Shortlisted Photographers 2012 – Brea Souders
“As an American with typically mixed bloodlines, I started this project to explore the many places in Europe where I have ancestry and their influence on me as an artist and a person. I created the very first photograph in this series, titled Sunburn in Naples, in Italy, in May 2010. This image encapsulated my feelings – a desire to own my Italian ancestral roots, to be wholly a part of something, but an inability to do so. The Neapolitan sun burned the Irish skin that I inherited from my father’s father. Upon my return home I continued my work, creating images that reflect my research into Christianity, art history, European history and family traditions, and my desire to connect all of the pieces together into one unified whole.”
Brea Souders (United States) studied photography at the University of Maryland. Her work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, and also in festivals such as the New York Photo Festival, PhotoIreland, Dublin, and the Singapore International Photography Festival. Brea Souders lives in Brooklyn.
