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via VoyageMIA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Max Steven Grossman.

Hi Max Steven, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

After finishing high school in Bogota, Colombia where I’m originally from, I didn’t know what career I wanted to follow in my life. My dad worked in textiles so I studied textile engineering in Philadelphia. After college, I took a six months trip to Southeast Asia this trip opened my eyes to the wonders of nature and how beautiful our world is. I returned to Colombia and I started working with my dad very soon I was feeling office life was not something I desired. I fortunately found a camera canon A-1 film camera in the office and started to take photography classes. From then on all I wanted was the weekends to come so I could leave the city and take nature pictures.

After many Psychology sessions, I decided I was not going to work with my father and pursue a career in photography. I had a friend working in magazines so I got some traveling assignments to take photos and write about places I visited. It was a great experience but a hard way to make a living. I decided to study further and with the support of my parents, I moved to NYC and got in the NYU / ICP photography master’s program.

After the studies, I returned to Bogota and started showing my photos as artworks in different galleries. One of these galleries Beatriz Esguerra Art kept showing my work and traveled to international art fairs. One of my series was the bookscapes which is a collage of many different books arranged together back again creating a themed composition. This series was getting a lot of attention and I was picked up by a gallery in NY and Los Angeles. After many years of showing in the states and around the world, I’m represented today by 10+ different galleries. I’m still working on the bookscape series and also experimenting with different mediums to give further meaning to my work.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In my world, it’s more about persistence and consistency. For every ten doors that closed, one would open. The key was to keep knocking.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I mostly do photography collages. Creating illusion with photography as to question what is real and what is not.

I started working in photography when the digital era was just starting to be popular. Before a photo was a frozen moment of truth, evidence. After digital that sense of truth faded and photos could be manipulated and be really a subjective manifestation of reality.

I'm mostly known for my bookscapes. Photos of books rearranged to create a themed library composition.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
My parents deserve much of the credit for their support even if I wasn’t sure where I was going and art being very unpredictable way to earn a living. I always felt a layer of support from my parents.

My representatives for showing my work and believing in what I do.