Alma Haser (born 1989)[1] is a German-born portrait photographer living in the United Kingdom. She uses "paper-folding techniques, collage and mixed media to create layers . . . blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery."[1]
Alma Haser | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1989 (age 34–35) Black Forest, Germany |
| Alma mater | Nottingham Trent University |
| Known for | Photography |
| Notable work | Cosmic Surgery (2016) |
| Website | www |
Early life and education
editHaser was born in the Black Forest, Germany and lived there until she was six, when she moved to England.[2][3] Her father is a painter and sculptor, and her mother is a sculptor.[4] When she was 13, her mother took her and her younger brother out of school to travel around the world, including six months on the Cook Islands.[4]
She studied photography at Nottingham Trent University (where she also took up origami), graduating in 2010.[2][3]
Work
editHaser uses "paper-folding techniques, collage and mixed media to create layers . . . blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery."[1] "In the past she's cut, folded, woven and ripped her photographs to get a final, almost sculptural image."[5]
Haser's Cosmic Surgery portrait series refers to cosmetic surgery, with sitters' faces altered using origami.[6][7] The title was inspired by her having dyslexia and mixing the words up. As described in Wired:[3]
"Haser photographs people who strike her fancy, be it a friend, a relative, or a stranger she meets on the street. . . . Haser prints one large portrait and as many as 90 smaller images of the person's face. Then she'll spend hours meticulously folding the photos into complex shapes inspired in part by kusudama origami, a Japanese paper-folding technique. Once she's got a shape she likes, Haser places it on the large portrait and photographs it."[3]
For her Identical Twins series,[5] Haser, as described in Colossal :
"combines the portraits of several pairs of twins by literally puzzling their images together. Haser first photographs each twin separately, then prints their corresponding photograph onto a 500 or 1000-piece puzzle. Finally, Haser painstakingly switches every other piece to create two works that are an equal combination of each sibling."[8]
Her Pseudo series "plays with reality, layering and manipulating images of plants and flowers in a comment about the roots of fake news".[9] Other work includes Invisible Wounds, a project with Nick Ballon for Save the Children;[10][11] and cover artwork for Clark's 2013 album Feast/Beast and 2017 album Death Peak.[12][13]
Personal life
editAs of 2019[update], Haser lived in Hastings on the south east coast of England.[2]
Publications
edit- Cosmic Surgery.
- First edition. Self-published, 2015. Edition of 10 copies.
- Second edition. Self-published, 2016. ISBN 978-1526202970. Edition of 500 copies. Includes two "pop-up" pages, one folded origami attached to one of the pages, and 3 inserted booklets with texts and illustrations.[14]
- Cosmic Surgery Special Edition Box Set. Self-published, 2016. Includes an audio cassette with a musical piece to accompany the project—Subliminal Sound Pulses composed by Simon James. With text by Piers Bizony. Edition of 50 copies.
Awards
edit- 2012: Fourth prize, Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, London, for a photograph from The Ventriloquists[15][16]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "About". Alma Haser. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ a b c "Alma Haser - Portraits With a Twist". Plastik Magazine. 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ a b c d Garrett, Jenna. "Exquisite Origami … Made Out of Human Faces". Wired.
- ^ a b "Alma Haser is the Emerging Artist You Need to Know This Spring". AnOther. 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ a b "These puzzles by photographer Alma Haser perfectly jumble the faces of identical twins". www.itsnicethat.com.
- ^ "Portfolio: Alma Haser's unsettling 'Cosmic Surgery' series". The Independent. September 27, 2013.
- ^ "Photography: Alma Haser amazes us with her folded stories". www.itsnicethat.com.
- ^ Sierzputowski, Kate (2017-11-29). "Puzzling Portraits of Identical Twins by Photographer Alma Haser". Colossal. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ "Fake leaves: Alma Haser's fantasy plants – in pictures". The Guardian. January 30, 2019.
- ^ "Nick Ballon & Alma Haser: Invisible Wounds". Creative Review. November 1, 2017.
- ^ "The Invisible Wounds of Syria's Children". Time. March 12, 2017.
- ^ Murray, Robin (June 7, 2013). "Clark Prepares Remix Compilation 'Feast / Beast'". Clash Magazine.
- ^ "Warp musician Clark on the cover for new album Death Peak". Creative Review. 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Alma Haser's Cosmic Surgery pop-up book". Creative Review. August 12, 2015.
- ^ Brown, Mark (2012-11-05). "Spanish photographer wins UK portrait prize with moment in Mennonite life". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ O'Hagan, Sean (2012-09-07). "Photo finish: judging the Taylor Wessing portrait prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-29.