Amber Maalouf is a fine art photographer with a BFA in Creative Photography based in Los Angeles. Her Fine Art background allows her to pursue every photographic field imaginable, fusing her analogue upbringing with digital. As a second generation Chihuahuan artist, Amber has been transitioning to commercial work and photojournalism while maintaining integrity to her personal work.
Her relationship with her twin sister largely defined her first body of work- being both symbiotic and parasitic in nature. The series narrated what it felt like to lack identity when together but being incomplete apart- which has been a running trope to this day. Fear of death and trepidation have been a propellant in her work, as you can often find her putting herself in perilous situations that light heartedly acknowledge with one wrong unforeseen occurrence – it could always be worse.
With more than 7 years experience volunteering in wildlife sanctuaries and local stray placement programs, her work has widened to documenting themes related to human relationships with biodiversity and empathy for animals. Specifically, she hopes to help people recognize that preserving our natural world starts the second you walk out your front door.
To contact for assignment or commission a show please use: ambermaalouf@gmail.com
Published Work
Life & Thyme Magazine, Secret Menu Magazine, Air France Magazine, Dazed and Confused, VICE, JPG, Artistic Visions, Getty Images, Fondle, LOMO, Sneeze Mag, Ladygun, LA Canvas, GUP, BLISS, We Are The Superlative Conspiracy Mag, Psychologies Russia, Pager, If You Leave, Nido, Monster Children, Crease Magazine, Thrasher, ID Magazine, Our City with Jason Lee
Education
California State University of Fullerton – Bachelor degree in Fine Arts, emphasis in Concept Photography and Development | Tri Community Photography School – emphasis in Film Development
Exhibited Work
The Onion Fields – Collaborative Exhibtion with Ashlie Chavez at COMPOUND YV | Our City – Collaborative Show with Film Photographic & Ilford Film at Contact Photo Lab, LA | Water is Life – Group Show to Support Dakota Access Pipeline at Known Gallery, LA | An Evening with Amber Chavez & Dolan Stearns, Collaboration Show at County Market, LA | Latitudes, Attitudes Exhibition with The Kooples at Galerie Nikki Diana Marquardt, Paris | Various Artists Four Group Show at The Paper Agency, LA | Anywhere But Here Group Show at Space 15 Twenty, LA | Ce n’est pas la fin du Monde | Comune Group Show at R&R Gallery, LA | You are Not Alone, Unique and Dying Solo Show at Ghetto Gloss Gallery, LA | Fuse with FUSE Magazine Group Show at the W Hotel, LA | Symbiotic Exhibit Solo Show at 4th St & Vine Gallery, LB | Estudio Buck Gallery Group Show in Sao Paulo Brazil | Association of Photographers’ Gallery Group Show in London
Publications
Standing in the Shadows of the Spotlight – Published by Your Local Newsstand (sold out)
The Onion Fields – On view September 21st through November 3rd at Compound YV Gallery
Links
Vimeo – Super 8 Films – Directing & Filming
My Twin
Instagram
Highsnobiety Feature
Blog
COMPOUND YV Gallery
Woolrich Feature
IMPULSE Magazine Interview
ICT News for Indigenous Peoples
Oceanic Preservation Society
Canvas Rebel Mag
Bold Journey Magazine
Secret Menu Magazine
Our City Show Catalog
Our City Film
Your Local Newsstand
Interview with Your Local Newsstand
BOOOOOOOM
Office Magazine
Artist Archives – The Phooks
Woon – Portraits from a Pandemic
Life and Thyme Article
Voyage LA
Volunteer Work – Animal Tracks
Anatomy Films
Monster Children
Lomography
Dblanc
The Onion Fields Exhibition at Compound YV
On view September 21st 2024 through November 3rd 2024 at Compound YV Gallery
The Onion Fields
The Onion Fields is an exhibition of curated images by twin sisters Amber Maalouf and Ashlie Chavez from a much larger body of work ONION that will be published in book form. ONION is a story that started long before the girls began to document their treks to their family farm to visit their grandparents. This series, shot over a span of 15 years, is merely what they were able to capture of their grandparents’ hard work after they immigrated and formed new lives in the States.
The title ONION was chosen for both allegorical and literal importance.The first Minor Farm cultivated onions. For the past 15 years, Amber and Ashlie have peeled back layers of family history in earnest dialogue and photographs that have not only taught them about their grandparents’ true sacrifice but also about their unique relationship as twins.
As teenagers, the twins began taking the train and bus to Orland in Northern California to visit their family. Their mother and grandparents Pablo and Carmen immigrated from Monterrey, Mexico to the Coachella Valley to farm. Shortly after, Pablo followed his sister Luisa to Orland, keeping his promise to care for her after her husband passed.- This move would start the twins’ laborious treks in efforts to maintain a relationship with their grandparents and later assist their grandmother in her last years battling dementia, who passed away in 2022.
When asked “Why are these photographs so special?” the girls responded in unison “No one else could have done this.” They were not referring to their photographic skills or devotion, but to their will of prioritizing documentation within the lives of people far richer in sacrifices than they’d ever known.
The Onion Fields 2024 Yucca Valley – Los Angeles Showing TBD 2026
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Highsnobobiety x Woolrich Colloboration on What Americana Photography Means
Highsnobiety x Woolrich Feature by Dino Kuznik
Animal Advocacy
Toms Giving
Last Layer
