Meet the 2021-22 Photographer-in-Residence: Gavin Aleshire
This ongoing series of web posts profiles the 2021-2022 UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s Student Strategic Communications Team.
The UCLA Arts Office of the Dean is looking for motivated students to work with the strategic communications team throughout the 2022–23 academic year. All open positions are part-time employment for current UCLA students.
This story features Gavin Aleshire, who was the 2021-2022 Photographer-in-Residence. This interview was conducted in May 2022.
Photographer-in-Residence Gavin Aleshire is a relative newcomer to the School of the Arts and Architecture. He began his Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies in his third year at UCLA, alongside choosing to double major and continue his original Biology major within the College of Letters and Science.
Joining the UCLA Arts Strategic Communications team, Aleshire hoped to gain more access to the arts community and become more aware and involved in events and exhibitions. Aleshire previously worked as a photographer with UCLA Housing, but the UCLA Arts position has familiarized him with a new side of the university. “I’ve been going to a lot of undergrad and graduate shows [this year].” Aleshire said. “I have started seeing familiar faces and have been making a lot of new connections within the arts community.”
Photography has been the core of Aleshire’s art practice since he was 12 years old. He describes taking a documentary approach in his personal work, which often explores people, art, architecture, nature.
“I love taking an analytical lens to the spaces I occupy and most often spend my time." Aleshire said. He is frequently seen carrying his camera into parties and concerts. Aleshire’s approach to photography has evolved overtime. He has landed on the approach of trying to simplify whatever view he is looking at - he enjoys isolating a specific subject and “flattening the scene” into a harmonious composition.
Since the pandemic, photography has become a little less frequent and free flowing for Aleshire and has transformed into a more intentional practice, especially in relation to his UCLA Arts position.
"Studying Biology and Architectural Studies has brought me greater awareness of
these systems and how we might be impacting them by design."
Gavin Aleshire
A question that Aleshire gets often is how his two seemingly disparate passions - Science and Art - intersect. To Aleshire, the connection between his double major in Biology and Architectural Studies include physical explorations such as sustainable architecture or the usage of bio materials in construction. However, he is now more interested in a “broader engagement of construction within the context of ecology and impact reduction”. He explains that the intersection of the two subjects has brought him a “greater awareness of these systems and how we might be impacting them by design.”
As for how Biology impacts his architectural and art practice in particular, Aleshire observes that he is usually working within some sort of realm of reality, and prefers fewer impactful moves in his designs. “That’s my natural inclination - simplicity and rationality.” Aleshire said. “It’s definitely a way of thinking from STEM.”
In his last quarter, Aleshire is working on a 200 unit housing design based in Atwater Village, part of a network of housing projects amongst his 2022 AUD cohort. A few weeks ago, the class did a site visit. Aleshire relished the opportunity to talk and walk around the area, describing the hands-on project and the accompanying field trips as “one of the most fulfilling experiences” of his college experience.
Aleshire is currently listening to Toro Y Moi’s new album Mahal and reading independent architecture and design publication Pin-Up Magazine. After graduation, he will be “making some art, taking time to rest, and working towards applying to Masters of Architecture programs.”
Story by Maya Lu
Maya Lu is the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture Strategic Communications Story Producer in Residence and a fourth-year undergraduate in Design Media Arts.
Photos: Courtesy of Gavin Aleshire
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