Lisa experienced a profound connection with the sacred Lakota lands and eventually returned to the Black Hills in 2014 to begin what would become her first wildlife photographic documentation, leading finally to the present “Heartlands” Collection.
The Hulett Collection is proud to present Lisa Candela’s series Heartlands. In 2013 she traveled to the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary of western South Dakota for the wedding of dear friends. There, Lisa experienced a profound connection with the sacred Lakota lands and eventually returned to the Black Hills in 2014 to begin what would become her first wildlife photographic documentation, leading finally to the present “Heartlands” Collection. This collection marks a notable evolution in Lisa’s photographic style, capturing the “healing medicines” of the native wildlife in their original habitat, the birthplace of Lakota history— the area known as Wind Cave. The exhibition will open to the public on June 10, 2023 with an opening reception with Lisa Candela from 5:00PM - 8:00PM at The Hulett Collection. The exhibition will be on display through August 26, 2023.
Lisa Candela is an American analog photographer born in 1971 in La Jolla, California. Exposure to the arts came early for Lisa when she began taking solo trips to New York City at age four to visit her grandmother, Jeanne Thayer, a life trustee of the Museum of Modern Art. Lisa was also deeply inspired by the legacy of her great grandfather, Rosario Candela, one of New York City’s most prominent architects in the early 1900s.
However, it wasn’t until 1992 when her uncle gave her an old Nikon camera, that her love for taking photos really began. At night she studied photography at UCLA. During the day, she received hands-on experience working in a photo lab and photographing her friends, many of whom were aspiring actors, musicians, models, and dancers.
Resisting the digital movement, Lisa insists on photographing with film. In order to express the depths of the moment and richness of the mood, she feels the emotion of the subject is best translated through the granular and organic nature of film.