In 1988, O.P. Sharma, a teacher based in India, suggested that there should be a global day to celebrate the history, craft and art of photography. Three years later, the first official World Photography Day was observed. Today, people from across the globe come together to mark the occasion on the 19th August. The date itself is a significant one – on that day in 1839, the French government officially announced the invention of the daguerreotype by Louis Daguerre. Since this historical moment, photography has revolutionised the art world, broadening definitions of what it means to capture and reproduce a moment. World Photography Day is an opportunity to reflect on this almost unparalleled influence, celebrate the lens-based artists who have changed how we see the world and look to the figures who are shaping the future of the medium. We’re spotlighting 10 photographers who have featured in Aesthetica – they are some of the most exciting talent working today, redefining what is possible to create with the camera.
Reuben Wu
Reuben Wu’s images are instantly recognisable. The artist is a National Geographic photographer, and is known for painting with light. Wu uses drones and long exposures to draw halos around mountains, or render glowing geometric shapes above landscapes, including glaciers, deserts and salt flats.
Terri Loewenthal
Every single artwork by photographer Terri Loewenthal is a single-exposure, in-camera composition – layered, psychedelic and flooded with green, orange, pink, purple and yellow tones. forests meld into mountains, sea bleeds into rock formations, blurring the borderlines between reality and imagination.
Bootsy Holler
Bootsy Holler is best-known for her work as a portraitist, beginning with intimate depictions of herself and friends at the centre of Seattle’s pivotal music scene during the early 1990s. The series Without Words, sidesteps into conceptualism, the photographs making way for personal thoughts and feelings.
Nick Prideaux
Nick Prideaux is known for capturing delicate, fleeting moments: “I approach photography in a mindful way and try to catch fleeting and fragmented scenes as a thread of visual notes. I’m interested in exploring the intimate moments of my life; playing with light, colour and the people I happen to share this stage with.”
Sandra Bartocha
Nature is the subject of choice for German photographer Sandra Bartocha. The artist picks out magic from the everyday, using creative camera techniques to record texture and movement. Colour and light are fundamental to these ethereal compositions, which sparkle with changes in the time of day.
Carter Baran
Carter Baran is a Canadian artist with a passion for surreal or ethereal scenes. His images are often self-portraits, or the result of spontaneous shoots with friends. The photos are united by a neon colour palette and a masterful use of haze, where figures open mysterious doors or drive to unknown destinations.
Fares Micue
Artist Fares Micue started taking pictures in 2009, with the simple hope of producing something to share on her profile. It quickly became a beloved hobby and, today, she’s a prolific artist who produces colourful, narrative-drenched self-portraits. Micue is driven by a desire to share her uplifting outlook with others.
Sebastiaan Knot
Sebastiaan Knot is an abstract photographer who wants “to unravel the mysteries of colour dynamics.” His series, Colliding Colours, is about how people might perceive combinations of blue, green, orange and pink. “I create various contrasts in each image by using complementary hues and switching them around.”
Chou Ching-Hui
Chou Ching-Hui’s Animal Farm is a series of large-scale, diorama-like staged scenes, which holds up a mirror to contemporary society. The Taiwanese photographer takes cues from zoos – their disconcerting connotations of voyeurism and entrapment, he says “is a metaphor for the cage of modern life.”
Derrick Ofosu Boateng
“Without effort no harvest will be abundant.” It’s a fundamental message, and one of many African proverbs at the heart of Derrick Ofosu Boateng’s practice. Figures hold balloons or flowers, making shapes in tandem against blue, red and yellow blocks. Each teaches a lesson, from humility to patience.
Image Credits:
1. Image courtesy of Reuben Wu.
2. Image courtesy of Reuben Wu.
3. Terri Loewenthal, Psychscape 602 (White Rock Canyon, AZ), (2018). Image courtesy of the artist.
4. Terri Loewenthal, Grottos 9 (Ute land), (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.
5. Bootsy Holler, Cattle Point – 0824.2002, (2002-2021). Courtesy of the artist.
6. Nick Prideaux, Untitled (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.
7. Nick Prideaux, Untitled (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.
8. Image courtesy Sandra Bartocha.
9. Image courtesy Carter Baran.
10. Image courtesy Carter Baran.
11. Fares Micue, Autumn Flames. Image courtesy of the artist.
12. Sebastiaan Knot, N24589 (2022- present). From Colliding Colours.
13. Sebastiaan Knot, N24316 (2018). From Colliding Colours.
14. Chou Ching Hui, Animal Farm no. 8, (2014). Image courtesy of the artist.
15. Derrick Ofosu Boateng, Different Flowers, (2020).
16. Derrick Ofosu Boateng, You Are One in a Melon, (2020).
