In February 2022 photographer Max Manavi-Huber traveled 2 400 meters above sea level to the
Great Rift Valley in Iten Kenya. Considered to be one of the most wondrous natural landscapes
in the world the region is home to the majority of the country's world-class distance runners
and elites in the making. With just a notebook 30 rolls of Portra 400 film and a vintage
Mamiya RB67 Manavi-Huber set out to understand one of the world's most dominant and successful
running cultures. The images in this book capture the humble and unfiltered way of life in this
countryside of East Africa where an inherited rawness purity and allegiance to the sport of
running continues to cultivate history-making champions. All film was processed and scanned in
Germany at Safelight Berlin. Images were hand-printed in Paris by Lucas De L'Estang. Born in
Schladming in the Austrian alps Max Manavi-Huber is a visual artist based in Vienna. After
earning a degree in graphic design from the New Design University in St. Pölten Austria he
served as an art director for eight years before segueing into photography full time in 2020. A
self-taught photographer with boundless range Manavi-Huber's style gravitates toward
unconventional subjects across the worlds of fashion lifestyle and sports. His imagery
explores the union of movement shadow and framing simultaneously capturing abstract beauty
to evoke ineffable sentiment. His photography has been exhibited across Europe his commercial
portfolio includes campaigns for Asics Salomon and Parel studios. Champions (2023) is his
debut art book.
