Born in 1989 into an artistic family in the Black Forest, Germany, Alma Haser is now based in SouthEast England. 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.
Since having children her work has evolved and adapted to the time constraints she now faces. With that in mind, she uses techniques that are therapeutic and meditative, such as needle work and fabrics.
Alma has won many awards for her work, including Magenta Foundation's Bright Spark Award for her Cosmic Surgery series (also the basis of a successful self-published book project). Her piece The Ventriloquist won forth prize for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery. Alma also won the PDN Photo Annual Award for her Eureka Effect series. Her work has been exhibited worldwide.
Alma’s current projects include Within 15 Minutes, a series delving into her fascina- tion with identical twins, they're genetics and how to distinguish them using jigsaw puzzles. She’s also been working on her Pseudo series; an exploration of what is real and what is manufactured, through using her unique paper collage layering 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
2024 The Weird Ones: New Narratives in Contemporary Collage, Municipal Hall of La Pasión, Valladolid, Spain
2023 ‘The Kiss’, Just Women, Galerie Joseph, Paris
2023 ‘Altered’ Group show, Candela Gallery, Richmond USA
2023 Babes in Arms Collective, Hastings Contemporary, UK
2023 Artist/Parent, Group show, Air Gallery, UK
2022 Babes in Arms Collective, Del a Warr, Bexhil, UK
2021 Cosmic Surgery, Face Control, Foto Colectania, Barcelona, Spain
2021 Cosmic Surgery, Portrait(s), Collectif Fetart, Paris, France
2020 Select pieces, The Age of Collage, Curve Gallery, Berlin
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
2023 Shortlisted for Belfast Photo Festival Open
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)