Over the course of eight years, American photographer Justin Guariglia gained unprecedented access to China?s legendary fifteen-hundred-year-old Shaolin Temple and its inhabitants, the ?warrior monks,? who dedicate their lives to practicing a form of kung fu referred to as the ?vehicle of Zen.? Driven by his passion for Chinese culture and Shaolin, Guariglia earned the full trust and collaboration of the monks to create a stunning photographic documentation of this revered, centuries-old art form that is being published for the first time in Shaolin: Temple of Zen (October 2007).
Born in 1974 in Maplewood, New Jersey, Justin Guariglia lived in Asia for nearly a decade and now resides in New York City. He is a photographer and current Contributing Editor to National Geographic Traveler Magazine, and a regular contributor to Smithsonian magazine. Guariglia was nominated for the International Center of Photography?s Young Photographer Infinity Award, received an Eddie Adams Workshop award, and was named by Photo District News as one of the top ?30 Young Photographers under 30.?
Aperture?a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to advancing photography in all its forms?was founded in 1952 by six gifted individuals: photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, and Minor White; historian Beaumont Newhall; and writer/curator Nancy Newhall. With scant resources, these visionary artists created a new periodical, Aperture magazine, to serve photographers and photography enthusiasts worldwide. As the medium flourished, so too did Aperture Foundation, expanding to include the subsequent publication of books (over four hundred to date); limited-edition photographs and portfolios; artist lectures and symposia; and a traveling exhibitions program that since its inception has presented over one hundred exhibitions at major museums and cultural institutions throughout the United States and abroad.
