Author: Suzanne Sease

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  William DeShazer

“Flourish: What Health Care Makes Possible”

I had the pleasure of teaming up with an amazing nonprofit in Nashville called Siloam Heath. Siloam gives free healthcare to refugees in our community that have made it here in sometimes the worst of conditions. What they allow in their mission is to help create a nurturing and supportive environment for this community so that they can go out and be productive members of our society. This project highlights these individuals and showcases the successful community members, entrepreneurs, and families they are. My goal with this project was to humanize a part of our community that many don’t understand or notice. To shine a light on a group of people that rarely are ever seen and or appreciated.

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Todd Antony

Buzkashi, meaning “goat pulling” in Persian, is the wild, brutal sport of Tajikistan and its neighboring ‘Stans.’ Think polo – but with a headless, eviscerated goat standing in as a ball, hundreds of riders, and no formal teams. Rooted in the nomadic cultures of Central Asia and played for hundreds of years, riders, or chapandaz, battle for control of the goat while dodging rivals (and the occasional whip or elbow) in scenes reminiscent of a Napoleonic battle painting. The rule book is less of a book and closer to a couple of sentences, with the match often overflowing into the fleeing crowd (something I can testify to firsthand) games can last for hours until one rider hauls the goat across a hay-marked goal line in the dirt. Once a pastime of the steppes, Buzkashi is now a beloved spectacle at festivals and major gatherings such as weddings.

Watching Buzkashi matches was often like stepping directly into famous Napoleonic battle paintings. A seething morass of fighting players and horses, kicking up clouds of dust and visceral noise. I wanted some of the images from the project to take on the visual cues of those old paintings. Idealized in the middle of what is an otherwise brutal moment.

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Ian Spanier

During Covid, like many of my peers, I was restless to work. ASMP offered a free Covid Compliance Officer training, so I took the course to better understand what might become the new normal for our industry. I wanted to show my clients and potential clients that I could still produce work safely, and I also wanted to challenge myself with a lighting style I’d been eager to explore. That idea became MoTo, a portrait series of motorcycle riders.

I chose my subjects based on their motorcycles, but in most cases, I focused solely on the riders themselves. Personal projects have always been a vital part of my creative process. They allow me to explore how I see the world and keep my hands and mind engaged between assignments.

By 2023, work had fully returned, and I considered the project complete. Then, earlier this year, I was sharing my portfolio with Bill Foster, an Art Director at AV Squad. He’d seen me arrive on my bike, and our conversation turned naturally to motorcycles. When I showed him MoTo, he offered to connect me with a friend in Phoenix from the Los Santos MC, a motorcycle club with a sixteen-year history. The idea took off quickly. Before I knew it, I was meeting the President of the LSMC in Ventura and, after gaining approval, was invited to photograph not one but two chapters of the club during their fifth anniversary gathering.

Shooting on location always presents challenges. The MC’s clubhouse was more spacious than my living room, where most of the original portraits had been made…I decided to focus solely on a black background instead of white, keeping the setup lean and efficient since I had just two hours and more than fifteen subjects to photograph.

My lighting setup was simple: two Westcott X-Drop Pro black 8×13 backgrounds, a Westcott FJ800 strobe with a 24-inch Rapid Box beauty dish as the key light, and an FJ400II behind the camera with a seven-foot shoot-through umbrella as fill. I wanted the new portraits to carry a moodier tone while still feeling connected to the original work. All images were captured on a Canon R5II with a 24–105mm f/2.8 lens.

Just when I thought the project had reached its end, it found new life—and pulled me right back in.

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  David Walter Banks

Trembling Earth Statement

There is intrigue to the Okefenokee Swamp – a mystical energy that renders these well-trodden waterways terra incognita to the first-time visitor. In this photographic essay, I’ve injected fantastical visual elements into my documentary photographs, using in-camera techniques rather than post-production effects, to portray both the environmental and the spiritual significance of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

The 400,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp is one of the largest intact freshwater ecosystems in the world and home to an abundance of biodiversity including rare and endangered species. Despite designation as a national wildlife refuge, North America’s largest blackwater swamp is still vulnerable. The refuge is protected, but its boundaries are not.

Trail Ridge is a geologic formation spanning the swamp’s eastern boundary, where heavy mineral sand mining for titanium dioxide has been repeatedly proposed next to the refuge. Environmentalists say that mining could lower the water table and lead to increased drought, greater susceptibility to wildfire, and the collapse of an entire ecosystem.

After a six-year effort by environmental advocates to halt a proposed mining project, The Conservation Fund stepped in to buy the 8,000-acre tract of land and mineral rights — ending the mining threat for now and safeguarding the adjacent wildlife refuge. Despite this major win, the Okefenokee is still at risk until broader protections are placed on the adjoining land and waterways.

Before embarking on this project, I believed that those possibilities alone should be enough to preserve this special land. Once I set foot there my thesis grew. If we allow for the destruction of this place, we lose more than its biodiversity; we lose a powerful, if unknown, spiritual presence.

I hope Trembling Earth captures not only what can be seen, but what can be felt: the unmistakable yet ineffably mystical quality of this primordial space.

To see more of this project, click here

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Trembling_Earth_Book_Press_Release

Purchase the book here

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Jason Knott

Traditions are precious. And those of the English countryside, sacred.  Life’s slower. Change is considered. And reconsidered. Skills are handed on like genes, sharpened over time and proudly owned.

Capturing them just meant leaving the house with a camera, and letting their stories come to me. Nothing planned, or planted. Just as is.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Stefan Falke

Personal projects are the backbone of my work. The topics usually find me, there is very little thinking or planning involved, they usually start with a visual impulse. I often work on some new series between my assignments as a professional photographer; sometimes the paid work leads to a project which in return could – and have – lead to paid work. I published 4 books about my personal work so far, two with publishers (“MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad” and “LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US-Mexican Border”, and the latest two self published (“Keep Going New York !!” and “Reflecting New York”). Since most publishers demand the full costs for printing and layout etc these days before they commit to publishing your book I switched to self-publishing my books on the print-on-demand platform Blurb.com.

REFLECTING NEW YORK:

It started with a series of photographs I took from my window, year in year out, of Hudson Yards with an overlaying reflection of clouds or sunsets – or both – in the window I shot through. One day I used a mirror to make that photo more interesting and multi layered. It didn’t really work, but I took the mirror to the street to see what else I could with it. Long story short, using the hand held mirror in locations around my chosen hometown New York I invited distant buildings, structures or other nearby scenes into the main photo to create a viewing experience that requires a second look. My goal is to visually loosen up the obvious, to create images that often surprise me as much as I hope they will surprise and intrigue the viewer. It took me most of 2024 to finish this series in New York.

I started working on REFLECTING DUBAI last year too but I need to secure more funding to finish that book project.

Photos from REFLECTING NEW YORK were published in WIRED online, chosen by American Photography, featured by LensCulture and received The Award of Excellence from Communication Arts for books in 2025.

The book is available here:

Regular soft cover (10×8 in): https://www.blurb.com/b/12090895-reflecting-new-york

Collectors extended hard cover (13×11 in): https://www.blurb.com/b/12276784-reflecting-new-york-collectors-edition

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Cade Martin

Thailand’s Wheelchair Mafia: A Family Affair

My wife, our two sons, and I traveled to Chonburi, Thailand to create a small project with a big heart in collaboration with The Man That Rescues Dogs Foundation.

We met a gang like no other: The Wheelchair Mafia — rescue dogs who don’t walk, they fly. Wheels spin like wings. Joy rises off the road and hits you square in the chest.

What began as a project became something much bigger.

What started as a conversation between strangers became collaboration and friendship.

800 dogs in sanctuary. 44 rolling proud.

“Wheelchairs aren’t limitations. They’re wings.”

Keeping hope rolling costs 59,400 baht ($1,650) daily. One set of wheels: 14,400 baht ($400). No corporate sponsors. Just believers.

Watch them roll. If you feel it too, help keep the wheels spinning: tmtrd.org.

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Grace Chon

I’ve been photographing dogs for seventeen years, and the question I’m asked most often is, “What’s your favorite breed?” Although there are hundreds of recognized dog breeds around the world that I could choose from, my answer has always been the same: my favorite breed is a mutt.

Mutts are 100% unique, and when I see one, I see a limited-edition work of art. As soon as we meet, I find myself taking inventory of all the things I find endearing and irresistibly one-of-a-kind – the long body and stubby legs, the single floppy ear that refuses to stand up straight, or the complete mystery of which breeds could have come together to create this particular mashup of cuteness. Mutts truly show off nature’s infinite creativity in the most fun and unexpected ways, and they remind me that beauty is never about fitting into a mold, but about being unmistakably yourself.

I’ve always been drawn to their underdog spirit, because while the world often celebrates the prestige of purebred dogs, mutts quietly prove that you don’t need papers or pedigrees to be extraordinary. Many are rescue dogs, and it fills me with joy to celebrate the vibrant lives they’ve built from their second chance at life.

Each dog in this book has been DNA tested by Embark, a top leader in dog DNA testing, which makes it all the more satisfying to discover the mix of breeds that shaped them – and often surprising too, because appearances can be deceiving but DNA doesn’t lie!

This book is a love letter to mutts: to their individuality, their mystery, and their one-of-a-kind magic.

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Andy Goodwin

MashUps: Messy on Purpose
Ham-Handed, Lo-Tech Collisions, Just Because

I’ll be turning 68 this year. That’s something I used to keep quiet, worried that clients might assume I was past my prime, too set in my ways, or not up to speed on the latest tech. The truth is, while I feel like I’m at the top of my game, business has slowed over the past couple of years. And I get the sense a lot of others are feeling it too. Fortunately, photography has always been both my livelihood and my passion, and I still feel inspired to create every day.

I’ve really been focused on two personal series over the past few years. One is Driftless Artists: Creative Portraits from Wisconsin’s Hidden Region (agoodwinphoto.com/Driftless-Artists) a long-term project that will become a book later this year. The other is something very different, a stream-of-consciousness series I call MashUps (agoodwinphoto.com/MashUps), that’s low-tech, messy, and deliberately unpolished. In many ways they’re the opposite of the overly perfect AI images we see so much of today. I make most of them late at night on my phone with images I’ve shot, drawn over, and combined. Sometimes I’ll pull in a scanner or Photoshop, but for the most part they’re quick, instinctive, and not overthought. MashUps have become my way of loosening up, stepping away from perfection, and letting the work just be what it is.

I was reminded how good it can feel to work more loosely when my friend John Craig, an incredible artist in his own right, took me to visit an artist named Robert in Wisconsin. Robert is largely undiscovered, and his work completely floored me. What struck me most is that he doesn’t carry the weight of making a living from it and doesn’t seem to need an audience. He creates because he has to, and there’s something deeply refreshing in that. Once he is discovered, I just hope the attention doesn’t chip away at that unrestrained way he creates. I’m not anti-AI, I use it myself, but I am getting tired of seeing everything come out looking so perfect. Lately, I’m more drawn to something rough, human, and a little messy.

MashUps aren’t supposed to make sense; they’re just the flip side of creating photographs that are deliberate and precise. And they make me smile, which is enough.

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Andrei Duman

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been captivated by the art of image-making—regardless of the method, setting, or medium. Over time, as I worked with increasingly sophisticated cameras and complex equipment, my curiosity deepened. I found myself drawn not just to the images they created but to the intricate mechanics hidden within them.

This fascination led me to explore the unseen everyday objects we use without a second thought, yet under an X-ray, they reveal astonishingly intricate internal designs. What was once familiar became extraordinary, sparking the foundation of my latest photographic series, Beyond the Surface: The Art of X-rays.

What began as a simple experiment—testing a few random objects—evolved into an ongoing six-year journey of discovery and documentation. With each new subject, my appreciation for the hidden beauty and structural elegance of these objects grew. It creatively morphed from one object to the next, driven by curiosity and the one question that always underpins it all: ”What if we X-rayed…? Ultimately, this body of work aims to inspire a deeper understanding and exploration of the world around us and, perhaps, a newfound appreciation for what lies beyond the surface.

To see more of this project, click  here

To purchase the book, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Stephen Wilkes

“To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle”.

-Walt Whitman

Day to Night is a 16 year personal journey to capture fundamental elements of our world through the hourglass of a single day.  It is a synthesis of art and science, an exploration of time, memory, and history through the 24- hour rhythms of our daily lives.

I photograph from locations and views that are part of our collective memory.  Working from a fixed camera angle, I capture the fleeting moments of humanity and light as time passes. After photographing as many as 1500 single images, I select the best moments of the day and night.  Using time as my guide, all of these moments are then seamlessly blended into a single photograph – a visualization of our conscious journey with time.

In a world where humanity has become obsessively connected to personal devices, the ability to look profoundly and contemplatively is becoming an endangered human experience.  Photographing a single place for up to 36 hours becomes a meditation.  It has informed me in a unique way, inspiring deep insights into life’s narrative, and the fragile interaction of humanity within our natural and constructed world.

-Stephen Wilkes

To see more of this project, click here

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“The Art of Seeing” Workshop with LACP, click  https://lacphoto.org/events/the-art-of-seeing-with-stephen-wilkes-2/

To purchase “Day to Night Monograph, Taschen, click here

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Kremer / Johnson

This project was born when we admired a friend’s paintings — and the idea snowballed from there.

How could we weave a real person into those painted worlds? What should the talent look like? Would wardrobe echo the canvas, or stand apart? Should the makeup reflect the brushstrokes? How should the light fall? Would pristine, flawless retouching make it feel alive, or just like another cheap AI image? Were we making a statement, or simply creating something beautiful?

To answer our questions, we did what we always do. We followed our process.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Cade Martin

Isla de las Muñecas – The Island of the Dolls

I have always loved a good story, with great characters and the opening sentence “Legend has it…”

These are stories to tell around the campfire, to pass along and keep alive – but some stories, I’ve just got to see for myself. The Island of the Dolls is such a tale.

Legend has it, a little girl drowned entangled among the lilies of the Xochimilco canal. Her body was found on the banks of one of the islands by Don Julian Santana Barrera.

Julian was the caretaker of the island and, shortly thereafter, he found a doll floating nearby and, assuming it belonged to the deceased girl, hung it from a tree as a sign of respect – to support the spirit of the girl. After this, he began to hear whispers, footsteps, and anguished wails in the darkness even though his hut – hidden deep inside the woods of Xochimilco – was miles away from civilization.

Driven by fear, he spent the next fifty years hanging more and more dolls, some missing body parts, all over the island in an attempt to appease what he believed to be the drowned girl’s spirit.

After 50 years of collecting dolls and hanging them on the island, Julian was found dead in 2001, reportedly found in the exact spot where he found the girl’s body fifty years before.

#LegendHasIt

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Stef King

Reflection of Beauty is a project I started about 15 years ago. It began as a series called Five Minutes With, which was essentially five minutes with a model in front of the camera. They came to the studio wearing whatever they wanted, with no professional makeup. It was a chance for them to be photographed as they were — to express their own perception of how they wanted to be seen, rather than how a stylist, makeup artist, lighting team, or Photoshop might shape their image.

It was a raw, honest portrait session centered around one question: “What does beauty mean to you?”

At first, the answers were simple — “To me, beauty is a great red lipstick.”, for example. But over the years, those answers have evolved into much more complex reflections, mirroring the growing complexity of that very question:

What does beauty mean to you? What does beauty mean to all of us?

My portrait of Katie (pictured at top) was taken after she underwent brain surgery to replace part of her skull. She explores how that experience has shaped her feelings about herself, her perception of beauty, and how others perceive her.

Onella Muralidharan is a model and fashion influencer in Melbourne, Australia. – “The patterns of my Vitiligo are a reflection of how connected I am to the natural world and the inspiration for my definition of beauty.”

Amy Evans (pictured above in wheelchair) is passionate about fashion, beauty, and horse racing. For her, there has always been a conversation around disability identity: whether one sees themselves as a person with a disability (person-first language) or a disabled person (identity-first language). However, she says, “For me, identity encompasses more than just what people see. My identity is my passion. My identity is Amy!”

Leaning on my greatest strength as a photographer shooting for fitness and beauty portraiture and my internal need to connect with other women on what our perspective of beauty is.

Reflection of Beauty has become something far greater. It’s an exploration of life — how we see ourselves, and how the world sees us.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:  Luke Copping

Chef Redbeard is a personal project that came out of the recent creative connection between me and Jeremy VanAntwerp (AKA Chef Red Beard), a chef with a background in both fine dining and deeply rooted comfort food. Jeremy runs a private dining experience where small groups of guests are served directly in his kitchen studio. It’s an intimate setting—no separation between the cooking and the people he’s feeding. The meals are multi-course, seasonal, and often tailored especially for his guests’ unique tastes and needs. It’s less about spectacle, more about connection.

What drew me to document Jeremy’s process wasn’t just the food—it was the atmosphere around it. The space is calm, focused, and quiet. There’s no rush, no chaos. Just the steady rhythm of someone who’s deeply at home in their work. This project captures that mindset. It’s about the collaboration between Jeremy and his customers, the repetition of the kitchen, and the intensity that builds as the event night approaches.

The series uses both still photography and motion to show the experience from different angles. I wasn’t interested in stylized food shots or polished plating. I wanted to photograph what happens: crisp edges as they come out of the pan, the way honey drips from a biscuit and ingredients being handled with purpose.

This project isn’t about trends or restaurants. It’s about one chef, his space, and how he has decided to step away from the traditional restaurant model and explore something more intentional and personal.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist:   Megumi Bacher

THE ART OF IN-BETWEEN

PORTRAITS OF BICULTURAL KIDS AND THEIR IDENTITIES

A Celebration of Children with Japanese-American Roots

In The Art of In-Between, I explore the evolving meanings of cultural identity through the eyes of Japanese-American children. At the heart of this series is the kimono—a garment that once served as everyday attire in Japan and has since become a symbol of ceremony and tradition. Today, it is worn to mark significant milestones such as Shichi-Go-San (ages of 7-5-3 celebration), Seijinshiki (Coming of Age Day), graduations, and weddings. Beyond its beauty and formality, the kimono now carries a deeper meaning: an intentional act of cultural pride, belonging, and remembrance.

As a Japanese immigrant and photographer based in the U.S., I see these garments not only as expressions of heritage but as living visual narratives—threads that connect generations, carry unspoken stories, and shift with the people who wear them. For those of us living between cultures, tradition is not something fixed; it is fluid, responsive, and continually reimagined.

This photo series reinterprets the kimono through a bicultural lens. Rather than presenting it as a restrained or static artifact, I invite Japanese-American children to wear it as themselves—encouraging them to move, play, and express their quirks and uniqueness freely. Each portrait reflects more than heritage—it captures the individuality, curiosity, joy, and vulnerability of each child. It celebrates how culture and self-expression can not only coexist but enrich one another.

At its core, The Art of In-Between is a celebration of children growing up across cultural lines—not in conflict, but in conversation. It honors their lived experiences and identities as both fully Japanese and fully American, without asking them to choose These portraits offer a space where representation, strength, softness, and cultural nuance can exist together

This work speaks to the emotional truth of the in-between—how identity is layered, how tradition lives and breathes, and how children, when seen and supported, become powerful carriers of culture in motion. My goal is to share a vision of heritage that is not preserved in stillness, but shaped with intention, joy, and playfulness. Through these portraits, I hope to contribute to a living tradition—one that evolves across generations, and one that children feel welcomed and empowered to carry forward as their own

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram

The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own.  I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before.  In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find.  Please DO NOT send me your work.  I do not take submissions.

Today’s featured artist: Brian Maranan Pineda

My “Oaxaca, Mexico” personal series is a vibrant, intimate look at the heart of this incredible region. I wandered through bustling markets, lively streets, and peaceful neighborhoods, drawn to the colors, textures, and the spirit of Oaxaca. What struck me most were the people—their warmth, openness, and deep connection to their tradition. Through candid portraits and vivid scenes, I wanted to capture not just what Oaxaca looks like, but how it feels: full of energy, history, and life.

This project is my personal tribute to a place that left a lasting mark on me. From moments of celebration to quiet daily rituals, I hoped to capture the everyday beauty that makes Oaxaca so unique. Each image is a small story of life there, reflecting the character and rich cultural roots of its people. I hope these photographs invite others to share in the wonder and appreciation I felt while visiting this remarkable part of Mexico.

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.

Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

As a longtime member of the photo community, Suzanne is also dedicated to giving back. Through her Art of the Personal Project column on the popular website aphotoeditor.com, she highlights notable personal projects by well-known and up-and-coming photographers. The column offers these artists excellent exposure while reflecting Suzanne’s passion for powerful imagery.

Instagram