ABOUT
pierre
hauser
Pierre Hauser has been taking daily photographs since 2009, primarily in his adopted hometown of New York City (he grew up in San Francisco). In photographing the Big Apple, he has sought to capture the undeniable beauty of its famous cityscapes and monuments and the glorious diversity of its inhabitants. At the same time, he has strived to depict the much-photographed city in fresh new ways, experimenting with densely layered reflections, surprising juxtapositions, abstracted architecture, and amusing street scenes.
Perhaps his most distinctive series is Puddle Scapes, the city as captured in unstable reflections on street corners and sidewalk depressions. What attracts him to the subject is the chance to combine multiple layers in painterly collages: cement cracks, rusty curb lining, the bold geometry of traffic markings, fleeting glimpses of rushing New Yorkers, and skyscrapers reflected as dreamy, soft-focus apparitions. But he also has assembled series on such NYC subjects as urban animals, building facades, and city couples.
Hauser has also completed two documentary projects. In Liberia, West Africa, he took portraits of survivors and orphans from the Ebola epidemic of 2014-15 (which were showcased in a solo exhibition at the Tides Foundation’s Converge Gallery in San Francisco in 2019). In Bangalore, India, he spent four summers chronicling the impact of rapid expansion on that country’s tech city, working with a team of academics to show the deleterious effects of growth on the environment, available shared public space, Dalit land ownership, and a stable, affordable housing market. Photos from that project were exhibited in a 2019 show at the Vismaya Gallery in Bangalore and will be featured in the upcoming collection of essays, Chronicles Of a Global CIty: Speculative Lives and Uncertain Futures in Bengaluru, to be published by the University of Minnesota Press in November 2024.
Portfolios of Hauser’s New York work have been displayed at the June Kelly Gallery in Soho and the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts. In addition, he has been selected for juried shows at more than 50 galleries.
The publications SxSE Magazine and Edge of Humanity have highlighted groupings of Hauser’s work and his photos have also appeared in such magazines as Town & Country, The Huffington Post, Photo Review, and O’Dwyer’s, and in such literary journals as Adirondack Review, Wild River Review, Alligator Juniper, and Prime Number.
His awards include the 2015 Peter Miller Fine Art First Place Award (Providence, Rhode Island), the New York Center for Photographic Art First Place in Urban Landscape, and Camera Obscura’s Editor’s Choice. In 2021 and 2022, he was named to the Hot 100, a list of up-and-coming contemporary fine art photographers, selected by the collectors and curators of YourDailyPhotograph.com, a website and email blast operated by Duncan Miller Gallery in Los Angeles, California.
Hauser is also a documentary film producer, a fiction writer, and a member of several non-profit boards.
Exhibitions, Publications & Awards
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
TIDES CONVERGE | San Francisco, California
A GALLERY OPERATED BY THE TIDES FOUNDATION
Portraits of Ebola Survivors and Orphans. Summer 2019
A series of portraits documenting the anguish and resilience of individuals who endured the Liberian Ebola epidemic of 2014-15, as seen in their faces and physical environments. The sixty photos were supplemented by lengthy captions relating the subjects’ nightmarish experiences during the epidemic, and, especially, the hardships they continued to face in the aftermath. Survivors suffered from medical after-effects and faced discrimination, resulting from stigma, in housing and employment. Orphans lived with extended families who struggled to feed them and afford their school fees.
VISMAYA GALLERY | Bengaluru (Bangalore), India
Speculative Urbanism: The Remaking of Bengaluru. July-August 2019.
A series of photographs documenting the rapid expansion of Bengaluru in recent years—fueled by rampant real estate speculation—and the dire effects of expansion on the environment and working-class people (especially Dalit subsistence farmers displaced from their land with little or no compensation). The photographs were selected from an archive I compiled for a team of scholars who wanted visual documentation for their research on the effects of Bengaluru’s expansion. Photos from the archive have been used as illustrations for academic articles, the project’s website, and two upcoming books.
FEATURED
JUNE KELLY GALLERY | New York City, New York
For Their Love of New York. June 2023.
A two-person show honoring the legacy of former New York Mayor David Dinkins and his wife, Joyce B. Dinkins, who both loved, above all, the city of New York and children. I presented photos of New York, nineteen in all, while the other photographer showed images of children.
RHODE ISLAND CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS | Providence, Rhode Island
Spotlight Exhibition. July 2022.
As one of six photographers invited to display a portfolio of work, I showed images from my Puddle Scape project.
PUBLICATIONS
For Chronicles of a Global City: Speculative Lives and Uncertain Futures in Bengaluru, a book-length collection of scholarly essays about the effects of rapid expansion on the city of Bengaluru, I supplied a color photo essay as well as black and white photos that open each chapter. (November 2024, University of Minnesota Press)
71%: The State of Water, a book published by Exhibit Around APS in conjunction with The Trieste Photo Days Festival 2023 in Trieste, Italy. The book deals with man’s complex relationship with water and features a portfolio of my Puddle Scapes as well as several one-off images, including “Snow-Capped Water Towers,” “Up the Hudson,” and “Deep Midtown.”
Edge of Humanity, showcased a selection of my urban abstract photos under the headline “Unfamiliar Sources of Beauty” (May 2023)
South [x] Southeast Photomagazine, published a varied mix of ten of my New York photos. (October / November 2022)
Town & Country, included my photos in an article about trips with my sons to baseball stadiums across the country. (August 2012)
Camera Obscura: a Journal of Literature and Photography, The issue contained five of my New York urban landscape and Puddle Scape photos. (Fall 2012)
Other publications that have published my photographs include:
Huffington Post, Photo Review, O’Dwyers (which covers the PR industry), The Times of Entrepreneurship, Don’t Take Pictures, Yes We Are, and literary journals such as Adirondack Review, Wild River Review, Alligator Juniper, and Prime Number.
AWARDS
Hot 100, YourDailyPhotograph.com (2021, 2022)
List of top 100 up-and-coming contemporary fine art photographers. Selected by collectors and curators of YourDailyPhotograph.com, operated by Duncan Miller Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.
Gold Medal in Street Poetry category for"Pensive Mannequin," 2022 Paris International Street Photography Awards
Silver Medal in Architecture and Street series category for "Puddle Scapes" series, 2022 Paris International Street Photography Awards
Honorable Mentions in Rain and Snow, Classic Street, Reflections, and Mobile Phone categories, 2022 Paris International Street Photography Awards
Winner, Photo Review competition (2015, 2019)
Winner, Mobile Photo Awards, Still Life Category for “Sole Music.” (2016)
First Place Award, Urban Landscape show, New York Center for Photographic Art (2015)
First Place, open call exhibit at Peter Miller Fine Art Gallery in Providence, RI (May 2015)
Editor's Choice Award, Camera Obscura (Fall 2012)
Winner, Adirondack Review Photography Contest (2010)
JURIED EXHIBITIONS
UMBRELLA ARTS GALLERY | New York City, New York
Let There Be Light and Shadow Exhibit, “San Francisco Light Series: Clay Street.” (February-March 2018)
LOS ANGELES CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY | Los Angeles, California
Street Shooting Around the World Exhibit, “Puddle Scape: In His Lane" (February 2019)
CENTER FOR FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY | Fort Collins, Colorado
Center Forward, “Puddle Scape: Blast Off” (July-August, 2014)
Animalia, “Hedgehog and Friend” (April-May 2017)
Illuminate, “San Francisco Light Series: After Hopper” and “Abraham Kpoto, Ebola Orphan, Liberia” (April 2018)
13TH POLLUX AWARDS EXHIBITION | Barcelona, Spain
Architecture category: “After Hopper” and “Little Boxes”
Abstract category: “Delivery Truck Abstract #1 (After Klee)” and “Delivery Truck Abstract #2 (Celestial Orbs)”
Documentary category: From Ebola Orphans and Survivors Series: “Abraham Kpoto” and “Watchen Wilson” (October 2019)
BIG PICTURE DENVER | Denver, Colorado
Mural size photos pasted on walls around the city, “Puddle Scape: In His Lane” and “Puddle Scape: Flatiron Crossing” (March 2019)
NEW YORK CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC ART, JADITE GALLERY | New York City
First Place Award, Urban Landscape, “Puddle Scape: Blastoff” (September 2015)
Second Place Award, Geometry, “After Mondrian” and “Little Boxes” (October 2016)
Honorable Mention, Glass, “Through a Subway Skylight” (October 2017)
Humans, “Bangalore Truck Drivers” (September 2018)
Primary Colors, “Delivery Truck Abstract #2 (Celestial Orbs)” (April 2019)
Honorable Mention, Momentum, “Running From the Storm” (May 2019)
Honorable Mention, From a Seed, “Flatiron Blossoms” (Summer 2020)
Lumosity, “Abraham Kpoto, Ebola Orphan, Liberia” (Summer 2020)
Decay, Corrosion, Rust, “Sampson Caryouway, Ebola Survivor, Liberia” (June 2022)
Patterns and Shadows, “Balconies at Golden Hour” (June 2023)
SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY | Greenville, South Carolina
Home, “Muniyama in Front of Her House, Bangalore” (June 2018)
Open, “Watchen Wilson, Ebola Survivor, Liberia” (March 2019)
Light, “Abraham Kpoto, Ebola Orphan, Liberia” (August 2020)
Portals, “Skybox” and “Light at the End of the Forest” (September 2021)
Telling Tales, “Trust” (December 2022)
Architecture, “Building Pattern: Earth Tones” (May 2023)
1650 GALLERY | Los Angeles, California
Urban Landscape, “Dumbo Convergence” (July 2013)
Reflections: The Visual Echo, “Puddle Scape: Deep Midtown” and “Puddle Scape: Snow Melt” (November 2013)
In Motion, “Puddle Scape: Coffee Run” and “Capetown Leap” (August 2014)
3rd Place Award, Snow and Ice, “Snow-Capped Water Towers” (January 2017)
Splash, “Caught in the Act: Fountain” (September 2018)
BLACK BOX GALLERY | Portland, Oregon
Luminous: Light and Space, “Back to School After Ebola, Liberia” (November 2015)
Field Work: Landscape and Architecture, “Thirsty Valley: Central California” (July 2019)
A SMITH GALLERY | Johnson City, Texas
Chair, “Alone in Her Chair” (February - March 2018)
Director’s Honorable Mention, Structure, “Building Pattern: Earth Tones,” (March - May 2020)
Color, “Puddle Scape: In His Lane” and “Puddle Scape: Deep Brooklyn” (December 2023 - January 2024)
UPSTREAM GALLERY | Hastings-On-Hudson, New York
Ordinary and Extraordinary Exhibit. Two Puddle Scapes: “Blastoff” and “Bike Lane Tidal Pool" (February 2024)
TRIESTE PHOTO DAYS FESTIVAL | Trieste, Italy
71%: The State of Water Exhibit. A portfolio of my Puddle Scape photos and several individual water-related photos (Fall 2023)
FOTOFOTO GALLERY | Huntington, New York
Phone-ography Exhibit, “Delivery Truck Abstract #1 (After Klee)” (July 2015)
15th Annual National Photography Exhibition, “Puddle Scape: Honeycomb Sky” (Fall 2019)
Phone-ography, “Belvedere Castle” (November 2022)
PETER MILLER FINE ART | Providence, Rhode Island
Open Call, “Puddle Scape: Flatiron Crossing” and “Delivery Truck Abstract #1 (After Klee)” (May - June 2015)
Second Open Call, “Puddle Scape: Deep Brooklyn” (October - December 2015)
PRAXIS GALLERY | Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Abstract Image, “Delivery Truck Abstract #3 (Curtains)” (June 2018)
Frames Within Frames, “Window on Taos” (March - April 2023)
Empty Places, Abandoned Spaces, “Hotel Africa, Liberia” (December 2023)
PHOTOPLACE GALLERY | Middlebury, Vermont
Photo Noir. Winter 2016. “Puddle Scape: Four-Legged Shadow” (Winter 2016)
A Sense of Place, “Ministry of Defense, Liberia” (September 2016)
iPhone Imagery, “Puddle Scape: Rain Walker” and “Shadow Grounds, Seoul” (Fall 2017)
Travel: Places and Faces, “Sculptor, Calcutta” (November 2018)
DARKROOM GALLERY | Essex Junction, Vermont
Impromptu, “Irish Explorations” (June 2014)
Context, “Divisadero” and “What Kind of Virgin Are You?” (January 2015)
Oddity, “Father and Son, Halloween” (November - December 2015)
Poetry of the Ordinary, “Back to School After Ebola, Liberia” (February - March 2020)
PH21 GALLERY | Budapest, Hungary
The Shape of Things, “Hotel Cross Section” (November - December 2017)
BLANK WALL GALLERY | Athens, Greece
Cityscape Exhibit, “World Trade at Dusk” (June 2015)
LOOSEN ART GALLERY | Rome, Italy
Surfaces Exhibit. “Delivery Truck Abstract #2 (Celestial Orbs).”
GLASGOW GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY | Glasgow, Scotland
Abstract, “Office Building, Beverly Hills” (March 2020)
PRAIRIE VILLAGE ARTS COUNCIL PHOTO COMPETITION | Prairie Village, Kansas
“Puddle Scape: Sidewalk Convergence” and “Sculptor, Calcutta” (March 2020)
KIERNAN GALLERY | Lexington, Virginia
On View: Creatures, “Hedgehog and Friend” (March 2013)
Eye on the Street, “On Fifth Avenue” (September 2013)
In the Abstract, “Bulldozer Treads” (May 2014)
Fact and Fantasy, “Puddle Scape: Coffee Run” (June 2014)
LINUSGALLERIES.COM
Botanicals, “Flatiron Blossoms” (February 2015)
EXHIBITIONSWITHOUTWALLS.COM
Abstraction, “Delivery Truck Abstract #1 (After Klee)” (December 2014)
Your Choice, “World Trade at Dusk” (February 2015)
Four Elements, “Air Conditioners” (April 2015)
MOBILE PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWS
GARDEN GATE CREATIVITY CENTER | Berkeley, California
Pixelsatanexhibition.com Show, “Ontario Gallery of Art” (January 2013)
MARKHAM VINEYARD GALLERY | St. Helena, California
iPhonic Art: Astonishing iPhotography, “Puddle Jumper” (January - December 2015)
BMFA ARTS CENTRE | Collingwood, Ontario, Canada
Pocket Vistas: A Mobile Photography Exhibit for Landscapes, Nature, and Wildlife.
“Liberian Grasshopper”
POLIFERMO FOTOGRAFIA | Milan, Italy
“Pickers of the World.” Exhibit by Picwant. “Puddle Scape: Flatiron Crossing” (January - February 2016)
6TH MPA WINNERS SHOW | Milan, Italy
“Sole Music” (March 2017)
SIXTEEN MILE ARTS GALLERY | Milton, Ontario
Shadow Stories, Volume 3, “Sidewalk Apparition (April - May 2017)
GALWAY FESTIVAL FOR SMART PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY | Galway, Ireland
“Puddle Scape: In His Lane” (May 2019)