Laurie Schneider photographs the way she lives—mindfully. “With everything I do, I consider where it goes to, where it came from, and what impact it has on the planet and the future,” she says. Not only does Schneider live on a hobby farm to provide for herself more sustainably, but she carefully weighs the environmental impact of her decisions.
Schneider has been drawn to the fine arts for most of her life. She comes from a family of artists, so attending art school felt like a natural step. What she’s chosen to do with her talent, though, is another story: Her photographic campaigns serve to raise awareness of important issues. Schneider received the Artist Initiative Grant in 2013 from the Minnesota Arts Board to produce a photo documentary and traveling exhibition about sustainable farming in Minnesota.
“People who farm sustainably have really interesting stories, and photographically, it’s amazing subject matter. It’s colorful, active, beautiful, engaging . . . there’s a lot of interest in it,” Schneider says.
She continues, “The common thread throughout all [of my work] is that I have a sort of intuitive approach in that I connect with humanity on a more personal level—every human or animal or thing that I uncover, I treat as a beautiful, important, relevant being.”
Photographer Laurie Schneider on location with a calf
