Ruven Afanador, 1959, Colombia, is a fashion and portrait photographer who also focuses on personal projects. In 2009 he released the book Mil Besos, a collection of images of Flamenco dansers from Southern Spain. Strong, fearless and fierce women of various generations are portrayed in high-contrast black and white photographs, twisting pre-conceived notions of beauty. The book Sombra contains images using nineteenth century techniques of erotic male nudes in poses inspired by classical ballet. Ruven has seen a vast amount of celebrities in front of his lens, from Britney Spears to Al Pacino. His fashion shoots are larger than life, creating fantastical, dreamy, classy and powerful imagery
