Category: Personal Project

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

Patria Gaucha

In Uruguay, the gaucho is a national symbol of character. He is honest, self-sufficient, proud but humble, generous, brave, and most of all; he is free. The gaucho lifestyle is solitary, nomadic, gritty, and full of rich traditions. In the open grasslands, gauchos round-up cattle and wild horses. they hone skillful tricks to bend the will of large herds.

As a child in Montevideo, I remember seeing these dignified horsemen towering above my head as they paraded through the streets with their wide-brimmed hats, ponchos, boots with spurs, sheepskins, leather whips, and long, sheathed knives during the gaucho festivals. Since I left thirty years ago, I have dreamed of going back to photograph the heroes of my childhood.

Every year, in the small village of Tacuarembó, Uruguayan gauchos travel from all over the country for the Fiesta de la Patria Gaucha. They share traditional yerba mate, cook over open fires, and compete against one another in games of skill with wild horses and cattle.

The weeklong festival ends with the jineteada gaucha, where gauchos compete to ride untamed horses. The display of skill and showmanship highlights the bravery of the gaucho lifestyle, and the relationship between the men and the animals they live alongside.

To watch untamed horses in the wild is to behold the spirit of life itself, expansive, driven, without limitation. These are the faces of the men whose lives are rooted in a tradition of breaking that spirit, to carry humanity farther and faster toward one another and into the unknown.

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:  Naomi Harris

EUSA – Artist Statement

On a trip to the mountains just north of Atlanta, Georgia, I came upon this odd little town called Helen. Once a thriving mining community, by the 1970s they were suffering from a recession. They called a town meeting and decided to turn their hamlet into a Bavarian wonderland bringing in tourist dollars. So today, in the Deep South, among all the gingerbread shops selling Confederate flag tee shirts, the world’s largest Oktoberfest is held, for three months.

This got me wondering, if this exists in Helen, what other American cities have been modeled after imaginary European villages. And for that matter, are there any places in Europe that were designed to look like America?

Globalization has made the uniqueness of a particular country less significant thus creating an indistinguishable common world community.We wear the same clothes, eat the same meals, use the same iPhones, we are all interconnected.  EUSA is a reaction to this homogenization of European and American cultures. Being enthralled by another country’s way of life does not mean that it is always an accurate portrayal rather it becomes a sentimental and idealized depiction; an homage to a heritage that isn’t ones own.

In America these “European” venues resemble a land of make-believe. Like something out of a fairy tale, they are magical, whimsical and quaint. In Europe their fascination lies in an America of the past, when the US was considered glorious and free, a place full of fresh starts and opportunities. The foundation of these locations was to honour the “other,” but what was once characteristic has now ultimately become a caricature.

I began this project in June 2008 photographing a weekend rendezvous for re-enactors at High Chaparral, a country western them park in the south of Sweden. There people spent the weekend living in rustic tents as “Indians” or “Confederate Soldiers” leaving all of their modern-day conveniences locked in their cars. Since then I visited over twenty-five locations on both sides of the Atlantic including Sioux City, a movie-studio-turned-tourist-attraction in Grand Canaria, Spain;‘Indian’ festivals in Germany: a Tulip Festival in Orange City, Iowa: an American Civil War reenactment in the Czech Republic; a Viking festival in Alaska; a rockabilly festival in the countryside outside Budapest, Hungary;a Maifest in Leavenworth, Washington; numerous Oktoberfests around the United States, and a variety of ‘Cowboy and Indian’ amusement parks throughout Europe.

At first sight it is often difficult to locate where and when these photos were taken; are we in the U.S, or somewhere in Europe? Upon closer examination, something inevitably reveals how out-of-place it is, and we are aware of our “error”.

In other images it is much more obvious that what we are looking at is built and artificial – a benign pastiche to the more insidious and offensive forms of cultural appropriation. These exaggerated reconstructions bear little authenticity and what was once characteristic has now ultimately become a caricature.

Photographing the visitors playing dress-up in these various maudlin locations within these two continents,my goal was to illustrate the enthusiasm we have for one another’s heritage, and demonstrate this universal phenomenon that is a reaction to the homogenization of our cultures.And through this spirit of camaraderie, if only for that moment, the participants are granted membership to one another’s culture.

To see more of this project, click here.

Naomi Harris and her project EUSA which has gone from a personal project to a published book and now an exhibition as part of the inaugural Photoville LA which runs April 26 – 28 and May 3 – 5. You can visit both the exhibition and the artist herself where she’ll be selling books (and if you’re lucky she may be wearing her dirndl) at Photoville which is being held at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century Park, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067

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:  Dasha Pears

Photography turned out to be a way of discovering my true-self and expressing it. My works are a reflection of this discovery process and I hope that they can help others who are on the same journey as me. In metaphorical ways I try to show and share processes that are going on in many people’s minds: dealing with negative self-talk, being overwhelmed by all kinds of emotions, finding that activity that puts you in the state of flow, when time ceases to exist.

My photography is influenced by classical fine art, surrealism, as well as fantasy and science fiction books. The instruments of surrealism help me show that the scene is only partially real and that most of it is going on in the character’s mind. My works are carefully composed and many of them are leaning towards minimalism. This is my way of expressing that controlling your mind and creating space is crucial for discovering who you are and who you are not.

To see more of this project, click here.

To purchase prints, 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

Dasha Pears is an award-winning Russian conceptual photographer, currently based in Helsinki, Finland. Dasha’s unique style is dreamlike and whimsical. Her works tell stories that combine real life and surrealism, making the viewer stop and think.

She started her photographic path in 2011, after reaching burnout in a marketing communications career. Having tried many types of photography, Dasha found herself in conceptual and fine art sphere. Since then her images have been exhibited in Russia, France, Poland, Austria and Finland. Her work was also named among the winners of Best of Russia’15, had an honorable mention during Trierenberg Super Circuit 2017 and 2018 photography contests in Linz, Austria, and won a bronze medal during Prix de la Photographie Paris, 2018. Dasha’s photographs are used worldwide by companies like Trevillion, ArcAngel, plainpicture and Millennium Images, and can be found on covers of books published in Europe, the United States and South America.

In 2016 Dasha started sharing her experience of organizing conceptual photography shoots and producing surrealist artworks in the form of creative photography workshops. Since then she has held over 15 events in Finland and abroad.

This website is for Dasha’s fine art photography. Follow on Instagram. For commercial portfolio please check www.dashapears.com.

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:  Sara Forrest

Prom night featuring six juniors in my home town of Topeka, KS. This series is part of an ongoing project on youth in America. I started my photography career in small town Kansas and always am thankful for it. I work now all over photographing ad campaigns and editorials worldwide and owe my drive to this place in the middle of the US. This vast landscape isn’t anything particularly special to many on the coasts, but it is very special to me. It’s a unique perspective to be from here and to have left for so long and to come back and appreciate it. Today it has the faint smell of the spring grassland burns – lush regrowth soon to follow. When life feels spun out due to the crazy work and travel schedules or other circumstances, I always come back and feel grounded and recentered working on this project in this space. It is my hope I can always continue to learn and understand people anywhere in the world, starting with where I started too.

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:  Doug Menuez

I am deeply interested in both history and culture and how innovators and influencers such as Jeff Ho shape it. With this short film, I was very lucky to be introduced to this truly legendary but humble artist and get to spend a day hanging out with him and his colleagues from Juice Magazine. This film does not cover Jeff’s incredible history or details of his accomplishments and influence and someday I hope to do that longer piece. This is more of a haiku, a visual tone poem, a sort of glimpse into Jeff’s philosophy about street art, searching for the perfect wave and his life’s work.

Originally I was going to produce a short film for Leica about their lenses for the Leica SL camera. As I got to know Jeff and his friends Terri and Dan at Juice Magazine I decided instead that I needed to make this one a personal film. I felt very attracted to their totally independent spirit and approach to living life with an artistic integrity that is hard to maintain these days. I’m definitely an outsider to skating and surfing, but have a great appreciation. When I was 10 I really got into skateboarding with early boards. I migrated into go-carts and mini-bikes and then ended up channeling all my teen energy into photography and blues.

So for this film, I serve as the witness and storyteller, which is what I love doing above all else. And of course we used the Leica SL and the astonishing Leica Cine lenses. We are very grateful to Leica Camera USA and everyone else in the production for their generous help getting this done.

To see more of this project, click here.

a video of this project, can be seen 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 Laita

I’m always working on personal projects and a few times art book publishers have decided to turn my projects into books, like Abrams did with Serpentine a few years ago. I use my personal projects as a way to do something pure which is in no way aimed at generating money. Ironically, they usually do in some way, either as a published book or gallery show or as an advertising project. I’ve shot many campaigns that art directors admitted were meant for me from the start since their ideas come from some of my personal images. For me, Serpentine was simply a project about form and color with a little danger and symbolism thrown in for interest. Personal projects always draw me back to why I chose photography as a career as a teenager. To this day they’re the life blood of my career as well as the key to my fulfillment as an artist. As with any marriage, it isn’t always perfect, but my advertising work and my personal work have a symbiotic relationship. Commercial work funds my personal projects and personal work inspires my advertising images.

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:  Cade Martin

Blues Men:

While I love everything about the collaboration that comes with a commercial shoot, when it comes to my personal work, I find I am drawn to the one-on-one with real, every-day people.  You can’t make any of it up or direct it – how they carry themselves or have decided to dress for the day is better than where my imagination could take it. I always go out of my way to make the subjects look their best, to present them in the truest, most sincere way- exploring the architecture of their faces, the texture of their clothes and so on.

I worked on this post-production with one of my go-tos, Sugar Digital, and that familiar relationship is great for both understanding my process and pushing me to experiment. My original intention going into this Blues project was to produce these as black and white portraits, but the more we played, the more I gravitated towards a bit of warm color that brings a little more life, as well as further defining the magnetic architecture of their faces.

To see more of this project, click here.

Cade Martin is now being represented by Heather Elder

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:  Brinson Banks

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:   Giulio Sciorio

Artist Statement

Traditionally a Mexican neighborhood in Chicago, Pilsen is in the process of gentrification. The images in this series are portraits of the people I connected with while exploring the neighborhood. These individuals, small business owners, and families represent a community in transition.

I’m moved by the plight of communities facing gentrification like Pilsen. It’s hard enough for people to make rent for their homes and small businesses and I wonder what will happen to them when they are forced out of their neighborhood. As luxury condos and cafes replace hidden gems like barbershops and amazing Mexican food joints, the personality of Pilsen will be forever changed. Through photography, I wanted to capture this moment in Chicago’s history before it’s gone forever.

What I love about photography is the human connection. Before making a street portrait, I connect with my subjects on an individual level. With some loose direction if any, I prefer to get as close as possible to the subject which I feel captures their honest emotions while allowing space for self-expression. Community, self-expression, and diversity are the foundation of my photographic work.

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:  Kirsty Mitchell

Described as a multi-faceted artist, British fine art photographer Kirsty Mitchell draws on her past careers in fashion design and costume making, to produce images of beguiling dream-like worlds all shot in the ancient woodlands of her home county Surrey. Kirsty describes her approach as ‘Fantasy for Real’ spending months meticulously handcrafting her character’s costumes and props to coincide with the bloom of wild flowers and the seasonal extremes of her local environment.
After graduating from six years of study at The London College of Fashion and Ravensbourne College of Art, Kirsty went on to complete internships at the studios of Avant Garde designers, Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan. Her career as a fashion designer continued for over a decade until 2008 when Kirsty developed a sudden and deeply emotional passion for photography, during the treatment of her mother’s terminal cancer. It was through the lens that Mitchell felt able to channel her grief and communicate emotions she felt unable to talk about with the people she loved. She describes photography as becoming both an obsession and a therapy.

In the summer of 2009 Kirsty embarked on the creation of the Wonderland series, a project intended as a book in her mother’s memory. The international acclaim for this body of work led Mitchell to leave her fashion career behind in 2011 and after 5 intensive years, Wonderland was completed in 2014.

A year later, after a number of offers from major publishers, Mitchell decided to launch her own crowd funding campaign to create the Wonderland book in order to produce a high end publication made from the finest materials possible, printed in Italy. The campaign went on to become the most successfully funded photography book in crowd funding history, raising more than £334K in just 28 days and was completely sold out within 3 months. The Wonderland book is now in it’s Second Edition and continues to sell around the world. The series is now an international touring museum show, hosted by Fotografiska, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious museums for contemporary photography.

To see more of this project, click here.

A film about 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:  Eric Espino

Artist Statement:“Let us Play”

Our Mission at Eyekonzis to Empower, Educate and Motivate the next generation of field hockey and lacrosse Olympians. It is our belief, that through the structure and development of playing field hockey, we will provide our girls & boys with the skill set and development they need in areas such as sportsmanship, healthy lifestyle, team work, self- esteem, history of their culture, healthy body image and academic achievement. This will translate into a wholesome productive lifestyle, on and off the field.

Unfortunately, there are some who don’t believe in this cause. The girls of Eyekonz, along with coach Jazmine A. Smith, were photographed in this series shortly after Strawberry Mansion High School and the Philadelphia Unified School District dismantled the league from it’s district. This issue has led to a class action lawsuit against the district, for the injustice of the treatment of Eyekonz Sports League.

This story was later published in Essence magazine, amongst others. For more info, please click on the links below.

Refinery 29

Philadelphia Weekly

Now This

-Eric Espino

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:  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