ARTIST TALK

With photographer Frankie Alduino

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EXPLORING THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN PERSONAL & COMMISSIONED WORK
WEDNESDAY DEC. 3, 2025

OVERVIEW

In the midst of building a commercial photography career—shooting for publications like New York Magazine and Vanity Fair—how do you protect the space for personal work that actually feeds you? How do you develop a practice that sustains rather than depletes?

This December, Gallery ATARAH presents an intimate evening with photographer Frankie Alduino, exploring the delicate balance between client work and personal creative practice. Through conversation and visual storytelling, Frankie will share insights from his journey navigating the editorial photography world while maintaining the personal projects that keep him creatively alive.

This isn't a lecture—it's an honest conversation about the realities of sustaining a creative life, staying present in your practice, and knowing what deserves your attention.

ABOUT FRANKIE ALDUINO


Frankie Alduino is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating with a BFA in Photography from The University of Central Florida, Frankie cut his teeth at The Richard Avedon Foundation and transitioned to work in-house at Annie Leibovitz Studio. His commercial work now regularly appears in New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, and many other publications.

Frankie's personal practice is rooted in a poetic approach to documentary photography with an emphasis on his projects culminating in book form. His process is both intuitive and deliberate, guided by an ongoing exploration of memory and place. Influenced by literature, religion, and mysticism, his work explores how memory overlays reality, seeking meaning in the liminal spaces between the ordinary and the profound.

Gallery ATARAH is honored to create space for this conversation—bringing Frankie's perspective to a community of artists, photographers, and creatives navigating similar questions about sustainable creative practice and authentic work.

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CONNECT WITH FRANKIE
INSTAGRAM: @frankiealduino
WEBSITE: www.frankiealduino.com

WORK BY FRANKIE


ABOUT THE TALK

CONVERSATION FORMAT

This evening will feature a moderated conversation between Frankie and gallery director Atarah Atkinson, with ample opportunity for audience questions and community dialogue. Frankie will share visual examples from both his commercial editorial work and his ongoing personal projects, illuminating the contrast between work that sustains a career and work that sustains a soul.

THEMES WE'LL EXPLORE

  • The Three Types of Work: Understanding what feeds you versus what taxes you, and why both matter
  • Developing a Daily Practice: What it actually looks like to maintain creative curiosity amid professional demands
  • Boundaries & Self-Protection: Learning what deserves your full attention and what doesn't
  • The Photographer to Artist Shift: When technical skill stops being enough and you need something more
  • Presence & Staying in Your Body: How to keep seeing when photography becomes routine
  • Community & Transparency: What we wish someone had told us about building a creative life

WHY THIS CONVERSATION MATTERS

Too often, the realities of building a creative practice remain hidden—the emotional labor, the boundary-setting, the daily maintenance it takes to stay curious and present. This conversation aims to make visible what usually stays private, offering both practical insight and permission to approach your work with more clarity and self-compassion.

Whether you're a photographer, a visual artist, or someone navigating the tension between creative passion and professional necessity, this evening offers a chance to hear from someone further along the path, still figuring it out, willing to share honestly.


IMPORTANT DETAILS


DATE – Wednesday, December 3, 2025


TIME – 7:00 PM


LOCATION – 35 Meadow St. Brooklyn NY 11206


CAPACITY – Limited Seating


ADMISSION – Free and open to the community!


RSVP REQUIRED – Please email info@galleryatarah.com

FAQ

  • Not at all. While the conversation centers on photography, the themes—balancing personal work with client demands, developing sustainable creative practice, staying present and curious—are relevant to any creative discipline.

  • Yes! Audience questions and community dialogue are essential to this evening. We'll have some dedicated time for Q&A, but mostly we encourage participation throughout.

  • Absolutely. Just make sure to RSVP for each person attending so we can plan seating accordingly.

  • Yes, examples of Frankie's work from both commercial and personal projects will be shown throughout the conversation to illustrate the themes we're discussing.

  • Currently we plan to not be recording video, but we may take photographs for documentation and future programming promotion.

  • Follow Gallery ATARAH on Instagram @gallery.atarah or visit our website at galleryatarah.com to stay informed about upcoming events, artist talks, workshops, and exhibitions.

ARTIST TALK - DEC. 3 - Photos by Atarah Atkinson