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: Neil DaCosta

While searching for interesting subjects around Truckee, CA (where I had recently relocated to), I saw that an Arabian Horse Show was happening at the Reno Spark Livestock Events Center. Previously, I had been to the venue to photograph a go-kart race and knew it had some lighting/background constraints. Based on this prior knowledge, I decided that I wanted to focus on the participants of the event and keep the space it was being held in nebulous.

However, I had no idea what happens at an Arabian Horse Show and decided to wing it. Occasionally I like shooting personal projects with no prior research or understanding of the subject, forcing myself to be creative on the spot. This correlates to capturing unexpected images on paid assignments, which can be a nice added bonus.

After looking at the packed schedule, I decided to go on a day that had interesting sounding classes (Native Dress, Side Saddle, and Carriage Pleasure Driving). Again, I had no idea what to expect, but my intuition paid off. Armed with a long zoom lens, I headed down to Reno for a fun day filled with Arabian horses.

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 artists:  Evi Abeler photographer &  Hadley Sui food stylist

PEACH FUZZ

Food stylist and pastry chef Hadley Sui approached me with an exciting concept: capturing the essence of the Pantone Color of the Year 2024, affectionately named Peach Fuzz, through food photography.

Following a lively brainstorming session, we decided to showcase Peach gummies, Meringue, Bellini, and fruit yogurts as our subjects. Collaboratively, we crafted a mood board and defined the art direction, laying the groundwork for our shoot. Fortunately, we were able to secure the talented hand model Danielle Iwata to join our creative endeavor. Here are the fabulous results of our collaborative efforts. 

To see more of this project, click here

Instagram  (Evi Abeler)

Instagram  (Hadley Sui)

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: Robert A Ripps

Growing up in New York City, inarguably one of the greatest cities in the world for street food, I was able to enjoy everything from hotdogs to pizza, giant pretzels to shaved ices, Blimpies to bodegas. Probably my favorite NYC street food is your classic slice of Neapolitan pizza, preferable from a brick oven, topped with a sprinkle of dried red pepper flakes and a pinch of dried oregano, folded in almost in half and eaten with one hand as I am walking, while a little grease runs down my wrist.

Recent immigrants, and the broadening of American palates, plus the proliferation of food trucks, have introduced us to the joys of Halal carts, birria tacos, Indian dosas, California burritos, and pretty much anything you can stick between two slices of bread, roll up in a tortilla, or serve atop a pile of rice. Or so I thought.

However, it seems like America has nothing on Asia when it comes to varieties and types of street food. A recent trip to Vietnam allowed me to sample some of the most delicious, as well as most inexpensive, culinary treats, that were for the most part previously unavailable to me. Food establishments are mainly on the sidewalks or in the streets, so pretty much every meal becomes street food.

The first night I arrived in Hanoi, I was a bit taken back to see people cooking food and washing dishes on the sidewalk, right next to the people sitting on their brightly colored chairs, enjoying a meal. Being famished, I quickly got over my western bias and soon found myself hunkered down on a way too small plastic chair, hunched over a steaming bowl of noodles in soup and ice-cold beer.

Most dishes in Vietnam were served with plates of fresh shredded vegetables and herbs, small limes to juice over your food, and often, ancient looking plastic containers of homemade pickled condiments or hot sauces.

One street in Hanoi had several vendors deep frying beef jerky, right out in the air, which was still was warm when I got it, with a subtle aroma of five-star powder. Another street had several vendors hawking platters of giant snails, which once I get over the thought of eating a giant snail, were very tender and quite delicious with their accompanying sauce and condiments.

Just about everywhere I went, I came across people selling food out on the street – not just from storefronts, but more often from bicycles, which could be equipped with baskets for fruit, or sweets, or amazingly, some sort of oven or steamer to cook or keep food warm.

And the variety of what you could sample was amazing- you could usually find Vietnamese iced coffee, grilled pork served over noodles (Bún chả), grilled corn on a stick, grilled rat on a stick (which for some reason I did not try), fertilized duck embryos in their eggshell (ditto), crispy rice crackers topped with mung bean paste or chicken floss, all types of sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf and young coconuts, not to mention all varieties of dried squid snacks, plus your basic “Tteokbokki” and “New York” flavored potato chips (think NY strip steak).

Of course, there were also open-air markets selling the freshest fruits and vegetables, as well as all varieties of hacked fish and animal parts, most of which I could identify. They also sold lots of noodles and pickled vegetables – at one I tried to find out what something was, so the woman reached in, grabbed a handful, and offered me a taste, which would’ve been impolite to turn down.

In Hue, we met a woman lugging a small cabinet on a yoke, housing a pot of warm tasty ginger soup. Which we tried less than 10 minutes after we finished demolishing three or four small Bahn Mi from a nearby vendor working out of which felt like an empty garage. The problem was not being able to find or afford all these different types of street food; it was being able to have the room to taste everything you came across!

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.

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:  Adam Ewing

I had the opportunity, through a client connection, to follow a team at Bonneville’s Speed Week. Each year, hundreds of speed freaks bring their machines to Bonneville with the goal of setting a land speed record in dozens of classes from vintage motorcycles to futuristic rockets on wheels.

The legendary Bonneville Salt Flats, with its expansive vista that stretches 12 miles long and five miles wide, has been likened to the surface of the moon. In this series, I sought to capture the dizzying speed of the man-made machines, being tested on a surreal landscape.

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:  James Evangelista

I create images that celebrate the spirit and beauty of the American Landscape, and like my father before me, photography is my passion and my career. In the world of solidity and structure, the silence of the desert, the play of light and shadow, and the forces of wind and water resounds with images that are stirring, touching, and profound. These are the places that occupy a special spot in my imagination. Places that seem to suggest more than just another beautiful spot. Transcending conventional clichés of location, each photograph is more than a record of natural beauty. Within the image, a feeling of vanishing moments when light, tide, and time hold one’s being in their grip and solicits a quiet and introspective moment that reflects the solitude of the work that I’ve done over the years.

I find my photography restorative, and often, while I’m travelling, I am inspired when I see places where priorities – nature and traditions that respect and preserve the land, all seem sensible, humane and in balance. With decades of dedication to the craft, my photography reflects a mastery of technique and a deep connection to nature. I work to capture those moments where the camera and life come together to create a feeling that’s authenticate and real, and although the stories I tell through my photography may vary, my dedication to finding beauty and originality is constant.

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

LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border

A personal long-term project by Stefan Falke

I photographed over 200 artists and art supporters on both sides along the entire 2000 miles long divide to show the vibrant cultural side of a region that is usually portrayed by the international media with the sole focus on violent crime. The high security steel fence erected by the US over most of the 2000 miles long border did its part to create a physiological and physical barrier. This had particular significance to me ever since I moved to New York – probably because I am German and because I have lived with a wall dividing Berlin and my country until 1989. Artists are the pulse of a society, and I believe if we ignore the cultural side of troubled places, we will soon stop caring about them all together. I met with both internationally renowned as well as only locally known artists. It was not about the value of their art in the eyes of the art market, but about the value and positive impact of the often highly visible creations and activities on their communities.

A book about the project was published in Germany. The project has been featured by major publications: BBC, The New York Times, Wired Huffington Post and Hyperallergic. The work had solo exhibitions in museums, galleries and photo festivals in the US, Mexico and Germany.

To see more of this project, click here

See more at my project’s website borderartists.com

Instagram

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: Lucas Foglia

Recently featured on NPR The Picture Show

Constant Bloom follows Painted Lady butterflies on the longest butterfly migration ever discovered, spanning Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. My photographs trace both the path of the butterflies and the people they encounter, offering an allegory for our delicate, interconnected, and resilient world.

To see more of this project, click here

Order Constant Bloom book

Exhibitions 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: Stanley Greenberg

Waterworks, an exploration of New York City’s water supply and wastewater treatment systems, was originally published in 2003. This new and expanded edition is a complete reworking of the book, featuring 362 photographs, made between 1992 and 2024, and two new large, folded insert maps. Greenberg visited reservoirs, aqueducts, tunnels, gatehouses, water supply and sewer pumping stations, water tanks, wastewater treatment plants, stormwater retention facilities and maintenance covers throughout the watershed and around the city. The maps identify over 400 sites in the system, from upstate reservoirs to abandoned systems and tunnel shaft sites. In the late 1990s, Greenberg received unprecedented access to photograph the system, which made much of this work possible. After 9/11, all facilities were closed to the public. Since then, Greenberg has located hundreds of sites in plain view but largely unknown and unidentified; anonymous street furniture invisible to most people. The book and map — a field guide for anyone called to their own exploration — show a mostly underground and hidden system. The map is based on field investigations and historical documents and is designed by Greenberg and Larry Buchanan.

To see more of this project, click here

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To purchase Waterworks, 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:  Howard Schatz

Dancers In The Museum

 I worked for three days making photographs of the innumerable spaces and galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, using my imagination to “picture” what it would look like with ballerinas in the various spaces.

In my studio, working with two dancers from The American Ballet Theater, Camila Ferrera and Betsy McBride, as well as a fashion stylist, Nikko Kefalas, hair stylist, Anike Rabiu, and make-up artist, Magdalena Major, I made images that would “fit” in the Museum’s spaces.

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:  Greg Latza

Throughout my 27 years of freelancing, I’ve constantly needed book projects to maintain my sanity.

Back in October 1999, my talented editor/designer/wife Jodi and I ambitiously published my first photography book, Back on the Farm. It was self-funded and wholly terrifying…but also thrilling. We printed 4,000 copies and I figured that if we could sell them all within 10 years, the book would be a success.

Two months later, the book had sold out and a new side business was born.

Over the next ten years, we published seven more photography books about various South Dakota subjects, including a children’s book written by Jodi, and books about the Missouri River, small towns and World War 2 veterans.

After that furious decade of publishing, our three busy kids needed more of our time and the books took a backseat. But it didn’t take long to realize that these book projects had been my main creative outlet. The freedom that book photography offered was something I sorely missed as my stable of advertising clients grew and my assignment work squeezed out any spare time for book projects.

I’d been photographing western South Dakota for my fine art catalog for years, and I always knew that another book was hiding among those images. I assembled the bones of the book during the pandemic and shot the remaining 60% of the photos between 2020 and 2024.

We published West River in October 2024. The book is a tribute to ranching families and the amazing landscape they inhabit, as well as a few other uniquely western South Dakota tidbits. The title is derived from how the Missouri River splits the state into halves, known by residents as East River and West River.

We are planning to publish East River in late 2027, and it will be an equal-sized companion piece to West River.

With these new book projects to work on, most of my sanity has returned! They’ve been great fun to plan and execute, and in turn I believe these personal projects make my corporate work better

****************

West River

Clothbound hardcover

12”x11”

264 pages

178 color and B&W photographs

$50 cover price

Available on my website at www.greglatza.com

*********

Greg Latza is a freelance photographer based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The majority of his work is for agricultural, industrial and energy clients, most notably Tractor Supply Company and Kubota.

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:  Scott Lowden

Terra Nostra is an exploration of place, memory, and the invisible threads that connect us to spaces we inhabit. Photographed intuitively, the images embrace imperfection. Long exposures, soft focus, and alternative lenses let light and atmosphere shape each frame, softening sharp edges in favor of emotion and mood. These photographs prioritize feeling over documentation—a visual sense of how a place lingers in memory and spirit.

This project resurfaced during five years spent with my father during his illness. Places like Kimmel Lookout in Pennsylvania became meditative spaces as I made photographs to help process the emotions of witnessing a loved one’s decline. Through these experiences, this series became a bridge between personal story and a broader connection to place.

Terra Nostra invites viewers to step into the spirit of these spaces, to sense the echoes of the past and the presence of what endures.

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:  Ann Hermes

For the past six years I’ve photographed local newsrooms from Alaska to Florida, documenting the dedicated but dwindling local news landscape. As a photographer with over 15 years of experience in newsrooms, I have a great deal of respect for the institutions that bring small communities the news.

An average of two newspapers shut down every week. In the wake of these closures many communities become news deserts. In their place is an information landscape of nationalized, and increasingly partisan, news that is ripe for misinformation. Studies now show that local government spending goes up, voter participation declines and cities often lose their bond rating after the loss of a local newspaper. Local Newsrooms needs to convey these insidious and largely unseen impacts.

With a growing catalog of images, video and interviews, I’m working to create a visual story of regional and national relevance. I plan to display some of this work in small town libraries, and similar spaces to make local newsrooms more visible in their neighborhoods. My goal is to use this work to engage communities in the search of and support for trusted local news while at the same time raising the importance of this issue to a national audience that may not have fully realized what has already been lost, and what is at stake.

To see more of this project, click here

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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:  Clemens Ascher

“Teatro Ridicolo – A Farce in 28 Collages”

The title already says a lot about the project.

My initial basic idea was to stage a play as a photo and collage series.

In terms of content the series is a funky journey through the topics of our times to the outer edges of our collective cultural memory.

Mainly it is a homage to the theatre itself.

However, it has no stringent plot. I try to create constellations and relations between figures, in each image, that are full of tension and contradiction but don’t make a concrete statement – the plot is meant to arise in the viewer’s mind.

In response to recent developments, I embraced an analog approach. I’ve created stages like compositions with aquarelle paintings and populated them with illustrious figures related to each other through collage, like marionettes playing on a theatrical stage.

I draw my inspirations from across art history and various cultural influences. From the theatre, painting, photography and collage art throughout the centuries.

To see more of this project, click here

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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:  Gustav Schmiege

Working with Jan Barboglio in Mexico was an incredible experience that allowed me to capture the soul of her artistry through my photography, both still and motion. I focused on the rich textures, aged patinas, and intricate details that make her handcrafted ironwork so unique. The warmth of Mexico’s landscapes and historic architecture provided the perfect backdrop, enhancing the timeless beauty of her designs. I aimed to tell a story—one of tradition, craftsmanship, and the deep cultural heritage that inspires her work.

To see more of this project, click here

Jan Barboglio

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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:  Stefan Falke

Moko Jumbies

“Dragon” Glen de Souza founded the Dragon Keylemanjahro

School of Art & Culture in Cocorite, a suburb of Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago in 1986. The main purpose of the school is to keep children off the streets and away from drugs. Searching for artistic activities to engage them in, he rediscovered the art of stilt-walking, a tradition known in West Africa as the Moko Jumbies, protectors of the villages and participants in religious ceremonies. The art was brought to Trinidad by the slave trade but was forgotten soon after. Dragon Glen De Souza can be credited with bringing this tradition back to Trinidad and Tobago in a large-scale fashion. Today his school has over 100 members from age 4 and up. The stilts are made by Dragon and his students and can be as high as 12-15 feet. The children show their artistic talents mostly at the annual Carnival (celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago on February 12 and 13), which today is unthinkable without the presence of the Moko Jumbies. A “band” can have up to 80 children on stilts and they have won many of the prestigious prizes and trophies that are awarded by the National Carnival Commission. Designers like Peter Minshall, Brian Mac Farlane and Laura Anderson Barbata create dazzling costumes for the school which are admired by thousands of spectators. Besides stilt-walking the children learn the limbo dance, drumming, fire blowing (often all done on stilts) and how to ride unicycles. Between 1997 and 2004 New York City based photographer Stefan Falke took countless trips to Trinidad and Tobago to work on this essay which resulted in the book “MOKO JUMBIES:

The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad”, published by Pointed Leaf Press.

The images were in the official selection of the photo-journalism festival Visa Pour L’image in Perpignan, France, in 2004. This is the first time they’re exhibited in New York.

Between 1997 and 2004 New York City based photographer

Stefan Falke took countless trips to Trinidad and Tobago to work on this essay which resulted in the book “MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad”, published by Pointed Leaf Press. The images were in the official selection of the photo-journalism festival Visa Pour L’image in Perpignan, France, in 2004 and at Deutsches Haus at NYU in New York in 2018.

Stefan Falke is a German born photographer who lives in New York City and works for international magazines, film studios and corporate clients. He has published four books: “MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad“, about a stilt walking school in Trinidad, and “LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US-Mexican Border“, for which he photographed 200 artists on both sides of the entire 2000 miles long US-Mexico border to document the vibrant cultural activities in that region. His last two books, “Keep Going New York !!” and “Reflecting New York” where self-published on Blurb.com.

To see more of this project, click here

Interview

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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

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 Anderson

90% of farmers and ranchers in the US are family owned. A tradition that is under stress if OUR Public Lands are sold!  More information

Artist Statement: 

Excerpt from Doug Burgum’s confirmation hearing……….IN HIS OWN WORDS.

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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:  Glen McClure

Work on the waterfront has been visually recorded in this region since the earliest inhabitants were subject matter for European explorers and scientists The entire East Coast of America and its boat builders are a continuing inspiration for artists of all kinds, whose artwork is curated, cherished, and collected for its content and style. This new project is a modern-day record that continues that effort to capture the heart of our region in images. This large collection presents a photographic and written portrait of some of the many people who make their living in 2015 in the historic Hampton Roads shipbuilding and ship repair industry. In each of the large, black-and-white archival prints. I show a single subject directly, intimately, monumentally and heroically. The work environment is the setting, and portraits range from full-length figures to close-up studies of faces. The subjects include laborers, skilled craftspeople, apprentices, hourly workers, maintenance staff, subcontractors and technicians. Each image is accompanied by a short biographical piece taken from a personal interview conducted at the time of the photograph. My intention is to introduce every viewer to a regional subset of men and women of dignity, talent and commitment, and in doing so create a sort of time capsule of participants in this massive, centuries-old industry and way of life.

Waves of Strength features 50 portraits of African American shipyard workers from the massive Hampton Roads harbor region of Virginia. These portraits were selected from the 398 images in the original collection, workers of all races and sexes, made over a three-year period, from ten regional shipbuilding or ship repair yards. The current exhibition, Waves of Strength, focus our attention on the continuing Black contribution to an industry that makes the area one of the largest ports in the world.

Exhibition title:

Waves of Strength: African American Shipyard Workers of Tidewater Virginia.

Dates- Now through June 22.

Where:

Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center

400 High Street

Portsmouth, Virginia

For more info call:

Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center

757-335-3572

For more information on this work or to purchase a print, contact Glen McClure at glen@glenmcclure.com

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 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:  Beth Galton

Covid Diary

Like everyone, I struggled with the magnitude of the pandemic; how it insidiously spread and wreaked havoc everywhere it went. In March of 2020, as the virus swept around the globe, my world in NYC became my apartment. I knew that in order to keep safe I wouldn’t be able to access my studio, so I brought my camera home and constructed a small set next to a window.

My days began with looking at the NY Times and Washington Post online, hoping to find a glimmer of positivity. What I found were the maps, charts, and headlines, tracking Covid-19’s spread. Obsessed, I screen grabbed and printed them out to see how the disease had multiplied and moved, soon realizing that each of these little visual changes affected millions of people. The graphics were highly analytical, devoid of the emotional toll of those affected. It felt necessary to use them in my photographs, to help me process this devastating experience. ⁠

Eventually, images of the vast number of people who had died began to appear in the news. Grids of people’s faces filled the screen; most having passed alone without family or friends beside them. As the virus moved through the US, many of our political leaders refused to acknowledge the dangers that it posed creating devastation and death. The incredible loss and the politics of this period were incorporated into these photographs.

⁠This series began in March 2020 when NYC was the epicenter of the pandemic. It is a reflection of my emotions and thoughts through those dizzying 18 months. By photographing the recorded data,combined with botanicals, my intent is to speak to the humanity of those affected by this epidemic.Motion in the images was utilized to help convey the chaos and apprehensions we were all experiencing. Once assembled, I now see that these images have created a visual diary of this period, the politics of the time, and the way it has affected our everyday lives.

To see more of this project, click here

To purchase the book, click here

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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