shāna+photography

\ Art Notes- May ’21 \

shāna — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 18:50:36 +0000

I can finally announce that two of my photos were chosen and published in the 10th-anniversary issue Diffusion X! I was gobsmacked when I got the news. Diffusion is “an artfully-crafted photography annual”, published by One Twelve Publishing.

“Diffusion is an independent, reader-supported annual that highlights and celebrates artfully crafted photographic artwork including, but not limited to, handcrafted, alternative process, mixed media, installation, photo as object, avant-garde, experimental, etc. Diffusion strives to spotlight artists pushing the boundaries of traditional photographic processes as well as introducing new and innovative voices through articles, interviews, and image galleries.”

The work in this publication is thoughtful, stunning and provocative. I look forward to showing you in person. For now, here is the book trailer:

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my photo, ‘Straddling Worlds’ was juried into the online Self-Portrait exhibition on F-STOP Magazine. in my year-end update of 2020 i mentioned how this was made in quarantine while contemplating re-entry and was published on the SEEING 2020: Photography Under Quarantine Catalogue.

F-STOP is an online photography magazine featuring contemporary photography from established and emerging photographers from around the world. each issue has a theme or an idea that unites the photographs to create a dynamic dialogue among the artists. founded in 2003 and published online, bi-monthly.

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Water: Shots Magazine Group Photography Exhibition at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, opened on April 30th, 2021. Works were chosen from the Shots Magazine, Issue #144 that my photo, ‘They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds’ was published in. Back in 2019, I wrote about how thrilled I was to be published in my favorite fine art photography magazine. Finding out about the exhibition in Minnesota was a lovely surprise.

‘They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds’

with gratitude from,

a proposition and an invite! \ Art Notes- August ’21 \

shāna — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 20:58:02 +0000

it’s been a while, huh? frankly, i cannot believe i’m managing to get this out, albeit last minute. there has been a lot going in my world that, for the most part, has kept my art out of reach.

firstly, i want to let you know that i have 6 pieces on view at b.j. spoke gallery in huntington, ny, as part of the 2021 Artist’s Choice exhibition. this is incredibly meaningful to me as it’s a reminder that yes, i am an artist, despite my inability lately to engage. Artist’s Choice is an annual community invitational exhibition in which b.j. spoke gallery members invite an artist they know and respect to show with them. lorraine carol, an abstract painter, (who with her daughter, was the subject of my series, ‘Compost’ ) – invited me to show my work alongside hers – lucky me. the show opened on August 4th and runs through August 29th.

this Saturday, August 14th, is the opening reception from 3:30 – 6 pm. i sure am hoping i’ll be able to get there myself. maybe i’ll see you there?

this leads me to the “proposition” part. when i was invited, my first thought was, ‘oh gosh, there is no way i can do this!’ i have been mired in a very disabling health crisis (a story for another time) and this seemed impossible on every level. (financially, physically, emotionally, etc.) yet, i kept feeling called to find a way. this offered a chance to re-connect with my art, and the art world at large. fortunately, i had these newer small works (8×10’s and 8×8’s) already printed & mated so framing was all that was needed. but honestly, i did not have the funds to do so. while discussing this dilemma with a close friend she came up with some creative possibilities for me to consider.

here’s the proposition:

If you fund the framing for me, you get one of the pieces!

It’s as simple as that. You choose the piece.

The cost is $195, which is considerably below the actual price of the piece (almost 1/2 off), especially for fully framed artwork ready to hang on your wall! They are finished in black wood gallery frames with gorgeous 8-ply mats.

several of these artworks have either been included in juried exhibitions and/or have been published. i’ve been dying to share the news about this and am hoping to in the near future!

all the pieces are currently available for sale at the gallery at full price. my work is typically available solely as prints.

if you’ve ever wanted to own my artwork this is a great opportunity to do so! and…you’ll be helping a struggling artist. a win-win. : )

* PLEASE reply to this email with your interest and/or questions as soon as possible. First come, first served. *

i would never have made it here without the great help of some incredible friends – you know who you are!

finally, please know that your support of me, and my work − by attending my gallery exhibitions, offering ongoing positive commentary, inquiring about & purchasing my work, et al − is felt regardless of time & distance, and means the world to me.

with gratitude from,

Life Among The Savages \ Art Notes- April ’21 \

shāna — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 13:44:15 +0000

i was just informed that my photograph, ‘Life Among The Savages #5′, was chosen by Daniel Miller of Your Daily Photograph for a 24-hour sale. this is from my series, Life Among The Savages, which was the first series i created where all the images are landscapes, not people. the submission required works from editions of 5 or less.

[Dear Shāna,

Congratulations. We are pleased to announce our curators have chosen your image for inclusion into YourDailyPhotograph.com. We select a very small percentage of photographs submitted.

You’re in good company — in the recent past images from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andreas Gursky, Richard Misrach, Andre Kertesz, Edward Burtynsky, and other photography legends have appeared in YDP.

Your Daily Photograph has helped the careers of many photographers (see http://www.yourdailyphotograph.com/artist-experiences). We’re proud to offer this opportunity to showcase your work among our subscribers in 74 countries!

Best regards,

Daniel Miller]

YourDailyPhotograph.com is backed by Duncan Miller Gallery, a prominent photography gallery with two physical locations, in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, CA. collectors have 24 hours to acquire this print at the reduced rate. (ends 12 pm EST, April 24th, 2021 (Today!) you can view it larger here.

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following are the top ten reasons collectors choose photography from YourDailyPhotography.com:

1) Every print must pass a careful detailed inspection by the Daily’s experts before shipment to any collector. This same expert advice is available before – or after – any sale made on the ‘Daily’.

2) Whether you are buying a $100,000 photograph or a $400 photograph, you are being taken care of by the same team. And your business is valued the same.

3) Vintage prints are matted in pH-neutral archival mats at no extra cost. Vintage works are also professionally cleaned and spotted at no extra cost.

4) All contemporary photographs are printed by or under the supervision of each individual artist. Each of these photographs is signed by the artist. The artist’s hand on each print guarantees you a collectible photograph from an emerging or contemporary artist.

5) Shipments are made via FedEx to guarantee the safe delivery of all photographs. Custom packaging ensures shipments arrive damage-free.

6) Flat shipping fee is only $30 in the U.S., $80 outside the U.S. Free pickup from Santa Monica, CA.

7) All photographs are guaranteed as described. Returns are accepted within five days of purchase.

8) YourDailyPhotograph.com is backed by Duncan Miller Gallery, a leading photography gallery in Santa Monica, CA. Please visit during gallery hours.

9) The Daily’s archive of 3.5 million photographs (one of the world’s largest) provides a wealth of material for our buyers. You are welcome to send us any special requests for subject or material.

10) The founder of YourDailyPhotograph.com, Daniel Miller, visits a minimum of 10 countries every year, hunting non-stop for quality fine art photographs for our collectors to discover.

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since i’m short on time & energy, i’ll wait until next time to share some more good news with you all!

feel free to get in touch and let me know what you think.

i have been posting on INSTAGRAM – come FOLLOW ME

with gratitude from

the finale! \ Art Notes- December ’20 \

shāna — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 02:42:51 +0000

i sure hope this finds you hanging in there and finding respite in unexpected places.

after months and months of no updates, i want to share my 2020 photography happenings with you in the form of a year-end review. you may want to pour yourself a cup of tea for this one. it may take a few reads. (although you can view this on any device, it is best displayed on a desktop computer.)

it’s been a long and windy year wrought with immense challenges on many fronts. even before the pandemic, creating new work had been very sparse as i had been skating on thin ice both physically and emotionally for a while. i barely had it in me to focus on photography. while i was not used to this, i was trying to accept it as a passage of time that needed to be respected.

when the pandemic and ensuing quarantine began i panicked. as the virus moved from the abstract to the actual, i found myself bewildered about how to navigate life, including the ability to create pictures. my work explores one’s connection to self, each other, and the natural world, so living alone under quarantine left me feeling quite detached and mostly uninspired. as time went on, i settled into a routine and managed to make some work, thanks mainly to participating in two different online photography groups that i’ll tell you more about later. but frankly, i felt conflicted about participating in the groups. part of me wanted to further distance myself from photography. i busied myself, as many of us did, with organizing closets & cabinets, gardening, learning about food preservation and storage, etc. this all helped to expand a feeling of personal empowerment and abate the anxiety i initially experienced. it was quite unexpected since, as i mentioned above, the months prior i was struggling with depression that interfered with my ability to function aside from the basics. since i live with chronic illness being home so much is not unfamiliar to me. this lifestyle is often accompanied by a nagging feeling that i’m missing out on things in life. but a persistent, unrelenting (wise) inner voice gnawed at me to join these groups. it was screaming “even if only by a thread, try not to lose complete connection to your art.” so i acquiesced.

the two photography groups i participated in, albeit reluctantly, were the Six Feet Photography Project, a collaborative photography project, and Photography Under Quarantine created by Jennifer Thoreson, that took place solely on facebook. both, in their own ways, kept me afloat. who knew i would look back at these times as sacred and deeply moving. i made some work that speaks to the burden of loneliness the imposed isolation created, along with a heightened fear of being alone while living with chronic illness.

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i was hoping to join the Self-Portraiture group at Six Feet, but it filled quickly and i missed out. the only group available at the time i discovered the project was a documentary group. not exactly my interest but i decided to join nonetheless. the group was led by Susan Patrice, an artist, educator, and community arts organizer. she is a co-founder of Six Feet as well as the director of Makers Circle, a residency, retreat, and workshop center for photographers, activists, and makers. a group of us from around the country & world met weekly on zoom. we shared our art, our hearts, and our stories. susan’s generosity and keen critical insights created a wonderfully rich space for us all. in fact, it was so enriching and grounding that we kept it going after the initial 6-week commitment had expired. i even tried my hand at some documentary work. that was interesting. additionally, the collaborative hosted all sorts of artist talks and live guest editor & curator events. here is a smattering of photos made during this time.

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i gave up facebook long ago, yet in may, decided to log on in search of local updates about covid. the first thing i saw when the tab loaded was an announcement from Jennifer Thoreson about a photography group she started at the beginning of quarantine back in march; Photography Under Quarantine. i took a workshop of hers many years ago that was mesmerizing. both she and her art are immensely captivating, so i jumped in – well, sort of – didn’t realize quite what i was in for. there were 8 overall challenges and many mini ones, with varying topics from the surreal to re-entry. the group had strict guidelines; for example, the photos had to be created in isolation, using only elements found within your environment. i had never made work based on an assignment before and found it daunting – pushing me in ways that were both uncomfortable and rewarding. the level of ingenuity within the group was awe-inspiring. jennifer offered extensive critiques on all the work that opened new portals in me as to what’s possible. she has an innate ability to see with all senses and took us on a journey that was quite illuminating.

much to my surprise & delight, the group culminated in a juried catalog. i was fortunate to have two of my works chosen by juror, Ann Pallesen, who is a Seattle-based artist and independent curator. Previously she served as the Gallery Director of the Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW) for nearly two decades. the catalog announcement was made on my birthday back in september. how sweet! the day it arrived in my p.o. box i sat in my car, windows down, sun in my face as i combed through the pages with tears streaming down. it was certainly a highlight of this past year. it is a beautifully moving document, remarkably curated, of an unprecedented time in my (our) life.

you can download a free digital copy here, or purchase the actual catalog.

here are the two photos that were chosen:

‘Straddling Worlds’

Contemplating re-entry posed a different set of concerns and awakened many of the latent anxieties that the enduring quarantine mysteriously had quieted. I attempted to express the ambivalence this proposition presented: wanting the safety of home vs. the longing to be out in the world with others.

‘Lost in Space’

Directed to create work using boxes as the subject was initially quite uninspiring, and left me bewildered. This feeling had become omnipresent within the greater context of the quarantine and pandemic. Notably, the process proved to be a focused, cathartic exploration offering solace and validation.

here are some of my favorites made during Photography Under Quarantine:

and here is a small peek at the catalog:

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it took me about 2 years to complete editing my series, Compost. after many revisions, i am happy to say, it is finally done. quarantine created the space for me to take this project on. where i began, and where the series ended up took me by surprise. it often does. have a look and let me know what you think.

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this is the third time one of my works was chosen by Daniel Miller of Your Daily Photograph for a 24-hour sale. collectors were able to acquire a print of ‘An Immutable Spark’ at a reduced rate. although this was back in march & the sale through them is over, i still wanted to share the news. YourDailyPhotograph.com is backed by Duncan Miller Gallery, a prominent photography gallery with two physical locations, in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, CA. you may remember from an earlier post that this photograph won an award. it is from newer work that primarily consists of hybrid double-exposures. i started experimenting one day and, much to my surprise, found myself moving in this new direction. the working title of the series is ‘Alchemy’. you can view it larger here.

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two of my photos were chosen for the ‘Isolation in the Age of Pandemic’ exhibition at the Lightbox Photographic Gallery in Astoria, OR which ran from May 15 – July 4, 2020. What was unique about this exhibit is that LightBox released an open call for work and allowed the photographers who submitted work to the exhibit to be the Jurors. each photographer selected their top ten images from the hundreds submitted. the tabulations were made resulting in an exhibit curated by the collective group, resulting in a beautiful exhibit full of magical work. the first photo, ‘Sheltering at Home’ was made about a month into quarantining. i was feeling disconnected from my shooting practice and asked a friend if i could come over to make pictures of her through the windows. the experience was at once exciting, haunting, fun, and tiring. although the reflected house was less of a focus while making the photo, it became particularly poignant when learning that it is the home of her neighbor who, sadly, died of COVID. the second photo, ‘Languishing’, was made before COVID was even a thought, yet i believe, poignantly speaks to the feeling of isolation.

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Santa Fe Workshops hosted a live jury on zoom as part of their Creativity Continues initiative with the theme Windows. twenty images were chosen by Sarah Leen, former Director of Photography for National Geographic Visual Media, and her husband, Bill Marr, former Director of Photography for the Nature Conservancy. it was an honor to have, ‘An Immutable Spark’ chosen since it’s rare that the curtain is pulled back allowing us artists to hear comments and impressions of why work was selected, and what makes for a compelling image. you can click on the image above to hear my review (and others), which comes in at 19:50 min. i got a kick out of all their commentary.

here is a quick slideshow of all the chosen photos:

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‘There’s No Immunity From Life’

‘There’s No Immunity From Life’ was juried into an open themed Group Exhibition in F-STOP Magazine. the photo is from my series ‘Compost’ that i mentioned above. F-STOP is an online photography magazine featuring contemporary photography from established and emerging photographers from around the world. each issue has a theme or an idea that unites the photographs to create a dynamic dialogue among the artists. founded in 2003 and published online, bi-monthly.

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the announcement was made in july that my photo, ‘The Secret’ won 3rd place in the category ‘Other’ in the IPPA Awards (iPhone Photography Awards). the photo was made on a friend’s property that is endowed with a babbling brook and enchanted qualities of light, unlike any i have witnessed in my town. tim cook, (yes, that tim cook) tweeted the announcement. for some reason the IPPAWARDS website is down, however, you can follow the link in the photo below to see some of the winners and/or in the grids below.

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lastly, a big announcement is coming very soon! hopefully by my next email to you. i know this has been teased before. actually, it’s not intentional – it’s just taking way longer for me to receive all the details.

as always, i am immensely grateful for your interest and support. let’s hope the new year brings some wonderful surprises for us all! feel free to hit reply and let me know what you think….

with love from,

i’m popping in with a quick (good news) note!

shāna — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 18:22:25 +0000

i’m popping in today with a quick note — i was just informed that my photograph, “They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds”, was selected by Daniel Miller of Your Daily Photograph for a 24-hour sale! yay! YourDailyPhotograph.com is backed by Duncan Miller Gallery, a prominent photography gallery with two physical locations, in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, CA. collectors have 24 hours to acquire this print at the reduced rate. (ends 12 pm EST, Dec. 2nd) you can view it larger here.

✻

Dear Shāna,

Congratulations. We are pleased to announce our curators have chosen your image for inclusion into YourDailyPhotograph.com. We select a very small percentage of photographs submitted.

You’re in good company — in the recent past images from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andreas Gursky, Richard Misrach, Andre Kertesz, Edward Burtynsky, and other photography legends have appeared in YDP.

Best regards,

Daniel Miller

✻

as i mentioned in an earlier post, this photograph is from new work that primarily consists of hybrid double-exposures. i started experimenting one day and, much to my surprise, found myself moving in this new direction. the working title of the series is Alchemy. in my next note to you i will share more of the images from this series as well as some good news.