Aly! My friend the Photographer

ALY HANSEN

I thought I’d introduce you all to a friend of mine.

Her name is Aly Hanson and she and I met on Goodreads, where we share an interest not only for books, but History (especially Royal History) too.

But that’s not the only interesting thing about Aly, not only is she a great person, wonderful friend and a great ear if you need to chat but she’s a super amazing photographer as well.

I thought I’d feature her here for you all to see, and you can check out her blog to see those photography talents put to the test.

I asked Aly a few questions that you all might like to know:

Hey Aly, great to have you here… so tell me, where do you live?

I live in Bozeman, Montana which is in the North Western part of the United States.  I'm surrounded by mountains in all directions, so the photographic opportunities here are endless!

What exactly did you study and where?

I studied photography at Montana State University.  I received a BA in May 2011 in both history and photography.  My total time in university was six years!  I changed my degree after my first year and then added a second one a couple years later.  

What was your first professional photo you ever took?

My first photo I ever took professionally I fondly refer to as my "swooshy hair image."  It's a nude self portrait of my back but I'm covered with a sheer pink scarf.  I swooshed my hair back and forth when the shutter released.  It's kinda become my signature image.

What inspires you?

A lot of different things inspire me.  Paintings (especially Van Gogh and Salvador Dali), photographs (Edward Weston is a personal favourite), and dreams often inspire photographs that I create.  Lately though, I've been rediscovering the landscapes around me and I'm attempting to photograph them in ways that even people from Bozeman will enjoy.  It's difficult to make a landscape image exciting to someone who can see the landscape from their window!

Do you like Landscape or Portrait better?

I tend to like portraits better.  While in college, I photographed a lot of nudes, just because it was something different.  Constructed realities are something that I also enjoy doing. One of my favourite series is Once Upon a Time, where I recreated fairy tales using bits and pieces of other images that I took.  Night photography is also swiftly becoming a favourite thing to do.  

To find Aly, go visit her blog:  Aly Hansen