Now in its third year, Adobe recognizes 10 “Rising Stars of Photography” each summer, selecting up-and-coming photographers from across the globe.
This year’s Rising Stars include photographers from the U.S., Qatar, the Netherlands, Uganda, the United Kingdom, Israel, Iraq and Italy. Read more below, and follow Lightroom on Instagram to see more of their work in the coming weeks.
Adriane de Souza – Qatar
Portrait and documentary photographer Adriane de Souza views the world as a series of images and stories waiting to be photographed. With a personal philosophy that creation is inherently good regardless of the perceived quality of the outcome, Adriane strives to create as much as she can, often surprising herself with what she captures along the way. These days, Adriane’s focus is on translating the unobserved stories of humans through photography and presenting them in a public, visual medium.
Filippo Masoni – Italy
Hailing from Italy, this landscape photographer traverses the globe, capturing the beauty he sees in nature. Filippo Masoni found himself engrossed in photography on a trip he took to visit the 5,000-year- old pines in California’s Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. One moment he was snapping shots of these trees on his first-ever DSLR, and the next thing he knew, he couldn’t stop! Since then, Filippo has been traveling the world and has the pictures to prove it.
Alexandra Howland – Iraq
Four years ago, Alexandra Howland was a fine art painter who felt out-of-touch with the subjects of her work. In search of a more active involvement in the world around her, Alexandra discovered a passion for photography. With a camera in hand, she could paint a more honest picture of the events she witnessed. She threw herself into her new life’s work, moving to Iraq to examine the areas portrayed through a limited lens of foreign coverage and misunderstood by the outsider. Through her photography, Alexandra aims to add something to the world that differs from the pre-existing narrative or perception of her subjects.
Ariel Fields – Israel
A nature and landscape photographer with a focus on conservation, Ariel Fields uses his camera to spread awareness of the importance of preserving the earth and its creatures. Inspiration struck Ariel when he learned about the striped hyena, a beautiful species native to the Middle East whose population is declining. After discovering his love for photographing these creatures, Ariel began using his work to educate people about other threatened species near home and around the world.
Guen Fiore – United Kingdom
Guen Fiore’s foray into photography happened by chance. Inspired by some fashion photography she came across on social media, Guen tried her hand at a photoshoot and fell in love. Although she is self- described as quite shy, Guen’s favorite things to capture are people. When she is behind the camera, Guen’s extroverted side emerges as she builds strong relationships, bringing out an element of honesty in what she views as a collaboration between herself and her subjects.
Aaron Kajumba – Uganda
Living away from home a few years ago, Aaron Kajumba stumbled upon photography as a means to share his adventures in California with his family and friends back in Uganda. With a lifelong interest in meeting new people and hearing their stories, Aaron had found a medium through which to showcase these stories with others. Since then, this street photographer has been capturing what he finds
Yaphet Teklu – United States
Originally from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Yaphet Woubishet found his love of photography while exploring his own hometown. School and part-time jobs took him to all corners of the city and gave him the chance to see it in a new light. As Yaphet roamed around the place in which he grew up, he naturally began documenting his days, photographing the city and the colorful, chaotic, nostalgic mix of interesting characters it has to offer.
Kelly Stefanski – United States
Before devoting her life to photography, Kelly Stefanski dedicated her studies to science with a particular interest in human health and the environment. Driven by an increasing concern for our
planet’s limited resources, Kelly found herself drawn more and more to documenting her learnings on camera. Now, she is a landscape and wildlife photographer with a strong focus on exploring the human relationship with nature.
Byron Brown – United States
A fashion photographer through and through, Byron never hesitates to share his love of portraits, more specifically, fashion portraits. In his one-on-one sessions, he begins by playing music and getting to know his muse for the day. According to Byron, it turns out that even though people can take millions of selfies, they often still get anxiety when in front of a camera (which is honestly probably the same price as their iPhones). When Byron’s subjects get more comfortable and begin to open up, that’s when Byron can capture all the emotion, movement and creativity that come along with fashion photography.
Kamile Kave – Netherlands
A love of food and talent with a camera were all it took for Kamile Kave to make the switch from working at a multinational company to starting her own career as a food photographer. Her favorite
subjects to capture, besides the obvious fluffy pancakes or steaming latte, is food in action. Kamile uses the drizzling of honey or pouring of coffee to illustrate more of a story in her photos. It also helps to invoke the senses of taste and smell in the audience.
