Camarena Photo

Chris "Cam" Camarena is a photographer with not only a great name, but great talent. He has an amazing gift with portraiture-which stems in part, I think, from his open and friendly attitude with all sorts of people from Brooklyn cops to sassy NYC chicks to Ecuadorian Indians. People are drawn to his good energy and therefore are not afraid to let the guard down and allow him to let his skills with the camera fly. He seamlessly fuses the worlds of fashion and contemporary photography- moving comfortably between the two without any compromises. Cam works in the genre of "street photography," capturing the essence and soul of his Brooklyn neighborhood, or his travels around the world, but he has also done studio shoots, where he styles his models in goofy get ups including his latest series of staged "athletes" perfectly posed but with unsightly cuts/blood/bruises. You can see his portfolio on his website, www.camarenaphoto.com

Tereza Vlckova

An exhibition of photographs by Tereza Vlckova, a young artist from Czechoslovakia is on view at Galerie Lefebvre. This is the first contemporary exhibition for this gallery, which specializes in French Art Deco. The furniture and paintings from the early 20th century have been cleared away for these colorful and engaging photographs. On view are a selection of images from four different series she has been developing over the past several years; the title of the exhibition, "A Perfect Day, Elise..." takes its inspiration from the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice in Wonderland. The images portray young women jumping, flying or running in a landscape in the countryside, the same landscape photographed by the famous Czech photographer, Josef Sudek. The figures seem ethereal, like apparations in their own fantasy. In another series she photographed young twins, standing side by side, again placed in a nature, although it feels an artificial nature. Something seems off, almost creepy the way the young children, identical including their dress, stare out at you. For a more recent body of work, Vlckova photographed her young cousin, wearing a bathing suit in a landscape, with llamas. The colors are super artifical and saturated, a la David Lachapelle and Pierre and Gilles, but the provactive yet innocent impression of the work calls to mind Sally Mann. You can the references to other, older photographers including Anna Galskell, Justine Kurland, and that mid 1990S Yale Photography school aesthetic, as well as Rineke Dikstra and Loretta Lux with the twin photos, but the work is not derivative. Vlckova clearly has her own voice and will no doubt continue to engage and entice us as she moves forward. 15, rue Pre aux Clercs, 75007. Tues-Sat. 11-6pm