Mandy Schoch

Mandy Schoch was born in High Point, North Carolina. As a child she was fascinated by colours and images, and was frequently found with a box of crayons in tow. Sometimes she drew the things around her; sometimes she simply sat and marveled at the array of colours in her drawing set. As a young teenager Mandy was given her first camera, and she immersed herself in mastering the technique to better capture the colours and images that so enthralled her.

Mandy graduated in 1991 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Photojournalism and Mass Communication, studied at Parson’s School of Design and The New School in New York, and spent nine years in New York City where she worked as a fashion product photographer. During this time in New York, Mandy often found refuge from the chaotic city and the frenzied fashion industry in her private garden in Brooklyn, raising flowers. Wanting to enjoy them at home in her Manhattan apartment she cut the flowers that she had nurtured, many of them grown from seeds. Their inevitable demise spurred the realization of her true passion: floral photography. She knew that the only way to preserve her treasures was to freeze their beauty in time by capturing them on film. By arranging them in her studio, controlling the light, and selecting the background, she created a portrait of each flower highlighting the intricate details, unique characteristics, and striking shapes and textures. While maintaining her fashion photography career, she began exhibiting the portraits of her flowers in Europe as well as in the US. Her floral images have been featured in galleries in Berlin, Munich, New York, Chicago, and Raleigh.

In early spring last year whilst traveling in southern Spain, Mandy came to the Serranía de Ronda for the first time and found herself overwhelmed and awed by this alluring region of Andalucía.

She photographed the glorious flowers in bloom and the expansive landscapes where they grew. By the end of the summer, Mandy had made two decisions: to concentrate on her fine art photography and to move to Andalucía. She now lives in Gaucín.

Mandy’s next solo exhibition is at Hotel/Restaurant La Fructuosa in Gaucín and will run from 13 March until 31 May. All are invited to the show’s opening on 13 March at 19:00hrs.

This collection of floral portraits lures the viewer deep into the heart of nature’s delicate creations— a perspective that we as humans do not often experience with the naked eye. Her images are presented in black and white or colour on watercolour paper, achieving a subtle painterly quality while softening the flowers’ already graceful features.

Mandy can be contacted on 952 151 319 & mandy@schochphotography.comwww.schochphotography.com