Shaun oboyle photographer biography sample
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What importance do you feel photography has in support of scientific research? What are the most difficult parts about photographing these harsh environments for you?
Dealing with cold and wind is the biggest challenge for photography.
There were days with the temperature in the minus 30’s and 40’s, and camera battery life was measured in minutes.
Having been to chilly Arctic countries like Iceland in the past myself, I also know the struggle that sometimes comes with being exposed to rough climates and chilly weather. I use both Zeiss and Sony lenses, and a couple Canon lenses as well. As an added benefit, most support tiers include fine art prints of his trip – so well worth the cost if you want to support this great photographer.
For another great interview here on FFL, check out our chat with Sent Into Space – an organization that also intermingles photography with science and became popular when a couple fun photos they took from space went viral.
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\n\t\t\t\t\tArt Photo Index™ (API) is an ever-growing image and information resource focused on art and documentary photography.
He has traveled and photographed on all seven continents and has shown work in galleries and museums in Boston and the Berkshires in MA. His work has appeared in various publications and books including Smithsonian Magazine, Lenswork, Next City and Exit.
His work has been exhibited at venues including at the Urban Photo Awards in Trieste, Italy (2025), the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum (2022), in Berlin (2022) for the Speak up for Antarctica now event, in Milan (2021) at the Pre-COP26 Antarctic Resolution exhibition, the Courthouse Gallery (2019), at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield MA (2017), and in several gallery exhibtions in New York, Vermont and MA.
In 2021, he received both the A.R.T. This definitely hooked me on polar subjects and locations.
The following year I applied for a Guggenheim Fellowship, proposing an Arctic version of my project, extending the work I had done with the NSF. When I was made a Fellow in 2017, I was able to organize 4 trips to the Arctic including Iceland and Svalbard.
With significant portions of your work being created in the Arctic and Antarctica regions, what are some of the motivators that lead you to want to photograph these types of places?
My background is in architecture, and I bring that interest to my photography. This is a competitive grant program that is unique to the NSF’s Antarctic program and brings a few artists each year to the Ice to realize a project. Many people use Nikon and Canon in these conditions.
I have 3 main bodies: an A7r, A7r2 and an A7r3.
To me sites like Bethlehem Steel, and the coal fields that fed the mills, are living history, central to the culture of those areas.
I don’t look at too many other current photographers work, I tend to look to other fields for my inspiration. Iceland has some hard choices to make about tourism and limiting the number of people.
Antarctica stands out as a favorite place, it’s unique, with zero human presence other than the few science stations, it’s unlike any other place I’ve been or will be.
His polar work—documenting architecture and infrastructure in both the Arctic and Antarctic—has been exhibited internationally and featured in Places Journal, Antarctic Resolution (Venice Biennale Architettura 2021), and Smithsonian Magazine.
O’Boyle has photographed at all three U.S. Antarctic research stations—McMurdo (2015), Palmer (2017), and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (2019).
These places have shaped the landscapes and urban areas we live in today.
The Interview
Could you share some details about your background in photography (both in general and academically) for my audience? // otherwise, generate the closer var closer = $('.api-intro-close').length > 0 ?
The NSF’s Antarctic Artist and Writers Program is essentially an educational program.
His book Modern Ruins, Portraits of Place in the Mid-Atlantic Region was published in 2009 by Penn State University Press, and he has designed and self-published eight books of his photographs.
Photographing regions where human culture and history have shaped a unique architecture, infrastructure and landscape is a driving force behind this work.