Aaron Blum

American Photographer | Born: 1983

Aaron Blum is an eighth generation West Virginian, and creates art deeply linked to his home. Most of his work centers around a single question, what does it mean to be Appalachian? Through this question he address many different artistic concepts from idealized memory vs. stereotypes to ideas of folk taxonomy. His creation process is a diversified approach of image-based media to create a glimpse into his own concepts of Appalachia, and the social fabric of a very large and misrepresented people and place. He pays close attention to the quality of light and the landscape as well as cultural markers to produce a unique version of life in the hills. After graduating with degrees in photography from West Virginia University and Syracuse University, Aaron immediately began receiving recognition for his work including Center of Santa Fe, Silvereye Center for photography, Critical Mass, and FOAM.

About The Prevailing Winds of Hills and Heritage
Appalachia pulls at me like a haunted memory. There is an ineffable force that compels me to suspend reality and embrace superstition and myth. It is a longing to hold on to my culture and history in spite of the modern world. The nebulous forests, enveloping moss and dark corners seem to tell a purer truth.

Storytelling in Appalachia has a long-standing tradition, and it infuses the region with mystery. Using lore, pseudo-scientific study, and personal experiences as a compass I see this place through idealized eyes of wonder, and these images become my personal folklore. They bring to life the fantasies and memories I carry with me. This is a place where you can wash away sin in cool stream waters, where corpse birds come to ferry away souls to the next life, rocks burn and kudzu conceals. This is the place where the prevailing winds whisper old stories to those who know how to listen.

Website:

aaronblumphoto.com

Selected Work:

More Great Photographers To Discover

Jelena Jankovic

Nationality: Serbian

Born: 1985

Jelena Janković is fine art photographer from Belgrade, specialized in dance and theater photography. Actively engaged in the documentary, freelance fashion, conceptual and experimental photography. Recipient of significant awards for her photography, such as Grand Prix Balkan Photo Awards 2016, 2017 Sony World Photography Awards, Siena International Photo Awards 2017, First Prize of 2017 Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest, FIAP plate of Sterijino (…)

All About Jelena Jankovic

Muzi Quawson

Nationality: English

Muzi Quawson is a London-based artist and photographer who documents different aspects of American society. Quawson's practice explores the nature of identity, focusing on people and communities that have adopted an existence as society's alleged outsiders.

All About Muzi Quawson

David Goldblatt

Nationality: South African

Born: 1930 - Died: 2018

David Goldblatt was born in 1930 in Randfontein, South Africa. He has photographed the structures, people and landscapes of his country since 1948. In 1989, Goldblatt founded the Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg. In 1998 he was the first South African to be given a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2001, a retrospective of his work, David Goldblatt Fifty-One Years began a tour of galleries and museums.

He was one of the (…)

All About David Goldblatt

Constanza Hevia H.

Nationality: Chilean

Born: 1985

Constanza Hevia H. is a Chilean photographer who is based in San Francisco, California. Her appreciation and curiosity about the life of ordinary people has led her to use photography as a tool of social observation. Intrigued by everyday life scenes, one of her main goals is to document and leave testimony about the strengths and weaknesses of human nature.

All About Constanza Hevia H.

Francis Meslet

Nationality: French

Born: 1963

A graduate in Design from the Fine Art School of Nancy in 1986, early in his career Francis Meslet was a designer, but soon turned to advertising when he joined several agencies as an artistic director. After 30 years spent questioning the creative concept and studying images in all his compositions, he is now a creative director. Francis does not hesitate to roam the world in his spare time, searching for abandoned sites, sanctuaries where time seems to have stopped after (…)

All About Francis Meslet

Elizabeth (Lee) Miller

Nationality: American

Born: 1907 - Died: 1977

Lee Miller, 1907-1977, first entered the world of photography as a model in New York to photographers such as Edward Steichen, Arnold Genthe and George Hoyninguen-Huene.

In 1929 Miller moved to Paris and became the assistant, and lover, of Man Ray. Together, they produced some of the most significant works of both of their careers, including rediscovering the solarisation technique in Man Ray�s darkroom. She quickly became established as both surrealist artist and (…)

All About Elizabeth (Lee) Miller

Marcel Rebro

Nationality: Slovak

Born: 1968

The first time I smelled developer was in 1985 when I was memeber of National Sport Center (Parachuting) in Lučenec. With the tiny Smena 8M camera, I was trying to capture my parachuting colleagues when descending, jumping out of a plane, or even during the free fall. Burning glass and red light became my loyal friends. Later, with the switch to colour film, I, in turn, became a friend of photo labs.

In 2001, I switched to digital and after numerous changes (…)

All About Marcel Rebro

Marco Garabello

Nationality: Italian

No, I haven't been a photographer for all of my life. When I was younger, I worked as a journalist and TV anchorman, then, for another ten years, I worked as a manager for several companies, both Italian and foreign. Then the "fil rouge" of photography, that crossed my whole life, had the upper hand and became a full-time job, that I could enrich with all my previous experiences.
More than six hundreds awards in International Photo Contests (among which 120 gold medals)(…)

All About Marco Garabello

Jamie Johnson

Nationality: American

Born: 1968

Jamie Johnson is a Los Angeles photographer specializing in children and alternative processes. Winner of the Julia Margaret Cameron Portfolio Award and Spider Black and White Photography Award. Her work has been published in many photography magazines and is exhibiting in galleries worldwide. Jamie's work is in the permanent collection of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and Archaelogy Museum in Alabama and currently has a show at the Norton Museum of Fine Art in Palm (…)

All About Jamie Johnson

Michael Wolf

Nationality: German/American

Born: 1954 - Died: 2019

Lives in Hong Kong, born Munich, Germany. The focus of the german photographer michael wolf�s work is life in mega cities. many of his projects document the architecture and the vernacular culture of metropolises. wolf grew up in canada, europe and the united states, studying at uc berkeley and at the folkwang school with otto steinert in essen, germany. he moved to hong kong in 1994 where he worked for 8 years as contract photographer for stern magazine. since 2001, (…)

All About Michael Wolf