Got soul? Then Hermann Deza (or better known as Hermosdef) is your man. The Paris-born photographer with roots in Africa’s Ivory Coast brings a uniquely fresh visual aesthetic of the urban jungle.

Imagine being hit by the smell of roasting spices and burning wood after you’ve been starved for days. Yeah…that’s the kind of soul-food he is offering for you. His fashion and music photography will feed your lust for soulful freshness.

One main challenge for photographers is the ability to keep their awareness in the absolute moment. They have to be ready to take a slice out of the streaming sense of reality — a frozen image of life that will be powerful enough to make a lasting trace on our memory. To be able to capture the most intimate moments of human expressions — like the unmasked soul when the heart flows out through a song or a poem — takes someone who is really in tuned with their own source of creativity and has a love for their subjects.

Hermosdef, a member of the photographic collective Organic Soul Crew and the French hip-hop group Jazzeffiq, clearly has what it takes. His portraits are pieces of soul - raw and beautiful at the same time. View more of his work online at www.hermosdef.com.