NEWPORT, R.I. – Salve Regina graduate Erik Madigan Heck has been named to “PDN’s 30” for 2011. This exclusive Photo District News magazine award highlights the work of 30 new and emerging photographers to watch from around the world.
In winning the award, Heck, 27, received a one-year merit membership to the American Society of Media Photographers. The Excelsior, Minn. native who now lives in New York City, graduated from Salve Regina in 2006 with a bachelor of arts degree in art history. His work is featured among the other “PDN’s 30” winners at www.pdngallery.com.
“Each of [these photographers] is committed to experimenting and refining their work,” writes PDN editor Conor Risch. “But they share a belief that what is personal to them – the stories they choose to tell and their visual languages – is compelling. As their list of clients, exhibitions and accolades will attest, we’re certainly not the first ones to say so.”
Heck is an emerging force in fashion and fine art photography, having shot the collections of designers such as Valentino, Lanvin, Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier and Helmut Lang. He is also the founder and Editor in Chief of the influential Nomenus Quarterly. His work can be found in several international museums and private collections.
“I think my work evolves every time I do a shoot,” he told PDN’s Holly Stuart Hughes. “You’re taught that you have to develop an esthetic stamp, but in my work, from feature to feature I’m making visual decisions based on the subject.”
Erik Madigan Heck is pictured at Salve Regina’s 2006 Best of Student Show (BOSS).