VCUarts Department of Photography + Film alumna Hannah Altman has been named one of the university’s top 10 graduates of the past decade.
VCU Alumni’s 10 Under 10 awards program recognizes and celebrates the significant achievements of alumni who have earned their first VCU degree (undergraduate, graduate or professional) within the past 10 years.
Altman, a photographer based in Boston, graduated in 2020 with an M.F.A. from the VCU School of the Arts.
“I was very proud and honored to learn that I had been nominated for and received the 10 Under 10 award,” Altman said. “It made me feel connected to VCU even though I live many states away now.”
Altman has been recognized for her remarkable photography around a central theme: Jewish folklore. She began exploring this subject when she began her M.F.A. program at VCUarts in 2018.
“My time at VCU was instrumental in and transformative for my practice,” she said. “It provided the environment and resources necessary to shape my ideas and share them with the world.”
Last year, Altman was also named the first Blanksteen Artist-in-Residence at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale. While in this residency, she created a series of photographs that explores how Jewish folklore builds tension – and how people engage with these stories. She is excited to share her work far and wide.
“This award is a great recognition that my ideas are being seen and heard by the community and beyond,” she said.