afterhrs. is excited to announce its photography division that will showcase emerging, established and extraordinary artists that lens the role of culture in art and advertising. Managing this dynamic roster of exclusive artists, the studio proudly announces Annie Henley as its new executive integrated producer. Annie Henley’s qualification for this unique role is derived from her experience as both an Integrated Art Producer and as well as photographic agent. Her roles have been pivotal in curating artists for integrated campaigns for global brands such as Google, Meta, Pepsi, Gatorade, BASF, and Pfizer. 

The photographic artists in residence at afterhrs. are:

• Jason Al Taan (he/his) Jason Omar Al Taan began his career as assistant and apprentice to legendary fashion photographer David Lachapelle. His immediately recognisable voice blends the voyeurism of modern art photographers like Gregory Crewdsen with the democratic accessibility of classic pop and fashion creators. 
• Nick Walker (he/his) Nick’s work explores contemporary musical and cultural landscapes through music videos, feature-length documentaries, and scripted narratives. Collaborations include Beyonce, Billie Eilish, FKA twigs, Future, Olivia Rodrigo, and Playboi Carti.
• Liz Barclay (she/hers) Liz is a creative living between New York City and Los Angeles; exploring where cultural realms and the arts intersect through storytelling, creative direction, and photography. Clients include Nike, Jordan Brand, Netflix, The New York Times, Instagram, Apple, Google, Beats, Capitol Records, Rolling Stone, Nowness, SSENSE, GQ, and Bon Appetit. 
• Eli Wirija (they/theirs) Elizabeth “Eli” Wirija is a non-binary photographer and director originally born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently based in New York, Eli has executed imaginative and surreal fashion campaigns for clients like Nike, The WNBA, RCA Records, Facebook, Coach, Microsoft, SSENSE, Footlocker, British Vogue, Vanity Fair, I-D, FADER, and Nylon.
• Ryan Schude (he/his) Blending influences from cinema, literature, and street photography, Ryan’s productions often focus around a single, wide image of a distinct location, telling stories of multiple characters in a single frame.
• Noa Griffel (she/hers) Noa’s work is a collision of technical skill and other-world-ism that is as beautiful as it can be offhand. Light and colour are her preferred vehicles. Clients include Estee Lauder, YouTube, Conde Nast, DKNY, Vogue, and Michael Kors.
• Chessa Subbiondo (she/hers) Through her thoughtful composition and her ability to elicit candid moments, Chessa creates narratives that escape the confines of staged photography, inviting viewers to connect with humanity and a spirited perspective. Clients include Highsnobiety, Interview Magazine, Office Magazine, SIXTEEN Journal, KingKong Magazine, Vogue Italia, KENZO, Levi’s, Coach, and Balmain.
• Tyler Ash (he/his) Tyler Ash is a Los Angeles-based photographer specialising in fashion and beauty, often collaborating with his wife, Amanda, on styling for various clients including FentyXPuma, Dior, GQ, ON and Purple Brand. 
• Lian Benoit (she/hers) Montreal-born photographer and creative, her work is rooted in empathy, intuition and the need for authentic representation. She believes in the female gaze as a form of activism and self-actualisation. Her background in branding, acquired through years in creative agencies like TUX, Sid Lee, and K72, provides her with a holistic understanding of each project and a desire to create with purpose.
• Kai Regan (he/his) A cofounder of afterhrs, Kai has worked at the intersection of art and commerce as a photographer and DGA director for top fortune 500 brands and the most contemporary culture brands. He brings a unique perspective on culture in his work with elevated execution and relationships in casting, styling and in tasteful, unique executions for integrated photography and video campaigns.
• Camila Cornelsen (she/hers) Camila Cornelsen is a Brazilian director, photographer, and cinematographer. She grew up influenced by her dad, a photographer, and by her mom, a producer. Effortless and energetic movement punctuates campaigns for the likes of APPLE, Google, Instagram, PUMA, AVON, VOGUE, Netflix, and Nike.

Like many of the photographers in the afterhrs. photo division, Annie’s journey in the advertising industry is as inspiring as it is unorthodox. Starting from her early days as a model, where she collaborated with the industry’s top photographers, Annie’s passion for visual storytelling led her into photo production and laying the foundation from being in front of the camera to crafting the process and final product.

Now, as she spearheads into the role of executive integrated producer at afterhrs. Annie is poised to take on new challenges and drive innovation in the ever-changing world of advertising. With her keen eye for talent and strategic mindset, she is committed to supporting artists and pushing the boundaries of the conventional.

Playing safe is not an option for wildlife photographer Greg du Toit. The South African has spent the past two decades photographing lions, rhinos and elephants, embracing more adventure and danger than most people will experience in a lifetime.

Unlike many in his field, du Toit says he doesn’t use bait, camera traps, digital manipulation, captive bred animals or drones. All he needs is his Nikon camera, a chance to get close to his subject, the right natural light, and a lot of patience. It’s a combination that has won him international accolades, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2013, and in April, the wildlife category at the Fine Art Photography Awards, for “The Enchanted Forest,” a series showing elephants in a forest on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Speaking with CNN by phone, on the way to Tanzania for his next project, he shared his approach to fine art photography, what the past two decades have taught him and why taking pictures in Africa feels different to anywhere else in the world.

The conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

CNN: What are the most important aspects to you when you’re taking a picture in the wild?

Greg du Toit: I learned to photograph on film, so I like my work to resemble a moment that I experienced from behind my camera, sort of a moment in nature. So I never do multiple exposures. The fundamental thing remains the same as it always was since the very first time I picked up a camera, and that is light. I really like to work with beautiful quality light, golden or blue even sometimes. And then beyond that, sort of adding a touch of mood or a touch of mystery.

CNN: How do you achieve mood in your pictures?

Du Toit: I spend a lot of time in nature. I get up super early, for the good light, I stay up late and then, like for this Enchanted Forest series, I just found places in the forest that work right, where there was a beautiful window or there was a beautiful light coming through, and I just wait for an elephant to show up. So that portfolio, it’s literally five photographs and it took me five years. From a business point of view, that makes absolutely no financial sense whatsoever, but I’m just an artist. For me, it’s all about just creating the art even if it comes at a great expense in terms of investing time. I do just love being out there as well, so it’s not like a major sacrifice.

CNN: In the age of social media, I’d expect photographers to be constantly posting series after series instead of really taking their time…

Du Toit: I had always focused on only quality. I used to get, like, six photos a year and I’d be happy with that. Then social media came along and especially Instagram, and it was like, ‘no, you need at least an image a day,’ or more than that even, and I just couldn’t do that.

I kind of gave up on social media, which sort of felt like I was committing career suicide when I did that. But I’m just sticking to my guns. I can’t sort of adapt and just produce quantity because the way I work just does not allow for that.

CNN: What are you hoping to convey with your wildlife photography

Du Toit: I just want to tell people that it’s not too late, especially here in Africa. We still have such incredible wildernesses, full of these amazing animals, and that’s why when I photograph, I really try and focus on not just the animal itself, but on the environment in which that animal lives. That winning series of elephants is exactly that.  There are still these incredibly wild places that are still full of incredible animals and it’s not too late for us to enjoy them, to preserve and conserve them.

CNN: You mainly focus on taking photographs in Africa. What would you say that makes wildlife photography in Africa different from other parts of the world?

Du Toit: I’ve been on trips and the other parts of the world are wonderful. For example, I’ve been up to the Arctic to photograph polar bears, and I’ve been to India for tigers and things like that. But every time I’ve done that, I’ve just felt that those places lacked this energy that Africa has. It’s like a wild energy … there’s that feeling of mystery and intrigue, the feeling that this place is so big and so vast and a little bit dangerous, and I love that.

Du Toit famously once spent 16 months photographing lions at a waterhole in Kenya’s South Rift Valley. For the first 13 months he sat in a hole in the ground next to the water hole, followed by three months laying in the water, in an effort to get the perfect shot.

CNN: When you took your iconic pictures of the lions, you were there sitting in the water for months, you caught malaria. Is there a kind of contradiction between the beauty of the end product, and the reality of the work that goes into getting the image?

Du Toit: Yeah, the photographs you see are just polished and they just look beautiful, but the reality of getting those photographs is very different. Very often in these really wild places in Africa, you get gypsy flies and so you end up being bit by these flies and it’s really painful, so between shots you’re kind of swatting flies. It’s hot and sweaty, so it’s not glamorous work. Also, your cameras get dirty and [Africa] it’s a very sort of dusty place. But I really just love the end product. Getting a good photograph is the sort of best thing I can do. It’s the best feeling, and I really do just love nature. I’d rather be there than anywhere else.

CNN: One thing that many people don’t realize is that, apart from the picture of the two lions, there is another one with a bunch of lions just standing there…

Du Toit: That’s right, there were others watching me. I sort of unpacked this in my book [“Wilderness Dreaming,” published in 2022], but I’d only thought about getting the shots, I didn’t think beyond that.

So when those two lionesses finish drinking, they just lay on the edge watching me and then it started to get dark. So I slowly started trying to move to the side of the waterhole (…) I’m moving, I’m getting to the edge of the water. The water’s getting shallower. So more and more of my body is becoming exposed and these lionesses are getting more and more interested…

I’m quite amazed I lived to tell the tale. Eventually I managed to get to the edge of the water hole, and I just jumped up and ran off.

CNN : You don’t use camera traps, digital manipulation or captive-bred animals. Why is that important to you?

Du Toit: I want to photograph animals in their wild habitats, doing what they naturally do. For me, it’s all about wildlife… It’s all about the subject and the subject’s environment, and then it’s about light, and really using good quality light because that for me is what brings that kind of mystery, and then just working with good angles. I love good backgrounds as well.

CNN: Do you have any particular tricks for capturing animals’ natural behaviour without disturbing them?

Du Toit: Wild animals know the shape of a human being and I don’t want to scare or intimidate my subjects; I want them to just be doing what they would do naturally. So I’ve learned ways to conceal the human form, and one of the simplest ways is to photograph from a vehicle. I can spend 10, 12 hours a day in a car, so well over 50,000 hours a year in a car. The other thing I do, which I did with the lions, I dug a hole in the ground, so you sit in the hole and then you have a roof over you, and then you photograph from there.

CNN: What is your next photography project?

Du Toit: I’m trying to create a body of work and then go to Ngorongoro crater [in northeastern Tanzania] because it’s one of those places in Africa that’s glossed over. It’s the most incredible place. It’s an extinct volcano and it’s nature’s own game reserve. It’s kind of like Jurassic Park. I’m going to be spending a week there now, which is fun.

The winners of the 2024 Environmental Photography Award have been announced.

This year’s top prize has been presented to photographer Aaron Gekoski for his image ‘See No Evil’, which also won the Humanity versus Nature category.

The photograph was taken at Safari World in Bangkok, where orangutans have been used in shows for decades.

Now in its fourth year, The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s Environmental Photography Award was created with the aim of promoting photographers who use their work to raise awareness for the protection of nature around the world.

Discover more emotive photography from the awards…

2024 Environmental Photography Award winners

Barrel Sponge Symphony Orchestra – Nataya Chonecadeedumrongkul

Runner-up in the “Ocean Worlds” category

Inner Space Hitchhicker  – Magnus Lundgren

Winner in the “Ocean Worlds” category

Explosion of Monarchs – Jaime Rojo

Winner in the “Into the forest” category

Rainbow glacier – Ivan Pedretti

Runner-up in the “Polar Wonders” category

On the thin ice – Florian Ledoux

Runner-up in the “Polar Wonders” category

Rainy Release – Fernando Faciole

Public Award 2024 and runner-up “Change Makers: Reasons for Hope”

Face to Face – Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar

Runner-up in the “Humanity versus Nature” category

Shaking off the snow – Daniel Valverde Fernández

Winner in the “Polar Wonders” category

Gentoo Flying High – Andrew Pollard

Runner-up in the “Ocean Worlds” category

Hopeless – Alvaro Herrero Lopez-Bletran

Runner-up in the “Humanity versus Nature” category

Substitute Rhinos – Aaron Gekoski

Winner in the “Change Makers: Reasons for Hope” category

Seeds of Hope – Marcus Westberg

Runner-up in the “Change Makers: Reasons for Hope” category

Galaxies at my feet – Soumya Ranjan Bhattacharyya

Runner-up in the “Into the forest” category

Parenting Goals – Thomas Vijayan

Students’ Choice 2024 

Sumatran serow – Vladimir Cech Jr

Runner-up in the “Into the forest” category

See No Evil – Aaron Gekoski

Winner in the “Humanity versus Nature” category and Environmental Photographer of the Year

Find out more about the Environmental Photography Award.

More amazing wildlife photography

By Sadokat Jalolova, Edited by Christopher Torchia

The assignment for the Uzbek deaf photographers’ workshop: cover a game of kupkari, in which horse-riders jostle for a goat carcass and hustle it to a goal amid shouting, shoving and swirling dust.

It didn’t go well for student Murod Yusupov, who arrived late at the event in Piskent, in the Tashkent region, and then struggled to orient himself in the boisterous crowds watching the maelstrom on the field.

Crowds watch a game of kupkari, a traditional sport in Uzbekistan (Photo: Khuvaido Fatihojayeva)

“Unfortunately, I was a little late, and I had to stay among the fans. Communication with the teacher and participants was almost non-existent. But it was a big problem to take pictures there, there were too many people who came to watch the kupkari, I didn’t have enough experience to find a convenient place and opportunity to take pictures,” Yusupov said through a sign language interpreter in an interview with The Times of Central Asia.

He learned from the experience, though. With the help of workshop director Husniddin Ato, 21-year-old Yusupov got accredited for the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent in February and delivered strong images. Best of all, he enjoyed the assignment.

Uzbek athlete performs during the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent in February. (Photo: Murod Yusupov)

—

One recent evening, at the Bon Cafe in Tashkent, Ato, Yusupov and several other participants in the “Deaf Photographers” workshop talked about their experiences and hopes to a correspondent from The Times of Central Asia. Ma’mur Akhlidinov, a sign language teacher at the University of Uzbek Language and Literature who is also deaf, helped to interpret. Cups of sea buckthorn tea were served during a conversation lasting two and a half hours. The deaf photographers were upbeat, often smiling, communicating with each other through hand gestures and showing photos on their phones to each other.

—

A decade ago, Ato, a professional photographer, wanted to report on deaf people. Then he decided to let deaf people show in pictures how they feel about the world. While in quarantine during the pandemic, he consulted Akhlidinov, a member of the Deaf Society of Uzbekistan.

For many years, Akhlidinov worked as a designer in the editorial office of Ma’rifat, an Uzbek publication, and as the editor-in-chief of the MediaPlus project. Akhlidinov was surprised by the fact that there wasn’t a single internet resource about deaf people and their rights in Uzbekistan. In 2017, he launched a blog for deaf people, their parents and educators.

Akhlidinov supported Ato’s proposal for an initial three-month course. and announced the project on the Deaf Society blog, which has more than 1,000 subscribers. An age requirement (18-25) was set for the participants. Nine people signed up.

In the fall of 2021, the teaching started. It was slow going at first because of scheduling conflicts and other obstacles.

“Later, their interest and enthusiasm wasn’t always there, they didn’t complete their assignments on time, and I had to explain some things over and over again. Due to such problems, the three-month course lasted a long time with interruptions,” said Ato, who has learned basic sign language.

In 2022, Ato successfully applied for funds from the Washington-based Meridian International Center, a non-profit group that implements an awards program in partnership with the U.S. State Department. “Projects by individual eligible alumni are granted funding of up to $5,000 to facilitate positive changes within their communities,” Meridian said.

Thanks to the support, an exhibition of photos of the project participants was organized in the Tashkent House of Photography in March 2023. “We were able to pay the translator only because of this grant, and before that, both I and the translator worked as volunteers,” Ato said.

These days, former workshop participants often meet and talk with their mentors. Ato now wants to organize another workshop – not only in Tashkent, but also at a regional level. The big challenge is funding.

—

Deaf photographer Gulnoza Shermamatova, 25, said her hearing problems started when she got a bad cold at the age of seven. Various medical treatments, including what she describes as a doctor’s overreliance on prescribing antibiotics, failed to stem the deterioration. Shermamatova lost her hearing completely when she was 12-years-old.

Ato is coaching Shermamatova and other deaf photographers without charge, even though there is no formal workshop underway.

Shermamatova, who is currently studying for a master’s degree in art, wants to teach photography and is learning how to use photo editing programs.

“I like taking pictures of landscapes. Green is one of the most beautiful colors for me,” she said. “I have depicted many scenes of my hometown, the village of Oq Oltin in my paintings. I also like to take pictures of people’s emotions. I try to get more random pictures. If I feel the kindness of people, I will take pictures of them. In most cases, I have to ask their permission. It’s a pleasure to photograph people looking at the horizon, the sky, and I’ve captured this a few times.”

A rural scene in Oq Oltin village, Navoi Region, Uzbekistan. Oq Oltin is the photographer’s hometown (Photo: Gulnoza Shermamatova)

—

After starting the project, Ato looked for deaf photographers on the internet and watched YouTube videos of deaf photographers in other countries. He wanted to use the videos in his teaching, but found out that sign language is not the same everywhere. Uzbek deaf people, for example, use Russian sign language.

“Recently, we invited the British deaf photographer Stephen Iliffe as part of the project, he gave a two-day master class to the participants,” Ato said. “For the participants, we engaged two experts who understand English and translated into local sign language. My students were well motivated.”

British deaf photographer Stephen Iliffe, in striped shirt, works in a studio with Uzbek deaf photographers. (Photo: Husniddin Ato)

During his visit to Uzbekistan in May, Iliffe showed how he creates a frame in Photoshop by superimposing two or three pictures of sign language speakers, and joined the students on photography assignments.

British deaf photographer Stephen Iliffe, lying on ground, shares his skills with Uzbek students. (Photo: Husniddin Ato)

Employers of deaf photographers must find ways to communicate effectively, often via text message, according to Ato. He said his students have the skills to work in photo studios or media and that “photos taken by the deaf are almost indistinguishable from those of ordinary photographers.”

Akhlidinov, the sign language interpreter, said there were damaging stereotypes that “the deaf cannot work” or are only good for manual work such as in factories and construction sites.

It hasn’t worked out for all the deaf photographers. Ato said one talented student had to sell his own camera because he needed the cash and is now working in a parking lot.

—

Another talent is Farangiz Kamalova, a 21-year-old student of computer graphics and artistic photography at the National Institute of Painting and Design in Tashkent. She enjoys nature, people and portrait photography and wants to participate in international photography competitions but needs help navigating the application process. Akhlidinov said that’s because some hearing-impaired and deaf people have more limited vocabularies.

The quality of education and other kinds of support can affect the development of vocabularies for deaf people.

Khuvaido Fatihojayeva, 21, was one of the first workshop participants and knew virtually nothing about photography.

“During the project, H. Ato took us to Samarkand, Bukhara, Gulistan and organized master classes there,” she said. “Since I was born in Tashkent, I didn’t know the situation in the rural areas. During the trip to the regions organized by the teacher, it was very interesting to get to know village life, its people, and capture them in the frame… In the future, I intend to go to every region of Uzbekistan and photograph interesting topics such as people, lifestyle. I also have a big dream to travel the world and take in the world’s architecture and people.”

Fatihojayeva wants to open a photo studio and is interested in portrait photography as well as photographing buildings and architectural features.

Birds flutter around a man in the ancient city of Bukhara (Photo: Khuvaido Fatihojayeva)

—

Yusupov, who had a hard time at the kupkari event, prepares photo reports for media outlet Gazeta. One report was prepared on a horse parade held on International Children’s Day in Tashkent. He has also reported for Suvmap, a USAID-backed project aiming to promote sustainable use of water resources, working on various assignments related to water and irrigation.

Yusupov, a history undergraduate at the National University of Uzbekistan in Tashkent, loves photographing nature and sports.

“Last year, I invited my friends and teacher to my hometown, Bayovut district, Sirdarya region,” he said. “We took pictures of people’s lifestyles, landscapes, and the birds there.”

Leica has launched a new LUX app for iOS that’s aimed at attracting a new audience to the iconic German camera brand.

Leica describes LUX as ‘more than just a camera app’.

“It is a companion for those moments when your physical Leica camera isn’t within reach — or if you have yet to experience the pleasure of shooting with a Leica,” the company says. 

The app can apply film emulation presets to existing photos in a similar fashion to many other app-based image capture apps. At launch, eleven “Leica Looks” are included in the app, such as Leica Standard, Leica Classic, Leica Contemporary, and Leica Black and White.

However, the company says that new ‘looks’ will be added every month.

Additionally, iPhone photographers can also use the LUX app’s automatic mode, “Aperture Mode,” and manual control modes to capture photos.

Aperture Mode is the most unique feature of the app as it seeks to emulate the bokeh and color of many of the brand’s iconic lenses, such as the Summilux-M 28mm F1.4 ASPH, Summilux-M 35mm F1.4 ASPH, and Noctilux-M 50mm F1.2 ASPH.

iPhone 15 Pro Max users can also access an APO-Telyt-M 135mm F3.4 emulation thanks to the phone’s telephoto lens.

In addition, there’s also a pro manual mode, which allows users to control exposure compensation, shutter speeds, ISO, white balance, manual focus, and Raw/ProRaw capture settings, and display a live histogram.

A free version of Leica’s LUX App is available from the Apple App Store with limited features, including access to five looks.

From there, the Pro version will set you back $9.99 a month (first 2 weeks free) or $99.99 a year.

Leica recommends using the app with an iPhone Pro 12 or newer. 

You can download Leica LUX on the app store.

Revolutionize the way you capture moments with the latest innovative immersive camera technology. These cutting-edge cameras provide a unique perspective on the world around us, allowing for interactive viewing across 360 degrees. By capturing a series of images, these cameras enable a wide angle display of objects, making them ideal for various applications across different industries.

Industry leaders are investing in AI-powered immersive cameras, enhancing them with advanced features to cater to a growing market demand. The launch of new cameras focusing on speed improvements and the integration of AR and VR technologies across industries are key trends driving this technological revolution.

Opportunities abound in sectors such as automotive and sports entertainment, where the demand for immersive cameras is on the rise. These cameras are not only changing the way we capture memories but also providing real-life simulation experiences for training purposes in the defense sector.

From North America to Asia Pacific, the global market for immersive cameras is expanding rapidly. Countries like the United States, Japan, and Germany are at the forefront of adopting this transformative technology, with wide-reaching implications for various sectors.

Join the immersive camera revolution today and explore the endless possibilities of capturing the world in a whole new light.

Unlocking the Potential of Immersive Cameras: Unveiling New Horizons in Photography

The world of photography is undergoing a profound transformation with the advent of immersive cameras, offering unparalleled opportunities to capture moments in ways never before imagined. While the previous article touched on the broad applications and market trends surrounding this cutting-edge technology, there are additional aspects that deserve attention in order to fully grasp the implications of this revolution.

What are the key challenges associated with the adoption of immersive cameras?

One of the primary challenges facing the widespread adoption of immersive cameras is the cost barrier. While the technology holds immense promise, the initial investment required to acquire and integrate these high-tech devices can be prohibitive for many individuals and businesses. Additionally, ensuring seamless compatibility and integration with existing systems and workflows poses a significant technical challenge.

How do immersive cameras compare to traditional photography equipment?

The advantages of immersive cameras are evident in their ability to capture a 360-degree view of the surroundings, offering a truly immersive experience for viewers. This opens up new creative possibilities and allows for interactive storytelling like never before. On the other hand, the disadvantages of immersive cameras may include larger file sizes, increased processing power requirements, and potential limitations in capturing fine details compared to traditional high-resolution cameras.

What controversies surround the use of immersive cameras in photography?

One of the key controversies surrounding the use of immersive cameras revolves around privacy concerns. As these cameras can capture a wide field of view, there are potential ethical implications related to consent and privacy rights, especially in public spaces. Balancing the benefits of immersive photography with the need to respect individual privacy remains a contentious issue that requires careful consideration.

As the technology continues to evolve and expand, immersive cameras are poised to revolutionize not just photography but various industries ranging from entertainment to education and beyond. By embracing these innovative tools, individuals and businesses can unlock a new dimension of visual storytelling and create captivating experiences that push the boundaries of imagination.

To delve deeper into the world of immersive cameras and their impact on photography, visit National Geographic for insightful articles and stunning visuals that showcase the power of immersive storytelling in photography.