Shawn Mortensen

Shawn Mortensen is a Los Angeles based artist, photographer, & filmmaker who has been in I-D, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair and Details, and has shot covers for Spin, Vibe, The Source, XXL & The Village Voice – to name a few. In addition to photographing well-known fashion and advertising campaigns and an eclectic list of celebrities and artists, he has shown his photographs with exhibitions at New York's Whitney & Guggenheim Museums, The Getty Museum and has won an MTV Music Video Award. Mortensen has also documented his global travels in provocative photo-essays, from rare access in Chiapas, Mexico where he captured haunting images of the Zapatista uprising, to the dancehalls & shantytowns of Kingston, Jamaica, to the unspoiled landscapes of Mongolia, as well as intensive work in Ethiopia, South Africa & Nigeria. In order to spearhead AIDS awareness, he journeyed from South Africa, to Lagos, Nigeria, where he collaborated with the REDHOT Organization on the critically acclaimed benefit recording project and documentary Red Hot + RIOT. An artist & advocate, Shawn Mortensen creates a vast range of images that evoke sensational and sometimes startling results. His first book, "It's My Life… Or It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time" was published by BAPE Gallery/Bathing Ape in 2002. Mortensen's second book, "Out of Mind," was published in May 2007 by Harry Abrams. He is currently working on his third to be released in 2008.

Website — http://www.shawnmortensen.org