugeot.

Andreas employs a complete high-end digital workflow. His pleasant approach makes for a comfortable shooting experience for everyone who passes in front of his camera.

Recent months have seen David Ellis shooting high profile celebrities such as Daniel Craig, Katie Price and David Attenborough for a variety of editorial clients.

On the music front he has worked with The Prodigy, Adele and Simple Minds. On the advertising side, he has photographed Mel Smith for Animal Planet and Gary Lineker for Walkers Crisps. One of his recent reportage projects was to shoot Razorlight in rehearsal at their warehouse in north London.

All of David's work can be viewed on his website.

Jens Umbach was born near Kassel in Germany. He received a BA in photography at the University of Darmstadt (Germany) in 1999. During this time, before coming to New York, he was a partner at a studio collective (studio vier) for photography and graphic design in Darmstadt.

In 1997, he moved to New York and began working for various photographers while continuing his studies in Germany. In 1999, Jens started working freelance and dedicated more time to his own work. Since then, his portraits have been published in British Vogue, The New Yorker, Esquire, Galore, brand eins, InStyle, Forbes, and Observer Magazine, as well as the London Telegraph Magazine and London Times.

His advertising clients include Mercedes-Benz, British Airways, IBM, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, American Express and Comcast, among others.

Jens recently photographed Marc Ecko for Galore, James Frey for the London Telegraph, Prince Albert of Monaco for plant-for-the-planet, and Morgan Spurlock for vive magazine.

The opening of a satellite office in Hamburg, Germany, is in the works for 2009.

The quality of light and a wry humour are obsessions for UK photographer Nick Daly, who always looks for the image that brings a smile.

This year has been one of his busiest, working on campaigns for NatWest, Royal Marsden Hospital and Yorkshire Tourism.

His passion for photography, meeting people around the world and exploring life through the lens is undiminished.

Nick Dolding has spent over 20 years working for top agencies in London and Europe. His knowledge of different disciplines of photography enables him to combine the best aspects of both studio and location photography.

Coming from a traditional film and print background, Nick has been shooting hi-end digital for more than five years and has more than 12 years of managing digital workflow and post production. His talent and dedicated passion have produced a swath of new images, both commissioned and personal.

His latest commissions follow on from a new series of personal work about unusual professions. Recent clients include HSBC, Hewlet-Packard, Virgin, Sony, O2 and BAA, to name but a few.

Paul Campbell considers a helicopter the equivalent of a very high tripod, an invaluable tool for the landscape photographer - albeit an extremely expensive one! For the past 15 years, he has been using it for a wide range of clients including P&O Cruises, supermarkets, banks, and all manner of tourist boards. He also has a strong background shooting cars on location.

Paul shoots using gyro stabiliser mounts which minimise movement and deliver a high quality file at the end of the job. The helicopter opens his eyes to the one dimensional world below, revealing landscapes that often look as if they have been art directed specifically for his photography.

Using the aerial method means the time of day and weather conditions are even more critical than when shooting conventional landscapes. A good understanding of weather forecasting is essential, as is the patience to watch and wait before shooting - not always an affordable luxury in the commercial world of copy dates. A strong stomach to combat airsickness is essential too, especially when flying in a tight circles.

Rüdiger Nehmzow is based in Dusseldorf. After studying communication design with photography at the university of Essen and completing a successful apprenticeship as a photographer, he now works internationally for magazines, advertising agencies and companies specialising in portrait and corporate photography.

Editorial clients include Stern, Lufthansa Magazine, Wirtschaftswoche and Manager Magazine.

Recent corporate clients include Egon Zehnder, Ernst & Young, E.On, Linde, Kfw Bank, SAP, Schenker, ThyssenKrupp, Tui and Voith.

"Portrait photography is a wonderful opportunity to come into contact with unique, interesting people - famous or not. For me, to get portraits with an authentic feel within what is normally a very limited shooting time is not an issue - it becomes a challenge!"

Rüdiger Nehmzow is a member of Laif Photo Agency.

Simon Murphy is fast becoming one of the UK's premier portrait photographers. Specialising in celebrity portraiture, music, fashion and travel, his work regularly sends him around the globe to produce compelling images.

His most recent project was for the BURJ Dubai Opus, a luxury book published by Kraken for which he photographed workers and executives alike for what will be the world's largest book.

Simon is in the process of looking for UK and international representation. Visit his website for more information.