Chris Verene

 Chris Verene (born 1969, Galesburg, Illinois) Attended Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.  His famous works include Camera Club (Verenes series of photography clubs that advertise to aspiring models offering them a career in the modeling industry, later included to Whitney Biennial) and The Self-Esteem Salon (a performance artwork where Verene's alter personality Cheri Nevers builds a set for "clients" who are in need of a spa-like therapy.. women who need help excepting themselves.)

I'm not entirely sure if it's the colors in his series or the use of light and flash that draw me into his work.  It's honest and doesn't seem demeaning (the monochromatic image above by far is stunning to me). Where some try to stage or even take advantage of the people he uses, he creates beautiful photographs of a struggling culture from the midwest.  Turning their "average-ness" into some extraordinary with color and composition.