"In 2004 Stephen Dupont infiltrated a Raskol comunity to document the individuals behind the facelessness of gang warfare. His Raskols series presents formal portraits of the "Kips Kaboni" or "Red Devils", Papua New Guinea´s longest established Raskol group"

Stephen Dupont

"It was early 1998 when I got a letter from my aunt Conny Meyer and my uncle Roger Meyer. It was an invitation to attend the 90th birthday of a cousin of my grandfather, Ilse Meyer in Israel. I had no idea it was going to be her birthday, since I had never heard about her before.
A family reunion? I knew Conny Meyer, but Roger Meyer? Who was this uncle I didn't know of? We have to take into account that, since I was an only child whose father was also an only child, my idea of a family reunion was two or three people at the most."

Pablo Meyer

"I have included two concurring bodies of works —Maxiatures and Persian Delights— which continuously feed off and compliment each other both conceptually and technically. These images point to a more layered, carnivalesque reading of the two cultures; but in emphasizing the delicate fiction underpinning these images, the images come closer to representing ‘reality’ than what is seen in most news media. Through these images, I explore the tension between public and private spaces, depicting images which undo the images of Islamic stereotypes represented through the narrow focus of the daily media."

Soody Sharifi

"Its official name is “Salon Orizaba” and perhaps it’s the most singular beer hall in all of the old downtown Mexico City. To find it, you can ask for “La Apestosa”, the nickname that the place has literally adopted and keeps with pride to the last detail.

"La Apestosa" is a place of encounter for alcoholics and prostitutes. This photographic essay documents the relations between them and the atmosphere of the place. A dark place where alcohol and sex reign."

José Luis Cuevas

"The 45 great contemporary Mexican photographers bring their most representative works to China, and show the Chinese audiences a rich view of contemporary Mexican photography. These photographers, with the abundant resources of unique Mexican philosophy, history, culture and art in their heart, direct their gaze to Mexico and China as well. Through their gaze, one can see that the photographers have been thinking seriously on questions as the religions, local customs, social development, and urbanization constructed by the historical heritage and contemporary context, the locality and global quality weaving together. At the same time, they take the situation in Mexico as an example to cause the audiences to concern and to explore the various problems in each culture."

Wang Huangsheng
Director
Guangdong Museum of Art, China.

**

"The exhibition The gaze of 45 Mexican Photographers presents for the first time in history, a representative selection of Mexican photographers in China. The exhibition is possible thanks to the support of the Pedro Meyer Foundation, being this, the organization’s first project, under the curatorship of Pedro Meyer and Francisco Mata. The show reflects the diversity of thought and vision with which images are produced nowadays in Mexico."

Alejandro Castellanos
Director
Centro de la Imagen, Mexico.

"The arrival of the French to the Congo, at the beginning of the 20th Century, brought along the myth of Parisian elegance among the Congolese youth working for the colonialists. Many considered the white man to be superior because of their technology, sophistication and elegance. In 1922, G.A. Matsoua was the first–ever Congolese to return from Paris fully clad as an authentic French gentleman, which caused great uproar and much admiration amongst his fellow countrymen. He was the first Grand Sapeur."

Hector Mediavilla

"Night Chicas is an anthropological tour through a damaged landscape of various Guatemalan prostitutes. Photographer Hans Neleman travels over the bodies of these women conscious that their stories are best unearthed through the vessels of theirtrade. Neleman captures the sober awareness that resonates warily, and sometimes proudly, that the women are marked, but not defined by their bodies."

George Pitts