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Aaron Blum
Aaron Blum
Aaron Blum

Aaron Blum

Country: United States
Birth: 1983

Aaron Blum is an eighth generation West Virginian, and creates art deeply linked to his home. Most of his work centers around a single question, what does it mean to be Appalachian? Through this question he address many different artistic concepts from idealized memory vs. stereotypes to ideas of folk taxonomy. His creation process is a diversified approach of image-based media to create a glimpse into his own concepts of Appalachia, and the social fabric of a very large and misrepresented people and place. He pays close attention to the quality of light and the landscape as well as cultural markers to produce a unique version of life in the hills. After graduating with degrees in photography from West Virginia University and Syracuse University, Aaron immediately began receiving recognition for his work including Center of Santa Fe, Silvereye Center for photography, Critical Mass, and FOAM.

About The Prevailing Winds of Hills and Heritage
Appalachia pulls at me like a haunted memory. There is an ineffable force that compels me to suspend reality and embrace superstition and myth. It is a longing to hold on to my culture and history in spite of the modern world. The nebulous forests, enveloping moss and dark corners seem to tell a purer truth.

Storytelling in Appalachia has a long-standing tradition, and it infuses the region with mystery. Using lore, pseudo-scientific study, and personal experiences as a compass I see this place through idealized eyes of wonder, and these images become my personal folklore. They bring to life the fantasies and memories I carry with me. This is a place where you can wash away sin in cool stream waters, where corpse birds come to ferry away souls to the next life, rocks burn and kudzu conceals. This is the place where the prevailing winds whisper old stories to those who know how to listen.

Website

aaronblumphoto.com

 

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More Great Photographers To Discover

Astrid Verhoef
Astrid Verhoef
Netherlands
Astrid Verhoef is a fine art photographer based in Amsterdam. She graduated from the Arts Academy “Hoogeschool voor de Beeldende Kunsten Utrecht” in 1998. Astrid started as a classic landscape photographer, inspired by photographers like Ansel Adams, but gradually felt the need to express herself differently, in a manner that more reflected her imagination and creativity. She started building a new portfolio around 2007, and by 2010 she had fully adopted the theatrical visual language we can recognise in her photography today. Her work can since be defined as surreal compositions, showing figures and objects that seem to be at odds with the desolate environments they find themselves in. Astrid aims to emphasize the contrast between the human presence and the landscape, while exploring her personal relationship with the natural world. Throughout her career Astrid also worked as a curator, and has produced exhibitions in New York, Amsterdam, Leiden and Tokyo. She’s collaborated with Photoville New York and was a program manager and curator for photography platform Photo31 from 2018 until 2024. But her main focus will always be her autonomous artwork which leads her to magnificent landscapes, from The Netherlands and Spain to Australia and the USA, to explore her personal relationship with the natural world. Astrid usually works solo and therefore is also the model in most of her images. If needed she uses basic collage techniques in her artworks top achieve the desired image, but she never adds any components by using AI. The props and figures are all actually photographed, which makes every artwork a cherished memory as well. Astrid’s artworks have been internationally awarded, and have been exhibited in London, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Berlin, Cannes, Milan, New York, Paris, Rotterdam, Sydney, and Tokyo. Her artwork is included in the collection of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. Statement: As a fine art photographer Astrid Verhoef explores her personal connection to the natural world. The complicated relationship between human and nature is a common thread throughout her work, from the ‘Inscapes’ and ‘Human//Nature’ series up to the more recent single images. When she photographs herself in these desolate landscapes an anonymous character arises that wants to connect with her surroundings. However, her roots in contemporary modern life often remain visible in the form of an unnatural element. The serene images can be seen as emotional translations where the desire for synergy is challenged by an urge to control. The long-term project 'Human//Nature' is a logical continuation of Verhoef’s well known 'Inscapes' series. With an increasing minimal visual language and a more geometrical approach to composition, she aims to emphasize the contrast between the human presence and the natural. With her latest work, At the same time she wants to create moments or scenes that can only exist because of the combination of the two. Her theatrical photography is also an ode to imagination itself. For these images Astrid Verhoef works solo on location, all elements are photographed and she acts as a model in her own images. These images do not contain any AI generated components. Only basic Photoshop tools were used, such as color /contrast adjustments, collage technique (if needed). Astrid Verhoef has photographed on locations in Australia (Northern Territory, Southern & West Australia), Spain (mainland & Canary Islands), USA (Utah, Nevada, Arizona & California) and The Netherlands.
Svet Jacqueline
Svet Jacqueline
United States
1992
Svet Jacqueline grew up In Baltimore, Maryland. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Photography from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 2014. She moved to Los Angeles, California in 2016 to work on freelance projects with Sony Entertainment, Apple, and other editorial clients. In 2020, she documented the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement and published her first book, 100 days of Protest, 2021. Last year, she split her time in Los Angeles, Mexico, and Texas documenting migration at the border and the cycle of poverty on Skid Row where her work won first place in the International Photography Awards and NPPA Best of Photojournalism 2022. Her recent efforts focus on the humanitarian impact of displacement in conflict zones and Russia's war on Ukraine. She has published with Göteborgs-Posten, Teen Vogue, The Jewish Times, and HBO. focus on the humanitarian impact of displacement in conflict zones and Russia's war on Ukraine. In her free time, she trains for marathons, cooks, and volunteers with local nonprofits to feed underfunded communities and support public art programs.
Lisa Thomas
Lisa Thomas
United States
1974
Lisa Thomas is a self-taught Atlanta-based photographer with a passion for creating unique, abstract images. Born in Virginia in 1974, she holds a degree in physical therapy from the University of Oklahoma and has spent over 20 years in the healthcare industry. She began studying photography in 2020 as a creative outlet to cope with stress and to connect with others during a time of social isolation. Initially drawn to representational imagery, her journey as an artist has been an evolution, leading her to embrace the enchanting realm of abstract photography. Thomas’s current work, Studies in Oil and Water, is a macro view of the interplay between oil and water set against a variety of backdrops. Thomas’s distinctive style combines vibrant colors, playful compositions, and the use of light to create images that are emotionally uplifting and encourage viewers to embark on a visual journey. Studies in Oil and Water My photographic work is an exploration of two seemingly incompatible elements, oil and water. Through my lens, I capture their intricate interactions giving rise to mesmerizing abstract compositions allowing viewers to immerse themselves in a realm of color and fluidity. In this chaos, I find harmony in the hues and patterns that emerge and an appreciation for the beauty in the everyday. From bold and intense to tranquil and serene, my photographs mirror the kaleidoscope of emotions that define our lives. My aim is not only to captivate the eye but also to inspire curiosity and contemplation in the viewer.
Gregory Spaid
Gregory Spaid
United States
1946
Gregory Spaid (born, 1946) is an American artist who works in many modes and styles of photography, which are linked by a common thread of illuminating the commonplace. Whether it is the daily movement of pedestrians on the streets of New York City or the leaves that fall in his yard in rural Ohio, it is photography’s potential to transform our common experiences to reveal meaning and beauty that is the hallmark of his work. Spaid’s recent work includes a photography project that explores the importance trees play in our lives and for the health of the planet titled Reading Trees. His work on trees includes Cliché Verre photographs that incorporate actual leaves and other materials on negatives he makes by hand. For this project he traveled throughout the United States and has been awarded artist residencies at the Brush Creek Foundation in Wyoming, Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, Congaree National Park in South Carolina and the Sonoran Arts Residency in Ajo, Arizona. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he focused on the natural world much closer to home, within footsteps of where he lives, to produce a series of videos to share with friends, titled The Machine in the Garden, that take a close look at nature for the beauty and inspiration still to be found there. Since 2009, Spaid has photographed the dance-like movement of people on the street of New York City for a series of abstract images titled Pedestrians. His photography on the changing landscape of rural America was included in a major group exhibition at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles titled Where We Live. As well as the Getty Museum, his work is in other major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He received a Fulbright Research Fellowship to Italy and is the recipient of eight grants from the Ohio Art Council. Spaid has published two monographs: Grace: Photograph of Rural America and On Nantucket. In 2010, the Getty Museum published his work in an historical survey titled The Tree in Photography. Spaid taught studio art at Kenyon College where he served for nine years in academic administration including six years as the college’s provost. About Leaf Cutting Series "Leaves occur in such abundance where I live in rural Ohio as to seem worthless, and yet each one is astoundingly complex and beautiful both in its form and function. I think of the leaves in this series as visual representations of wildness, while the alterations I make to them -- the cutting -- is a form of rational human intervention. These images from my leaf cutting series are camera-less photographs made from negatives I make by hand -- a process known by the French term Cliché Verre. Cliché Verre is one of the earliest uses of light-sensitive, photographic materials. In the mid-19th century, it was used by a few French landscape painters, including Corot, Delacroix, Millet and Rousseau, to reproduce drawings they made on glass plates. My process is a hybrid one and an experimental contemporary version of that early process. After making a negative by hand, I scan it, process it digitally, and then print it as an archival ink jet print. Because there is no right or wrong way to make Cliché Verre images, I invent my technique as I work and let chance and discovery shape my approach. The subject of this work is leaves that I collect, make translucent, cut in unique shapes, and then combine with other materials (including maple syrup, blueberry juice, glue, India ink) to make hand-made 'negatives.'” -- Gregory Spaid
Mark Seliger
Mark Seliger
Unites States
1959
Mark Alan Seliger (born May 23, 1959) is an American photographer noted for his portraiture. Seliger was born in Amarillo, Texas, the son of Maurice and Carol Lee. The family moved to Houston in 1964. He attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, and East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University Commerce). He moved to New York City in 1984. Seliger began working for Rolling Stone in 1987, and served as its chief photographer from 1992 to 2002, and shot more than 100 covers for the magazine. As of 2010, Seliger lives in New York City and works for Conde Nast Publications. He has shot a number of covers for GQ and Vanity Fair. Seliger has also published several books; created a number of CD covers for Burning Spear, Diana Krall, and other bands; and directed short films. The celebrities whose portraits Seliger has made include Susan Sarandon, David Byrne, Matthew Barney, Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Kurt Cobain, Lenny Kravitz, Rob Thomas, Brand Nubian, and Tony Bennett.Source: Wikipedia Seliger now shoots frequently for Vanity Fair, Italian Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and many other magazines. In addition, he shoots advertising work for Adidas, Anheuser-Busch, Levi’s, McDonald’s, Netflix, Ralph Lauren, Ray-Ban, and many more. Seliger is the recipient of such esteemed awards as the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award, Lucie Award, Clio Grand Prix, Cannes Lions Grand Prix, The One Show, ASME, SPG, and the Texas Medal of Arts Award. Seliger’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. His photographs are part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the National Portrait Gallery in London.Source: www.markseliger.com
Joan Haseltine
Joan Haseltine
United States
Joan Haseltine is a lens-based artist residing in Big Timber, MT and Los Angeles. Born in Chicago, IL, her work explores alienation and loneliness through a feminine gaze, using a cinematic approach. She received a BS in Accounting from Florida State University. She comes to photography after motherhood and a career on Wall Street. Her first camera was purchased in 2015. She has studied at the Los Angeles Center of Photography and The International Center of Photography. The Girl Who Escaped and Other Stories The Girl Who Escaped and Other Stories is a staged narrative of alienated women whose outwardly immaculate appearance disguise their vulnerability, insecurity and possible treachery. As women, we confine ourselves and limit our mobility in our attempt to be attractive. We become prey. I seek to make the viewer a complicit voyeur to these lonely women.
Debra Achen
Debra Achen
United States
1954
Monterey-based photographer Debra Achen was born and raised near Pittsburgh, PA, where she developed a passion for both nature and art. She majored in Art Education at Edinboro State University before completing her BA in Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego. She studied a variety of studio arts, including drawing, painting, and printmaking in addition to her training in traditional film and darkroom photography. Achen is an active member of several fine art photography organizations including the historic Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA, The ImageMakers of Monterey, and the Los Angeles Center of Photography. She finds the support and feedback from other photographers to be invaluable in her development as an artist. She also attends workshops and lectures to engage with new technical and creative innovations in photography as an art form. Achen’s photographs have been featured in group exhibitions throughout the US and Europe and in curated exhibitions at the Weston Gallery, the Center for Photographic Art, and Carmel Visual Arts Gallery. Her award-winning self-published book, “Frequency Shift: The Stonehenge Continuum” was featured in the 12th Annual Photobook Show at the Griffin Museum of Photography. Folding and Mending by Debra Achen
Ezio Gianni Murzi
Ezio Gianni Murzi
Italy
1944
I was born in a family of seafarers and Navy officers for generations and I was the single one to study Medicine and become a medical doctor. I loved photography since my earlier days in the medical career and I became a photographer a passionate story teller after going into retirement and after attending seminars run by John Stanmeyer of National Geographic, and by Salwan Georges of the Washington Post. I was in my early thirties and seven years into my medical career, when I moved to Mozambique and worked there, as a surgeon and the only doctor heading a 120-beds rural hospital in the south of the country, for four years, 1977 to 1981. I then moved to Zanzibar, Tanzania, as head of an Italian medical team. Subsequently, I joined UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and for over 20 years I was posted to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South, West and North Africa, India, the United States, Iran, Albania. I live in Rome and travel to where photography takes me. In May 2024, I did an exhibition of my photographic story “Hospital of Hope”. My work captures the intersection of medical humanitarianism and raw human emotion, highlighting the fight against HIV/AIDS one person at a time, fight that is not only medical, but social as it provides patients and care givers as the grannies of HIV-orphaned children with a roof, food and little cash. AAP Magazine: AAP Magazine 55 Women
Svetlin Yosifov
Svetlin Yosifov
Bulgary
I was born in Bulgaria, and I had the privilege of living in this beautiful country all my life. My employment is in a private sports club, focused on extreme sports, which involves a lot of travelling and keeps my life dynamic and interesting. Apart from this, I love travelling abroad and do this once a year for a period of two months. I always associate these trips with diving in the unknown, meeting new people and experiencing something new. My adventurous spirit is my main drive, the inner flame, that keeps me going! Not a professional freelance photographer. I define myself as a travel-documentary-art photographer. For almost 20 years now photography has been part of my life. My passion is catching street portraits and trying to figure out my object's character.Portrait photography is the most compelling genre for me. The impact of a single photo, comes from the emotion it reflects.My Point of interest - traditions in primal and natural places like India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba and more. I consider good photography to be much more than a snapshot or a memory, it is something that tells a story, strong enough to influence the world we live in and raise more awareness. Throughout the years my interviews and photographs have been published in many magazines and websites. About Mursi People Mursi People is a series of photos that were taken during my visits to Ethiopia and are part of the albums "Ethiopian tribes expedition 2018" and the "Second Ethiopian tribes expedition 2019" The African tribe of Mursi people is isolated in Omo valley - South Ethiopia near the border with Sudan. They are one of the most fascinating tribes in Africa with their lives being a combination of brutal reality and amazing beauty. What was really appealing to me, as a photographer, was to capture and recreate the perplexing nature of their culture and way of life. Suffering from extreme drought in the past few years has made their life cruel and sometimes dangerous, but has not left a single mark on their traditions. Living among them gave the sense of extreme authenticity and in the same time felt like an illusion. Their faces filled my insatiable passion for capturing pure, untouched souls of a culture on the brink of extinction." Discover Svetlin Yosifov's Interview
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Call for Entries
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Publish your work in our printed magazine and win $1,000 cash prizes
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