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.
This series holds profound significance for me—marking both my return to Mumbai, the city of my birth, after years at boarding school in England, and my debut as a photographer. Through the lens of the Ganpati festival, I sought to reconnect with the city’s energy, its traditions, and its soul.
The festival culminates in a moving ritual: the immersion of Lord Ganesh idols into the ocean, symbolizing renewal and impermanence. With a pair of Nikon FM cameras loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 film, I ventured into the vibrant chaos and quiet beauty of the celebrations the morning after… At the time, Tri-X film was hard to come by in Mumbai, and I had only 3-4 rolls for the entire project. Every frame mattered, and each shot demanded intention and precision—a limitation that shaped my approach to storytelling.
One defining moment came when one of my cameras slipped into the sea—a loss that mirrored the themes of the festival itself. Fortunately, the camera was repaired, reflecting the spirit of resilience and restoration that characterized those times and became an ethos for my creative practice.
Shooting in black-and-white with Tri-X film allowed me to focus on texture, contrast, and emotion, stripping the visuals down to their essence. Each photograph captures not only the event but the layers within it—the intricate artistry of the idols, the shimmering water, and the heartfelt devotion of the people.
This project was a deeply personal journey. Returning to Mumbai after my time in England gave me a fresh perspective, allowing me to see the familiar through new eyes. Documenting the Ganpati festival reaffirmed my belief in the power of photography to preserve fleeting moments, honor traditions, and reveal the extraordinary within the ordinary.
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.
This series questions the nature of beauty, while simultaneously showing the beauty of nature.
When I returned to my studio in Milan just after lockdown, my aim was to capture the inherently perfect aesthetics of these plants. Maybe it was the time and place of the shoot, but something about beauty for its own sake didn’t feel quite right. As I was working, my eyes fell on a piece of plastic, which I dropped onto a flower, interrupting its beauty. In a way, this is exactly what is happening to our planet – the disturbance on nature that can no longer remain hidden.
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.
This was a personal project that had been on my mind for some time, and in the Spring of 2016 all the pieces finally came together. The idea was relatively simple, creating authentic portraits of people struggling with homelessness, but it involved quite a few moving parts that needed a team of people to solve. After multiple rounds of meetings and pitching we landed on building a studio-like space at the Springs Rescue Mission in Colorado Springs (https://www.springsrescuemission.org/) and allowing for 30 minutes with each subject. Our goal was for these people to feel seen and heard, for someone to look them in the eye and tell their story, maybe for the first time.
We spent most of every session talking to each person, finding out about them, hearing their story and memories from their childhood. In the beginning I was nervous about asking them some of these questions, things like “what’s your favorite food?” or “tell us one of your fondest memories from childhood?”, but in the end they were happy to tell us, more than that, they were excited that someone wanted to know. We heard beautiful stories that day, from pet racoons to strawberry festivals and everything in between. As they spoke, I was struck by how we are all connected through this desire to feel seen and heard, yet so often they are treated with such contempt. We pretend not to see, we look another direction, cross the street, busy ourselves on phones to seem unaware. Even though this project was done in 2016, how much truer is this today?
After about 20-25 minutes talking with each person, while drinking a cup of coffee and having a snack together, we created a portrait. What I realized right away was how incredibly vulnerable this moment was, they were allowing me to show them at what is typically the lowest point they have been in their life. When we started the first portrait I knew this was different than any portrait I had done, we were going to have to break through shame and discomfort in just a few minutes, but how? After a few seconds of looking through the camera I realized that wasn’t going to work, so I stood up with my hand on the button and started talking to them again. I would ask about something from their story, looking at them in the eye and listening. While they talked, I pressed the shutter button, only a handful of times, and never for more than 5 minutes…some of them didn’t even realize I had started or finished. What we ended up with was beautiful, they were moments of story and connection.
My goal with this project was never to just take some images and post them on social media or a website somewhere, it was always to create something that would inspire people to change how they see. Because of this there was the pursuit of another big idea, having them displayed in a museum. We had the images printed huge (4 ft x 6ft), and thanks to the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs, we were able to display them in a gallery for three months. There was a beautiful opening where people from all walks of life came together to support our community, and perhaps to see these people in a way they never have before.
In the end this project was even bigger than I could have dreamed of, and the images are still being used to this day to raise money and awareness in our community. I hope this project can inspire you to use your gifts to give people a voice, to bring light and connection through your art in a way that only you can.
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.
“I feel that my mother was not fully recognized during her lifetime, nor after she died. Between being a mother and an artist, with this work, and the time I’ve spent with the images and documents, I honor her. I’m expressing my love for her, bringing her back to life, and giving her a voice.” — Loli Kantor
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.
Photographer pays homage to Our Lady of Guadalupe and reclaims her connection with the divine
It’s not uncommon to see an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on murals, candles, statues and even clothing. She’s a significant religious figure who signifies hope and protection for countless Latinos in the U.S. and abroad.
For photographer Amanda Lopez, her image goes beyond religion, serving as a powerful emblem of home.
Catholics believe that, in 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared before Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Indigenous farmer at the Hill of Tepeyac in a suburb of Mexico City. According to the story, she left on his cloak an image of a brown-skinned Virgen de Guadalupe, which still hangs at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
” In it, Lopez reimagines Guadalupe in a contemporary context.
During a college trip to Mexico City, Lopez visited the basilica and was moved by the sacredness of the moment. She photographed a floral “set” on the grounds, and it became an image that stayed with her for years to come. However, like many Mexican Americans, this wasn’t exactly her first encounter with the Patroness of Mexico.
Growing up as a first- and second-generation Mexican American in California’s capital, Guadalupe was a deeply ingrained part of her daily life. She attended a church named Our Lady of Guadalupe up to her teenage years and was surrounded by Guadalupe’s image in her childhood home. Her family’s Catholic values initially shaped her own, though she began to question them as this project took shape.
“The question that I kept asking myself when I was working on this project was, ‘What does it mean to be a good woman — a Mexican woman, a former Catholic woman, a good woman — in my grandmother’s eyes?’ ” Lopez said. “You have to be humble, respectful and quiet. You go along with the status quo. And then I was really uncomfortable with that idea.”
Lopez then began to deconstruct that line of thinking and began to visualize how she could portray these conflicting thoughts photographically. “And that’s when I started to reimagine what Guadalupe might look like and understand that to be a ‘good woman,’ you don’t have to be any of those things.”
Lopez deliberately excluded adjectives commonly used to describe Guadalupe such as “Lady,” “Virgen” or “Madre” when naming the series.
“I wanted to move beyond traditional notions about womanhood and let viewers create their own meanings. I went through my own unlearning by questioning those same terms and, in that process, was able to reconnect with her.”
For Lopez, Guadalupe signifies all that is good and loving. And her definition of what “good” meant transcended a religious context as she delved deeper in her relationship with her.
“She’s all encompassing — what is nurturing and what is caring. For me, that’s not an exclusively religious thing. She’s evolved to this symbol that actually reminds me so much of my own grandma.”
Lopez grew up seeing her grandma Isabel — also known as Nana — on a daily basis. Guadalupe was a religious presence who guided Isabel through a life filled with many highs and some heavy lows. And though Lopez has a different relationship with the patron saint than her Nana ever did, she wanted to honor everyone’s individual journey with Guadalupe.
“I know so many people who have this connection to her [Guadalupe] that are not Mexican, that are not straight, that are not women and that are not religious … And so when I was making these photos, I wanted to have the opportunity to chat with folks and ask, ‘What is it about her image that you resonate with?’ ”
For some, she’s a religious icon. For others, a cultural figure. Many are also simply captivated by the beauty of her art. For Amanda, she represents the connective thread that unites us.
In 2021, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History added 15 of these photographs to their Photographic History Collection. Now, they are being exhibited in Sacramento, Calif., the city where Lopez first connected with Guadalupe.
“It’s a little bittersweet because my grandma won’t be there,” she said. Isabel died in 2020 at the age of 91 and was buried with her favorite Virgen de Guadalupe necklace. “But she’ll be there in spirit.”
Nuestra Madre. Sacramento, CA 2019 Tyler Wichmann shares his Our Lady of Guadalupe back tattoo, created by renowned tattoo artist Chuco Moreno.
Recuerdo de Tepeyac. CDMX, Mexico. 2006Nana’s Hands. Sacramento, CA. 2019. My grandmother always wore her gold Our Lady of Guadalupe necklace. I never once saw her without it.
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: Tom Hussey
“And to All a Good Nightcap: The 12 Cocktails of Christmas”
And to All a Good Nightcap: The 12 Cocktails of Christmas is all about capturing the heart of the holiday spirit through mixology and storytelling. Each cocktail in this series isn’t just a recipe—it’s a celebration of tradition, creativity, and the joy we share during this magical season.
With this project, I reimagined Christmas as a blend of flavors, community, and the cultural traditions that make the holidays so special. Santa himself takes the lead, narrating each drink with his signature charm and nostalgia. From the boldness of The Smoking Gun to the tropical refreshment of the Key West Mojito, each cocktail tells a story, inviting you to savor not just the taste but the moments they create.
This project wouldn’t have been possible without an incredible team. A huge thank you to Patty Hussey from The Production Party for her amazing work as producer and stylist, and played the part of Santa for the drink images. Thanks also to Ken Womack and Mike Stopper from The Agency Hack, for bringing it all together with their fantastic title and design.
For me, this project is about more than cocktails—it’s about celebrating the joy of connection, the stories we share, and the memories we create over a glass. Here’s to raising a toast to life’s most spirited moments. Cheers!
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.
An inconvenient truth of life. There is a fragility. There are no guarantees.
Partnering with Catching Lives, a hardworking and underfunded group of dedicated people in Canterbury.
I was determined to offer what help I could to highlight the current growing crisis we are facing of Homelessness on our streets. After many weeks of gaining the trust of a few of their ‘clients’ I have been fortunate enough to be invited into their world to produce a set of poignant portraits. Shock, sadness and at times anger do not begin to describe how fragile our lives are and how quickly things can take a turn for the worse. The project sets out to document the journey of those I met revisiting the places where they slept rough on the streets and in many cases after a long personal battle, before finding their new homes.
The biggest thing I learned though shooting this project is how fragile we all are as humans. For those who find themselves suddenly displaced in society — we all have a duty of care.
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.
In the dance between commercial obligations and personal passion, photographers often find solace and inspiration in the pursuit of personal projects. Photographer and Director Doug Menuez, having spent most of his life behind the lens and professionally shooting for decades, recently embarked on a sabbatical with his wife to Portugal. In this time, Doug has had more opportunities to shoot personal projects and get to know the country and people and has opened the door to a new chapter in his photography.
Initially living in a 500 year-old “noble” manor house in a medieval village, they recently moved to an ocean view apartment in a beach town famous for having the longest left hand break in Europe. As he immersed himself in the culture, language, and landscapes, the country revealed itself in multifaceted ways. From the lively streets of Lisbon, adorned with culture and a vibrant nightlife that attracted notable personalities like John Malkovich, to the romantic cobblestone streets of wine country, each corner of Portugal became a canvas for Doug’s lens.
What aspects of Portugal make it an exciting destination for shooting assignments?
Having become well-acquainted with the language, culture, and diverse topography of Portugal, I think it’s a great place to hold a shoot. The mainland itself offers a staggering variety, from historic cities like Porto to the picturesque countryside, mountains, and valleys. The Atlantic and Mediterranean coastline, featuring renowned surf towns and the world-famous waves of Nazare, adds another layer of charm. I am captivated by the sun-drenched beaches, villas, and villages of the Algarve coast. Each mile of the country offers something different, but it’s a relatively small country making moving to each region quite easy.
Logistically, how are you finding producing shoots in Portugal?
Since arriving in Portugal, I have reconnected with a long-time collaborator, European Producer Staffan Tranaeus, who has been based in Lisbon for the last 30 years. Staffan’s company, Southwest Productions, has an extensive track record of producing advertising shoots, broadcast productions, documentaries, and TV features across Europe and the world. Their knowledge and network make Portugal a well-wired and accessible destination for creative projects, providing photographers with a valuable resource for seamless execution and exploration
What are the greatest benefits of shooting in Portugal?
There are relatively low production costs here, especially compared to LA or New York. This includes talent, locations, scouting, and casting, making it an attractive destination for creative projects. Crews are experienced and professional, and all the latest gear is here. Plus, with an average of 300+ sunny days a year in most locations, Portugal provides a reliable and stunning backdrop for photoshoots. The country’s excellent infrastructure, pristine highways, comfortable trains and other mass transit, as well as numerous high-quality hotels, ensure smooth operations. Despite its ancient history and appearance, Portugal is a surprisingly high-tech country, way ahead of the US in many areas such as super high-speed internet. As an additional bonus, the warmth of the people makes the entire experience even more enjoyable.
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.
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.
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.
My shoot with Alon Fainstein began during a project I was shooting in Cape Town, where I was introduced to him by my producer, Gavin Schneider. Alon is not just an ironmonger; he is a storyteller, weaving narratives of transformation and discovery through the medium of metal.
I am drawn to photographing people who are deeply passionate about their work, and Alon embodies this passion fully. As he reflects, “Every time I work, I learn and discover something new about the material and myself. I feel that my work grows and evolves with me. The two are symbiotic and go hand in hand. To say that there are limits to forging would be to say that there are limits to inspiration, creation, and growth. When I feel connected, I find them in an abundant supply.”
Through my photographs, I aim to capture the essence of this connection—the symbiotic relationship between Alon and his craft. His workshop becomes a stage where sparks, textures, and shadows reveal the ongoing dialogue between artist and material, inspiration and creation. These images celebrate the unyielding spirit of those who find beauty and meaning in their work, reminding us of the boundless potential within ourselves and the world around us.
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.
Photographer Kip Dawkins recently took on a personal project aimed at capturing the character and light of the Southern California desert. Unlike his work as a commercial photographer, there was no styling required for this shoot. Instead, he met and photographed partygoers at a van show and rock concert. The images radiate a sense of danger and freedom. The muted tones add an extra layer of authenticity, drawing the viewer into this subculture and the spare beauty and outlaw vibe of the desert.
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.
“A personal project should have an openness to a thought or idea that in my world has no need at first to succeed, but finds new paths that lead forward. The key is to embrace being uncomfortable and to block out the worry of explanation.
I’ve always been uncomfortable about the term.. “personal work”, because my creative journey has always been to look beyond what I am doing and to push beyond, always trying to find new ways of illustrating what I see.
This has allowed me to grow and be open to change and collaboration without the fear of outcome or failure. There are only rules if you make them and no growth unless you break what has already been done.
I have been lucky enough to find subjects who embrace collaboration and are open to experimenting with light, optics, and texture. My ongoing collaboration with photographer & artist Shelbie Dimond continues to fuel this exploration.
A partnership like this not only enriches the work itself but also deepens my understanding of the creative process, reminding me that every project is an evolving journey.”
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.
FOREWORD TOM CHAMBERLIN // WRITTEN AARON SIGMOND // PHOTOGRAPHY IAN SPANIER From AARON SIGMOND (author of The Impossible Collection of Cigars) and photographer IAN SPANIER, the team that brought you PLAYBOY: The Book of Cigars & ARTURO FUENTE: Since 1912, comes a work of literary nonfiction artfully lavished with award-wining documentary photography.
CIGARS: A Biography.
February 2025 will mark the arrival of CIGARS: A Biography, an extraordinary undertaking more than 15 years in the making that deftly combines the remarkable talents of author Aaron Sigmond and photographer Ian Spanier in their fourth collaboration.
Richly illustrated with exclusive photography by Spanier—shot on location in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico, as well as across the United States and throughout Europe—and penned by Sigmond, CIGARS: A Biography is part history book, part travelogue, part photographic monograph and part luxury reference book. It all adds up to a comprehensive survey of cigars that weaves in the narrative tapestry of Sigmond’s more than 35 years as a renowned cigar connoisseur. Over the decades his travels have taken him (often accompanied by Spanier) to cigar factories and tobacco farms throughout the Caribbean Basin, Europe and the United States, as well as cigar merchants and lounges around the world.
This hand-bound illustrated volume is presented in a handcrafted cigar case–inspired slipcase, a must-have for any cigar aficionado. Included as well is past work from Spanier, blended seamlessly with unpublished photographs taken in the last decade and a half, and all-new images shot specifically for CIGARS: A Biography over the last two years. The result is the book Sigmond and Spanier have long envisioned. It was designed by award-winning creative director Liliana Guia. “From a photographer’s standpoint, a comprehensive body of work like this signifies a deep exploration of the subject, capturing nuances and intricacies over time,” Spanier says. “The evolution in my approach reflects not only a dynamic journey but shifts in composition, lighting and perspective, showcasing my growth as a photographer and, equally, my growing desire to visually interpret the complexities of this distinctive subject.”
PREORDERS OF CIGARS: A BIOGRAPHY ARE NOW BEING TAKEN EXCLUSIVELY AT SigCulture.com & AT SELECT CIGAR MERCHANTS WORLDWIDE.
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.
Damen Shipyard Amsterdam was an opportunity to reconnect with both my family and photo roots in one. My grandfathers worked in the same steel mill south of Pittsburgh and big industry feels like I’m visiting them. Photo wise, I thrive in the energy of a big set and team, but this is how most of us start. No production, just a camera… and a safety manager on my hip who doubles as a translator.
It’s really hard to describe how massive and powerful these vessels are until you stand under them, knowing the ocean is 40 feet above where you are, just on the other side of those doors. Goal is to organize the visual mess and focus on the workers. It’s the trades that make this place go and give the images purpose and scale to what starts to be unreal without them. The crew largely ignore me, the walls are leaking seawater and there is orange/red paint everywhere matching the refurbished hull. Later when I’m playing with the color grade, a push of red to match the paint brings these alive.
The machine shop is very different story. Calmer giant spaces with skylights a fashion studio would die for. Same me, let’s organize and make shapes. I’m itching to do portraits of the welders – their helmets and air tanks look Mad Max. Welders are from Damen’s Ukrainian yard closed after Russia’s invasion. Nobody knows how to translate, and my safety translator runs off. They’re looking at me, I’m looking back. Finally, I start pointing and stand how I want them. They mirror me and flash big class photo smiles…. apparently smile for the camera is international. I correct them, we get there….
Big production we analyze and control EVERYTHING, this was the opposite. There’s an old adage of journalist, how you get the shot is f:8 and be there. I didn’t exactly know what I had until the edit. I’ll call it 2.8 and a good day.
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.
Born and raised in New York City and now based in Los Angeles, Maslow uses photography to explore our relationship with the physical world. “Growing up in New York, you develop this heightened awareness of your surroundings. It’s like a radar that’s constantly analyzing what’s happening on the streets around you. I’m noticing and feeling all the little details. With my photography, I’m drawn to the idiosyncratic elements of my environment that cause an emotional ripple; something unsettling, humorous or ironic. It could be an unusual object, or a strange structural landscape populated by a lone person that feels like an uncanny or mysterious window into a larger story.”
Having spent much of his career directing commercials defined by a dry sense of humor and a very intentional visual style, Maslow opts for a less controlled approach with a body of photographs titled SIGNS OF LIFE. In this work he uses his cinematic sensibilities to capture moments of oddity and drama that are naturally occurring all around us. Maslow aims to find beauty and order within the grit and chaos of the urban world, while bringing light to particular aspects of the human condition. He presents the work as large-scale prints, inviting viewers to become absorbed by a heightened sense of detail throughout the composition.
SIGNS OF LIFE debuted in April 2024 at The Good Mother Gallery in Los Angeles followed by another show in Ojai California this past August. He has plans to turn this work into a book and you can inquire about available prints at rennymaslow.com
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.
Valeri Crenshaw is a friend who has camels. She keeps them on her family’s farm near Manhattan, Kansas where her father lives and raises cattle.
I can only scratch the very surface of her story, so I’ll stick to what very little I know.
She and her family in different combinations have traveled to some of the most exotic locations imaginable. I am aware of Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, India, Pakistan, Egypt — and France. She’s been to these places with her husband Kyle, and/or Father Roy, and/or on her own. She’s attended and/or organized camel fairs and camel excursions all over the world.
She currently holds the title Secretary General for the North American Camel Ranch Owners Association and was named Vice President of the American Camel Sports Association by her host at an event in Pakistan, where she represented at a televised event before a crowd of thousands.
I love to travel, though the most exotic I can claim is 24 hours on the ground in Tangier. So, when the opportunity to document her first annual Midwest Camel Fair came up (co-presented with Doug Baum of Texas), I didn’t hesitate. I was able to vicariously enjoy a tiny fraction of her adventure without having to get any visas or inoculations. My goal was simply to do the event visual justice and capture at least some of the spirit of the day.
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 at @SuzanneSease. Instagram
The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
Artist Statement for HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son
HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son, began as my attempt to regain control after being diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer at 37. When my husband Jordan and I—both photographers—couldn’t find images that captured the complexity of our experience, we turned the camera on ourselves. This became our way to process what was happening and to better understand the things we struggled to express in words. The result is HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son: a deeply personal visual chronicle of how serious illness reshaped our family’s life.
This project transcends the typical “warrior” narrative often associated with illness. It captures the raw, unfiltered reality—the fear, exhaustion, and grief, but also the love, connection, and moments of joy that sustained us. For me, the camera became a tool to process my changing body, the loss of my fertility, and the emotional upheaval, allowing me to reclaim my story on my own terms.
HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son also reveals how illness affected Jordan and our young son, Jesse. Jordan’s images portray the weight of caregiving while being a father, and how Jesse, in his own way, coped with the upheaval around him. This project isn’t just about cancer—it’s about the impact of illness on families, relationships, and identity.
Through HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son, and our dual photographic perspectives in conversation and collaboration with each other, we aim to show how art is a means of self-preservation, helping us navigate and make sense of profound life changes. We hope to spark deeper conversations about the emotional, physical, and financial toll of illness, offering a more honest, layered perspective on what it truly means to live through—and alongside—serious illness. By sharing our journey, we seek to foster empathy and understanding, contributing to a more inclusive dialogue about illness and its far-reaching effects, while exploring tangible solutions to support patients and caregivers.
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 at @SuzanneSease. Instagram
The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
“Kevin is a friend, local alpine climber and ASMG guide. One day, he shares with me his eight-year-old’s passionate climbing pursuits. “She is too light to belay anyone and is working on problems beyond most adults.” So, he is her climbing partner. “Daddy-day care” is what he calls it, with a grin from ear to ear. He absolutely adores telling me about his time with Marion on the rock, so I think, why not ask him if I can photograph that experience? And I do.”
“I approach this project with no script other than to capture their relationship through climbing and to share that story as it unfolds organically. My camera serves as a tool that allows me to forge an intimate connection with people and landscapes that would otherwise be out of reach, giving deeper purpose to my curiosity.”
Whether commercial, editorial, or personal work, my images naturally gravitate to form a narrative. I like to create thoughtful, honest, spontaneous, and inspired images that tell a story. I love working collaboratively, and I am most fulfilled when both sides of the lens are equally happy with the images we make.
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 at @SuzanneSease. Instagram