Fine Art nominee

Tinstagrams is a project born out of a desire to merge new and old photographic processes: contemporary snapshot photography in the form of Instagram and, the historic pre-cursor to snapshot photography in the form of tintypes (wet plate collodion). Images from the artist's Instagram practice were made into transparencies which were then used as negatives in the darkroom, printed on aluminum plates coated in collodion. Giving permanent, tangible life to images that would otherwise only be seen on cold computer and phone screens, Tinstagrams also creates a unique dialog between vintage appearance and process, and contemporary subject matter, as well as a push and pull between the instant gratification of digital photography and the delayed gratification of analog photography.

Aziza is a native of Washington, D.C., currently living and working in New Mexico. She completed her MFA with a concentration in photography, at the University of New Mexico, as well as a fellowship in Pictorial Archiving at the Center for Southwest Research in the spring of 2015. She has exhibited her work in D.C. at Connersmith Contemporary, and in Albuquerque at the Bernalillo Metropolitan Courthouse, the Harwood Art Center, 5g North Gallery and, the University of New Mexico Art Museum.

Recently Aziza reprised her role as a producer's assistant on the sixth and final season of the Netflix hit series "Longmire" and worked in the art department for NBC's new action drama, "The Brave."

Thematically Aziza is interested in place, beauty, race, loss and, the nostalgia of materials.