Angela Marklew

"I am a firm believer in playing with your food" - A. Marklew

I am a Canadian scientist-turned-photographer obsessed with road trips and what people eat for dinner. I've flipped my car ten times, fallen off a motorcycle, and used to test explosives for the government.

Exposed to the photographic process in my teens, I quickly became personally invested in the artistic opportunities it provided. However, as with most creative instructions offered in public school, this one was abruptly taken from me before I was fully able to realize its potential. As time went on, I followed a dual path (chemistry and photography), using my knowledge in chemistry as a foundation for my artistic endeavors. Fascinated by the process that resulted in an image materializing on a page, I quickly moved to alternative and historical methods to produce images – in particular, finding a number of creative opportunities available utilizing Polaroid film.

The mundane day-to-day of a scientist in a government lab combined with a growing sense that Canada and her winters was not the sort of discomfort I preferred, I accepted an opportunity to relocate to Los Angeles, California and would almost immediately begin a massive photographic study of forgotten areas in North America. Risking violent encounters in Nevada, dehydration in New Mexico, even becoming the lone victim in a near fatal car accident, there are virtually no limits to what I will face when there are images to be captured. I can commonly be found scaling broken ladders, jumping fences and wading in swamps to realize creative pursuits.

Although I was immersed in photography and creating images, it wasn't until I landed a gig as first assistant for Mark Robert Halper (a well-known Los Angeles portrait photographer) that I began to entertain the notion of photographing people. Approaching this work with significant attention to detail, the control I present in much of my portrait work offers a paradoxical twist to my approach outside the studio where I am at the mercy of the places and objects I discovers.

I have had work exhibited in Ottawa, Québec, Louisville, San Diego and Los Angeles. My clients include The Collection magazine, Elle Decor, Signature LA Direct magazine, Ephoe Couture, GoGentlyBaby, Beata Dircyz, and Tobi Tobin Design. My work has also appeared in W25, Photo Life, and PhotoEd magazines.