Susan’s journey to become an award winning lifestyle family photographer started in Utah, where she was raised by Hardings and nurtured by the great outdoors. Utah was (and still is) a photographer's dream, but the open road was calling and it eventually led her to San Jose, California. It is here that she began to seriously study photography, first at De Anza College and later at San Jose State University. The classroom setting exposed her to the work of photographers who documented life, such as Lee Friedlander and Mary Ellen Mark. She fell in love with their raw, candid style of photography, how their images gave the viewer a glimpse of the everyday lives of ordinary people, and how those people become extraordinary when viewed through the lens of the photographer. Now, energized by their passion and motivated by her own, she is on a quest to create her own photo series that are not only beautiful to look at, but also tell compelling stories.
Susan's awards includewinning first place in Street Photography Series as well as for her environmental portraits in the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards. She has exhibited work from Vermont to California as well as internationally. And is looking forward to find out where the next part of her journey leads her.
CV
Susan Harding
Photographer, Artist, Curator
susanhardingphotography@gmail.com
Education
BFA (pending) Photography
San Jose State University, California (expected May 2024)
2021 AA in Photographic Art
De Anza Community College
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 It’s a Total Street Show, Wheelhouse of Willow Glen, San Jose, California (with Chris Stevens-Yu)
2022 La Vue, Wheelhouse of Willow Glen, San Jose, California
2021 COVID’sEND, Wheelhouse of Willow Glen, San Jose, California.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 20th JMC Awards Exhibition, Juried International Exhibition, Barcelona, Spain
2023 Cooking With Great Grandma, Photo Place gallery, Middlebury, Vermont.
Senior Group Show, Herbert Thompson Gallery, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2022 Passion, Juried exhibit CSMA. Palo Alto, CA
Cooking With Grandma, Juried Exhibition, Where Would I Be Without You? EBPCO, Oakland, CA
Volets Ouverts, Juried Exhibition, “The Night is Young,”, EBPCO, Oakland, CA.
COVID’sEND, Juried Exhibition, Mosaic, Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose, CA
Passion, Palo Alto Camera Club Group Show, Wheelhouse, San Jose CA
2021 COVID’sEND the Video, Juried Exhibition, WORKS, San Jose, CA
2017 Happy Brushing, A Lady in Blue, Euphrate Museum, Cupertino, CA
Collaborative Projects
2017 Picturing Humanity, permanent display in De Anza College’s Registration and Student Service Building, San Jose CA, (with Karen Lizana and Deborah Hoag)
Awards
2023 First place “Street Photography Series,” Julia Margaret Cameron Awards.
1st Place, Artist of the month and the best use of technique, East Valley Art Club
2022 Volets Ouverts, First Place Open in Annual Awards Palo Alto Camera Club, Judge
Victoria Heilweil, Palo Alto CA
Volets Ouverts, First place and Image of the Month, Palo Alto Camera Club,
Joel Simon Judge, Palo Alto, CA
Ambling Abbot, Third Place Monochrome, Palo Alto Camera Club, Judge Lisa LaPointe, Palo Alto, CA
What Did You Say? HM Monochrome, Palo Alto Camera Club, Judge Lisa LaPointe, Palo Alto, CA
Passion, HM Open, Palo Alto Camera Club, Judge Joel Simon, Palo Alto, CA
Covid Cut, HM Covid, Palo Alto Camera Club, Judge Kate Jordahl, Palo Alto, CA
Passion, Best of Division Pictorial, Northern California Council of Camera Clubs
Passion, First Place Pictorial, Santa Clara Camera Club, Santa Clara, CA
Love for the Win, Covid, Palo ALto Camera Club, Judge Kate Jordahl,Palo Alto, CA
2021 A Young Boy Learning to Play Tennis, Photojournalism HM, Palo Alto Camera Club, Judge Dan Fenstermacher, Palo Alto, CA
It wasn’t Me, Second Place Open. Judge Dan Katzman, Palo Alto Camera Club, Palo Alto, CA
Professional Organizations
WORKS Art and Performance Center, Board of Directors. San Jose, CA
Exhibitions Curated
Palo Alto Camera Club Group Show, Wheelhouse of Willow Glen, San Jose CA
Experience
2020-Present Art Director, Wheelhouse WG, San Jose, CA
Client List
Harker, San Jose, CA
History Park, San Jose, CA
San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
West Valley Community College, San Jose, CA
Subskribe, Palo Alto, CA
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA