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:  Sean Scheidt

The term liturgy comes from the Greek leitourgia, originally referring to public service or work performed for the good of the community. Over time, it came to signify the structured worship of the Church. In this ongoing series, I explore how faith takes shape in communal life through the “public work” of Saint Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood—through its people, its sacred objects, and the rhythms of the church calendar.

To see more of this project, click here

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Suzanne Sease is a creative consultant and former ad-agency senior art buyer. She works with both emerging and established photographers and illustrators to create cohesive, persuasive presentations that clients can’t resist.  Suzanne offers something rare: an insider’s perspective on how client’s source creative talent. Her deep understanding of the industry is underscored by her impressive resume: 11 years as senior art buyer at The Martin Agency, seven years as an art producer for Capital One, and stints with the art-buying department at Kaplan-Thaler and the creative department at Best Buy, where she applied her expertise to reviewing bids to see which were most likely to come in on budget. Over the years, Suzanne has worked with a wildly diverse range of clients, including Seiko, Wrangler, Bank One, AFLAC, and Clairol Herbal Essence. Now, as a consultant, she is equipped to problem-solve for her clients from an unusually dynamic point of view.

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist: Richard Radstone

Every moment of every day… your individual influence truly does matter

to someone else in the world.

— Richard Radstone

It all started in 2011 when, during a time of personal crisis, I challenged myself to blog the experience of approaching, photographing, and interviewing a stranger every day for 365 consecutive days. When WordPress featured the project as one of the top ten daily blogs to follow, the stories and the audience went global.

Hundreds of unique encounters with people from all walks of life, who, as I dropped my walls, invited me into their lives. And the more I submitted to the project, the more I realized how much I needed their stories. I grew to call everyone I met strangers-now-friends. I became more than a visual storyteller. I became a story seeker. Someone paying closer attention to things we don’t notice at first glance.

What followed was a natural evolution. Photography, blogging, and essay writing led me into documentary filmmaking. Then to speaking, from there to podcasting, and now to becoming an author and observer of human behavior. All of it, a body of work and outreach that I have titled Sidewalk Ghosts. A message shaped by the belief that when we pause long enough to look beyond what we first see, to listen closer, and to feel a little deeper, we can better find the truths that connect us: to ourselves and to each other.

It is strange to think that a difficult year and an experiment in letting go have become a lifelong journey. Yet here I am, still guided by the same simple realization. Inside every person lives a story we do not know, and when those stories are shared, we are encouraged to more fully appreciate the values we hold, allow others to do the same, and discover how much possibility lives in the space between us.

Sidewalk Ghosts: How to more fully love yourself, see others, and navigate this polarized world.   Cat: Chapter Nine — “You are what you choose to do.

Ray, Quite and loving greatness: Day 173 of the daily blog.

JJ, Just Livevil: Day 142 of the daily blog.

Kimberly, Whispering Angels: Podcast Episode 3 and day 42 of the daily blog.

Mark, Be Good and Do Good: Day 142 of the daily blog.

Justin, To Walk With Them As The Same: Day 123 of the daily blog.

Ben with Friend Taylor: Chapter Two — Ripples, wakes, and storms.

To see more of this project, click here

Podcast

Book

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist: Melissa Ann Pinney

Becoming Themselves’ is a seven year and ongoing project that focuses on student life in several Chicago Public Schools. What started as a conventional photography project has grown into a document of identity, community and urgent social issues. The work evolved through a global pandemic, escalating racial and gender inequities and continuing gun violence.

I am interested in what I consider to be real pictures—images that attend to the complex scenes and surprising, unrehearsed moments created by the students. These moments are rich opportunities to reveal the underlying mysteries and meanings of ordinary life. My aim is to capture genuine connections, spontaneous gestures, and fleeting glimpses of emotion and interaction. As I’ve developed connections to students over a period of years, the pictures reflect both the growth of the students and the breadth of the work.

I never know what the students will do next; their beauty, their compassion and their conflicts are unrehearsed. The teens collaborate in the art-making by welcoming me into their world. I’m interested in the sense of possibility and transformation that characterizes adolescence. As my ties to the community have deepened, I’ve come to understand the meaning this project holds for me and for the students themselves, who tell me they feel truly seen by participating.

Tragically, eight students I photographed have been shot and killed since 2019, devastating families, school and faith communities. I intend my photographs to witness, celebrate and commemorate these students. In continuing this work, I am committed to encouraging a deeper consideration and appreciation of the radiant young people in our public schools.

Hireath

Asmah & Arshia

Jael

Jordan

Lizzie

Angelina

Haziz & Caleb

Coach Kenny and the Flag Football Players

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  Howard Schatz

More than almost any other sport, football has specific functions at every position that, in general, require an “ideal” physical structure to perform well in each of the roles filled by offensive and defensive players.

Two examples: An offensive lineman’s main purpose is to create a wall to protect his quarterback or to open lanes for running backs. They must be very large, often 300 pounds or more, with the power necessary to prevent equally large defenders from breaking through the offensive line.

Defensive backs must be lightning split-second quick and able to run backwards and sideways almost as fast as forward.  They are powerful and fast.

My goal is to show, dramatically and artistically, how an individual player’s physique uniquely suits the specialized demands of his position. The nature and nurture of an athlete’s body to “fit” a sport’s physical requirements fascinates me.

NFL Blessuan Austin -Cornerback

NFL  Chris Conley -Wide Receiver

NFL JGillan – Punter

NFL Nathan Shepard -Denensive End

NFL Ty Johnson – Running Back

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Repeating this beautiful personal project as we go in to Thanksgiving next week.

Today’s featured artist: Deanna Dikeman

Relative Moments, a series I began in 1986, chronicles ordinary moments of my extended family’s activities. I am interested in the significance of the commonplace routine of their lives—the personal moments that define for each of us a sense of home, security, and belonging. I began by photographing my parents’ home in Iowa. It was a personal documentary effort, starting when my parents sold the house we lived in when I was a child. They moved, and subsequently I realized that their new house was now home. So, I took pictures of that. My scope expanded as I started taking pictures of my aunts and uncles and their houses and yards. After my son was born, he appeared in the images too. Although the project started out as nostalgia and documentation, I discovered that the pictures comment on more: a glimpse into an intimate detail of an everyday world that otherwise might go unnoticed. This project captures a visual history of one family’s life, yet I feel there is an ongoing narrative embedded in these photographs that conveys larger, more universal truths about American culture, familiarity, and the endless source of everyday wonder that surrounds us.

To see more of this project, click here

To purchase the book “Relative Moments” click here

And is endorsed by Vanity Fair purchase through Amazon link

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NOTE:  I featured Deanna “Leaving and Waving” in 2022 on this forum.  It found its way recently on to an Instagram reel and went viral on TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.

She was recently featured on CBS Nightly News and Inside Edition.  This is why personal projects are so important.

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 advertising and in-house corporate industry for decades.  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.  Follow her on 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:  William DeShazer

“Flourish: What Health Care Makes Possible”

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

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  Todd Antony

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  Ian Spanier

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

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

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

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

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  David Walter Banks

Trembling Earth Statement

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

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

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

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

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

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Trembling_Earth_Book_Press_Release

Purchase the book here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist: Jason Knott

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist: Stefan Falke

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

REFLECTING NEW YORK:

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

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

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

The book is available here:

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  Cade Martin

Thailand’s Wheelchair Mafia: A Family Affair

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

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

What began as a project became something much bigger.

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

800 dogs in sanctuary. 44 rolling proud.

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

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  Grace Chon

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

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

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

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  Andy Goodwin

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

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

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

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist: Andrei Duman

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

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

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

To see more of this project, click  here

To purchase the book, click here

Instagram

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist:  Stephen Wilkes

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

-Walt Whitman

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

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

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

-Stephen Wilkes

To see more of this project, click here

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

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

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist: Kremer / Johnson

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

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

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

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

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

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

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

Instagram

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

Today’s featured artist: Cade Martin

Isla de las Muñecas – The Island of the Dolls

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

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

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

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

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

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

#LegendHasIt

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram

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

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

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

Instagram