Michael Turek is a British-American photographer based in New York. He is an analog photographer. He works on documentary assignments for clients including The Financial Times, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Paris Review.
He grew up near Washington, DC. He spent a lot of time in Yorkshire, in northern England. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2004 and moved to New York City. He assisted other photographers for two or three years and then started on his own. He began with fashion, architecture and portraits and moved toward documentary work.
He often works with writers. His work has taken him to challenging environments, including Iraq and Tajikistan. He is now working on two long-term documentary projects, in East Africa and northern England.
His first monograph, Siberia, was published by Damiani in 2020. It came from three years of work in Russia with the writer Sophy Roberts. His book Contrail (Roman Nvmerals, 2021) is a series of diptychs. Each one pairs an aircraft passing high overhead with a detail from an aircraft cabin. The book is in the MoMA Archives and Library.
He also makes blended exposures on film, in camera. He shoots a roll with half of the lens covered by tape. Then he rewinds the film and shoots it again with the other half covered.
He is a Kodak Ambassador and leads photography workshops. His work has been recognized by American Photography, American Photographic Artists, Communication Arts and Photo District News.
