We recently launched the LensCulture Network with the idea of offering talented, accomplished photographers a place to showcase their work on a global stage while also giving them a place to share, learn and engage with one another. The LensCulture Network began with a small number of hand-picked members, and we are very excited to watch it grow and evolve as new photographers apply and are invited to participate as members.

Each week, we will highlight a project from the members of our Network and publish their work on the front page of LensCulture. We hope you enjoy!

“Paradise Now” explores how urban fantasies and construction function as expressions of nationalistic ambition, blurring the line between the natural and artificial within the hyper-modern city.

I am drawn, photographically, to the world’s rapidly-expanding and hyper-globalized cities, particularly those that have invested heavily in large-scale urban planning and modernist/futurist architecture.

I find that the topographically surreal environments that are products of that planning and architecture set the stage for interesting photo opportunities, from close up and afar. I looked at this question from the perspective of the micro (a single deer) to the macro (some of the world’s tallest buildings) and all over the globe, spanning Siberia to Singapore, New York City and Kazakstan.

Thus, “Paradise Now” is driven by my ongoing curiosity into the human condition, and a desire to visually interpret socio-cultural phenomena within both natural and man-made landscapes.

—Ryan Koopmans