19 year old Phillip Duc is based in Melbourne, and has been shooting for about three years now. He says he’s inspired by cinema photography and culture, and adds: “- What really gets me going is serene, peaceful, tranquil and sometimes depressing environments. If i had to name a photographer it would be Ryan McGinley, because he lives life accordingly through his photographs.”

His work hasn’t been published anywhere yet as he just lately started promoting it. I have a feeling we will see more of it in the future.

At the moment he is working on a project called ‘Kinrid Spirits’: “- ‘kindrid spirits’ depicting the relation between humans and animals and how we have been corrupted by technology.”

Here’s some of his work:

Ben Trovato Blog is now over one year of age, and ever since the launch it has been a pleasure to promote the great work of the many aspiring fashion photographers in the industry! And hopefully there’s many to come. A big thanks to all the photographers, the readers, and all the people that are promoting the blog around the web, this couldn’t have been done without any of you. For the 200th post I will focus on the best of the work featured within the 199 posts published, not necessarily personal favorites, but the work that has gotten most attention and visitors after being published. In other words: The most popular work. However, some of the work has been picked because I felt it didn’t get the attention it deserved.

The “best of” collection consists of 40 images, one image per photographer. Click on the title or image to get to the actual post where the image was featured. Enjoy the amazing work collected through 199 posts over 1 year, in chronological order.

Oslo based fashion photographer Solveig Selj has worked up a great portfolio in the short time she’s been working professionally, including work for MTV, SVA Magazines, Campus, Platinum Love, Heart Magazine and Vanity Teen. Solveig gets inspired being around creative people: “-I love playful designers like Fam Irvoll, the evocative music of Jake Ziah and Julie Pike’s feminin photographic style. I also appreciate bloggers for finding and sharing their treasures with the world, making it easier to discover new and inspirational artists.”

Here’s some of her work, including two videos:

Buenos Aires based photographer Facundo Garay has shooting professionally for about a year and a half. He loves the work of David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Quentin Tarantino, Orson Welles and Woody Allen, but he also finds inspiration in fellow photographers David Bellemere, Mario Testino, Juergen Teller, and Patrick Demarchelier’s photography.

So far he’s shot a few advertisement campaigns, catalogues and editorials, and at the moment he’s working on some personal work for an exhibition later this year.

Here’s some of his work:

Brooklyn based photographer Lois Bielefeld has been shooting ever since she was 11-12 years old, when she and her friend orchestrated mini-fashion shoots and then rushed to the local Walgreens for 1-hour processing. Lois later attended Rochester Institute of Technology in 1998, where she studied photography. When asked about her inspirations, she answers: “- Inspiration comes to me in many forms. I feel very inspired by my mid-western upbringing- the plastic on couches and wooden encased televisions. Recently, I saw the NY Philharmonic and the music filled me with ideas. Also i bow to the work of Gregory Crewdson, Steven Klein, Raymond Meier, and Mert & Marcus.”

As an emerging photographer Lois has shots bands and lookbooks, but has had editorials published in Magazines like Venus Zine. “- Starting January of this year i began to promote myself to the industry at large- art directors, ad agencies, magazines. I had this sort of obvious realization that i needed to get my work seen or I’d never get paid for what i love to do.”

At the moment Lois is working on two projects: “- One is regular fashion testing to supply my self-promotion campaign and to keep me developing as a photographer. I’m prepping for a test next weekend with the theme of “End of the World.” My other main project which is long term is a series of portraits of people in their bedrooms. Its a sort of study on this idea i have of people’s bedrooms being a reflection of themselves in some manner. Plus i’m just curious.”

Here’s some of her work:

22-year-old Barcelona based photographer Marc Rabadán is in his third year studying photography, and has only just begun shooting fashion. He gets inspired by contemporary conceptual photography, photojournalism, and work by fashion photographers such as Hedi Slimane, Emma Jönsson Dysell, Ellen von Unwerth, Mert & Marcus and Beau Grealy, to name a few.

His work has been featured in some local publications like Greyhound and Singular Magazine, but more is to come, and at the moment he’s test shooting models for Trend Management. I can’t wait to see more of his work in the future!

Here’s some of his work:

Nikita Gale is a 26-year-old self-taught photographer based in Atlanta, Georgia, that shoot 35mm film whenever she can. She’s been photographing for about a year now: “- I started to get more serious about becoming a photographer when, about a year or so after my grandfather died, I found an old suitcase of his that was literally packed with over 200 photographs that he had taken. I had no idea how passionate he was about photography, so I took it as the universe’s way of telling me that I wasn’t just indulging some arbitrary hobby.”

Nikita recently provided me with an intriguing test editorial with Sam from HOP Models, these are her thoughts on the subject of the story: “As of late I’ve been finding inspiration in how grotesque (first world) society’s obsession with beauty and perfection has become. A former South American beauty queen dies during a ‘butt implant’ procedure; 21-year-olds are getting botox injections as a ‘preventative measure’? Where does it all end? We’re practically (and in some cases, actually) killing ourselves by using permanent and mostly unnecessary solutions for superficial and temporary discomforts, and that is really the message I wanted to get across with this editorial. I shot many of the photos through a pane of glass to convey a feeling of overt voyeurism and constraint (from the model’s perspective).”

Her work has been featured in publications such as Pop Matters, OnSMASH, Art & Seek, and many more. At the moment she’s preparing for her first solo gallery show in November, and she’s going to have some work published in two music magazines, Ozone Magazine and Paste Magazine this summer.

Here’s “Sam” by Nikita Gale:

London based fashion photographer Gemma Booth has been shooting professionally for about 10 years, and her work has been published in publications such as Japanese Vogue, i-D, Jalouse, Nylon and Lula. She says she’s inspired by stories, old photos, films, books and exhibitions: “- they can all inspire, but sometimes it just comes from within, from a dream or memory.”

Gemma mentions that she’s currently working on a photography and film project, without wanting to reveal too much. So keep an eye on her, exciting things are to come. And I will of course keep you updated.

The following selection of Gemma’s photos contains commercial work for clients such as Chanel, ROXY, and American Eagle, and selected pieces from her many wonderful editorials:

Around two years ago Mario Peña started taking pictures of things he found beautiful and had access to, like nature. After getting himself some lights he spent 6 months shooting still life to understand lighting and the different techniques. Feeling ready to finally start shooting models he got in contact with a model agency in Los Angeles, and ever since he’s been doing test shoots.

He gets his inspiration from movies, music, love and life, and he always keeps his note book close to note down ideas that might pop up.

Other than a lookbook for Thread Sence, Mario’s work hasn’t been published anywhere yet, mostly because he was careful about promoting his work until he felt he had the right visions and quality to really make an impression. So here it is, let Ben Trovato Blog introduce you to Mario Peña’s work:

New York based model and photographer Dylan Forsberg has been shooting ever since he got his camera at the age of sixteen. Seven years later he’s still using the same camera when taking pictures, and beautiful ones at that. “The first person I took a picture of was my girlfriend around that same time. For a while I only took landscapes but I got back into shooting people after I shot my Mom for a Christmas present. I couldn’t afford to get her anything else and she had just moved to Florida so she was having trouble meeting people. When I got back to New York, I told my friend Hanne and she said I should take some pictures of her. I did and everyone liked them so I shot my girlfriend Kasia next.”

Dyaln claims he doesn’t take in that much inspiration from outside: “- I have a terrible memory and no imagination so I just get a few people in a beautiful place and mess around with my camera settings. I try not to force an idea I have in my head on the people I’m shooting because I don’t want them to act or look posed. I just want to catch them as themselves doing whatever feels right with the atmosphere we’re in. David Armstrong’s work did show me that things don’t always have to be in focus though.”

His work hasn’t been published anywhere yet, but it’s not at a thing he worries about. “With what I’m doing it isn’t really necessary to shoot for magazines anymore. I throw my stuff on a blog, other blogs mention it and it spreads. As long as I do a good job people will like it and tell others. Then when I try to sell prints, t-shirts or a book I have a wide audience of people who actually know who I am and like my work. They’re not buying a magazine for the magazine and seeing my work, they’re coming to buy my work personally from me. I have shot for one magazine coming out in September though, The Last Magazine. The format is amazing and the people working for the magazine told me to do whatever I want and they liked how it came out.”

At the moment Dylan is working on a small t-shirt company called “Where I want to be,” where he takes his landscape photography and throw them on high quality t-shirts, then destroy and dye or tie-dye them. “- Once they’re in stores and online, I’m hitchhiking to the west coast for a book / gallery and more material for my t-shirts.”

Here’s some of his work: