Haley Isder, a photographer from southwestern Minnesota (and also Gallery Director at A Piece of Work, Inc.), was born in South Carolina. An Air Force brat, she moved with her family across the country more than once. When she was in eighth grade, the family moved to Lakefield, Minnesota. She was introduced to Adobe Photoshop in 2003, and much of what she learned was self-taught. In 2006, she graduated with her Associate's degree from Minnesota West Community and Technical College, and in 2009 graduated from St. Cloud State University with a Bachelor's degree in Art Photography.

In addition to photography, Haley draws and creates photo-manipulations (combining multiple photographs to create one image). She enjoys reading, writing, and listening to many different kinds of music. She also loves late-night cartoons and vampires.

Haley’s work has been featured in multiple art shows throughout southern and central Minnesota, and has won awards in juried art shows in 2005, 2006, 2009, and in 2010.

Artist’s Statement

The motivation behind the technical treatment of my artwork is a drive for quiet extremes. It surfaces in many different ways, from extremely dramatic lighting to my extreme close-ups, or even in my extremely long (100+ inches) panoramic photographs.

Because I wasn’t born and raised in the Midwest, ‘normal’ things seem exotic to me. In my photographs, I try to point out how incredible everyday life can be. I want to capture my images in such a way that will evoke emotions like nostalgia, pleasure, intrigue and awe. My wish is that everyone could see the world like I do when I am creating my artwork. It’s like a fantasy-land where tiny objects can be seen as giants, you can view a full 360° without having to turn around, and broken books are really treasure.