Wendi Schneider is an American artist and photographer based in Denver, Colorado, known for her photographs of nature and wildlife that are often printed on paper vellum with hand-applied layers of gold leaf on verso. Gildedvellum photographs from her ongoing "States of Grace" series have been exhibited in more than 100 gallery and museum exhibitions nationally and abroad. Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography, has stated: “There is an elegance that emanates from Wendi Schneider’s photographs. It can be seen in the turn of a flamingo’s neck, in hanging fog or the flick of a betta fish tail. Schneider's photographic gestures are not rare sightings but daily gifts from the natural world for those with the patience to see them."
Life and early career
Born in Memphis, TN in 1955, Schneider attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she studied Art History, before moving onto Newcomb College in 1975 to study Studio Art. Painting was her chosen medium at this time, and her first use of a camera was merely to make reference photographs of painting subjects. When she later shifted her artistic focus to photography, she sought to integrate her painting background by layering paints and glazes on her photographic prints to "create a more personal impression." After college, she remained in New Orleans and worked for The Times-Picayune, where she photographed, designed, and produced the award-winning 1987 edition of The Picayune's Creole Cook Book. The following year, Schneider moved to New York City, where she photographed for Victoria Magazine while continuing her fine art photography work During this time, her work often appeared on book covers for authors such as Louisa May Alcott, Anne Rice, Tami Hoag, Iris Johansen, Jodi Thomas and more. In 1991, she exhibited a collection of hand-painted photographs titled Mille Fleur at A Gallery for Fine Photography in New Orleans, which continues to represent her work. In 1994, she left New York for Denver, where she still lives today, and later put her fine art practice on hold while she raised her son and worked in commissioned photography, art direction, and design.
Fine art photography
In 2010, on a return visit to A Gallery for Fine Photography in New Orleans, Schneider was inspired to revive her fine art photography practice. Soon after, she began work on her ongoing States of Grace series, and its three attendant sub-series – Flora, Fauna, and Figura – which illustrate Schneider's "affinity for wildlife and the natural world". Schneider is known for the gilding effect she uses in this series, wherein "images are captured, layered and printed digitally with archival pigment ink on paper vellum white gold, 24k gold or silver leaf is then hand-applied to the back of the print, creating a silken sheen on the print’s surface." States of Grace has traveled worldwide, including to the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts; Catherine Couturier Gallery in Houston, Texas; Galeria Photographic in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; and A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas. One of the images from this series, Locust, won First place in the category of Urban & Rural Landscape at the Photography Gala Awards. Schneider's most recent series, Evenings with the Moon "engages the moon as muse." Images in this series are printed on paper vellum or Japanese kozo paper and gilded with gold leaf. As of January 2020 Evenings with the Moon has been shown at the Southeast Center for Photography in Greenville, SC; and The Gallery at Mr. Pool in Boulder, CO. Schneider has been selected as a Finalist for Photolucida's international Juried exhibition Critical Mass in 2017 and 2018. She often serves as the Juror for juried exhibitions of fine art photography, such as Trees at the Photoplace Gallery in 2020, Botanical at A Smith Gallery in 2019, Metamorphosis at Darkroom Gallery in 2018, and several others. She has taught workshops at the Southeast Center for Photography and A Smith Gallery.
