Read Claudia's personal essay about her trip to Lebanon »

ARTIST BIO: Claudia Fortoul-Lander

Florida-based photographer Claudia Fortoul-Lander was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Her interest in photography started at fifteen, when she took a photography course in a summer school in Boston, MA. as an extra curricular activity.

As a translator with a passion for languages, after traveling and exploring Europe for a few years, Claudia decided to make a career change so she moved to the United States and settled in Florida, where she attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and received an Associate Degree in Photography in 2001. Since then, Claudia has work as a professional photographer specializing in conceptual fine art, unconventional portraits, travel photography and photojournalism, channeling her passions through the lens while capturing glimpses of life and objects from different parts of the world with an explosion of color.

Through the years, Claudia has been involved in several social projects such as traveling to remote indigenous communities in her native Venezuela as well as working together with local Florida artists and galleries to bring art to the community. Some of these local projects include the Veterans Hospital, Public Schools and Locel Police Youth Programs such as the D.A.R.E. Program.

After several shows that included a solo exhibition in midtown Miami, a group exhibit in the Wynwood District and a gallery walk in Coral Gables, Claudia's photograpy is included in a current exhibition in Paris and a future one in Madrid. She recently returned from a two-month travel through Lebanon.