Awarded in 2017: Laura Affolter is a photography and art history student at Seattle University. She is passionate about all of the arts, but currently works in both digital and film photography, video art and installation. She has been shooting digital for the past seven years and has recently began working in film.

Her artwork is heavily influenced by how she makes meaning of the past, present and future, and draws frequently on her childhood experiences growing up on the Oregon coast and valley. Many of her photographs deal with nostalgia of what once was, identity, womanhood and sexuality.

During her time at Seattle University, she has been involved with the fashion club and Artsideout, both of which have inspired her to want to work in collaboration with other artists after graduation. Post graduation, she would like to pursue establishing a collective with other artists and work on building community through the arts.

She would like to sincerely thank all of those who have helped her on the path of becoming an artist – her mother, who allowed her to use all of her photography equipment, the faculty at Seattle University’s art department for encouraging and pushing her, to the McMillen Foundation for giving her the means to pursue her artwork and to the countless other individuals who shaped and continue to shape her as an artist.