source: miniclickcouk

Born in Germany in 1989, Alma Haser moved to the UK in 1995 and gained a BA in Photography from Nottingham Trent University before moving to London in autumn 2011. Her shortlisted portrait, taken in her house in South London, is of friends Luke and James who have known each other since they were 12. Struck by their hairstyles, an East London bowl cut, Haser initially planned to take separate portraits but it was difficult to get them to focus so decided to photograph them together. She says ‘I asked them to sit on a tiny, wobbly coffee table, forcing them to almost cling onto each other. I wanted to exaggerate their amazing size difference, by making Luke slouch and James sit bolt upright. The title is designed to help the viewer make up his or her story about what is going on.’ Haser’s work has been included in over 10 exhibitions internationally, her work received third place in the People’s Choice for Foto8 Summer Show 2012, Fourth prize in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and she has just won the Magenta Foundation Bright Spark Award 2013.
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source: haserorg

Alma Haser graduated in 2010, completing her BA (Hons) in Photography in Art Practice at Nottingham Trent University.
Bilingual in English and German, she comes from a family steeped in arts and the creative industries, both in the UK and in Europe. Aged 13, she accompanied her mother and younger brother on a round-the-world trip, culminating in a six-month stay on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Travel continues to be one of her great passions.

After exploring with self-portraiture, and then moving to London Alma started to create a strong body of portraits which have got her a lot of recognition. Chosen by the British Journal of Photography as one of the four best graduates of 2010, her work has featured in 10 exhibitions internationally. Her Cosmic Surgery series received third place peoples choice award at the Foto8 Summer Show 2012 and ‘The Ventriloquist,’ a portrait of two friends, was shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize shown at the National Portrait Gallery in London. She has also been chosen as 2013 Magenta Foundation’s Bright Spark Award.