About the Artist
Artist Statement
Our natural world could be seen as strange, if it weren’t familiar. My work seeks not to escape reality, but to demonstrate how it can be shaped beyond what we have grown accustomed to.
Paradoxically, I attempt to show the unseen through a visual medium. Ambiguous locations set the foundations of a world inhabited by subjects who are often more involved with their internal states than their surroundings. A clean, simple aesthetic, overlays imagery that is underpinned by often existential themes.
Each piece begins in written form, accompanied by rough sketches. Narratives are shaped by the use of symbolism, hand-crafted elements, moody lighting and posing. Digital post-processing allows me to take the reality I capture photographically and extend it to the realm of magical realism.
While my images may appear dark upon first observation, they hold light and hopeful messaging at their core. I use my work to ignite vision for transformation and growth—for a future beyond the shadows of current circumstance.
Biography
Leigh Schneider is a Conceptual Fine Art Photographer. Born in 1986, she grew up between a small town in farmland Waikato, New Zealand and remote desert in the Outback of Queensland, Australia.
Her interest in photography started at the age of sixteen, when she won a regional competition for analogue portraiture. Leigh went on to gain a Bachelor’s in Computer Graphic Design, working in the field for a decade. In 2017, after a house robbery resulted in the loss of all her work, she decided to reinvest the insurance payout into her first full-frame digital camera. From there, she began to self-teach Fine Art Photography and fell in love with the process and possibilities of the digital medium.
Leigh worked commercially as a Fine Art Photographer and Art Director before moving into the Fine Art world.
Since making her artist debut in 2022, Leigh's work has been exhibited, awarded and published internationally. Leigh’s piece ‘A Wing and a Prayer’ saw her named as a finalist in Beautiful Bizarre’s 2022 Annual Art Prize and her work has been added to collections across Australasia, Europe and the United States.
Leigh currently resides near Frankfurt, Germany, with her husband.
Exhibitions
2024
UPCOMING: Opens May 5th. 'Time Has Wings,' Solo Exhibition. Curio Art Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal
'Beyond the Shadows,' Solo Exhibition. Taunus Foto Gallery - Bad Homburg, Germany
2023
'Haunted,' Group Exhibition. Curio Art Gallery - Almada, Portugal
'Beyond the Shadows,' Solo Exhibition. Inktastic Art Gallery - Frankfurt, Germany
'Beyond the Shadows,' Solo Exhibition. Quirky Fox Gallery - Hāwera, New Zealand
2022
'Mini Mix & Match,' Group Exhibition. Quirky Fox Gallery - Hāwera, New Zealand
'Deep Waters,' Group Exhibition. Quirky Fox Gallery - Hāwera, New Zealand
Awards
2022
Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2022 'A Wing and a Prayer.' Category: Photography, Finalist
Fine Art Photography Awards (8th Edition). Series 'Messengers.' Category: Fine Art Professional, Nominee
2019
Infinite Color Competition (2019). "Grace." First Place Winner
Select Publications & Press
2024
Frankfurter Neue Presse (30/01/2024), "Mit Motten bringt sie das Unsichtbare ans Licht." Page 8, Newspaper Article
2023
Shotkit (23/07/2023) "Inside my Camera Bag." Online Article
Fstoppers (06/05/2023) "Understanding Fine Art Photography with Leigh Schneider." Online Article
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine (11/02/2023) "Leigh Schneider’s Debut Solo Exhibition ‘Beyond The Shadows’ @ Quirky Fox." Online Article
Cambridge News (09/03/2023) "Artist Raises Awareness." Page 13, Newspaper Article
New Zealand Herald, Stratford Press (03/02/2023) "Artist and South Taranaki art gallery join forces to help Lifeline Aotearoa." Newspaper Article
2022
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine (2022) "Exclusive Interview, Stealthily Optimistic: The Photography of Leigh Schneider." Online Interview
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine (2022) "Join the Tribe." (Issue 38), Page 130, Print Publication
Vogue Italia, Photovogue (2019-2022) "Grace," "Out of Hiding," "Parasite of Change." Online Publication