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Dubai is known for its breathtaking architecture and iconic skyline. Now, artist Baber Afzal is capturing the city-state’s famous towers and spires in a new light through a series of stunning images that marry architecture, environment, and atmosphere.

“There are many places that I love out here in Dubai, especially the architectural landscape as it keeps evolving every year – and that evolution inspires me (because I’m) able to shoot from unique vantage points to share a different perspective of the city,” explains Afzal.

Afzal, 40, uses a combination of landscape and architectural photography, and visual art techniques, to illustrate the city of Dubai as he sees it.

“One thing that has remained constant in my work, whether it be capturing the cityscape or the dunes, is the hazy sunsets and sunrises in this region,” he says. “Awareness of the climatic conditions gave birth to a unique editing style and technique to express my visions.”

A Pakistani native, Afzal first started making art in 2007. “My interest in art grew after I experienced capturing and editing the beautiful landscape of Margalla Hills in Islamabad, Pakistan,” he says. “I gravitated toward the editing aspect since shifting color and contrast values really fascinated me.”

Afzal scouts locations prior to a shoot, and says it often takes him many hours to capture the perfect image. He then spends a few days in post-production, manipulating the image and executing his vision to create ethereal, striking pictures.

“Art provides a powerful means of expressing human emotion and experience, and it can be used to communicate complex ideas and feelings that might otherwise be difficult to express,” he says. “I aim to enhance this experience by showcasing visual concepts from a different light that will highlight the unseen beauty that exists in city life and in nature too.”

Afzal’s work has received awards from around the world and has been published both locally and internationally in magazines and photography books. Last month, his artwork “LUMINOUS” was showcased in New York City at the prestigious “NFT NYC 2023.”

He produces much of his work as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), capitalizing on the digital format to add animation and complex imagery to create one-of-a-kind dreamlike moving pictures.

He believes that technology will play a significant role in the future of the art scene in Dubai. “I expect to see more artists, including myself, experimenting with technology and incorporating it into our work in new and innovative ways in the years to come,” says Afzal.

Californian music photographer Chris Cuffaro has witnessed rock music history, photographing the likes of Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and now he’s turning the camera on New Zealand’s best musicians.

The 62-year-old celebrity photographer visited Aotearoa in February, where he showcased his Greatest Hits exhibition, a presentation of his best work over the last half a century.

While he was in New Zealand, he shot several of our own musicians – including Fat Freddy’s Drop, Boh Runga and Tiki Taane – for an exhibition launching on May 1, the beginning of New Zealand Music Month.

Cuffaro’s work will finally be revealed to the public via a digital display at Auckland Central Library, the Ellen Melville Centre and Aotea Square.

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The physical copies of pictures will be on display from May 25 to June 4 at Art News Aotearoa, in the Auckland CBD.

The photos will eventually be auctioned off by Webb’s, with all proceeds going to MusicHelps, a charity which uses “the power of music to change the lives of thousands of New Zealanders in need”.

Cuffaro grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, an area with great significance to the music and photography scene, with bands like The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane calling it home.

He caught the photography bug at 10, and was taken under the wing of a photography teacher at the age of 12.

“I was shooting models when I was 12. Can you imagine, you’re 18 and some 12-year-old boy is saying, ‘Hey can I shoot your pictures?’” Cuffaro laughed.

Cuffaro made the move to Los Angeles when he was 21, and got a job at a black and white lab.

“My boss – who is still my best friend to this day – said to me, ‘It’s not what you shoot, it’s who you shoot,’” he said.

“It’s true, no one comes in here and says, I love your lighting, your composition, what camera is that? I was in LA in the 1980s, it was the entertainment capital of the world.”

Soon Cuffaro was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Annie Leibovitz, and Bruce Weber, picking up snippets of advice and wisdom while processing their photos at his lab.

“When I moved to LA, there were 10 photographers. I laugh at my young photographer friends who go to a pit at a concert and there are 50 people. Back in my day, there was me,” he said.

The business of photography has changed significantly over the past 50 years, with social media allowing punters to do whatever they want with his photographs.

”I go on eBay and I see people making duvet covers out of my work. It used to really bother me, but I’ve just had to let it go,” he said.

A full list of where to find Cuffaro’s work in Auckland is available on his website.

Unearthed photographs of British supermodel Kate Moss and US actor Cameron Diaz are going on display in London.

The rare Polaroids were taken by celebrity photographer Michel Haddi in the 1990s during separate magazine photoshoots of the stars.

While clearing out his storage, Mr Haddi stumbled across the images.

During a 1991 photoshoot of Moss for British GQ, she posed topless on the edge of a sofa and in the next image she is pictured lying down.

Having met Moss at the Cannes Film Festival while she was dating Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, Mr Haddi compared her to “the mermaid of Copenhagen” – a nod to the famous bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen that sits in the harbour of Nyhavn, Copenhagen.

“I said: ‘Oh my God, this girl is like a dream,’… she doesn’t care about nothing and she’s so beautiful,” he said.

“This was a girl that at the time was a big star then, but she said: ‘Your photo work of Johnny is so beautiful. I will love that if you could do some like that of me.’

“I did some photographs of her there and then.”

In 1993, Mr Haddi photographed Diaz for Vogue Homme Magazine.

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He said the There’s Something About Mary actor turned up to his LA studio in a t-shirt that read: “Our p*****, our choice”.

“You have to keep in mind that Cameron used to be a model before so she was very aware of all the ins and outs of the business,” Mr Haddi explained.

“She was a delight. She was very sweet. She has a great sense of humour.”

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Mr Haddi has photographed a host of celebrities during his career, including Jennifer Lopez, Clint Eastwood and David Bowie.

Along with the images of Moss and Daz, photos of other stars such as Uma Thurman and Linda Evangelista will go on display at the international photography fair, Photo London, from 10-14 May.

Many facilities are looking to harness the potential of the fast-growing market

In the Palace Museum, aka the Forbidden City, in Beijing, tourists wearing elaborate makeup and traditional Chinese costumes look like they have traveled back in time when seen through the photographer’s lens.

“I like to take photos. It is convenient to hire a photographer now, but I always make sure that we do not affect the other tourists,” said Yan Wenting, 27, who lives in the capital. “Some of my wedding photos were taken at the Temple of Heaven Park. It was beautiful and memorable.”

Influenced by social media platforms, travel photography has become a new trend in tourist consumption in China, and such services have almost become must-try activities at a number of popular destinations.

A bustling street in Fenghuang Ancient Town, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, Hunan province, that was once filled with bars is now home to many photo studios. The ancient town is known for its well-preserved architecture and river-town scenery with features of the Tujia and Miao ethnic groups.

In its 0.91-square kilometer core scenic area, there are more than 1,000 shops offering services for makeup, clothing rental and photography, according to Hunan Daily.

Many shops post photos with a strong ethnic feel on social media platforms. Customers can look at them online, make inquiries, place orders after discussions and make appointments for shoots.

After nearly 20 years of living through “horrific” domestic violence, Kristy* has turned her life around and is now using her traumatic experiences to help others.

The 43-year-old was physically, emotionally and financially abused by a former partner.

Now, she is one of the subjects in a photography exhibition showcasing the reality of domestic and family violence on the New South Wales Central Coast.

She said being photographed in such a vulnerable way felt empowering.

“There were parts where I was a little triggered,” she said.

The exhibition opens at a Tuggerah theatre on the Central Coast today to coincide with the start of Domestic and Family Violence Awareness Month.

Shock to create change

According to NSW Police northern region domestic and family violence coordinator Sharon Wilkinson, officers responded to “over 140,000 domestic violence incident reports” across the state last year.

Crime data also shows that rates of domestic violence are rising in NSW.

Across the Central Coast police districts alone, officers respond to more than 1,000 reports a month on average.

In a new campaign to tackle the issue, NSW Police have partnered with a local photographer to put on an exhibition, which has been 12 months in the making.

Photographer Victoria Fitzmaurice says she wants the project to educate the community while also showing victim-survivors that there is hope.

“I wanted an emotive reaction from the viewers,” Fitzmaurice said.

“The only way I was going to do that was to grab them by the throat and go, ‘look at me’.

Powerful ways to increase awareness

Ms Wilkinson said it was important for the project to be driven by victim-survivors.

“What I wanted to do with this project was really centre victim-survivors’ voices on what the impact of domestic violence to them,” she said.

“And then look at sensitive and powerful ways to bring that impact to the community to increase that awareness.”

The exhibition showcases 27 unique photographs accompanied by impact statements from real local survivors of violence.

Ms Wilkinson said it was critical that police listened to people with lived experiences of domestic and family violence.

“We have to centre victim survivor voices a lot more in strategies to reduce domestic and family violence harm,” she said.

Kristy says she is proud to have taken part in a project that pushes for change after working hard to recover from the trauma she endured.

“I rose from the ashes and pretty much decided that was not going to be my life,” she said.

“These pictures display the severity and the destruction of domestic violence and why it’s so hard to get help.”

The exhibition will move from the Red Tree Theatre at Tuggerah to the Art House in Wyong on May 15.

*Kristy’s last name has been withheld for privacy reasons.

Kate Moss poses topless in rare 32-year old images from celebrated photographer Michel Haddi as they go on display at a new exhibition of his work in London

By Geraint Llewellyn For Mailonline

Published: 19:36 EDT, 30 April 2023 | Updated: 20:06 EDT, 30 April 2023

Rare snaps of supermodel Kate Moss taken by legendary photographer Michel Haddi are to go on display at an exhibition in London.

Haddi has photographed a host of celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez, Clint Eastwood, David Bowie, Tupac Shakur and Sir Sean Connery, and will showcase his images of other stars such as Uma Thurman and Linda Evangelista at international photography fair Photo London this month.

He recently discovered a series of rare Polaroid photos – while cleaning out his storage – of British supermodel Moss, in which he said she looks “very powerful”.

The images now form part of his new book, The Legend – Kate Moss.

The photographer, who has had studios in London and California, said: ‘It made me very happy… to look at the past because I met Kate back in the 90s when she was not known in LA.

‘She was young and she looked like the mermaid of Copenhagen, I said: ‘Oh my God, this girl is like a dream,’… she doesn’t care about nothing and she’s so beautiful.’ 

Recalling working with Moss on a Bloomingdale shoot after meeting her in California, Haddi said: ‘I think that at first she didn’t think that I liked her because I didn’t work with her in LA, but I couldn’t, I was (working), I am as shy as she (is) even now.

‘So there is two models of 6ft tall and she feels a bit embarrassed, I say ‘Darling listen, stay the way you are. You look pissed off, doesn’t matter because even when you look pissed off, you look beautiful’.’ 

The images on show at his London exhibit include black and white photos taken for a shoot at British GQ in New York in 1991, where Moss sits on the edge of a sofa and in another picture lies down.

Recalling meeting Moss at the Cannes Film Festival while she was dating Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, Haddi said she greeted him with “the most beautiful letter”.

Haddi said: ‘This was a girl that at the time was a big star then, but she said: ‘Your photo work of Johnny is so beautiful. I will love that if you could do some like that of me.’

‘I was very touched but so embarrassed because I didn’t know what to do. I mean, you know, it’s like it’s a task for me beyond anything, and so anyway I did some photographs of her there and then.’ 

At his studio in Los Angeles in 1993, he took photographs of There’s Something About Mary actress Diaz for Vogue Homme Magazine which will also be on show in London.

Haddi said Diaz came dressed in a T-shirt featuring the words: ‘Our pussys, our choice.’ 

He said: ‘I looked at it and I said: ‘Darling, okay, I love it.’

‘You have to keep in mind that Cameron used to be a model before so she was very aware of all the in and out of the business.

‘When she came, she was so happy, because one hour before I (received) a big bouquet of flowers of roses. Huge. I mean, so big, and it was from Matt Dillon, because they used to go out together.

‘She was a delight. She was very sweet. She has a great sense of humour.’ 

When asked about difficult people he has worked with, Haddi recalled photographing Shakur, who came to the shoot with John Singleton – director of Poetic Justice in which the rapper starred.

Singleton, Haddi claimed, did not like Shakur being dressed as civil rights leader Martin Luther King and Haddi told him to take the pictures instead.

Haddi said: ‘Tupac being super elegant and very intelligent. He says to John, ‘John, please let the man work. Okay, let him be.’

Haddi’s images will be displayed at 29 Arts In Progress Gallery booth G27 during Photo London from May 10 to 14, which takes place at Somerset House.

On May 13 at 3pm, Haddi will sign copies of his book on Moss which contains the Polaroid photos.

The exhibition will be on display at Somerset House during Photo London from May 10 to 14. 

For many people, landscape photography has become a popularity contest, chasing likes and adulation over creative inspiration and an individual voice. And that is a shame for many reasons, both individual and collective. This important video essay features an experienced landscape photographer discussing the issue and what really matters in the craft. 

Coming to you from Alister Benn of Expressive Photography, this insightful video discusses the meaning of the pursuit of landscape photography. As Benn discusses, one of the most frustrating aspects of the collective craft is the disrespect sometimes displayed toward the environment and wildlife in the pursuit of shots. While most of us can agree that getting a shot does not justify destruction of the natural world, I think more of us get sucked into the pursuit of online clout without realizing it. Not only is this unfulfilling in the long run, it often censors individual creative voices because people stop developing their own style and instead chase the latest social media trends. And why pursue a creative craft if you are not expressing your individuality? Sometimes, it is important to take stock of things, get out into the field, and reset your expectations and experience a bit. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Benn.

A 2018 survey found that only 18 percent of photojournalists worldwide were women. Women Photograph is a nonprofit group working to elevate more female and nonbinary photographers. Founder Daniella Zalcman joins John Yang to discuss a new book published by the nonprofit, “What We See: Women and Nonbinary Perspectives Through the Lens.”

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash., April 30, 2023—Snohomish County PUD announced last Wednesday, April 26, the winning entries for its 2023 student photography and art contests. All students in grades K-12 who live in Snohomish County or on Camano Island were eligible to enter.

PUD Art Competition Winners

Artists were challenged with creating a superhero with energy-related superpowers. Entries were judged on creativity, content, clarity and originality related to the theme. Each winner received $75.

PUD High School Photography Competition Winners

Artists were challenged with creating “Energy in Action.” Energy comes in many forms including: radiant, thermal, potential, electrical, motion, sound, chemical. Entries were judged how well the photograph illustrates the theme “Energy in Action,” artistic merit and technical quality. Each winner received $75.

About Snohomish PUD

Snohomish County PUD is a municipal corporation of the state of Washington, formed by a majority vote of the people for the purpose of providing electric and/or water utility service. It is the largest of 28 PUDs in Washington state, the second largest publicly owned utility in the Pacific Northwest, and the 12th largest in the nation in terms of customers served. Snohomish County PUD serves 875,000 residents of Snohomish County and Camano Island providing electrical service to over 373,000 homes and businesses and water services to over 23,000 homes.