MODE: The World’s Photography Festival

Brooke Shaden is a fine art self-portrait photographer, writer, entrepreneur, and naturally curious spirit. Shaden’s work doesn’t shy away from the darker sides of existence, in fact, she is drawn to it. Her work explores grief, the self, and identity. She sells her work in galleries, licenses it for book covers and album art, and gives motivational speeches around the world in the hope of fulfilling her lifelong dream: to inspire creativity in others. She lives by the tenet of the great Jerry Uelsmann: if I have a goal it is to surprise myself.

Chris Burkard is an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Traveling throughout the year to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, Burkard works to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere. Spanning outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Burkard is known for images that are punctuated by untamed, powerful landscapes. Through social media, Chris strives to share his vision of wild places with millions of people, and to inspire them to explore for themselves. His visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on prominent global campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, speak on the TED stage, design product lines, educate, and publish a growing collection of books. Along with his team, Burkard is based out of his production studio and art gallery on the Central Coast of California. At the age of 39, Burkard has established himself as a global presence and influence. He is happiest with his wife, Breanne, and their two sons at home in California.

Emmy-nominated director and National Geographic photographer Keith Ladzinski's unparalleled aesthetic for visual storytelling has earned him over 30 editorial stories, television productions, and branded projects for National Geographic, including 5 cover stories. His work has earned him a litany of awards in both photography and film. His insatiable hunger for creativity has taken him across all 7 continents — multiple times over — capturing films, advertising, and television content for clients such as Disney, Apple, National Geographic Channel, Oprah, The Discovery Channel, Canon, Dell, Adidas, ABC, Honda, The Weather Channel, and Red Bull TV, to name but a few. Keith brings a wealth of experience to every project through his instincts and expertise as a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and director of large-scale productions. He has worked as a director and director of photography in environments ranging from organized studios to chaotic and harsh locations — the Arctic, jungle, high-altitude mountains, underwater, and the driest deserts on the planet. His eye for imagery has garnered a following of over 1.6 million on Instagram and some of the highest engagement rates on the National Geographic Instagram hero feed.

Matthew Russell Rolston is an American artist and photographer known for his portraiture. Born in Los Angeles, Rolston studied drawing and painting there, at the Chouinard Art Institute and Otis College of Art & Design, as well as at the San Francisco Art Institute. He also studied illustration, photography and film at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, where in 2006 he received an honorary doctorate and in 2025 the College’s Lifetime Achievement Award, a distinction shared with notable photographers Hiroshi Sugimoto and Lee Friedlander, and multidisciplinary artists Doug Aitken and Diana Thater. In 1998, Rolston endowed the "Matthew Rolston Scholarship for Film and Creative Direction” at ArtCenter, and in 2024 he created the "Matthew Rolston Scholarship Fund for Product and Fashion Design” at Otis. While still at ArtCenter, Rolston was "discovered" by American artist Andy Warhol who immediately commissioned portraits for Interview magazine. Rolston’s photographs have appeared prominently in publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and on over 100 Rolling Stone covers. Rolston’s works are in the permanent collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, NY, and the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, Washington D.C., among others.

Sandro Miller is a Chicago-based photographer and video artist known for his compassionate approach to portraiture and cultural documentation. Inspired by Irving Penn at age sixteen, Miller has spent decades mastering light and exploring diverse subjects, from actors and athletes to bikers, matadors, and hidden tribal cultures. Miller has published eighteen books, including Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to the Photographic Masters (2020), Crowns: My Hair My Soul My Freedom (2021), and Steppenwolf 50 (2026). His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries across the globe and featured in publications including The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and The Guardian. Beyond his commercial and artistic practice, Miller is a committed advocate who lends his studio and skills pro bono to charitable causes addressing homelessness, health, education, and social justice.

Brooklyn-born and Queens-raised, Steven John Irby, also known as Steve Sweatpants, is a photographer, creative director, and co-founder of Street Dreams Magazine. For over a decade, he has built Street Dreams into a global creative community, recently expanding with Street Dreams Tokyo. Steve’s work is deeply rooted in the raw authenticity of city life, with a profound love for black-and-white photography that honors family connections and amplifies underrepresented perspectives. Influenced by legendary photographers such as Gordon Parks, Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabazz, and Joseph Rodriguez, his imagery captures timeless moments that resonate both personally and culturally. A Sony artist for eight years, Steve contributed his talents to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Part 2 and has work in the permanent collection at the Museum of the City of New York. In his TED Talk on street photography, he explores its power to foster empathy, connection, and storytelling—reminding others to pursue their passions and cherish the bonds that shape them.

Yik Keat (YK) is a self-taught urban photographer from Singapore, renowned for his ability to tell compelling stories and evoke extraordinary emotions through his work. With his unique artistic vision, YK has turned the world into his playground, captivating millions with the striking visuals he creates.

Abbie Parr is a staff photographer for the Associated Press based in Minneapolis. Abbie has a passion for sports photography and has covered some of the world’s biggest sporting events, such as the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, World Athletics Championships, Super Bowls and more. Abbie won first place in the NPPA’s 2023 Best of Photojournalism contest for her sports feature photo with her image of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrating after winning the Stanley Cup Final.

Adobe empowers everyone, everywhere to imagine, create, and bring any digital experience to life. From creators and students to small businesses, global enterprises, and nonprofit organizations — customers choose Adobe products to ideate, collaborate, be more productive, drive business growth, and build remarkable experiences.

Adrian Octavius Walker is a photographer, Community Architect, and artist whose practice lives at the intersection of visual storytelling, culture, and technology. For more than a decade, he has led community-driven programs, creative partnerships, and cross-platform initiatives that bring people together through meaningful experiences. Grounded in documentary photography and mixed-media art, Walker explores how emerging technologies can strengthen, not replace, human connection. His work spans photography, community programming, and creative leadership, designing inclusive experiences, scalable creative systems, and AI-informed workflows that foster authentic engagement. At the heart of his practice is a simple belief: building communities through storytelling.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Alex Kormann was born and raised in New Jersey, and his first memory of photography is playing with his father's film cameras as a kid. In 2014, photography took on a new meaning for him when his dad passed away from cancer. It became his own form of therapy. At the same time, through sharing his father's story, he saw the power of storytelling and the difference it can make in so many lives. That was when everything clicked for him (sorry, had to). He went on to study photojournalism at UNC-Chapel Hill and was hired at the Minnesota Star Tribune shortly after graduating. After spending two years in Duluth, he now lives and works in Minneapolis, covering everything from breaking news to sports to politics and features. He has a special interest in long-form storytelling and loves working with medium format film.

Alexandra Niki has been making pictures, building brands, and backing creators for 22 years. She came up as a prop stylist in New York, sourcing and constructing the worlds inside iconic campaigns for Dos Equis, Pepsi, Absolut, Kohler, Nike, and Disney. In 2007 she translated that obsession with the photograph into Resource Magazine, the photography publication she founded, ran for 13 years from a DUMBO waterfront office, and sold in 2020. She went on to co-found DUMBO Media Co., the ad sales operation that came to control more than 80% of the photography media space, and Agency 300, the influencer agency she built around 60 plus creators with a combined 75M monthly reach. She now runs Supply Media (builtbysupply.com), her brand and creative direction studio, and publishes Creators Network (creatorsnetwork.co), an online publication for the creator economy. She is the author of the six book Creator Playbook series, covering brand deals, audience, content, finance, the creator economy, and the nomad creator life. She lives between New York and Costa Rica.

Ali O'Keefe is a photographer and the creator behind One Month Two Cameras, a YouTube channel dedicated to the emotional and aesthetic experience of photography. Known for championing the idea that great work can be made with any tool, Ali shoots daily life, travel, and documentary work with an eye toward what makes a photograph feel true. She is based in Los Angeles.

Bio coming soon!

Andy Best is an award-winning filmmaker, cinematographer, and photographer whose work spans wild landscapes and deeply personal narratives. A lifelong artist, he began in his grandmother's studio with pastels and oil paints before studying film in Portland, Oregon in the early 2000s. Over more than 15 years, Andy has built a career creating cinematic work for leading outdoor brands and publications. His travels and projects have taken him from Baja to Alaska and across the world — often alongside his two daughters — capturing the relationship between people and the wild places that shape them. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic Travel and Sony, and continues to produce films and campaigns through his independent production company, Lone Bison Films. His mission remains constant: inspire curiosity, stewardship, and a deeper connection to the natural world.

Bio coming soon!

Anya Anti is an internationally published and award-winning photo artist specializing in on-location fine art and conceptual portraiture. Originally from Ukraine, she moved to the U.S. in 2014 to pursue her dream of becoming a professional artist. Anya creates dreamlike worlds that go beyond traditional portraiture, using beauty, symbolism, metaphor, and visual storytelling to explore fantasy, whimsy, and intangible ideas. She always uses photography as a way of collecting material to create something that is not possible to capture. Through installations, costumes, and Photoshop manipulation, she transforms her imaginative visions into finished works of art.

Art Streiber is a Los Angeles-based photographer specializing in portrait, reportage, entertainment, and advertising photography. His portraits have appeared on the covers of Vanity Fair, Empire, Entertainment Weekly, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, and Variety, and his work has been selected for American Photography and Communication Arts Photography Annual for years. Streiber has photographed key art and promotional campaigns for major television networks, motion picture studios, and streaming services including NBC, CBS, ESPN, CNN, Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, and Universal. His advertising clients include Fabletics, Flecha Azul Tequila, Mazda, Chase, and Oakley. His fine art prints are represented by The Photo Gallery in Halmsted, Sweden, and The Fahey Klein Gallery in Los Angeles.

Bella Kotak is a fine art, fashion, and portrait photographer creating dreamlike imagery inspired by nature, fairy tales, and the quiet strength of women. Raised in Kenya and based between the US and UK, she blends her architectural training with a deep love of storytelling, shaping light, florals, and colour into poetic visual worlds. Her work has been exhibited in New York, London, Paris, and Seoul, featured on BBC1’s Extraordinary Portraits, and a Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize winner. Bella is also an ambassador for Phase One, SmugMug, Canson Paper, and Vanguard, and an international educator.

Ben MacAskill is President and COO of Awesome, a family-owned and operated company with a singular mission: building a better world through the power of photography. He helped found SmugMug more than two decades ago to provide professional photographers an unrivaled platform for their businesses, and acquired beloved photography hub Flickr in 2018 to ensure a creative home for photographers everywhere. Awesome also includes the nonprofit Flickr Foundation, dedicated to the preservation of earth’s largest and most important collection of publicly available photography. When he’s not promoting photography in every way possible, Ben can be found exploring the world with his own camera in hand. Ben also sits on the Board of The Conservation Alliance, working on public land and water conservation for future generations of photographers.

Ben Weiland and Brian Davis are the filmmakers behind Fielder Films, an independent studio known for award-winning adventure films that blend striking cinematography with deeply human storytelling. Working together for years, they have built a reputation for crafting ambitious stories in remote landscapes, with films including Island X, The Search for Volcano Island, and Return to the Bering helping define their distinctive voice in adventure cinema.

Beth Huerta is an editor, agent, educator, and AI artist whose practice merges choreography, photography, and generative image-making. She began her career in movement and performance before transitioning into photographic production and artist development, a path that shaped her approach to visual storytelling and curation. Huerta has worked with renowned photographers—including Howard Schatz, Art Streiber, Sandro, and Theo Westenberger—in roles that supported both their creative work and professional trajectories. Her editorial and agenting experience spans artist representation, production oversight, AI-driven creative development, and long-term career guidance. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Photography Program at Drexel University and has taught at University of the Arts as well as serving as a guest instructor at Columbia College Chicago. Huerta mentors emerging photographers through NYC Salt and serves on the Advisory Team for FreshLens Chicago. Her current work with generative tools exists alongside her long-standing commitment to photography and artist advocacy. She approaches AI not as a replacement for traditional image-making, but as part of an evolving conversation about authorship, methodology, and the future of visual expression.