Hannah Altman

Hannah Altman
Altman in 2022
Born (1995-05-01) May 1, 1995
EducationHunterdon Central Regional High School
Point Park University (BFA)
Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA)
OccupationPhotographer

Hannah Altman (born May 1, 1995) is an American photographer from New Jersey.[1][2] Her artwork explores lineage, memory, ritual, and storytelling. She is known for her use of natural light and incorporating aspects of Jewish culture into her work.[3][4]

Life

A graduate of Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Altman grew up in the Ringoes section of East Amwell Township, New Jersey, United States.[5] She is Jewish of Ashkenazi descent.[3][6] She started photographing as a child in response to her severe nearsightedness.[7] She graduated from with a BFA degree in photography from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2017 and an MFA in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, in 2020.[7] As of 2023, she is based in Boston, Massachusetts.[8]

Career

Since 2015, Altman has made the project Indoor Voices, a series of portraits made with her mother.[9][10]

In 2015, when Altman was a 19-year-old student at Point Park University, she posted the photo series And Everything Nice to her Tumblr page featuring bodily fluids replaced with glitter as a critique of female beauty standards.[11] The project garnered significant media attention, with features including Buzzfeed,[11] Huffington Post,[12] Vanity Fair,[12] and Cosmopolitan.[13][14] She had her first solo show in 2016 at The Lantern Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which explored themes of feminism and community.[15]

In 2018, as an MFA student at Virginia Commonwealth University, she began working on Kavana, a photography project that explores Jewish memory, narrative heirlooms, and image making.[16] Kris Graves Projects published a photobook of this work in 2020,[17] which has been collected by several libraries, including the MoMa, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Harvard University.[18][19][20] Curator Francesca Cesari described her work in 2022 as:

"The powerful aesthetic and the profound, symbolic message her works conveys are a fresh, unexpected narrative that immediately leads to a tale of tradition and contemporary. Her poetic language tells us about the Yiddish diaspora through staged portraits, rituals and symbols that re-elaborate old experiences, deeply rooted in the past yet extremely present. There is a kind of silence that flutters through the pictures, we tend to feel the same respect we have in front of a sacred image and at the same time we recognize the tangible sensuality of bodies, with a focus on the female figures. The wonderful use of light and the simple but effective scenes reveal how the experience of exile contain both grief and resilience, a strong identity with a special code that is still relevant today."[21]

Themes of Jewish ritual and storytelling were further demonstrated with solo exhibitions at Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon in 2020,[22] Filter Photo Chicago, IL in 2021,[23] and Gallery 263 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2022.[24] In 2023, she became the inaugural Blanksteen Artist in Residence at the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.[25] She was also named an Aperture Portfolio Prize finalist in 2023.[26] In March 2025, she released her second photography book We Will Return to You, published by Saint Lucy Books.[27] The book explores motifs within Jewish folklore, in particular diasporic Yiddish literature, and how those themes can be translated into photographs.[28] The book has been collected by institutions including the Getty Library, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Princeton University Library.[29][30][31] Cultured Magazine included Altman on their Young Photographer's List in 2025.[32]

In 2026, Altman opened the exhibition Ground Glass, a series of photographs creating a speculative history of lens-maker and Holocaust victim Lore Sternfeld (1915-1943). Sternfeld worked for the optical company Astro-Berlin before her deportation to and murder in Auschwitz.[33] The photographs were made using refurbished Pan-Tachar camera lens models, similar to those Sternfeld worked on before her death. Altman imagined Sternfeld's "emotional landscape" during final months of her life.[34] The project spanned her hometown of Berlin, the train route to Auschwitz, and the inside of the former home of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss.[35] The photographs were then installed alongside the vintage lenses in Höss’s former home, which is now owned by the non-profit organization Auschwitz Research Center for Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88.[36] In Lenscratch, Altman stated that "the project acknowledges the impossibility of filling the gaps, instead focusing on the opportunity to build upon her unknown inner world with empathy and expansiveness.”[37]

Solo exhibitions

  • 2016: Intimate Threat, with Josh Escoto. Curated by Krista Wright. Trust Arts Education Center. Pittsburgh, PA.
  • 2016: Luminous / Weightless. Lantern Gallery. Pittsburgh, PA.[15]
  • 2017: Construct of Viewpoint. Junior High Gallery. Los Angeles, CA.
  • 2017: Humanism. The Temple Judea Museum. Elkins Park, PA.
  • 2018: Construct of Viewpoint. Union Hall Gallery. Pittsburgh, PA.[38]
  • 2020: Kavana. Blue Sky Gallery. Portland, OR.[22]
  • 2021: A Permanent Home in the Mouth of the Sun. AAP Exhibition Space. Pittsburgh, PA.[39]
  • 2021: A Permanent Home in the Mouth of the Sun. Filter Space. Chicago, IL.[23]
  • 2022: With Rifts and Collapses. Gallery 263. Cambridge, MA.[24]
  • 2023: We Will Return to You. Abakus Projects. Boston, MA.[40]
  • 2025: As It Were, Suspended in Midair, Kniznick Gallery. Brandeis University. Waltham, MA.[41]
  • 2025: Hannah Altman | Elinor Carucci, with Elinor Carucci. Koffler Arts. Toronto, ON.[42]
  • 2025: We Will Return to You. Candela Gallery. Richmond, VA.[43]
  • 2026: Ground Glass. Auschwitz Research Center for Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88. Oświęcim, PL.[44]

References

  1. ↑ Altman, Hannah. "Hannah Altman". LensCulture. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  2. ↑ Kraus, Daniel Seth (February 2, 2022). "Hannah Altman's Kavana: Picturing Jewish Generational Memory". Pellicola Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Bolton-Fasman, Judy. "Photographer Hannah Altman Explores What Makes a Jewish Photograph". JewishBoston. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  4. ↑ Altman, Hannah. "A Permanent Home in the Mouth of the Sun - Photographs by Hannah Altman | Essay by Cat Lachowskyj". LensCulture. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  5. ↑ "B.F.A. Photography Alumna Hannah Altman Named to List of "Exciting Contemporary Photographers Whose Work You Have to See" in Vanity Fair". Point Park University. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  6. ↑ Brager, Solomon (August 15, 2022). "States of Mind". Artforum. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Q&A: Hannah Altman". Strange Fire. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  8. ↑ Vetter, Anne (October 12, 2023). "Hannah Altman: We Will Return to You". Lenscratch. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Hannah Altman Takes Healing Portraits of Herself with Her Mother". FotoRoom. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  10. ↑ "A Look at Womanhood through an Intimate Collaboration". phmuseum.com. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Warren, Rossalyn (February 18, 2015). "A Woman Has Shown The Damaging Expectations Of Female Beauty By Using Glitter". BuzzFeed. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "A Stunning, Glittery Look At The Impossible Beauty Standards Women Face". HuffPost. February 19, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  13. ↑ "8 Powerful Photos That Will Change the Way You Think About What Is and Isn't Ladylike". Cosmopolitan. February 19, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  14. ↑ Lizarondo, Leah (February 28, 2015). "Point Park student's glitter photographs on the damaging side of female beauty go viral". NEXTpittsburgh. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  15. 1 2 Bernabo, David (October 25, 2016). "Comfortable and Powerful: A Conversation with Hannah Altman". The Glassblock. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  16. ↑ ""Kavana" by Photographer Hannah Altman". Booooooom!. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Kavana: Hannah Altman". + KGP | Monolith. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  18. ↑ Altman, Hannah (2020). Kavana: photography, Jewish storytelling, and memory (First ed.). Queens, New York: Kris Graves Projects. OCLC 1240261923.
  19. ↑ "Kavana : photography, Jewish storytelling, and memory". library.moma.org. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  20. ↑ Altman, Hannah (2020). Kavana. New York: Kris Graves Projects.
  21. ↑ "Prize Winners". PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Award. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  22. 1 2 "Hannah Altman". Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts. January 2, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Hannah Altman". Filter Photo. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  24. 1 2 "With Rifts and Collapses".
  25. ↑ Decombes, Carla (January 26, 2023). "Profile: Hannah Altman, inaugural Blanksteen Artist in Residence at the Slifka Center". Yale Daily News. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Announcing the 2023 Aperture Portfolio Prize Shortlist". Aperture. April 18, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Hannah Altman : We Will Return To You". Saint Lucy Books. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  28. ↑ Groustra, Sarah. "Q & A with Photographer Hannah Altman". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Book – We Will Return to You/Hannah Altman". primo.getty.edu. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  30. ↑ "We will return to you". Cleveland Museum of Art Ingalls Library. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  31. ↑ Altman, Hannah (2025). We will return to you. Baltimore: Saint Lucy Books. ISBN 979-8-9899602-1-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  32. ↑ Magazine, Cultured (September 18, 2025). "Photographer Hannah Altman Plumbs the Tension at the Core of Jewish Myth-Making With Stirring Images". Cultured Mag. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  33. ↑ "Lore Sternfeld | Stolpersteine in Berlin". www.stolpersteine-berlin.de. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  34. ↑ Helene, Sage (June 28, 2026). "Photographer Reframes a Holocaust Victim's Final Journey Through the Lenses She Once Crafted". My Modern Met. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  35. ↑ Breitman, Emma. "Hannah Altman Launches Exhibition Retracing The Journey of Holocaust Victim Lore Sternfeld". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  36. ↑ Helene, Sage (June 28, 2026). "Photographer Reframes a Holocaust Victim's Final Journey Through the Lenses She Once Crafted". My Modern Met. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  37. ↑ Smithson, Aline (July 15, 2026). "Hannah Altman: Ground Glass". LENSCRATCH. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  38. ↑ Brown, Megan (February 5, 2018). "Artist Hannah Altman's solo exhibit 'Construct of Viewpoint' brings images to life on textile works". LOCALPittsburgh. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  39. ↑ "A Permanent Home in the Mouth of the Sun". Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  40. ↑ "October, 2023: Altman | Fine Art Photography Gallery in Boston". Abakus Projects. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  41. ↑ "Hannah Altman". www.brandeis.edu. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  42. ↑ "Elinor Carucci | Hannah Altman". www.kofflerarts.org. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  43. ↑ "Opening: We Will Return to You". Candela Books + Gallery. September 5, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
  44. ↑ Helene, Sage (June 28, 2026). "Photographer Reframes a Holocaust Victim's Final Journey Through the Lenses She Once Crafted". My Modern Met. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
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