2014 Photographer of the year

Sandro

Sandro has been photographing people for over thirty years. He became
interested in photography at the age of sixteen upon seeing the work of Irving
Penn and has since devoted his life to creating expressive images.
With numerous award-winning campaigns to his credit, Sandro is one of today's
foremost photographers. He has photographed many national advertising
campaigns for a long list of clients including: Allstate Insurance, American
Express, Anheuser-Busch, BMW, Dove, Gatorade, Coca-Cola, Honda, Pepsi,
Milk, Nikon, Microsoft, Miller/Coors, Motorola, Nike, Adidas, Pony, UPS,
Champion, and the US Army.

In 2001 Sandro was invited by the Cuban government to photograph that
country’s greatest national treasure – its athletes. This project was the first
US/Cuban collaboration since the trade embargo was imposed in 1960.
Sandro's editorial work has been featured in The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire,
Russian Esquire, Time, Forbes, Details, Stern, Wired, Newsweek, Vibe,
Communication Arts, Graphis, New York Magazine, Eyemazing, and ESPN
Magazine and has been exhibited worldwide.

Sandro has a working relationship with the camera giant Nikon and is
responsible for introducing the latest technology to the professional photographic
world. He has worked on many award-winning projects with Nikon including a
portrait session with actor John Malkovich in Croatia, a series of motorcycle
racing shots in Brainerd, Minnesota, a still and video shoot of the roller derby
team “The Windy City Rollers”, a video of the world-renowned high-wire artist
Philippe Petit, and most recently, a short cinematic video entitled “Joy Ride”,
featuring a motorcyclist racing through the early morning streets of Chicago on a
mysterious mission.

Throughout Sandro's career, each year he has contributed his talents to both
community based and national charitable organizations by creating powerful
imagery and compelling campaigns soliciting contributions for such organizations
as the American Heart Association, Food Depository of Chicago, Big Brothers
and Big Sisters of Milwaukee, Evans Life Foundation, Arts for Life, Dance for
Life, AIDS Chicago, AIDS New Jersey, and The Good City.

At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in July 2011, Sandro was
acknowledged with a Saatchi & Saatchi Best New Director Award for his short
video “Butterflies” featuring John Malkovich.

For the past five years, in juried competition within his industry, Sandro has been
voted one of the top 200 advertising photographers in the world.

Sandro travelled to Morocco in November 2013 and shot portraits of 230 local tradesmen, nomadic people, snake charmers, fossil diggers, and Gnawa musicians.

In April 2014 Sandro spent three days photographing and filming John Malkovich for a collaborative project that will go public at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago in November 2014.

– view gallery –