Second Featured Artist - Lianne Milton

Biography
(California, 1976)

Lianne Milton, documentary photographer, photojournalist and storyteller ~

She began her professional career in 2003 as a photojournalism intern, which took her along the east coast from the Northeast to Florida. The experience gained through newspaper internships helped shape her eye and her passion for storytelling. In 2004, Lianne graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in photojournalism. Thereafter, she worked for the Orange County Register. Currently, Lianne works for the community-based newspaper, the Napa Valley Register.

As a photojournalist and documentary photographer, Lianne focuses on issues such as immigration, agriculture, and the effects of politics on people and their environment throughout the United States and Latin America. Her documentary work is represented by Atlas Press Photo Agency.

Artist Statement

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust wrote these words for everyone, but my personal voyage through photography continually opens my eyes to view new worlds both within myself and under my feet.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had the desire to see how people lived in various parts of the world. It came from traveling with my father who worked in the airline industry. My, mom, brother and I were fortunate to travel with my father on his business trips through China, Japan and Thailand as well as visits to my grandmother in Hong Kong. At a young age, I dreamt of being a travel writer. I wanted to travel the world and write stories about the people I would meet and the adventures I would take.

Instead of the pen, the camera became my tool to tell stories. Becoming a photojournalist not only allows me to be a witness in time, documenting history as it unfolds, but also allows me to capture moments that define a mood or an emotion. Visual storytelling communicates stories of people in their environment throughout the world; that universal language which enables us to connect to another’s story or experience. Their openness to share their stories brings me a sense of purpose to tell the truth, to bring awareness on social issues. As a storyteller, I hope my pictures encourage social and environmental change and give voice to people from all walks of life.

“Aqui Somos Puro Rojo”

The theme of the exhibit comes from a portrait of two schoolgirls I met in a village in the highlands of the Sierra Madre Mountains. On the gate of their school was written in chalk, "aqui somos puro rojo,” which is Spanish for, “we are indigenous here.” For me, it also represents my first body of work about the textural daily life and traditions in the Quetzaltenango department of Guatemala. Its capital, Quetzaltenango, is the second most populated city in Guatemala with just only 300,000 inhabitants. The name signifies “place of the quetzal bird,” the country’s national bird. From the colorful markets to the faces of its inhabitants, Guatemala is a country that continues to live it’s turbulent past in the shadows, beyond the obvious.

www.liannemiltonphotography.com