Alex Sher Steps

Alex Sher is an award-winning American underwater fine art photographer whose admiration of feminine sensuality heralded him to worldwide acclaim.

Sher was born in Ukraine in 1962 and started taking photographs at the age of twelve. He graduated from Kyiv University in 1984. Two years later, he volunteered as medical personnel to support the Chernobyl nuclear disaster recovery. When asked about that time, Sher says "Having no clue how much radiation you are getting makes you appreciate every breath — pretty much what you feel underwater."

Sher started showing his photographs in the early 1990s; however, he considered himself an amateur until his work was stolen from an exhibition in Kyiv.

Sher immigrated to the United States with his family in 1995 and currently resides in Los Angeles. As a former biologist and an ocean diver, Alex is deeply concerned with the decimation of kelp forests along the California Pacific Coast.

Sher’s underwater photographs emerged in 2011. In 2015, after participating in a photo competition, his works were exhibited in Paris at the Louvre Museum and later at museums in London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other major cities. Sher's first personal photo exhibition was held in 2016 in Los Angeles by the Bruce Lurie Gallery. Since then, he has had six exclusive exhibitions, has been in numerous group exhibitions, and has participated in major US art fairs.

Sher's artistic style is marked by the transition from photographing marine wildlife at the very beginning to figurative nudity, with a majority of monochrome black and white works. His most recent pieces showcase minimalism and abstraction with bright colors through a quiet, eye-catchy, and charming combination of figurative and abstract art.

Sher is an excellent underwater coach who trains his models on how to control their breath and buoyancy, as well as their feelings. He also teaches spiritual blending with the water and modeling techniques for different underwater cameras.

Sher generously shares his artistic and technical innovations. His ideas inspire underwater photographers around the world. His first photo book, Mermaids, was published in 2018. He has been represented by Touchon Gallery since 2019.

Find a collection of Alex Sher art today on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Touchon Gallery)

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

Life becomes art in figurative photography. Shared moments are captured and history is recorded in images of people and their lives.

Figurative photography is often used to describe a kind of photography in which people are the subject. Early black and white photography of people can be a glimpse into a past century — witness the celebrated work of photographers such as Ansel Adams or lesser-known artists like Berenice Abbott, for example. The cultural and social standards of the time are captured in these figurative photographs.

Mid-century photos might show the life and fashions of the day, sometimes with the shared thread of humanity, joy and love. Indeed, figurative photographs can be a source of inspiration and wonder, speaking of common life experiences and beauty. Vintage photos of celebrities and iconic actors can be valuable keepsakes as snapshots of a bygone era.

Just as if you were bringing paintings, prints or drawings into your space as part of the decor, there are many ways to arrange your figurative photography. Large photos can be statement pieces in a room. Smaller photographs can be placed on bookcases or on compact wall spaces to add an artistic element to a living room or a bedroom.

Find a collection of figurative photography on 1stDibs today.