French Connection.

Photographer Karine Laval has been a dear friend of ours for almost 10 years. In fact, we can remember sitting on the beach out in Montauk with her years ago while she studied books on photography and fiddled with a classic Leica-type camera, taking numerous candid and posed shots. It was then that she told us she wanted to be a photographer. Knowing Karine (who moved here from Paris) and her adventurous spirit we were certain it wouldn't be long before she made good on this goal. Since then, she's not only full-filled her passion for photography but she has built an impressive resume with dozens of exhibitions throughout the United States as well as Europe and garnered critical acclaim along the way. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek International and many other respected publications. Exit magazine says "Her photographs are notably spontaneous, reminiscent of the photographs of masters such as Cartier Bresson and Eggleston, for she shares a similar use of color as an expressive tool." Represented by the highly respected Bonni Benrubi Gallery here in New York, Laval currently has a must-see solo exhibition entitled "Leisure" at the Tomas Maier gallery in Miami following Art Basel. We couldn't be more proud of Karine and her success and we hope you'll check out her brilliant photography here!