Liz Miller Kovacs is a photographer and artist from Los Angeles, now based in Berlin. At age 17, she began taking black and white photos with a vintage 35mm camera, but photography only became her primary artistic medium recently. Her Hungarian grandfather and uncle were immigrant coal miners who passed away when she was a child, and her curiosity about their lives sparked her interest in mining.
Since 2020, Liz has focused on studying, exploring, and documenting remote landscapes altered by industries. In 2024, she started a new chapter by formally requesting and gaining access to extraction sites and working with SOS Orinoco on a documentary about mining in South America. Her practice utilises analogue and digital photography, encompassing research, documentation and creative self-portraiture.
What will future cultures think of the scarred earth we leave behind? My long-term project, “Supernatural,” contrasts past iconography with the surreal conditions of the Anthropocene era. I imagine future archaeological discoveries and the potential narratives that could emerge about our civilisation.
I photograph the liminal spaces of the Anthropocene landscape, from the buffer zones between extraction industries and the spaces we inhabit to abandoned mines that are slowly being reclaimed by nature. I document the scope and scale of these landscapes– the concentrations of minerals and acidity buildup from mining and quarrying result in unique visuals and chemical elements that I capture in my work. By framing these landscapes as aesthetic spaces, I hope to raise awareness of our consumption and our dependence on natural resources. I also ponder, “What action can we take today to ensure a more sustainable future?”
A unique feature of my contemporary photography work is that I offer a female perspective of these landscapes by photographing myself on location. I document myself wrapped in fabric to accentuate the contrast between the softness and vulnerability of the body and the environment. I see parallels between our culture’s exploitation of nature and its objectification of the feminine. My draped figures reflect archetypes of objectification that have shaped perceptions of women and female roles throughout history. They also embody the enduring trope of female mystique often presented through a male lens.
Each photograph is captured and created on location. They are the result of research, travel, and planning, not the work of Photoshop or AI. Witnessing and documenting these sites on the ground level is an important part of my process. The series is also a search for physical connection to our environment in a time when image overshadows reality, and my experiences in these spaces are vital to this ongoing project, which has taken me to dozens of locations around the world.
In 2025, she was a finalist for the Aesthetica Art Prize, her work was selected for exhibition at OKO Festival Bohinj 2025, was shortlisted for the Kolga Award and the KLPA Autoportrait award, and PX3 awarded her a Silver Medal for Fine Art Photography. In 2024, her work was exhibited in Earth Photo, awarded Foto Slovo's Gold Medal for Environmental and Climate Issue Category, and was shortlisted as 'Highly Commended' by Belfast Photo Festival. Her work was exhibited at Kranj Foto Fest 2023.
PROGRAM OF EVENTS
Open Studio: Tuesday 10, 24 March & Tuesday 7 April | 12pm - 3pm
Photography Workshop: Wednesday 25 March | 10am - 12pm. BOOK HERE
Photo Book Workshop: Friday 10 April | 6pm - 8pm. BOOK HERE
Exhibition Opening Night: TBC
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮.