One of the best experiences I had with attending the Legacies of Light Symposium was getting to know two MFA candidates who I am confident will have impactful photography carriers.
I’ll start with Julia C Martin who is studying at Arizona State University. We had a couple long talks during the weekend and I was very impressed. She already has solid insight in to world of fine art photography and I could definitely see her doing big things in a curatorial role one day. She has positioned herself perfectly for something like that already having worked for the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and Aperture. She has also interned with Mary Virginia Swanson and has a good relationship with her. But Julia is also a photographer and makes some pretty powerful images. Julia’s work right now deals with the themes of death, mortality, and femininity. She primarily photographs using film and oftentimes prints her images using alternative processes to captured the feelings she is dealing with. She could impact the photography world in a number of different ways. I learned a lot from talking with her, Julia’s insight has value and she communicates her ideas so well.
I only had a chance to speak briefly with Alex Turner but I think that was mostly because so many other people were trying to speak with him. Alex is studying at the University of Arizona and was just awarded one of the 2020 Society for Photographic Education’s Student Awards for Innovations in Imaging. He will also be presenting his Blind River project at SPE Houston this spring. From what I have seen of his work he is a strong image maker who is starting to make an impact.