f100: Laura Boushnak and Gianluca Tamorri

© Laura Boushnak, from the series "Cluster Bomb Survivors"

fototazo has asked a group of 50 curators, gallery owners, blog writers, photographers, academics and others actively engaged in photography to pick two photographers that deserve (more) recognition - the underknown, the under-respected as well as not-appreciated-enough favorites. A little more information on the project is available in the first post in the series here.

Today we continue the series with responses from Stefano Bianchi.

We began the series with responses from Nicholas Nixon, Matt Johnston, Blake Andrews, John Edwin Mason, Aline Smithson, Colin Pantall, Michael Werner, Liza Fetissova, Laurence Salzmann, Bryan Formhals, Richard Mosse, Shane Lavalette, Amy Stein, Amani Willett, Wayne Ford, S. Billie Mandle, Leslie K. Brown, Gordon Stettinius, Marc Feustel, Hin Chua, Adriana Rios Monsalve, Daniel Augschoell, Larissa Leclair, Elinor Carucci, Pieter Wisse, Daniel Echevarría, Natalie Minik, Qiana Mestrich, Jason Landry, Rona Chang, Stella Kramer, Joanne Lukitsh, Yumi Goto, Gwen Lafage, Heidi Romano, and Julie Grahame.

Respondent: Stefano Bianchi is Founder, CEO and Art Director of Crowdbooks, the first online crowdfunding platform for art and photo book publishing in the world. His passion for photography, quality design and craftsmanship, and an appreciation for the arts, led to the creation of the site. Stefano is an established graphic designer and communications consultant. He has worked with companies such as Magnumphotos Agency, Louis Vuitton, Relais & Châteaux, Dior, Fabrica (the Benetton group communications research center) and Diesel Jeans. From his current home base in Paris, France, Stefano acts as CEO of N2o Studio, a creative consulting agency.

Selections: Laura Boushnak and Gianluca Tamorri

© Laura Boushnak, from the series "Iraq Daily Life"

Laura Boushnak
Laura is a sensitive and delicate woman, whose photography reflects true and deep personals experiences. Although she works mainly around very strong social issues and themes of conflict, her talent allows her to tell these stories in a way which is unique either for the chosen subjects than or their esthetic. She revisits the ancient Middle Eastern cultures / roots which for the last few years have been changing very fast and offers an extremely fresh and positive vision.

© Gianluca Tamorri, Bob Elia

Gianluca Tamorri
Gianluca's pictures are incredibly powerful and incisive. His permanent search for essence and beauty is part of all his shots. Photography is a medium for him to express the reality and truth around him. I particularly enjoy his latest project: "75003" about the Le Marais district in Paris which he has made into an outstanding self-published, quality book. There are so many aesthetically beautiful and deep images in this book, a very, very personal approach to illustrating one of the richest and most popular districts in Paris.

© Gianluca Tamorri, from the series "The Hornet's Nest"

Of Interest 7.21.11: Crowdbooks

Crowdbooks' United States Public Realtions representative Kate Miller took the time to talk with us about the recently launched site which aims to harness the potential of crowdfunding or "participative financing" for the publication of photography artist books. You can stay updated on Crowdbooks on both Facebook and Twitter.

Kate Miller: Crowdbooks is the brainchild of Stefano Bianchi. He has worked as a graphic designer for many years and has seen too many good photo projects pass through his hands that were not being published. Often this was because publishers didn't want to take risks on certain themes or because some books were "too expensive" and not good in terms of ROI [Return On Investment]. So he decided to find a way to help photographers with great photo projects turn their dreams into compellingly beautiful finished photobooks. And Crowdbooks was born out of that desire to transform these brilliant projects that were being passed over for the above reasons into something spectacular. Stefano's passion for photography, graphic design and photobooks is the driving force behind the development of Crowdbooks.

As for the first projects currently listed on the site, Stefano is working with talented photographers worldwide. When Stefano saw the photos and concepts for PURGATORIO and GREEN, he liked what he saw. And the rest is history!

Currently, the primary goals of Crowdbooks are:

1) to find and select stunning photo projects which can give life to excellent printed books

2) to create unique and vividly stunning photobooks using only the highest quality of materials, graphic design, etc. while avoiding the mass-produced photobook mentality and finished product.

We're looking to build a community of passionate people who want to participate in a publishing revolution; people who like and understand our work as an added value to the photographer, that are curious about the process of making a book and are ready to support our endeavors to create "unique objects of art."

Additionally, Crowdbooks provides a full range of publishing services and we're offering specialist expertise and advice for museums, galleries, artists and others who want to create the finest illustrated books and reach audiences of all ages with their publications.