Aaron Schuman
BFA Photography and History of Art
Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
MRes Humanities and Cultural Studies
Birkbeck College, University of London
Senior Lecturer (Associate)FdA Commercial Photography
Aaron is a photographer, editor, writer and critic. His principal research interests concern the central issues, current developments and future responsibilities of contemporary documentary photography, and how these may be defined and enhanced through practice, dissemination and critical debate.
Aaron’s photographic work has been exhibited internationally: ‘Transformations’ (Gulf and Western Gallery, New York), September – November 2007 and ‘Wanted’ (Dazed and Confused Digital, Stockholm / Milan), August – September 2007. A solo exhibition of his work, ‘In China: Photographs by Aaron Schuman’ was exhibited at the Oriental Museum, University of Durham (May – September 2006) and the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath (August – December 2005) and was supported by the Arts Institute (2005-6). Aaron was co-curator of ‘Stop Moving’, a travelling/mobile exhibition (Hoxton Square / Elephant and Castle / Brick Lane, London) in November 2006 and ‘Petites Mort’ (Glass House Gallery), January – March 2006.
His critical writing regularly appears in publications such as Aperture, ArtReview, British Journal of Photography, DayFour, Hotshoe International, Foam Magazine, Photoworks, Modern Painters and Spot Magazine. In the period 2005-8, Aaron made a number of conference contributions, for example at Peep Conference: Commercial Photography – A New Critical Dialogue, Association of Photographers, London (2005); Rhubarb-Rhubarb International Photography Fair, Birmingham (2006;2007;2008); 14th International Athens Month of Photography, Hellenic Centre of Photography, Athens (2007); Fotobild International Fair for Photography, Stilwerk, Berlin (2007-8); PhotoMonth Krakow (2008). Aaron contributed to an edited book, This Land is Made For You and Me (Madrid: La Fabrica, 2008). He also contributed a piece ‘Time, Time Is On My Side’ to PhotoMonth Krakow (2008).
Aaron is on the director’s board of Photodebut; he is a member of the international photography collective, Young Photographers United; and founder and editor of the celebrated online photography journal, SeeSaw Magazine. Aaron was runner-up of The Observer competition, Seeds of Change (2006). During the term of his AIB Research Fellowship Award (2008-9), he is working on a curatorial/editorial/project, ‘The Past is Present: Nostalgia in Contemporary Photography’.
McQueen, from ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, 2008-9, by Aaron Schuman.