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📸 Edward Burtynsky, Cam Kirk, Fungi and Slime Molds, Black Holes
Alison Zavos
February 01, 2024
ON FEATURE SHOOT
Good Luck Keeping Up with Cam Kirk
It’s rare to see a photographer mentoring and creating opportunities for their contemporaries and even more rare for them to do it on a large scale. Atlanta-based photographer, entrepreneur, and community builder Cam Kirk could be highly successful just doing his own thing, shooting for brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, Airbnb, American Express, NBA, and Puma, and taking portraits of hip hop artists (from Megan Thee Stallion to “young icon” Luh Tyler). But Kirk is doing it differently. Authentically. Successfully. And at scale.
Kirk is doing so much that it made my head spin just researching all his projects for this article. Along with his own commercial, editorial, and advertising work, he also runs a record label-style agency for photographers called The Collective Gallery, Cam Kirk Studios, a busy photography studio in Atlanta equipped with the Creative Lab (in collaboration with Pharrell Williams’ Billionaire Boys Club), and a new content streaming network called CKS.
In just the last two weeks, he hosted a community neighborhood clean-up event called “Spin the Block,” a live motivational conference in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King called “Yesterday’s Tomorrow,” as well as meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, who invited him to her home to see her photography collection. She mentioned Carrie Mae Weems and Roy DeCarava.
Thinking about Kirk, I was reminded of what photographer Justin French told us a few years ago:
“Self-promotion and self-interest are always counterproductive. I think to rectify that, individuals and communities should really try to step outside of themselves and their personal interests and genuinely look at how they can aid in improving the lives of others —Black lives especially.”
READER SUBMISSION
Black Holes
“Black Holes is a journey into Europe's painful past. Photographing landscapes changed by war, Sunye poses the question of peace in a time when conflict has returned to the continent, and in a broader sense, humanity seems to have declared war on the planet itself. All photographs have been taken at various sites in Europe, where either military infrastructure or fighting have altered the landscapes, leaving scars that, in some cases, have lasted for over a century.” —Julien Sunye, photographer
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UPCOMING EXHIBITION
Saatchi Gallery Presents the Largest Exhibition of Works by Edward Burtynsky
“I have spent over 40 years bearing witness to the ways in which modern civilization has dramatically transformed our planet. At this time, the awareness of these issues presented by my large format images has never felt more urgent. I am grateful to be mounting the largest exhibition of my career at Saatchi Gallery in London, UK, and I hope the exhibition experience will continue to provide inflection points for diverse conversations on these issues and move us all to a place of positive action.”
Extraction / Abstraction
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY
February 14 – May 6, 2024
Public admission is by ticket only and can be booked in advance online.
WINNING IMAGES
Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) is an annual competition celebrating close-up, macro, and micro photography through an annual competition, themed challenge, and newsletter. See all winners and Top 100 pictures here.
Close-up Photographer of the Year 5
Overall winner & Animals winner
Fungi and Slime Molds Winner
Insects Winner
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