Julia SH, has lived a life marked by twists and turns. Originally studying to become an actor, she was quickly sidetracked by life’s unpredictabilities, which have forged her into the person she is today. Julia’s journey has been anything but ordinary—she’s worked as a bounty hunter, worked in palliative care, won the lightweight division in the US Open in sumo wrestling, ran a marathon in North Korea, crossed the Gobi Desert by camel and performed standup comedy to empty and half-full rooms.

Her bio might read like the tale of a cartoon character, but Julia has lived many lives. She thrives on discomfort and personal challenges. An award-winning photographer, she deftly navigates the worlds of Fine Art and commercial projects, finding equal joy in Fine Art, commercial portraiture, creative beauty editorials, and the synergy of all three.

Julia relishes collaboration, working with artists across disciplines—painters, dancers, writers, makeup and hair artists, and other creatives. She frequently photographs female models with body types often overlooked in traditional photography, framing them in a Fine Art context. By portraying these models as sculptures, paintings, or even as geographical terrain, she disrupts the viewer’s instinctual sexual judgments, instead inviting an aesthetic appreciation of the unique geometry and textures of their bodies, challenging societal standards of attractiveness.

Julia’s work challenges the concept of photography as a modernist medium. She creates images inspired by sculpture and painting, approaching them as though they were made in a non-photographic medium.


CV:

Education:

MFA Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, London, U.K.

BA Fine Art, Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, London, U.K.

Solo Exhibitions:

OMVANDLING, Galerie XII, Los Angeles, U.S.A

Studio Practice, Foto Nostrom, Barcelona, Spain

Group Exhibitions:

Nude, Fotografiska, Berlin, Germany

Embrace the Difference, Fotografiska, Tallinn, Estonia

International Localized Image Festival, Yiwei Gallery, Shenyang, China

ImageNation, Galerie Joseph Le Palais, Paris, France

Nude, Fotografiska, NYC, USA

BBA Photography Prize Remix, BBA Gallery, Berlin, Germany

BBA Photography Prize, BBA Gallery/Kühlhaus, Berlin, Germany

Nude, Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden

BBA Photography Prize, RAW Area, Berlin, Germany

Melancholia, Foto Nostrum, Barcelona, Spain

Krause Gallery, NYC, USA

IPA Best in Show, Foremost, Okinawa, Japan

IPA Best in Show, Splashlight Studios, NYC, USA

Lenculture, ParisPhoto 2019, Paris, France

CameraUSA, Naples, Florida, USA

Girlgaze, Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles, USA

Varsalongen, Liljevalch, Stockholm, Sweden

The Supercute World of Hello Kitty, EMP Museum, Seattle, USA

The Supercute World of Hello Kitty, Japanese American Museum of National Art, Los Angeles, USA

Opening Show, Schlifka Molina Gallery of Contemporary Art Buenos Aires, Argentina

It’s a Small Small World, Family Business, NYC, USA

T.O.M.E, Last Rites, NYC, USA

ArteBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

BAPhoto, Buenos Aires, Argentina

CSM, Bloomberg, London, U.K.

New Media, Lethaby Gallery, London, U.K.

Varsalongen, Liljevalch, Stockholm, Sweden

Awards:

Lens Culture Critics’ Choice, 2022

PSX3, Fine Art Series Silver, 2021

Moscow International Foto Awards, Silver, 2021

Tokyo Foto Awards, Advertising, Gold 2020

Lens Culture, Best of Lens Culture, Juror’s Pick 2020

PSX3, Fine Art Series Silver, 2020

IPA Fine Art Photographer of the Year 2019

Julia Margaret Cameron Photographer of the Year 2019

Getty Images Creative Bursary 2019

One EyeLand Gold Award 2019

UCL Grant 2007

Swedish Church Art Grant 2007, 2007

Publications:

Vogue, Another Magazine, i-D, Normal, Aestetica, The Guardian, Now This, It’s Nice That, Blink, Paper Mag, Cosmopolitan, Triple J, VICE, Glassbook, Nakid, A+, Schon, The Opera, T.O.M.E, Huffington Post, Normal, Live Fast, OOB


Social Media