Lisa Elmaleh

Born in Miami, Florida 1984^[1] Elmaleh grew up in a small apartment with her mother on a limited income. Her father was a photographer who worked with landscapes; Elmaleh recalls watching him develop photographs in a darkroom, saying "the magic of the images...stuck with me".^[2] She attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2007.^[3]

Elmaleh creates tintype photographs, learning the collodion process in 2007. Her preferred camera is the Century Universal; she uses a Schneider Kreuznach 300mm lens.^[4] The wet collodion process means that images must be shot and developed while the chemicals are still wet on the plate.^[5] Many of her photographs focus on Appalachian folk musicians. She converted a Toyota Tacoma truck into a mobile darkroom—driving to meet her subjects.^[1] Because of the time constraints of the collodion process, Elmaleh develops the photographs within thirty minutes of taking them. Images are taken and developed one at a time.^[5]

• 2010: Artist in Residence at Everglades National Park
• 2011: Won the Aaron Siskind Foundation IPF Grant^[5]
• 2012: Won the Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Grant^[6]
• 2013: Named one of Photo District News's "30 New And Emerging Photographers To Watch"^[7]
• 2015: Runner up for the Aperture Portfolio Prize^[8]
• 2022: Won the Arnold Newman Prize^[9]
• 2024: Guggenheim Fellowship^[10]

Some of Elmaleh's works include:^[5]

• Everglades: a photo series of the natural environment of South Florida
• American Folk: a photo series of Appalachian folk musicians

She moved to Paw Paw, West Virginia from Brooklyn in 2014.^[1]