Albuquerque artist Nate Lemuel (Diné) uses landscape and portrait photography to create a perspective of a reality that embodies emotion and the future.
Nate Lemuel is an Indigenous Diné landscape and portrait photographer from Shiprock, New Mexico. His work consists of a variety of photography styles, including stop-action, fashion editorial, and futuristic minimalism.
“When I photograph, I want to build an environment that is real and portrays a reference to the future. What I find fascinating about my photography is that I can be limitless with my surroundings because I grew up here on the Navajo Nation. As a full Native American, I have always imagined things from afar to be a signal of memory. How I balance the space from town to town here is based on the landscapes that are around me. I get a sense of calmness and worry-free feeling when I don’t need to be informed of how long it will take or how far it will be until I see what is ahead of me. I take that form of thought and use it every day as an inspiration to my life. There are no limits to time and space when I photograph.
My visuals are meant to be perspectives of a reality I create that embodies emotion and the future without much specification. When I present my photographs, I want my viewers to know the elements of time and space are moments of being in another world.
I am always fascinated by environmental science and my grandmother’s farm. I use what I grew up around not only to inform my sense of how beautiful our land is, but how sacred we are. We have had a long journey as Indigenous people and today, I want to define those moments of positivity and hope with the concepts in my work.”
Nate Lemuel is a recipient of the Harwood Art Center’s Surface: Emerging Artists of 2020 award and is the 2020 Naat’áanii Honoree of Navajo Nation’s Diné Pride.
Albuquerque, NM | darklistedphotography.com | ig: @darklistedphotography
