First Artist: Aaron Joel Santos

Aaron Joel Santos is an editorial and documentary photographer living in Hanoi, Vietnam. He is an award winning travel photographer based in Southeast Asia. He is represented by Novus Select in the US and NOI Pictures in Vietnam and Asia. He is also part of the agency roster at Wonderful Machine, a production company with a network of over 700 photographers and video gamers worldwide.
I came across Santos' work when I was looking up images of people's hands for my original idea. Endlessly scrolling through his website looking at all his spectacular images, I came across one he had taken in downtown Yangon, Myanmar (pictured below.) 
When I saw his work I instantly fell in love with his technique and his photographs, and I knew that I wanted to use him as my first inspiration.

I decided that I was going to apply Santos' technique of capturing emotions, like he does so well, in my own pictures. I want my images to be powerful, and Santos' images are exactly that. They tell a story, one which is either created by the viewer or given within the context of the image. This is what I want my images to be: powerful, interesting, and emotive. 

Now, about the image. I emailed Santos and asked him a few questions, which he replied almost instantly. The image is untitled, it shows a mother carrying her child through downtown Yangon,  Myanmar, in the central market of a bustling Asia capital. The area isn't considered rich or poor, it's just downtown city. Western eyes may perceive it as a poor area, but it reflects upon the city as a whole. Santos says "but what better way to show the city than to show its inhabitants as well. They're the fabric that hold everything together." This candid shot shows exactly that, it shows how the inhabitants are what makes this city a city. Santos is representing the life of the subjects, and through this image is trying to emphasise the different lifestyles lived by the people of Myanmar to those we live here, in the West. 

Santos claims he has chosen this image because he likes the child's "wild-eyed amazement" at the world around her. 
 Here is the email Santos sent me, you may have to click to enlarge it.