Fine Art nominee

I came across it when tidying up the bookshelves, an album put together a long time ago for my beloved grandma. When she passed away, it ended up back with me. Looking at her old photographs, brought back a flood of love and longing. What began as a pure desire to have her back into my life, turned into a process of taking an honest look at myself through her eyes. “Between here and then” is the visual representation of this process.
This portfolio examines the origins of personal identity as it relates to our hereditary, cultural and psychological backgrounds. An intimate exploration of the extent our ancestors, upbringing and own decisions shape us into the individuals we are.
Vintage family photographs combined with digital images create new stories about memories, revelations and hopes. Seen together, these images become a layered puzzle, one in which we are both the pieces and the puzzle solver.

Amy Kanka Valadarsky was born in Communist Romania and raised in Israel. After graduating as a software engineer, she worked in the Telecommunication industry and spent the next 25+ years traveling around the globe designing software solutions that address the challenges of an increasingly interconnected world. In 2014, after leaving the hi-tech world, Amy returned to her creative roots and began a career as a fine art photographer.

Amy’s work was selected as a Critical Mass 2016 finalist, as well as featured in Adore Noire, SHOTS, Black &White Magazine, Lenscratch and exhibited in a variety of galleries and photo festivals such as PhotoLa 2016 and 2017, Los Angeles Center for Photography, dnj and bG galleries in Bergamot Station, Santa Monica.

She lives with her husband and two cats in Santa Monica, California, while the rest of her family (including the dog) wait patiently for her to return to Israel.