Photographer, Videographer
Dan Rubin
Dan is an award-winning designer, photographer, and creative director based in the U.S. & U.K., working with clients around the world for over 25 years. Co-founder of New Style Publishing, a photo book imprint based in Amsterdam, and webgraph, a design, brand strategy, and software consultancy based in Miami, he helps startups and established organizations create and improve physical and digital products, speaks at events including SXSW, The Photography Show, WPPI, Smashing Conf, and the Mobile World Congress, and travels the world on photographic commissions for select clientele including Alfa Romeo, American Express, Apple, Barbour, Courvoisier, Ducati, Land Rover, Leica, The Macallan, Nissan, O2, RedBull, Sony, Starwood Hotels, Travel + Leisure, Williams Martini, and more.
A published author and guest expert for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The British Journal of Photography, Dan’s first photographic book, Koya Bound (Winner, AIGA Cover Design Award, 2017), was published in 2016 by Pre/Post in Japan.
This year’s theme, RISE, is especially wonderful as it’s open to broad interpretation — while it may lead you to initially think of sunrises, towering architecture, or morning rituals, the creative challenge of exploring what the word means to you is what makes it such a great theme. As a word, RISE is inherently tied to ascension, upwards movement, climbing, soaring — all of those are incredible starting points for artistic expression and experimentation, and I’m excited to see all the amazing entries.
Whether considering concepts for new work, or curating from your archives, be mindful of the balance between technical competency and storytelling — the theme, RISE, should be clear throughout the work you submit and its accompanying description; when your creative and post-production choices support the story you’re presenting, you give yourself the best opportunity to make something that truly stands out. The viewer’s emotional response will be driven by the story you present, so beware of allowing technical execution to overshadow that story.
