Since the 1970s, the radical eye of photographer Miron Zownir has captured the worlds that exist in the shadows of urban areas in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, and post-Communist Eastern Europe. His expressionistic black and white portraits capture the morbid dignity of society's misfits, freaks, and the homeless that exists somewhere between self-determination and self-destruction, desolation and personal obsession. Miron Zownir s visual language smolders with existential intensity. His photographic research documents a world of unconditional authenticity, dire ecstasy, and demonical possession and takes viewers to the limit of what they can tolerate. The German-Ukrainian photographer, filmmaker, and author s work has been featured in international solo and group exhibitions and renowned publications. Critics have compared his style of to that of avant-garde icons Nan Goldin, Joel-Peter Witkin, Nobuyoshi Araki, and Weegee as well as Cindy Sherman. The Valley of the Shadow is a 144-page collection of work by a photographer who is just as controversial as he is uncompromising and poetic.