Scott Sanders
Scott Sanders did not grow up in an environment that emphasized art or writing, and for much of his life he did not consider himself an artist. His relationship to photography developed quietly and over time. What began as a personal interest gradually deepened through years of taking and editing photographs without public exposure. For a long while, photography was simply something he did, without labeling it as art. That changed only recently, when encouragement from family members and a few people connected to the art world prompted him to share his work more openly.
Sanders is entirely self-taught, both in photography and post-processing. His practice has been shaped through repetition, attention, and lived experience rather than formal training. Submitting work to open calls and contests marked a significant step forward, and the response he received exceeded his expectations, reinforcing his decision to take the work seriously and continue developing it.
His photography is driven less by genre than by attentiveness. He is drawn to moments that feel as though they are asking to be seen. Nature, landscapes, urban spaces, and architecture appear frequently in his work, alongside abstract and monochrome images. Rather than seeking out subjects deliberately, he responds to what speaks to him in a given moment, often finding meaning in subtle shifts of light or overlooked details.
Recurring motifs in Sanders’s work include water and trees, particularly exposed roots. These elements carry personal resonance. Roots represent growth shaped by imperfection and circumstance, reflecting the unpredictability of individual life paths. Water, constantly changing and formative, becomes a symbol of movement and interdependence, essential to life and quietly transformative in how it shapes its surroundings.
Sanders is influenced more by place and light than by other artists. Lighting plays a central role in his work, not as a dramatic device but as a subtle force that alters mood, depth, and meaning. Many of his strongest images emerge from unplanned situations: getting lost, taking a wrong turn, or lingering in a moment longer than expected. For him, awareness and openness are more important than routine. Living attentively and allowing space for chance has become his creative method.
Each of his works is accompanied by a title and a short text that functions more like a poem than a description. These writings are contemplative in tone, inviting reflection on presence, becoming, and perception rather than directing interpretation. His aim is not to explain the image, but to extend its emotional and philosophical space.
Sanders hopes his work encourages viewers to slow down. He wants his photographs to offer a pause, a moment of reflection that might subtly shift how someone sees their surroundings or approaches their own life. Success, for him, is not yet a fixed measure. As he continues this early stage of his public artistic journey, his primary aspiration is for the work to grow organically and to have a positive, grounding influence on those who encounter it.
His personal life inevitably shapes his practice. Mood, experience, and circumstance influence how images are edited, titled, and framed. He is still navigating how to balance creative work with the rest of his life, but remains open to where the process leads. At its core, Sanders’s work is about attention: noticing nuance, honoring small moments, and recognizing beauty in the ordinary, especially in places others might pass without seeing.
