About Astra Vellum

Beauty is only skin deep. But ah! me; freckles go to the bone.

~Mark Twain

April, a freckled woman in this series, told me a story from her childhood: One day after playing outside, her grandmother asked her to go wash up. She went to the bathroom and did so, but grandma wasn’t satisfied. “Your face isn’t clean! Go scrub it some more!” The young girl was distraught, for all that was left on her skin were her freckles, and no amount of scrubbing would make them go away.

In a world that flaunts flawlessness as the ideal, can we find real beauty in the blemishes?  More than once, while photographing for this series, women thanked me for making something beautiful out of what they often viewed as an imperfection.

At its essence, Astra Velum explores the beauty of flawed human skin, with its freckles and scars, overlaid upon us like a thin veil of stars.

 

About Fritz –

Fritz began photographing as a teen, carrying his Kodak 110 Instamatic around on a US tour with his father at age 14, in their little blue Datsun B210.  Twenty-five years later, he continues to explore the world, camera in hand.

In the intervening years, Fritz acquired a BFA in Photography; won numerous awards, grants and residencies for his work; had photographs published, collected, and shown in galleries and museums; wrote articles and essays for magazines and books; lectured and taught workshops on photography and the artistic life; and balanced both commercial and fine art practices.  He also loves to travel.  He is constantly looking for new ways to approach the world through art.

Portland, Oregon is his home, along with his wife and newborn daughter and their bright orange house.

To see more of Fritz’s work, please log onto his website.