The PhotoAlliance 2024 Fall Lecture Series is presented in partnership with: Mark Ryan Fine Art Services

Beverages at our upcoming lecture are sponsored by: Fort Point Beer Company

All photos © Tara Sellios

Tara Sellios (b. 1987, Boston, MA) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans large-format photography, drawing, sculpture, and installation. She earned her BFA in Photography with a minor in Art History from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University in 2010. Sellios's art delves into themes of mortality, impermanence, and fragility, often featuring meticulously constructed still-life compositions made from organic materials like animal skeletons and insects. Her process begins with watercolor sketches, culminating in dramatic, sensual photographs captured with an 8×10 view camera, rich in religious symbolism and contrasting light and shadow.

Sellios has exhibited nationally and internationally, with solo shows at Gallery Kayafas in Boston, C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, and Blue Sky Gallery in Portland. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions such as the PhotoBrussels Festival in Belgium and Castello Baradello in Italy. Her art is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Danforth Art Museum, and the RISD Museum.

In 2025, she presented her first solo museum exhibition, Ask Now the Beasts, at the Fitchburg Art Museum, blending art historical, literary, and biblical references to explore apocalyptic themes.

Sellios is currently living and working in Boston.

All photos © Julie Blankenship

Julie Blankenship is a visual artist in San Francisco’s Mission District. She’s known for her photo-based, mixed media works, which have been exhibited widely, including solo shows and installations at Amsterdam Center for Photography in Amsterdam; and the American Institute of Architecture’s Center for Architecture + Design Gallery, Joseph Chowning Gallery, and The Lab in San Francisco. Her work has been featured in group shows at Yale University Institute of Sacred Music; Burning Man; European Cultural Center in Venice, Italy; Kirkeby Gallery, Liverpool, UK; Korean Culture and Arts Foundation in Seoul, Korea; Poorthuis Openluchtmuseum in Genk, Belgium; and Center for Photography International in Haarlem, Netherlands. She has shown at San Francisco venues including the Arts Commission, Walter McBean, Southern Exposure and SF Camerawork galleries in San Francisco. Her work has appeared in literary and art magazines including Poets & Writers, Cut Me Up, Photo Trouvee; and other speculative and new southern gothic publications.

 Today, she works with Visual Aid Projects + Archives, supporting the creative legacies of artists with AIDS. She was Executive Director of Visual Aid, an arts/social justice nonprofit organization, where she founded Visual Aid Gallery, and curated many exhibitions. She taught at the at San Francisco State University; and the San Francisco Art Institute, where she had previously earned a BFA in photography and MFA in painting.

Established by Ryan Hendon, Mark Ryan Fine Art Services has provided custom crafted fine art finishing services using museum standard materials and conservation practices since 2014. From consultation to the design and fabrication stages of your presentation, Mark Ryan Fine Art Services fully embrace the collaborative process to find the right solution for all of artists' projects.

PhotoAlliance is thrilled to be in partnership with Mark Ryan Fine Art Services for our 2024 Fall Lecture Series! To learn more about Mark Ryan Fine Art Services, please visit: www.markryanfineart.com.

Fort Point was inspired by a love for San Francisco and a desire to make craft beer more accessible. Over the years, it has grown to become one of the city’s best-known independent producers, creating a wide range of new beers and even a line of ciders along the way. No matter the favorite Fort Point brew, one thing remains true — every can hits that sweet spot between interesting and easy to love.