Our Judges

United Kingdom
Peter Watson is an English landscape photographer whose career started in his teenage years when he photographed and produced his own black & white prints in an improvised darkroom. They were sold in a local gallery and this early success encouraged him to pursue a career as a photographer. He studied art and graphic design and in 1993 obtained a diploma in photography from the New York Institute of Photography. Peter specialises in the creation of unique and very beautiful landscape photographs. His work has been critically acclaimed and is widely published both in the UK and internationally. His work also appears in galleries and exhibitions. He lectures and tutors workshops and is the author of several books including 'Light in the Landscape -a photographer's year', 'Seasons of Landscape', 'The Welsh Coast' and 'Views Across the Landscape

Poland
Martin Stavars was born in 1981 in Czestochowa, Poland. He studied economics, computer science, and photography, which he ultimately focused on. He specializes in black-and-white cityscapes, landscapes, and night photography. He and his camera have visited more than twenty countries, with Asia holding a key spot. His work has been showcased in numerous international competitions, and he was named “Architecture Photographer of the Year” at the International Photography Awards in New York; he also received the “Grand Prix” at the Image International in Canada and Hei Ming Prize in Tokyo. He won the first prizes in the 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 International Photography Awards in New York. In 2012, Charta Editions published his first photographic monograph entitled "Megalopolis".

USA
Aaron Feinberg is no stranger to seeing and capturing the beauty and natural movement of Life. What has started as a ski-bum hobby of photographing friends in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah has developed into a world-class, award-winning fine art portfolio.   His work is collected from all corners of the globe and can be seen at his 3 aFeinberg Galleries on the island of Kauai. Aaron Feinberg has received lots of awards, such as; Nature Photo of The Year -American Photo Magazine (2009), National Geographic Photo of the Month August (2010), 4 Bronze Medals ­ EPSON Pano Awards -­ Paradise Moon, Battle Of The Gods, Portrait Of A Tree Too, Spirits In The Sky (2011), Highly Honored ­ Ocean Views - Nature’s Best Photography - Celestine Prophecy (2012), Nominee - Master's Cup - Celestine Prophecy (Nature) & Bamboo Altar (Nude) (2013) and many more.

India
Soumitra has a free spirit and a passion for capturing moments from nature through his lens, for all time to come. The lyrical poetry in nature arouses aesthetic pleasure and the more you delve into this beauty the more you savour its essence and the ultimate result is aesthetic bliss. Soumitra has a keen ear for the music of nature. It is this sensitivity that has drawn him to nature again and again. Nature is the ultimate provider of all our emotions and feelings of devotion, love, joy, wonder, scorn, fury, disgust, dejection, and peace. Soumitra gets very close to nature and always tries to capture the true inner spirit & emotion of our mother earth, surely not the skin deep beauty of Landscape. His concentrated devotion and meditation amidst the vistas of unending panorama of landscape search for the other layer of beauties of nature. His connectivity blesses him with that magical moment of life of Landscapes, for which his thirst never dies down. Soumitra had discovered his true love in his days of innocence and it is this love, which has shaped and moulded him in his life of experience. He has to his credit many an exhibition. Acclaimed as one of the very best in his genre by both critics and connoisseurs, his artistic eye for perfection, beauty and truth will make him run a long innings. He has to his credit a number of achievements. In 1985 at Academy Of Fine Arts, Kolkata.
In 1991 At the same venue.
In 1995 had his exhibition on Landscapes, a part of "Three Exhibition" at Academy Of Fine Arts, Kolkata.
In 1999, a solo exhibition on Landscape at Gorky Sadan, Kolkata. Where his first book on landscape in Black & White, launched. Came in for his immense popularity.
In 2002, a solo at Kharagpur, hosted by KAPA.
In 2003, a special solo exhibition on Landscape, at Academy Of Fine Arts, inaugurated by Raghu Rai. An album of colour photographs got published at that time.
In 2004, had his solo on Landscapes at CPA'S Piramal Gallery, NCPA, Mumbai, inaugurated by Raghu Rai. Exhibition and a Workshop on Landscape Photography at Mumbai hosted by Times Group.
In 2007, a solo special exposition on landscape, hosted by 'Jara Parijayee' at Academy Of Fine Arts.
In 2009, an exposition at Florida, being a part of group show.
In 2009, he has been selected as one of the best Landscape Photographer of the year by Fuji Super Six and his works had been exhibited in six major cities in India by Fuji ( Jindal Photo India Ltd ).
In 2010, his landscape was exhibited at Birla Academy, Kolkata , at their annual show.
In 2011 Being selected as 'Maestro by Canon '/ Camerena his works on landscape was exhibited at ICCR Gallery, Kolkata, hosted by Camerena. He conducted an workshop on Landscape photographs at Kolkata hosted by Camerena & Canon.

Taiwan
Rich Matheson has been shooting and selling photographs since 1998. He has been published in many international magazines like Outside, Monocle, CNN Traveler, Action Asia, Asian Geographic Passport; newspapers like the Washington Post, South China Morning Post and China Post; websites like Taiwan Today and culture.tw; and books like Lonely Planet, Bradt Taiwan travel guide, Ways of The Spiritual Warrior and also photographed and co-authored the Michelin Green Guide – Taiwan. He regularly publishes in and goes on assignment for several in-flight magazines, does corporate portraiture and commercial projects. Rich resides in Southern Taiwan with his Taiwanese Aboriginal wife and two young children.

United Kingdom
In between being roughed up by ex-President Clinton’s bodyguards, being held up by AK-47 toting ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers in Cambodia, squatting 300 metres from Taleban frontline trenches in Afghanistan and narrowly missing suicide bombs in Baghdad, Graham Uden, a British-born Hong Kong based photographer, currently specialises in corporate and commercial photography for the world's top multi-national corporations. He is a multiple award winner at the ARC, Astrid, Galaxy and Mercury Awards and shoots a wide range of subjects including aerial, architectural and portraiture for annual reports, brochures and ads as well as editorial features and reportage in the Asia region.

Netherlands
David Galjaard (Haarlem, NL, 1983) is trained as a photographer at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague where he graduated in 2006. Since then he has been working as a documentary photographer. In addition to his self-initiated, long-term projects he works as a freelancer for several Dutch newspapers and magazines. He won various photo awards and received grants to do projects in The Netherlands, Albania and Nigeria. His work has been published in numerous national and international newspapers and magazines. Characteristic of Galjaard’s work is a contemplative and often distant view on the people and situations he photographs. His quiet, serene compositions lends a balanced and monumental quality to his photographs that incite the viewer to further reflect on the subject. In 2009 he began the Concresco project, using Albanian bunkers as a visual metaphor to illustrate the development of a European country that was the last to step away from communism and started the difficult journey to become part of the capitalistic West. This project resulted in his first photo book in 2012. The same year Concresco was named one of the best photo books of 2012 by TIME Magazine and PhotoEye.com (Martin Parr) and won, among others, the prestigious Paris Photo Aperture Foundation Photobook Award in the category First Photobook.

Sri Lanka
Photographer based in Sri Lanka with extensive portfolios on Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Yemen, Maldives & Mauritius. Please visit www.threeblindmen.com for stock photography and galleries.

South Korea
He began his photography career working for his college’s monthly magazine in 1999. After studying documentary photography at Chung-Ang University in South Korea, he has worked as an editorial photographer. He has had three solo exhibitions and many other group exhibitions in South Korea. Over the years he has traveled internationally documenting special moments that mark our times: from two olympics – the Sydney Summer olympics in 2000 and the Torino Winter olympics in 2006 – to the ship-breaking yards in Bangladesh. He has also traveled extensively in South Korea capturing his country’s cultural diversity. His work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Time, among other prominent publications around the world. He is currently working as a main contributing photographer for Bloomberg News based in Seoul, South Korea. Whenever he takes his camera, he approaches his subject with professionalism, integrity, and dedication. His first crafted photography book, South Korea; Memories of the Heart, was published in Canada in 2011

New Zealand
Peter's Latham's life-long passion for photography turned serious in 1989, when he embarked on a 5 month bicycle / photo expedition of the south island of New Zealand, laden with as much camera gear as he could carry. He then went on to travel the world as a photographer aboard cruise ships, returning home to New Zealand in 2003, when he began experimenting with a large format printer & printing onto canvas. Establishing relationships with prominent art galleries, Peter's landscapes soon became popular artworks & he developed a keen following of admirers. Today, he is world renowned for his fine art landscapes of New Zealand, many of Air New Zealand's business class lounges feature his work & pieces are shipped around the world, with collectors including the family of the famous Swedish camera manufacturer, Hasselblad. “Those moments when you happen to be in the right place at the right time are really rare, timing is critical & the light may only last for seconds, but when it all unfolds in front of you, it's simply magic. Whether its wading through muddy mangroves or dangling from a tree for a better view, a degree of madness helps a lot! I strive hard to be original & capture iconic images that portray a different point of view.” Peter continuously upgrades his equipment to ensure images of the highest possible resolution & detail are produced. As at September 2012, he shoots with a medium format Mamiya 645 camera paired with a Phase One P65+ digital back (the first one to be imported into N.Z., RAW files are 178Mb!) Phase One is widely regarded as the Photographic industry's leader & is commonly used by the world's most respected photographers. He is now printing his art directly onto glass which offers incredible opportunities for bespoke installations such as kitchen & bathroom features, internal doors & walls, even outdoors! “It's a fusion of art & high tech in a very intimate way & Latham is a master photographer.”(Art Critic Larry Jenkins, September 2004)

Bangladesh
I was always passionate about poking the 'spinal chord' of the world and treasuring all the souls within it. I discovered that I could underline our lives and our awareness by transforming suffering into photographs. For me photography became my language, to access, to communicate, to identify and mostly to be heard. As a multimedia Journalist, I have traveled intensively in 25 countries and received more than 80 international awards and my work has been featured in over 90 major international publications including: National Geographic, Vogue, Time, New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Sunday Times, Newsweek, Geo, Stern, Der Spiegel, The Fader, Brand Ein, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Colors, The Economist, The New Internationalist, Kontinente, Amnesty Journal, Courier International, PDN, Die Zeit, Days Japan, Hello, and Sunday Telegraph of London. In 2002 I became the first Bangladeshi to be selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in the Netherlands. In 2004 I received the Young Reporters Award from the Scope Photo Festival in Paris - once again, the first Bangladeshi to receive this honour. In 2005 I was awarded “Best of Show” at the Center for Fine Art Photography's international competition in Colorado, USA. And in 2006 I was awarded World Press Photo award and released my premier book “First Light”. In 2007 I became the first Bangladeshi to be selected for the 30 Emerging Photographers (PDN 30), sponsored by Photo District News Magazine, USA. I won the 7th Vevey International Photography Grant from Switzerland in 2009 and in the same year, I took home the international “Travel photographer of the Year” title at the International Travel Photographer of the Year Competition (TPOY2009) in the UK, the most prestigious award in travel photography. I was one of the speakers in the fifth Global Investigative Journalism Conference, held at Lillehammer, Norway in 2008 and as well I was the first Bangladeshi in Ted talk at TEDxOporto 2011, in Portugal. I was one of the speaker of “7th Forum of Emerging Leaders in Asian Journalism”, Yogyakarta / Indonesia”. In 2011 Nikon has selected me as one of the 8 influencers in Asia pacific (APAC region). In 2012 I have published my second book 'Survivors' my 10 years long term work which has reviewed by Prestigious Geo Magazine, worldwide. Presented my work as one of the speaker on Unicef dutch television in Unicef Night in 2012. I was also the note speaker at the conference “The power of pictures” in Germany, March 2013. I was one of the speakers in the momentous conference of Media Trends 2013 at Webster University Geneva. In 2013 also I was one of the guest speaker in Lugano Photo festival, Lugano where my solo exhibition 'Survivors' also exhibited twice in the same year.

New Zealand
Take a look through Alex's portfolio and you will find a huge variety of work. Fortunate enough to live and work in New Zealand he has garnered an enviable stable of clients. He can turn his hand to portraits, products, places or buildings and tackles them all with the same principles that define much of his work - great light and composition. He loves the fact that he can be photographing rugby players one day and landscapes the next.  This is the beauty of the New Zealand market where photographers aren't pigeon holed by style and genre. Instead, many are adaptable and work across many. That is perhaps the most satisfying aspect of his job - no two days are the same and every shoot brings a fresh challenge. Born on the other side of the world, in Guernsey, Channel Islands, Alex never doubted he would find his future pursuing his creative talents.  Initially he thought of becoming an illustrator but after 'disagreements' with his art teacher at college he found himself enjoying his camera, more and more.  At the age of 23, having completed a degree in photography he embarked on a personal voyage as a cruise ship photographer.  This journey of discovery lasted 4 years and while the cruise ship 'photo factory' never satisfied any creative needs it revealed an amazing world of opportunities. 3 years later upon returning home, he found his island seemed a lot smaller than before.  Knowing there was so much more to see, he set off again, this time to New Zealand, where he worked as a freelance photographic assistant and soaked up the wonders of the commercial photographic world.  This was his proving ground and everyday brought many lessons from a wealth of talented photographers.  He learned how to do things the right way and occasionally, how not to.. At this time he met his soon-to-be wife Tracy and made the return journey to the UK, having been offered work at the studio of renowned photographer Karl Taylor.  He spent 6 years here as a valued employee shooting most of the studios imagery before deciding the time was right to break free and set up on his own. The lure of New Zealand beckoned - pristine scenery and an economy that had largely escaped the ravages of the global financial crisis. Couple that with the laid-back lifestyle and the opportunity to go boating fishing and diving every weekend . . .  well what's not to love! So in 2009 Alex Wallace Photography was born and the company has rapidly evolved in 5 short years.  With clients including Audi, Westpac, VW, Cadbury and BMW it could be said he has done pretty well in that time.

Philippines
Edwin Martinez is considered one of the Philippine’s premiere Landscape photographer, he has been shooting travel and landscapes from around the globe. He is a part of the elite group of photographers chosen by Canon in the “Crusaders of Light”, the local counter part of Canon USA’s Explorers of Light. His works have been featured both in local and international publications. Edwin also conducts workshop and photo tours as he co-manages Chasing Light Philippines.

Indonesia
Born in Lamongan, September 1971, Hariyanto began his career as a photojournalist at Jawa Pos in 1993, followed by position as a photo editor at Tempo News Room (2000-2005) and now he works as the Chief in Photo and Art Division at Media Indonesia - a Jakarta based daily newspaper. Some of his achievements include first-prize winner at National Geographic-Firstmedia Instagram Photo Competition, Mochtar Lubis Award, ASEAN Photo Competition, Grand Prize Citra Indonesia British Council Photo Competition 1998, Citation Prize Omiya Humor Photo Contest, Japan 1997, Highly Commended Ballantine’s International Photography Award 1996 United Kingdom. Hariyanto is also actively conducting photography workshops and acting as jurors in several photo competitions.

Indonesia
Driven by a deep passion to explore the world, Cristian has been working in three different travel publications since 2008. The Jakarta-based journalist was the editor-in-chief of the jalanjalan and the Garuda in-flight magazines. In late 2012, he moved to become the editor-in-chief of DestinAsian Indonesia, the archipelago's luxury travel magazine, a position he's currently holding. Cristian started his career as journalist in the Trust magazine, when he’s still a university student. Mentored by Dwi Setyo Irawanto, one of Indonesia's most influential journalists, he then developed his career in various fields. At MarkPlus, Cristian was involved as a writer, editor and researcher in several book projects, including The 4 G Marketing, which depicts the history of Sampoerna. And as a freelance book writer, he co-wrote four different titles, including the Young Southeast Asia, which was launched in Singapore to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN. Prior to his career in travel publications, he spent few years working as an editor of VENUE, Indonesia's only MICE magazine; DAMAN, men's fashion and lifestyle magazine; plus several magazine designed for banks, namely the Preferred Circle of CIMB Niaga, the Wayfarer of Citibank and the Premier Life of HSBC. Cristian was born on May 2, 1980 in Jakarta and holds a bachelor degree in sociology from the Gadjah Mada University.

Malaysia
Educated in Kuala Lumpur & Australia, Shekar began as a photojournalist at the STAR newspaper in the early 80's where his work won many awards . In 1989 he started SC Shekar Photography Pte. Ltd, specialising in editorial, architecture, hotels & resorts and food photography. Since 2000, he has spent most of his time pursuing his interest in "Ethnographic Portraiture". Shekar has been commissioned to do documentary assignments in India, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea. He has just finished two books documenting South- East-Asia titled "Our Land Within – Journeys Through South-East-Asian Communities" (2011) and "Raising Land – The Way of Life & Land in Sarawak" (2013). He has also spent the last 12 years documenting life as it is in Myanmar which is to be published in two volumes in early 2015.

USA
EDUCATION
1999 BFA Photography - Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR
Richard Heller Gallery Santa Monica, CA GRANTS AND AWARDS

2011	PDN Photo Annual Best Photo Books of 2011
	American Photo Best Photo books of 2011
	Santa Fe Prize for Photography Nominee, NM
2009	PDN's 30 Choice of Emerging Photographers to Watch, NY
2009	Santa Fe Prize for Photography Nominee, NM
2005	American-Scandinavian Foundation Grant, NY

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2013	Fish-Work, Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, Telluride, CO
2012	Graveyard Point, Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR
	Wolf Tide, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
	Fish-Work, Sincala Museum, Knokke Heist, Belgium
2011	Fishing With My Dad 1978-1995, Ampersand Gallery, Portland, OR
2010	Fish-Work, Fecal Face Dot Gallery, San Francisco, CA
	Fish Work Europe, Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR
2009	Fish-Work, Sara Tecchia Roma New York, NY
	Fish-Work: Sea Stories, New York Photography Festival, NYC
	Fish-Work, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, IL
2008	Fish-Work, Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR
2007	SKITT FISKE!, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2005	Crabbing in the Bering Sea, Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, WA

BOOKS

2011	Fishing with My Dad 1978-1995, One Picture Book #69: Nazraeli Press
2010	Fish-Work: The Bering Sea, Monograph, Nazraeli Press

Indonesia
I began my career as a photo journalist in 2002 at a local newspaper under the Jawa Pos Group in Jakarta. After three years of work, I joined the Seputar Indonesia daily newspaper (KORAN SINDO) until the present time. I was promoted to become the Photo Editor Assistant in 2008. My current position is a Photo Editor for KORAN SINDO and its website http://www.sindonews.com since December 2012. I also write weekly photography articles for "Imaji Column" in KORAN SINDO. I have received several awards including the Honorable Mention for People Category National Geographic International Photo Contest 2009.

Indonesia
Born in Europe in 1954 to an Indonesian diplomat father and Turkish mother, Rio's childhood and youth was spent living in the various countries where his father was posted: Switzerland, Australia, and Germany as well as visiting many countries in Europe and Asia. After finishing school, more voyages lay in store: Rio traveled across Asia on land, and ended up living in India for a year. After several years in Australia where a childhood interest in photography was rekindled, Rio moved back to Bali, Indonesia in 1978. He now divides his time between Bali and India. Rio has been capturing images of Asia since 1978, constantly adding to a richly textured portfolio that celebrates the region's people and places, contemporary lifestyle and Mahayana Buddhism.
Now on of Asia's leading photographers, his work is often seen in books, magazines and documentaries. Show of Rio's still photography have been held in Bali, Jakarta, Madrid, Miyazaki, Polo Alto, San Francisco, and Sydney. From 1978 to 1983, Rio worked as photographer/writer and associate editor in the Indonesian media (Bali Post, Mutiara, Sinar Harapan). Most of the stories focused on isolated ethnic groups/remote tribes from around the Indonesian archipelago. From 1983, Rio has freelanced for many regional and international magazines (Asiaweek, Geo, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, Seven Seas, Tempo, Time, Vanity Fair, Vogue and others) as well as providing commercial material for a wide range of clients (aerials, hotels, fashion, industry, etc.) including the Aman group, Bulgari, John Hardy, Hyatt International, and Ritz Carlton. Since the '80s, Rio has been involved in book publishing projects. These include amongst others,
* Indonesia, A Voyage Through the Archipelago (Millet - Owen - Weldon)
* Offerings, the Ritual Art of Bali (INI, Bali)
* Bali Style [Sole Photographer](Thames & Hudson, Times Ed., Singapore)
* River of Gems, A Borneo Journal (INI, Bali) Currently he is working on a retrospective portfolio of Bali over the last 20 years called "Memories of the Scares" to be launched early October 2010. He has a gallery in Ubud, Bali exhibiting his private work.

Indonesia
Born in 1961, and holder of Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in 1988. Arbain Rambey is award winning photographer of various international and national photo contests such as Sole Winner of International Art Summit 1999 and won a bronze medal two years in a row at the Salon Photo Contest in 2006 and 2007. One of his photo book is “Indonesia, Mist of Time” which published by Waterous & Co in London in 2005. At the moment, Arbain Rambey works as photographer at the biggest daily newspaper in Indonesia (Kompas) he also teach at several universities such as the University of Pelita Harapan, Media Nusantara University and Darwis School of Photography. In addition, he also regularly held single or jointly (with other photographers) photo exhibitions such as “ekspresi” (Medan, 2002), Mandailing (Medan, 2002), “Senyap” (Bentara Budaya, Jakarta, 2004), and “the colour of Indonesia” (Galeri Cahaya, Jakarta, 2004).

Singapore
Goh Kim Hui is a professional photographer specializes in Commercial Photography. He picked up photography in his high school days and worked hard to reach where he is today. A self-taught photographer, he has accomplished excellent results in photographic competitions and received recognition from many international photographic bodies. He was a Senior Photographer of the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (1974 to 1981), and Photo-Journalist of the Singapore Monitor (1982 to 1983) With more than 30 years of experience, he has received recognition from various international bodies:
International Federation of Photographic-Art (Hon. EFIAP distinction)
Royal Photographic Society of England (ARPS distinction)
The Photographic Society of New York (FPSNY distinction)
The Photographic Society of Singapore (Hon. FPSS distinction)
The Photographic Society of Malaysia (Hon. FPSM distinction) 
Today, Kim Hui is not only an excellent photographer, but also a photographer in his own rights. He created his personal style, “Painting with Light”, “Make a Still Picture Moves” etc. In his most recent photographic collection, he dwelled deeper and researched with the philosophy of the mysterious Ying and Yang. 
Make a Still Picture Moves - Moving Still 
Kim Hui experiments with multiple images and panning effect. He has successfully transformed moving elements into his photographic works and achieved his goals with strong visual impacts. One of his works won the Best Innovative Award in the 1989 International Innovative Photographic Exhibition. 
Painting with light - Developing New Approach 
Kim Hui sets his challenge in developing new approach. He has successfully applied “Painting with Light” technique in his creative works. With a sample “light painting” tool, unexpected visual effect obtained with light painted to selective areas of the subject, achieved a new dimension in his creation. 
With the advancement of digital imaging technology, he has extended to work beyond the line, shape and colour. The impossible is now made possible. 
In 1998 National Monument Board Photo Competition one of his works received the Grand Prize in the Digital Section. 
Researching Nature in an Ancient Philosophy 
The Philosophy of “Yin” and “Yang” has been widely studied and adopted. The interesting relationship of its 5 elements - Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth has inspired Kim Hui to carry out his research. 
His works depict the nature in its simple form, but carry a strong message of the creation and destruction within the 5 elements of the Philosophy which Chinese has established for more than 5000 years. 
In 2000, he staged his first solo exhibition “Sky is not a Limit” which was held at the Selegie Arts Centre, describing this ancient philosophy “Yin and Yang”. Some of the works were collected by museum and private collectors. 
His works were frequently exhibited and published in local and overseas’ media, many had won awards in local and international competitions. 
He shares his knowledge by conducting photography seminar, workshops and courses to his fellows in this region, includes China, Malaysia and Indonesia.