Stefanie Schneider V. 2

Stefanie Schneider is an analogue photographer and filmmaker who has exhibited in the United States and across Europe as well has been published over 300 times throughout her career, most notably with a critical review by the New York Times. Her recent exhibitions and accomplishments include Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center and 29 Palms General Store in California, the art gallery of the State University of Londrina, Brazil, Vielmetter Los Angeles, a Juno Awards Nomination for Album Artwork of the Year for Bloddcrush/Bloodmyth – Ensign Broderick Six Shooter* Universal, participation Konstanzer kurz.film.spiele, "Heather's Dream" in Konstanz, Germany, Moving/Image - an Exploration of Film and Photography in Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt, Germany, and the Bombay Beach Biennale in California. 

The art of Stefanie Schneider entails the specific use of expired film for her analogue photography using a polaroid camera. Because of the unstable nature of the film, the photographs often contain unpredictable visual luminosity which has a corrosive and hallucinogenic effect. The melting, apparition-like photographs full of qualities resembling a rapid process of erosion become further complimented by her choice of subject, specifically Southern California. Out in the hot, blistering sunshine of the California desert, Stefanie establishes staged theatrical scenes. These dramatic shots specifically reflect vintage, apocalyptic, Western aesthetics and even touch upon themes of the glitz, glamour as well as the nihilism of suburban and urban California. 

Stefanie's use of actors dressed in retro outfits, bleached hair, and strategic props such as toy guns, rifles, pistols, bird cages, and vintage cars reflects Stefanie’s inner desire to create her own sense of mythology and counter-culture about Southern California. In Stefanie Schneider’s world, beautiful women and strong yet slender men are post-apocalyptic nomads exploring the California wilderness searching for an avenue of survival and glory simultaneously. Her mysterious actors convey a sense of confidence and carefree attitude as they bask in the open terrain and sunshine of the desert. The production values in these shots are spectacularly intricate in detail with characters engaging in behavioral conduct with each other or themselves as if being unwatched as they bask in their own aura of heightened adventurism.

Marilyn Aka Jane Bond (pictured above) depicts a woman in a sensual bright yellow dress which complements the overwhelming sunshine of the So-Cal desert. She stands ready for action with a repeater and a thoroughly rusted, dilapidated vintage car. The barren mountain and feeble desert foliage creates a thoroughly post-apocalyptic aesthetic and she poses as if guarding her declared terrain. 

Stefanie Schneider creates intense theatrical scenes which are accentuated by the Western appeal, grit, and unforgiving planes of the California desert landscape. Her sense of suburban nihilism becomes reflected in the melancholy posture and expressions of her actors as well as through the cynicism of survival by depiction of props such as various firearms. There remains an everlasting, timeless quality of her work through the grainy, damaged analogue photography with the magic of polaroid. As a result, the work creates authentic visual effects through a manual, improvised process as opposed to a planned, automated experience. In the age of digitization, Stefanie Schneider shows us how appealing through analogue abilities and carefully managed set and character design can create a deeper purpose to visual art beyond the veneer of polished appearance. The imperfections in her work are precisely what makes Stefanie Schneider’s photography so profoundly relevant to addressing contemporary inclinations through a combination of vintage aesthetics, post-apocalyptic adventurism, manic yet carefree and melancholy themes, and redefining counter-culture as well as the purpose of Americana.

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