Meet The Photographer
Beth Stahn is an international award-winning conceptual fine art photographer based in Minnesota. Her work uses surreal dreamscapes to pull at the uncanny, claustrophobic, and absurd elements of everyday life, subverting expectations around womanhood and systemic injustice. Leaning into deadpan humor and a gritty, unpolished aesthetic, Stahn skips heavy visual polish to create scenes that feel raw, cutting, and psychologically tense.
Stahn’s visual foundation started in childhood with drawing and sketching, eventually shifting to film photography when her dad gave her her first camera. After stepping away from the medium after graduation, capturing magical moments of her children’s lives brought her back to the camera. That return quickly grew into a fine art practice focused on self-portraiture and staged narrative scenes, occasionally collaborating with her six children.
Her work has been featured in multiple solo gallery exhibitions across Minnesota, in juried group shows internationally—including Art-Icon in Paris and ImageNation in New York—and across multiple print and digital publications. A recipient of the Sony Alpha Female Grant and a MAFAC Arts Grant, Stahn’s recognitions include the Robbin Gallery Best of Show Award, honors from All About Photo, and distinctions from the International Photography Awards (IPA).
Artist Statement
Beth Stahn directs staged, fiction-based photographs that turn domestic routines upside down. Her work uses bold colors, deliberate character setups, and strange props to build uncanny dreamscapes inside the cold environment of the Northwoods. Comfortable memories and real life do not interest her. She uses familiar household spaces purely to create psychological isolation and absurdity. These photographs are carefully constructed fictions. They exist to push ordinary, everyday environments into a state of deliberate and silent unease.
Curriculum Vitae
SELECTED JURIED & GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 | ImageNation New York, One Art Space, New York, NY (October 23–25).
2026 | Gods & Monsters, ALTR Gallery / Otherworldly Arts Collective, Minneapolis, MN (October).
2026 | The Surreal, The Chateau Gallery, New York, NY
2026 | 34th Annual Juried Exhibition, MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN (August 7–September 26).
2026 | Making Strange, Praxis Gallery & Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN (July 18–August 8).
2026 | Main Character Syndrome, ALTR Gallery / Otherworldly Arts Collective, Minneapolis, MN (July 18).
2026 | Aesthetic ESSENCE III, Burl Gallery, St. Paul, MN (June–August).
2026 | Summer Group Exhibition, Lanesboro Arts, Lanesboro, MN (June–August).
2026 | Button Mashers, ALTR Gallery / Otherworldly Arts Collective, Minneapolis, MN (June).
2026 | Love, Art-Icon, Paris (May).
2026 | Open Theme, Praxis Gallery & Photo Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN (February 21–March 13).
2025 | Gods & Monsters, ALTR Gallery / Otherworldly Arts Collective, Minneapolis, MN (October).
2025 | Annual Exhibition, Robbin Gallery, Robbinsdale, MN (November).
2025 | Fine Arts Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN (August).
2024 | Fine Arts Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN (August).
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 | In the Comfort of Silence, Marshall Area Fine Arts Council (MAFAC) Gallery, Marshall, MN (February–March).
2026 | Conceptual Photography & Nostalgia, K.K. Berge Gallery, Granite Falls, MN (January 13–31).
AWARDS & INSTITUTIONAL HONORS
2026 | Official Selection (Double Placement), International Photography Awards (IPA).
2026 | Second Place, 34th Annual Juried Exhibition, MacRostie Art Center.
2026 | Honorable Mention, Making Strange Exhibition, Praxis Gallery & Photo Arts Center.
2026 | Featured Winner, AAP Magazine 55: Women, All About Photo. (Awarded for "Grandma's Jello").
2026 | Portfolio Showcase Selection, Best Rising Photographers of May, All About Photo.
2025 |Best of Show, Annual Exhibition, Robbin Gallery.
2025 | Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards (IPA).
2024 | Click Choice Award, Voice International Competition (Published as Elizabeth Stahn).
2023 | Best Children’s Photographer, Click Magazine.
2023 | Honorable Mention (Double Placement), Voice International Competition.
2021–2025 | Elite Member Status (Former), Click Pro Elite Network
GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS
2026 | Individual Artist Project Grant, Regional Arts Council (SMAC). (Project development and production funding).
2023 | Project Production Grant, Sony Alpha Female Program. (Institutional equipment and project funding).
CURATORIAL & INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS
2026 | Exhibition Guest Judge, Marshall Area Fine Arts Council (MAFAC), Marshall, MN (July).
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY & PRESS
Cipolle, Alex V. and Sparber, Max. "Critical DMs: Exploring the many collections featured at the State Fair," MPR News, August 26, 2025. (Exhibition review featuring fine arts building installations).
Gau, Deb. "Telling stories with photography," The Marshall Independent, March 2026. (Dedicated feature profile and solo gallery coverage).
Stölen, Jessica. "Artist reception held for current gallery exhibit," The Granite Falls Advocate Tribune, January 19, 2026. (Solo show profile).
"Beth Stahn's conceptual photography brings nostalgia with a twist to K.K. Berge Gallery," The Granite Falls Advocate Tribune, January 9, 2026.
"Eggcellent, Eggcentric, Eggciting Artist," The Renville County Register, July 2026. (Regional artist spotlight).
"Printing Family Photos with Photographer Elizabeth Stahn," The Printique Journal, January 2024. (Feature interview detailing physical legacy printing and processing workflow).
"Between Reality and Imagination: Beth Stahn's Conceptual Art with the Fog Machine," PMI Gear Technical Spotlight, May 2025. (Artist method profiling and practical atmospheric design execution).
Alpha Universe Staff. "See How These Photographers Capture Vivid Fall Colors," Sony Alpha Universe, November 18, 2022. (National portfolio showcase placement).