Statement

The label “photo” ushers a feeling of real-ness to what the viewer is seeing. It is, by its nature as science, documentation, and art, a wholly unique medium that lies between artistic interpretation and objective fact. My intention has always been to explore this strange limbo of photography, through a number of techniques that blur the line of its implied visual truth. 

My earlier work used abstraction and digital manipulation to emphasize formal elements such as form, light, and color over recognizability, obfuscating anything identifiable to the real world. This, of course, is a very straightforward way to combat the truth value of an image.  Soon, I started using other techniques, incorporating embedded language, image compression, visual irony, and reflections to warp the assumed linear translation of real world to captured image. My goal through these techniques was to subvert what we think we are seeing with something different or even contrary to initial impressions. 

Soon I learned that the dialogue between images has more power to subvert their collective meaning than any photograph on its own. Through image association and sequencing, I am able to draw parallels between vastly different images (taken decades apart, on different cameras, in different places, in different styles). For example, in my photobook, The New Americans, I used preconceived notions of what an “American” photobook is supposed to look like to re-contextualize 36 vastly different images into a fictionalized version of America. 

Throughout my work, I have combined this specific approach to photography with a variety of other mediums, such as graffiti, graphic design, fashion, and printmaking. In one multi-media work, I graffitied over a 5-foot-tall photographic print of my two hands that were in the middle of graffitiing that same design out in the real world. The title. “2ed hand art” referred to both the process of my two hands as well as the recycling of identifiable ideas and images in culture. Through the combination of these mediums I was able to utilize repetition and irony to talk about the simulacra of photography and representative art in general.

In summer 2024, I started a streetwear brand, Amalin Clothing, that similarly incorporated my unique photographic approach. The T-shirts I produce use images of ancient artifacts and manipulate them to create an aesthetic that is stuck in limbo between our past and an abstract, post-physical future.

Bio

Alex Schupak (b. 2003) is a photographer, clothing designer, and multimedia artist living and studying in Providence, Rhode Island. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree Visual Arts as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematical Physics at Brown University. He has done commercial photography work in fashion, sports, and events, but prefers shooting independently to create art prints and photobooks. Alex has been taking pictures since childhood, and its process and philosophy informs all the other mediums he touches. In spring of 2024, he created his first photobook, The New Americans, and branched out into monotype printmaking and clothing design, culminating in the brand Amalin Clothing. He has shown his work in publications such as The Optic and The Indy and exhibitions including Brown University's 44th Juried Student Exhibition at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. He is looking forward to presenting his culminating body of work at his senior showcase exhibition at the List Arts Building in spring of 2026.

CV

EDUCATION

Brown University, A.B. in Visual Art and Sc.B. in Physics, 3.83 GPA…..…..…..…..Expected Graduation May 2026

  • Relevant Art Courses: Art/Work: Professional Practice, Digital Photo Bookbinding, Monotype Printing, Contemporary Architecture, History of Modern Photography, A History of Collecting, Studio Foundations, Time Deformations, Photography (5 years)

Walt Whitman High School…..…..…..…..Bethesda, MD | Class of 2022


WORK EXPERIENCE

Amalin Clothing, Founder and Creative Director…..…..…..…..June 2024 – Present

  • Clothing company that intertwines my entrepreneurial drive and unique creative vision

  • Work with manufacturers to organize and produce clothing collections 

  • Market online and in my community to produce visual content to compliment the brand

Brown Women’s Lacrosse Team, Creative Content Creator…..…..…..…..Providence, RI | Nov 2023 – Jan 2024

  • Filmed and photographed the team on and off the field 

  • Edited and produced social media content from short videos to long-form interviews

Susan Hornyak Photography, Event Videographer…..…..…..…..Bethesda, Maryland | June 2024 – July 2024

  • Recorded wedding, events, and anniversaries with professional photographer Susan Harnyak 

  • Created event recap videos for clients


CREATIVE/LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

Self-Publishing Artist, Photography…..…..…..…..2017 – Present

  • Strong work ethic and consistent focus on the intersection of science and photography

  • Photograph and film for hip-hop artists in the local Providence area

  • Organize and shoot for professional models

The Black & White Student Newspaper, Print Managing Editor…..…..…..…..Bethesda, MD | Aug 2020 – May 2022

  • Published 16 articles during my time at the paper, with four in the print edition

  • Won two “Best of SNO” awards given to outstanding student journalism

  • Interviewed multiple authors, organizers and professors for my writing 

  • Oversaw and facilitated the operations of a staff of 75

  • Edited dozens of stories each month and designed the monthly print magazine 

  • Worked with teams of students and lawyers to address sensitive stories responsibly and ethically

  • Mentored the next year of writers and editors to be able to take over operations smoothly

  • Editor-in-chief of the Rutabaga, the satire wing of the newspaper


SHOWS AND PUBLICATIONS

  • The Vagabond’s Verse, Beached, May 2025

  • Self-Published Photobook, The New Americans, May 2024

  • 44th Annual Juried Student Exhibition, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Providence, RI, 2024

  • Group Exhibition, Mitchell Corridor Gallery, Providence RI, 2024

  • The Optic, Issue 2, Providence, RI, 2023

  • The Optic, Issue 1, Providence, RI, 2022

  • The Indy, Vol. 45, Issue 3, Providence, RI, Sep. 2022

  • Walt Whitman Festival of the Arts, Bethesda, MD, 2018-2022


SKILLS

Technical Skills: Very skilled in InDesign, Photoshop, Lightroom, Adobe Express, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Microsoft Office Excel, PowerPoint, WordPress, Canva, AutoCAD, highly skilled with any camera