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:  Robin O’Neill

My photography is driven by my curiosity and attraction toward different cultures. Thirty minutes from my culturally homogenous home in Whistler is a small community called Lil’wat Nation. This is a First Nations reserve at the base of the majestic 8500-ft Mount Currie, surrounded by the Coast Mountain range.

As a local backcountry skier, I make a weekly pass through the Lil’wat Nation in the winter. I look forward to this part of my day. I crane my neck to investigate the random items on the lawns, examine the texture of old paint cracking off the sides of houses, and watch the dogs roaming freely. Seeing the chimney smoke and warm condensation in the windows, all I want is to know the people inside.

Last winter I decided to drive out there more regularly, bring along my camera, and document the beauty I saw in these homes and in this community. Only 40 kms away, and a vastly different view of the world. I am left wanting more.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Hugh Kretschmer

I first noticed a change when I moved back to LA from New York after twelve years.  It seldom rains, and the weatherman is struggling to figure out when El Niño is supposed to arrive; a weather phenomenon that brings heavy rain to this part of the world every seven years. We’re past the seven-year mark.  I remember as a kid looking at the weather page of the newspaper on an El Niño year and seeing in the satellite photo one rainstorm after another coming from Hawaii.  It looked like they were on a conveyor belt, and they actually had a nickname for it – The Pineapple Express. Fire storms are more common than rainstorms, and I’ve been evacuated twice because of brush fires.  And then there are oil derricks out in the bay, a lot of them, and there is a faint smell of crude and a rainbow sheen on the ocean surface.  Like a siren call, it is alluring to the eye but toxic to the touch.

And, if all of this is happening in my home city, I can only imagine what the effects are elsewhere around the world. Add to the mix a prediction by experts that future wars will be waged over water, it is hard to sit on my hands and leave it to the experts, “more qualified than me”, to do something about this.

Then the idea came to me: create photographs around the subject of water but have not a drop of it in the images.  It sat in the back of my mind until I was interviewed by an Arab arts and culture magazine while teaching workshops in Dubai. It dawned on me why this project was gnawing at me when she asked, “Have you ever considered having your work serve a purpose?”  That one question brought it all together as if the universe was telling me to start the project.

“Mirage” has a double message: bring water back to where it once flowed and was pristine; and take a glimpse into dystopian future where the only way to see water in its purest form would be through artificial means. Think museum diorama!

My vision for this project is to ultimately expand my vistas beyond California to the rest of the country, and eventually other parts of world where natural water systems are in peril.  By way of gallery exhibitions, print sales, and an eventual book, I will donate a portion of the proceeds to a non-profit organization dedicated to water conservation — come hell or high water.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Mark Hanson

I’ve been a lifestyle/fashion and commercial photographer my whole career, working with National and international clients, my job requires that the shoots I photograph or video, are planned out, stay in budget and are delivered on or before a deadline. But I’ve always enjoyed spontaneously capturing a moment, whether it’s an off guard moment on set, people on the street in another country or during a sporting event, such as football or volleyball. So when my daughters began playing volleyball, I started bringing my camera to all of their matches. At first it was just shooting my daughter when she hit, dug a ball or blocked. After a while those images all started to feel similar, just a different location or color of uniform. Then I started to shoot what was happening off the court and the moments between plays. I also started to experiment with shooting different angles while they were playing and using different focal lengths. I became obsessed with getting different images, getting that exact moment of the block at the net, or the celebration of the team when they got a huge win.

I spent three years shooting my daughters and their teammates at every tournament. Always looking for those shots I wanted but hadn’t had the opportunity to capture just yet. In my work with commercial and fashion clients, I can always control the images and direct the models so I can get the shot I want or the images my clients need, but you can’t stop a volleyball match, go out onto the court and ask the teams to do that again. A block at the net or a massive dig from the back row happen in a fraction of a second, so I have to be able to anticipate what the players are going to do and exactly when things are going to happen, but that’s all part of what makes it fun, that’s the challenge!

My youngest daughter still plays volleyball, so once again, this season; I’ll have my camera with me. I may not be as obsessed with taking pictures of everything that goes on this year, but I know I’ll always be looking for the next shot that will be different or more amazing than anything I’ve shot before. That’s what keeps it fun, and it helps keep me from stressing during those tight matches where they might lose.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Liz Von Hoene

A print and motion collaboration centered around LA Artist Mimi Haddon’s textured fabric sculptures and brought to life between highly creative and visionary women. Wear The Wild Things Rgives you a glimpse into an eerie urban world of vibrant colors and odd shapes where model, wardrobe and sculpture delicately play off one another to become one. The graphic simplicity to the environment and shaping of light and shadow made for the perfect playground and helped further celebrate this surreal and wild vision.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Donato DiCamillo

The Fringes

Like many of my photographs, these photos represent slices of humanity seemingly living without filters. In most cases they’ve become comfortable in what others may say are outside the norm.

To see more of this project, click here.

 

Born in Brooklyn New York, Donato Di Camillo is one son of three siblings born from Italian Immigrant Parents.

As a child Donato suffered behavioral problems with anger, he would soon be expelled from school at the age of sixteen for violence, then finding himself in and out of behavioral institutions and jails.

Ironically Donato became intensely interested in photography while serving out a federal prison sentence in Petersburg, MCI, Virginia

“I was always interested in magazines like National Geographic and LIFE. When I was a child I used to dream about being on adventures,

exploring, always fascinated about other cultures in different parts of the world”

Since his release in 2012 Donato taught himself to use a camera while being on home confinement. At first he photographed, bugs, plants or anything else within the 120ft of his home, which he was restricted to.

Donato was featured in multiple publications and news broadcasts around the world, such as, BBC, Washington Post, CBC, Huffington Post, and was invited to speak at the prestigious HEARST magazines annual summit.

Di Camillo continues to focus on people and plans to put out his first book late 2017. He currently resides in Staten Island, N.Y.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Nate Bressler

Between the fire lines~

With a fake press pass in hand, I made my rounds through town, gathering tools from friends, a water pump from the hardware store, enough Gjusta bread to feed a small Army and a small generator to bring the power needed. There are three major checkpoints between Venice Beach and the headland where the brave few stayed behind to fight the fire on their own. I’ve been through plenty of tornadoes and hurricanes in my life so there must be something I can do. All my adventure gear and camper were up in flames, along w so many of my surf and horse family homes, turning the mega fire into one of those nothing to lose but everything to gain situations.

As the fire raged on through the remaining drought stricken canyons, distress calls and rumors of starving animals cut off by the blaze made their way to our crew of unlikely hot shots. With thousands of horses throughout the windy canyons and a fire that moved like no other, many animals were left behind with no help able to get through. Luckily for them, a 250 gallon tank I commandeered from Larry Thorne’s farm, hay bails from anywhere I could find them and hoses that were brought in by boat with the rest of our gear needed to whoop this fire. The nights were spent driving the streets in groups of four, looking for flare ups that could possibly get out of hand and threaten the unburned houses. That left my days free to tend to the animals and distressed natives like Bonnie Decker who’s grandfather settled Decker canyon over 100 years ago. These fires were nothing new to a family that came out west in the 1860’s, when ranches covered the coastline and the PCH was nothing more than a couple of dirt ruts. Bonnie’s mom Millie had both the kids at the ranch house, all while keeping the 60 bee hives, feeding chickens and training horses to go along with all her daily chores. Even just shy of 100, Millie tried to stick this hell of a fire out but this was the biggest one yet and it would be just too much to handle. So to the nursing home she’ll go for safety as Bonnie and her married ranch hands fought to save what of the homestead they could defend with hoses, holding their livestock in turnout that they hoped to be safe. They took a gamble that day and lost a home, tack shed and most the corrals. “Of course moms place with all the clutter survived and mine burned down” Bonnie said as she sifted through her grandpa’s charred tack. Grateful to all be alive and with no shortage of spirit she had a lot to be thankful for. All her animals had survived in a canyon where so much had been lost in a community that suffered its biggest fire in history and a mass shooting at a country bar all within a day and a half. We know the rebuilding wouldn’t be easy but not much on a ranch is and if not for this settled chaparral landscape’s toughness…

the human spirit would’ve burned out a long time ago.

Here, my truck, Brutus delivers water, feed and insulin to the Decker’s ranch as the next canyon over burns in a matter of hours.

Bonnie Decker

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Dax Ward

Concept of my work

Every derelict location has its own individual history, but each one is connected in the sense that they are reminders of what once was, what might’ve been, and what happens when we forget.  They are no longer freshly painted, not shiny and new anymore.  Windows are broken.  Doors, furniture, light fixtures, and most metal has been either stolen or scrapped.  They are not as they once were, nor will they ever again be.  Nonetheless, despite the decay and rust that many see as unsightly blots on the landscape, the allure for urban explorers and photographers lies in identifying and capturing the remaining beauty in these forgotten locations.  If we look closely, it isn’t hard to find.

To see more of this project, click here.

To see a book he would love to have published, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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 today’s thread, I am featuring personal projects that are published and where you can purchase the books.

Today’s featured artists:

Matthew Ralston 

 

To purchase Hollywood Royale, click here

Doug Ross

To purchase Coney Island, click here

Joel Salcido 

To purchase Tequila, click here

Walter Iooss

To purchase Athlete, click here

Grace Chon 

To purchase Puppy Styled, click here 

Also available at other major retailers

Randal Ford

To purchase The Animal Kingdom, click here

Tony Novak-Clifford

To purchase Bali, click here

William Coupon

To purchase Portraits, click here

Nadav Kander

To purchase Beauty’s Nothing, click here

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Randal Ford

I’m portrait artist at the core of my photography, so these animals are rooted in classical portraiture, inspired by the greats like Richard Avedon.

In order to capture these images, it’s important that all the groundwork be laid in advance. Meaning, I need to have communication with animal’s owner prior to the shoot to discuss what I’m aiming to achieve, which is typically a headshot showcasing the animal’s personality. As mentioned above, on set, I need to be ready and prepared to capture anything and everything that an animal may give me. Because sometimes I may only get one split second for that perfect portrait.

Obviously access to the animals is a challenge with a project as large as this. I’ve worked with rescue facilities, zoos, private animal owners, or farm working animals (i.e. horses, cows, chickens). So they come from a range of sources and I worked closely with a team of producers to find the right animals and went to great lengths to ensure those animals were living in a great environment and being treated with the utmost respect for their wellbeing. For example, the Cheetah on the back of the book was photographed at an amazing sanctuary called Cat Haven near Dunlap, CA and we are donating a portion of the proceeds to Cat Haven as a way to give back and create more awareness.

Some of the animals I shoot in a traditional studio with a painted Cyc and cover while others I shoot on location where I bring the lighting setup to them. Regardless, I utilize lighting to create a consistent, timeless aesthetic

Finally, not exactly a production or tactical note, but all the animals have names. And this is a very important part of the intention to connect with the audience. By including the animal’s name and story in the book, it further humanizes and heroicizes them to bring you further into their story. The descriptions and names for all the animals are included at the back of the book and at randalford.art. For examples, Highland Cow No. 1 is named Gertrude and The Young Lion with his mane growing in is named Jabari, which means brave. So by including the name, we are pushing the boundaries of the story and connection with the audience.

 

To see more of this project, click here.

To purchase the book, click here

(or other major bookstores)

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram

 

In honor of Thanksgiving which is all about family.  Have a lovely holiday

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 new revised 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:  Anderson Smith

Anderson Smith Sr was an American photographer who started shooting roughly in the early 1960’s. He was part of a couple of camera clubs, one in L.A and The Chicago Camera Club where he has won numerous awards as an up and coming shutterbug. He was also a part of the only African-American ski club called the Snow Gofers who traveled around the midwest and skied in competitions. My father took a lot of picture of pretty much everything, from people, to objects and life. Some of his influences as a photographer as what he told me were Eggleston, Penn and Gordon Parks. As my mom told me, he always had a camera and was always shooting. Before he passed he left me his life’s work which I have been scanning and documenting since his death in 2006. Roughly 98% of his work has never been seen outside of the family and has been preserved in slides and in boxes for over 40 plus years.

My dad and I were never really close but we became a little closer a few months before he passed as we talked about photography and I had the opportunity to show him my work and hear his opinion as I was just starting out as a photographer.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.

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:  Fernando Decillis

Photography is amazing for the access it gives the photographer to moments and stories that might not be apparent in a moving moment. It allows you to freeze time and look back at what happened. Or to draw someone out of their shell and learn about who they are. Without a camera, I would probably talk to people a lot less. And I’m already accused of being really quiet at least a few times a week.

My friends at We Love ATL had a brilliant idea— to highlight the unsung heroes who dedicate their lives to serving their communities within Atlanta. They asked me if I was interested in shooting in volunteering some time to making portraits of someone. After realizing how much these people do for their communities, I was hooked! I really took the project to heart and made a personal project out of it. I took pictures of 7 more people after the first.

I met some amazing people through this project. People who have literally changed this Atlanta to make it a richer, safer, and more friendly place to live.

Sanjay Patel, the founder of Soccer in the Streets, is the man Atlanta’s first Marta (Atlanta’s light rail) soccer station. It’s democratizes soccer culture in our city by making the field itself accessible by public transportation and allowing anyone to sign up for pickup games.

Jason Ikeem Rogers, established Orchestra Noir, Atlanta’s first all African-American orchestra. He’s invigorated music culture here and given an underrepresented group of musicians a place to belong and thrive.

Nedra Deadwyler of Civil Bikes offers bike tours of Atlanta that tie history into the neighborhoods’ current cultures.

Pat Hussein is a civil rights activist whose mission is to reframe the way the South is viewed by serving the LGBT community and creating a space of belonging in community. Her organization is called Southerners on New Ground (SONG).

Ultimately, personal projects connect me to my community and give me a window into what is going on right around me. It’s crazy how with a camera in my hand and a story to tell, people just invite me into their worlds.

http://www.weloveatl.org/the-time-is-right/

@weloveatl

 

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Dana Sabre

Personal projects are hard! I’ve been trying to do one for years.  I kept thinking…. what do I care about? Empowering women…. the first thing that came to mind was a project featuring the super badass high achieving women who have defied all odds, shattered glass ceilings… survived cancer.  But what about those of us who haven’t crushed chemo or invented Spanx? I started thinking about doing something more simple. Just something very “every day” and relatable…. more me.

I’m lucky to have a large group of amazingly talented and hilarious female friends and I’m one of three sisters. So I drew inspiration from the stuff we talk about and the things we find funny.  My sister and I have always joked about our “mirror faces” we make when we are trying to get ready and the way we must have our mouths hanging wide open to do our mascara (try to do it with your mouth closed, it’s impossible).

That was the idea. For the execution I had a giant mirror behind me while shooting and I told the models to do the things they would normally do in front of a mirror.  I practiced at home with my own mirror faces and wrote down about 50 different kinds of faces incase we ran out of ideas. I’m pretty sure if anyone had seen me preparing for this shoot they would have thought I was mental.  I also had an excellent team of two hair/makeup people and two wardrobe stylists.

Then I sent the work out in an email blast.  I specifically said in my email that this was a personal project. I didn’t say much else however, just a couple quick sentences. Within about 15 minutes of sending my second round of emails out I got an email back from a creative director who wanted me to bid on a job for Samsung.  He liked that I had my own ideas and wanted to work with someone who could get authentic moments from people. I was awarded the job AND I was able hire a couple of people from my original crew for the shoot, which was awesome.  That’s the long explanation. But to put it simply, the important question is — “what’s your mirror face?”

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Sandro Miller

Centurions. I started thinking about all that time on this earth that these beautiful people have seen good and bad.  Each of my subjects were so kind, generous, and loving.  I was humbled by their insights on their longevity on this earth.  For every one of them, the LOVE they gave and received was the main factor of why they felt they had such a long life.  Their family and friends played equal importance in sharing that love. I was particularly moved with empathy when I was given the honor of photographing the three African-American Centurions.  I thought of the hardships, the injustices they have seen and felt.  I thought of the unthinkable hatred from whites they have all sadly have endured.  I held each and every one of their hands and stroked their beautiful soft cheeks as I photographed them. It is my way of letting them know that I truly care and love them.  For this they gave me a split moment of their time, over 100 years on this earth.  There is so much to learn from these gifts from God that we can all learn from.   I was an honor to sit with each of these beautiful members of our society.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  The Voorhes

Regarding the project,

Plaster & Bone began as a meditation on addiction.

We all have our vices. Some are innocent and some are brutally self- destructive. But as a society, a global society, we are raging addicts with no concept of control or consequence. Much like the way tobacco creates a body that can’t sustain life, humanity’s addictions to oil and coal compounded with the rapidly growing human population seems doomed to destroy its self.

It sounds dramatic, but can you deny it?

We are living in a glimmering golden age, yet we can all see what’s on the horizon.

***

Regarding the experience,

This project has been an outlet to express themes of anxiety, decay, famine and hopelessness. But also, it has been a venue to explore more traditional imagery at a time when we spend so much of our energy on contemporary visuals. Given that there were no rules, I was able to explore and play. I could re-shoot an image again and again on my own timeline, or abandon a direction if it wasn’t working. That is a luxury I’m not used to. This was the first time in years that I put so much energy into not just testing an idea, or technique or exploring something for a specific project or portfolio development. This body of work exists for no reason other than to exist. Yet, I’m so happy to have put the energy into creating this body of work, and I look forward to developing it in the future. Or maybe not! That’s the freedom of the personal project.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Ashton Rodgers

I recently was able to visit my hometown in southeastern Washington… a place that I couldn’t wait to leave growing up and now a place that speaks to my soul. My hometown isn’t traditionally beautiful or really noteworthy for much. But what I’ve come to learn is that it’s rolling hills of alfalfa and open blue skies had a huge influence on my sensibilities as an artist. Locations that are expansive and free of distractions with simple color palettes challenge me to create.

Before my trip I had arranged a lifestyle photo shoot with a Dodge Challenger in Texas where I live full-time. While traveling back from my hometown the concept for the shoot radically changed. Inspired by my recent trip I ditched the complications of sourcing talent and wardrobe and decided to put my focus on the car. Essentially deciding to strip away everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary. Once that decision was made everything else came together and I was free to focus on framing and light.

Simplicity is nothing new, in fact it’s a principle I employ in my commercial work all the time. Going home and seeing the simplicity of the landscapes just reminded me why it comes naturally to me. Less really can be more.

To see more of this project, click here.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  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:  Leon Henrickxs

KINGS & QUEENS began in 2015 when Léon created a portrait of his friend Micha and his drag queen alter ego Snorella WC. Two personalities of the same individual laid bare; portrayed in juxtaposition, as if each has his or her own life. The blueprint for an international photo project had been formed: KINGS & QUEENS — guys besides the girl they are inside.

The KINGS & QUEENS portraits invite the viewer to enter into the exotic phenomenon of drag artistry, a world which is usually restricted to the clichés of spectacle, fantasy and entertainment. By gazing upon the fierce drag queen, accompanied by her soberly dressed male half, the viewer is asked to consider the relationship between the two personalities: whose desire is satisfied with the transformation back and forth? What does one ‘get’ from the other? And how do they react when meeting each other for the first time? Do they embrace, flirt or argue with each other?

One thing is certain: the depicted subjects were stunned when seeing the images for the first time. On seeing her portrait, drag queen Extasis Liquuid cried out: ‘Finally my two hearts beat in the same rhythm.’

KINGS & QUEENS is now conquering the world. Berlin, Madrid, New York have already experienced the power of drag, with Cape Town, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Rio De Janeiro to follow soon. Exhibitions are usually accompanied with debates and discussions about gender, sex and identity conventions. Ultimately the KINGS & QUEENS portraits will be collected, internationally exhibited and eventually published in a book that captures the magic and reality of what it means to be a drag queen.

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/kings-queens-drag-portraits/index.html

To see more of this project, click here.

Instagram here

LÉON HENDRICKX

Léon is a Dutch photographer based in Amsterdam, NL. He started his photographic career as a university scholar, absorbing the theories of visual arts and photography at the University of  Amsterdam, Leiden and the Rijks Art Academy in The Hague. In the meantime, he learned the photographic trade while assisting the artists and photographers of the Dutch fashion and  advertising industry. During these assignments Léon developed his interest and skills for the technical possibilities of photography and how to utilize technology to make his dreams seem real.

Léon is intrigued by the extraordinary. He is determined to bring out the ‘realness’ of his subjects, no matter how bizarre, strange or fantastic that may be. But whether what’s depicted is real or not, he wants to make sure that the viewer believes what he creates.

In his series KINGS & QUEENS, Hendrickx explores the world of drag. For him, drag is becoming another character that resides inside yourself. Léon was fascinated by the question of how (or whether) these two sides of the same person could be reconciled. After much experimentation, Léon found a way to portraying both persons in the same image, thereby showing how two characters, wrapped up in the same body, are intertwined.

 

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s.  After establishing the art buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a new Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty.  Follow her at @SuzanneSease.  Instagram