Alyson Aliano is a commercial and lifestyle photographer based in Los Angeles that loves making environmental portraits.
She captures her subjects in a way that pays homage to the world she experiences: a vivid, bright, beautiful, and most of all, human, world. Whether she is photographing quiet, ordinary moments juxtaposed by colorful layers and textures, or bold moments, intensified by a panoply of human emotion, Aliano is a respectful participant in her exchange and connection with her subjects. She tells peoples’ stories respectfully and authentically.
A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Aliano received a BFA in photography. Early in her career, she was commissioned to photograph 911 survivors at Ground Zero for The New York Times Magazine and The Los Angeles Times.
In addition to the New York Times Magazine and Los Angeles Times, Aliano’s other clients include New York Magazine, Newsweek, Time, The Washington Post, Linked In, Cosmopolitan, NBC, Wired, People, The San Francisco Chronicle, NBC, and Amazon. She is a contributing artist with Redux Pictures, Women Photograph, and The Loupe.
Aliano has taught photography at NYU Sternhardt School, Columbia University, The School of Visual Arts, UCLA Extension, The Lucie Foundation, and the New York Film Academy. Additionally, she co-founded a photography camp in Los Angeles that gives scholarships to children.
A native New Yorker, Aliano lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Glenn and two cat children, Junebug and Pablo. When she is not telling stories through her images, Aliano loves to teach children photography and take epic walks across Los Angeles.
AWARDS, EXHIBITIONS, PUBLICATIONS
2023: Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture Illuminate LA: Collective Memory Installation
2023: HUQ: I Seek No Favor, Artists Respond to Abortion Ban, Curated by Ashima Yadava
2022: Charcoal Book Club Finalist for book series, Stripper Strike NoHo
2021: AI-AP 38: Latinas in Trucking, NBC
2021: Jamii, Photo Exhibit in the Esplande, Toronto Canada, “We Are Nothing Without Each Other.”
2021: The Luupe: 100 Visions of Motherhood
2021: Waterloo Photography Invitational, Photocentric, Cleveland, OH
2020: Hong Kong Press Award, Group Show, Series AMPM
2018: The Future of LA, Grand Park, Curated by Maren Levinson
2015: Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Portraiture
2013: Mirror, Mirror, collaboration photo series with homeless youth curated by Rachel Buljalski
2011 Prix De Paris, Award for Book Series, “Real Mother.”
2011: AI-AP 27, Award, “Real Mother.”
2011: Santa Fe Workshops: Publication, “Summer.”
2010: Clark-Oshin Gallery, Los Angeles, Solo Show, “Real Mother.:
2010: Santa Fe Workshops: Publication, “Family.”
2009: Momenta Gallery, Brooklyn, The Mood back home, Feminist Art Project. Group Show, “Real Mother.”
2004: New York 24/7, Extraordinary Images of One Week in New York.
INTERVIEWS AND WORKSHOPS
2022: Social Documentary Network: Stripper Strike North Hollywood.
2022: Life and Work with Alyson Aliano, Voyage Los Angeles
2020: Skill Share, Six Feet Photography Project
2020: The New York Film Academy, Lighting and Studio Workshop
2018: Make/Shift Magazine, Feminism in Motion, Alyson Aliano Issue 20
2017: Wonderful Machine, Print Edit and Project Pitch, Alyson Aliano
2016: Chicago Tribune, Naperville moms projects spotlights “real” images of motherhood.
2015: Photoville, New York, Photographing the Familiar
2013: A Photo Editor, “Why is there Sexism in Editorial Photography?” by Erin Patrice O’Brien
2011: PDN: Photo of the Day, Ten Photographs of “Real Mother.”
TEACHING & MENTORING
The New York Film Academy
Slideluck Youth Initiative
The Lucie Foundation
The School of Visual Arts
Bilingual Education for Central America
Columbia University
NYU Steinhardt School
Atwater Photo Camp
UCLA, Familiar Places
EDUCATION
The School of Visual Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Photography
Boston University, Art History and Liberal Arts