Alina Saranti | Far From

Description

This catalog was printed in conjunction with the exhibition Far From, on display in the Griffin Gallery from July 5 – August 17, 2025.

The Griffin is pleased to present the work of Alina Saranti as part of our celebration of our member artists. Ms. Saranti was included in our 30th Annual Juried Members exhibition, winning the Directors Prize.

Artist Statement

“In my project Far From I want to make visible what landscape photography can look like for a female photographer with child rearing responsibilities.  I combine landscape photographs of the American West with embroidery to challenge the masculinity of traditional landscape photography and the myth of the West. Landscape photography was traditionally dominated by male photographers as it was deemed unsafe and impractical for women who were constrained to the domestic sphere, close to their housekeeping and child rearing duties. The myths of the American West, its rugged, open, wild landscape have also been closely associated with macho masculinity, the idea of the independent, tough man, ready to draw on his weapon, to conquer and defend the land. Landscape photography also contributed to the history of conquest of the West with its role in surveying and controlling.”

About Alina Saranti

Alina Saranti is a Greek photographic artist currently living in Los Angeles, having also lived in the UK and Turkey. Her work begins autobiographically and explores the synergies and tensions between text and image, the physical alteration of the photographic print, as well as themes of motherhood, place, our inner and outer landscapes, the personal and political.

After a ten-year career in journalism in Athens and London, writing mainly about international politics, she has shifted her focus to telling stories through photographic projects. Saranti received a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, an MSc in International Relations from London School of Economics, and an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from London College of Communication, University of the Arts London (Distinction).

Saranti has won Director’s Prize at the Griffin Museum’s Annual Juried Members Exhibition, Honorable Mention at the Julia Margaret Cameron Award and at the Los Angeles Center of Photography’s Annual Members Exhibition. She has exhibited in galleries and museums in Athens, Barcelona, Boston, Calgary and New York. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including The Boston Globe, Opt West, Aesthetica Magazine, Source, Black River Magazine, Global Zoo Zine, and the Imagined Landscape Journal.