Art and Architecture Collide for Visit with Amanda Bradley

Art and architecture collided for a special Halloween treat when Commissioner members visited the studio of fine-art photographer Amanda Bradley at Faena Forum on Saturday, October 31. Members got an intimate view of Bradley’s process; met WOPHA, an emerging international fine-art photography organization in Miami; and explored one of Miami Beach’s most beautiful buildings. 

Amanda Bradley is a Belizean-American who finds inspiration in landscape and how it links and divides cultures. She frequently experiments with scale, color, composition, and juxtaposition to illustrate ideas of universality and memory of place. Bradley shoots mostly on film and sometimes even converts digital photos from her phone into film, because she “fell in love with photography in the dark room.” She works in both black and white and color, and frequently finds herself discovering and rediscovering images multiple times throughout her process. Bradley gave us a detailed look at how she creates from the viewfinder, to the dark room, to large-scale print prototypes, to final installations. 

For Bradley’s fellowship, Faena Art partnered with Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA), a nonprofit founded by art curator Aldeide Delgado to research, promote, support, and educate on the role of women and those identified as women or non-binary in photography. Delgado explained WOPHA’s vision for making Miami a center of thought and work for international women photographers, and invited the Commissioner community to attend PAMM’s At Home with WOPHA virtual event on November 20. The intimate conversation will provide more context about the organization, it’s upcoming WOPHA Congress in 2021, and the future of women and photography in Miami.

After the studio visit, Faena Art Chief Curator Direlia Lazo gave us a private walk-through to show us the stunning architecture of the OMA-designed events hall. Members admired the views through the building’s uniquely shaped windows as we climbed the stairs to end our tour with conversations and plenty of ‘gramming beneath the sunbeams streaming through the oculus skylight that crowns the spiraling domed ceiling of the event space. Many thanks to Amanda, WOPHA and Faena Art for a very special Saturday of Miami art.

Photography by Oriol Tarridas, courtesy of Faena Art