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Amateur Photography
We are fascinated by the people, places and things that surround us. In this new gallery feature we are showcasing the inspired vision of different amateur photographers from all over the world. These slideshows require a high-bandwidth connection and Adobe Flash Player.
Photos of everyday life in Hong Kong.
Janice Tsui
Janice Tsui is a 21-year-old student at the University of Toronto. Ever since she arrived in Canada and started fourth grade, she studied in a specialized arts program, which led to a passion for darkroom photography. Along the way, she's won prizes and exhibited in young artists' showcases.Last December, Janice went back to the city where she was born, Hong Kong, for the first time in 13 years.

When she went back to her childhood city and found herself surprisingly at home, she kept her finger on the button. She says, "Hong Kong is a very fast-paced, vibrant city and there are always things going on. With my photographs I wanted to capture everyday, ordinary (for the locals) things, like the butcher waiting for the next customer at the market, or construction workers climbing the scaffolding. These scenes of Hong Kong are both familiar and foreign to me - familiar because I spent my childhood there, and foreign because I grew up in Canada."
Send Us Your Photos
American Apparel is looking for amateur photographers to exhibit their work on our web site. We're looking for photos of the unique things that surround you: signs, architecture, locals, tourists, businesses, and other bits of randomness. Send us ten or more photos (under 10 MB and no ZIP files please) that articulate your vision. Photographers worldwide are encouraged to apply. Compensation is $200 for 20 photos to be featured on our web site, plus a bio, and link to contact you.
Send your photos to:
photographer@americanapparel.net
Only selected applicants will be contacted.
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Pictures taken in Havana in March of 2004.
Natasha Hartsfield
Natasha Hartsfield is all about changing places. Originally from the redneck riviera (Tallahassee, FL, her words), she left home in Portland, Oregon last year for a stint in South Korea, where she is teaching English and making art in Jeju-do. These pictures, taken in Havana in March of 2004 ("a glimpse into the time capsule that the world knows as Cuba"), mark the beginning of a series she's been working on ever since. It's taken her on to Tunisia, Mexico and of course South Korea. Her focus is on the concepts of people and place:

"Place is not simply a location; it represents all the seen and unseen. Because place embodies a complex group of physical attributes, photographs are a means by which it may be respectfully captured."

She'll soon be heading back home and down south to carry on with the project.
Photos of Gijón, in the north of Spain.
Igor Termenón Herce
The awesomely named Igor Termenón Herce was born two days short of Valentine's Day 21 years ago. He likes folksy music and fashion, and lives in Gijón in the north of Spain. He started out in photography four years ago with a digital camera, then bought himself a Lomo Holga. These photos were taken around a beach called Fomento and a derelict train station with a medium format film and some double exposure. He'd like to be a full-time photographer, but doesn't really know how to reconcile that with the fact that he's studying Industrial Engineering. Meanwhile he'll keep snapping industrial wasteland and beautiful girls.
A study on "Small Town, USA" in Belton, TX.
Brian Yarley and Katy Poulter
Belton, TX is a small, simple, Christian-oriented town. In July of 2006, Brian and Katy started to examine their hometown and noticed that, behind the Christianity and the football, there were scenes of uniqueness and originality that normally went unnoticed. These "diamonds in the rough" were the inspiration for their pictures; they attempted to capture a hidden essence of Belton as a way of understanding what "Small Town, USA" really means. They decided to spend the next year documenting the beauty, the humor, and the emotions of Belton as a way of helping to better understand and appreciate where they, and everyone else, come from.

Katy and Brian have lived in Belton their whole lives and have known each other for most of them. Katy spends her time experimenting with photography, filmmaking, and writing. She hopes someday to become a professional film director. Brian works on photography and writing, enjoys studying European history, and hopes to someday live in Sweden.
Images from the oceanside resort town, Virginia Beach.
Jeff Ocampo
Jeff Ocampo, born in the Philippines, was raised in Virginia Beach, Virgina since the age of four. Though he was always interested in photography, he finally hit his stride after getting his first "professional" camera. He now spends much of his free time shooting just about everything he can. When not behind the camera, Jeff is studying business but is toying with the idea of switching his major to photography since math and the whole corporate atmosphere are becoming less appealing. Fashion and music are two other hobbies for Jeff and he feels that photography is the perfect medium to tie all of his interests together.

His series entitled "The Oceanfront" gives us a look at the resort town of Virginia Beach after the summer tourists have packed up and gone home. While seeming desolate, it's the residents of this small oceanside town.
Shots taken in the Sierra Nevadas
David Torch
David Torch was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1977. Shortly thereafter, his Irish/Jewish/Catholic/Russian family moved to Reno, Nevada. When he became a photojournalist, he thought it'd be best to continue moving. He traveled to Spain, Armenia, Bolivia, and Japan looking for exotic images, trying to tell stories of people he knew very little about. There was a sense of disconnect so he decided to go back to Sierra Nevada and started photographing what he knows best: tiny mountain towns filled with real hippies, crazies, gold miners, pot farmers, back-to-landers, rednecks, ex-cons... Nevada County is home because "it's a vibrant little community that's kind of off the map and likes it that way." This collection is where he lives, works for a local paper, plays drums in a few bands, and swims. If you like what you see, check out The Supermarket (www.thesupermarket.us), an art/design company that David started with some friends.
Images from Hungarian bathhouses.
Ruthie Brownfield
In the spring of 2003, Ruthie Brownfield traveled to Budapest for the first time in order to see her father's birthplace. "I immediately fell in love with the city and its people," she says, and began looking for ways to get inside the culture and capture a more intimate view of Hungarian life. It was this search for authenticity that lead her to the natural thermal spring bathhouses located throughout the city. This wonderful series takes a close look at one of Hungary's most popular communal activities. We loved Ruthie's stuff so much, we've collaborated with her to do displays of her photos in our stores around the world.
A selection of shots taken throughout California.
Amanda Smith
Amanda was born in Los Angeles and celebrates her birthday on the same day as Kobe Bryant and River Phoenix, but unfortunately has never celebrated with them. She spent her early years in a charming Minnesota town with an equally charming name - Ham Lake. Like many of us at American Apparel, Amanda is a college drop-out. After she chose not to graduate from Parsons School of Design she worked as a fashion assistant at a car magazine in London, a bar keep in Studio City, and is now a Customer Service Sales Coordinator at American Apparel. She stumbled on the call for amateur photographers while browsing the company's web site.
Images of urban landscapes in Los Angeles shot with thrift store and toy cameras.
Austin Calhoon
Austin Calhoon is a 23-year-old from Bradenton, Florida. After first hearing about our Amateur Photography competition, he sent in these snapshots, mostly taken from behind the wheel of his car all over LA. We loved them so much, we commissioned him to do a custom project documenting various streets in LA (Western Ave. in Koreatown, which can be seen on our homepage slideshow, and Sunset Blvd. from the Pacific Ocean to downtown LA, a work in progress). Whether or not behind the lens, Austin spends his time getting lost, enjoying the freedom that comes with not having a hairstyle, and going on garage sale adventures where he often finds the cameras that he uses for his work. This series was taken with some of the gems that he has discovered while shopping in various front yards and driveways. Austin was recently hired as a full-time photographer in the American Apparel creative department.
The winter of 2004 in Kosovo.
Stu Sherman
Born in the suburban wasteland that is Long Island, NY, Stu Sherman was raised in Merrick, the hometown of Debbie Gibson and Amy Fisher. Being the son of a junior high school art teacher allowed Stu to explore his creative interests which followed him to Wesleyan University and eventually to Kosovo. It was there that this collection of photos was shot during the winter of 2004. They explore the effects communism, war and imported consumerism on the region. His next trip will be to Tibet where he'll focus on capturing cityscapes and architecture rather than the typical images of monks and temples.
Photos of Coney Island Pier in New York.
Steph Burnley
33-year-old graphic designer and artist Steph Burnley, resides in Brighton, England which is home to the UK's historic Brighton Pier. This oceanside amusement park is considered by some to be the Coney Island of England. It was there that Steph developed a fondness of fairgrounds that inspired the collection of images she shot while visiting Coney Island. When she's not spending time amongst ferris wheels and candy apple vendors, Steph is the brains behind the T-shirt company, "Bonnie and Clyde." She also enjoys traveling, baking and the ocean.
Polaroids taken in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
David Dayoub Schweitzer
David is a Philadelpia-born photographer who comes from Syrian and German parents. After seeing one of our photo spreads in VICE magazine, he felt that we had similar subject matter and was inspired to send his pictures to us. We were instantly drawn to the simplistic content we found throughout this series. Taken throughout New York, this collection captures the humor and beauty that can be found in seemingly mundane situations.
Pictures taken while on a "meet-the-parents" trip in Minnesota and West Virginia.
Amanda Smith
Amanda was born in Los Angeles and celebrates her birthday on the same day as Kobe Bryant and River Phoenix, but unfortunately has never celebrated with them. She spent her early years in a charming Minnesota town with an equally charming name - Ham Lake. Like many of us at American Apparel, Amanda is a college drop-out. After she chose not to graduate from Parsons School of Design she worked as a fashion assistant at a car magazine in London, a bar keep in Studio City, and is now a Customer Service Sales Coordinator at American Apparel. She stumbled on the call for amateur photographers while browsing the company's web site and sent in these pictures that she took in West Virginia and Minnesota during a "meet-the-parents" trip.