Born in 1989 into an artistic family in the Black Forest, Germany, Alma Haser is now based in London and on the southeast coast. She is known for her complex and meticulously constructed portraiture, which are influenced by her creativity and her background in fine art. Alma creates striking work that catches the eye and captivates the mind.
Expanding the dimensions of traditional portrait photography, Alma takes her photographs further by using inventive paper-folding techniques, collage and mixed media to create layers of intrigue around her subjects; manipulating her portraits into futuristic paper sculptures and blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery.
Alma has won many awards for her work, including Magenta Foundation's Bright Spark Award in 2013 for her Cosmic Surgery series (also the basis of a successful self-published book project). Her piece The Ventriloquist was shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in 2012. Alma also won the PDN Photo Annual Award in 2016 for her Eureka Effect series. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and recent venues have included the 2017 Saatchi Gallery show From Selfie to Self-Expression. Examples of her work are currently on show at the Now Gallery in Greenwich, London.
Alma’s current projects include the Twin Puzzle series, delving into her fascination with identical twins, their genetics and how to distinguish them. She’s also been working on her Plant series; an exploration of what is real and what is manufactured, through using her unique paper collage and re-photographing techniques.
Solo Exhibitions
2019 Cosmic Surgery, The SPAO Gallery, Canada
2017 Within 15 Minuets and Cosmic Surgery, 7 Trinity Gallery, Hastings
2016 Cosmic Surgery, De Soto Gallery, L.A.
2016 Cosmic Surgery, Print Sales Gallery, The Photographers' Gallery, London
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 Pseudo, Belfast Photo Festival, Ireland
2019 Cosmic Surgery, Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography, Switzerland
2019 Pseudo and Within 15 Minuets, Photo London
2018 Work in Process, Print Sales Gallery, The Photographers' Gallery, London
2018 Circulation(s) Festival, Centquatre, Paris
2017 Body Image, NOW Gallery, Greenwich, London
2017 Paper, CODA Museum, Apledoorn, Netherlands
2017 Selfie to Self-Expression, Saatchi Gallery, London
2017 AIPAD, De Soto Gallery/The Photographers Gallery, New York
2016 PULSE Miami Beach, De Soto Gallery, Miami
2016 UNSEEN, The Photographers Gallery, Amsterdam
2016 Retina Festival, Edinburgh
2015 Fort Worth Contemporary Arts Gallery, Texas
2015 Dear Sylvia, Australia Centre of Photography, Paddington, Australia
2014 A Year in Development, Four Corners Gallery, London
2014 Flash Forward Festival, Fairmont Battery Wharf, Boston
2014 uP, The Foundation [taf], Athens, Greece
2013 Magenta Foundation Awards, Neubacher Shor Contemporary, Toronto
2012 Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, M Shed, Bristol
2012 MAKE/SHIFT, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth
2012 Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, London
2012 f/22, PhotoIreland Festival, Dublin
2012 Foto8 Summer Show, Foto8 Gallery, London
2011 Guernsey Photography Festival, Tim Andrews Portrait Project, Guernsey
2011 FotoMadrid, Madrid, Spain
Awards
2019 Shortlisted for Arles Open Wall, BJP, Arles, France
2017 Best in Book, 'Invisible Wounds,' Creative Review Photo Annual
2016 Winner, 'Eureka Effect', PDN Photo Annual
2015 Honourable Mention, 'Eureka Effect' IPA Awards
2015 First Prize, 'The Eureka Effect' PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris
2015 'Cosmic Surgery' Book Nominated for LUMA Dummy Book Awards Arles
2014 Nominated as the 'One to Watch' 2014 by D&AD
2013 Selected for the International Photography Annual 2, Manifest
2013 Winner, 'Cosmic Surgery', Magenta Foundation 'Bright Spark' Award
2012 Nominated for the Terry O'Neil TAG Award
2012 Forth Prize Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Award
2012 Third Prize People Choice, Foto8 Summer Show
Books
2016 Self-Published 'Cosmic Surgery' (edition of 600)
2015 Self-Published Dummy Edition of 'Cosmic Surgery' (pop-up photo book, edition of 10)