About

Maura Allen has been photographing the American West for over two-plus decades. She shows and sells her work as both a fine art photographer and mixed media artist.

Growing up in Northern California, Maura earned her BA in Latin/Classical Studies at Stanford University, studying how iconic figures, myth and moments define a culture. When she began photographing the American West with ranchers and wranglers as her trusted guides, she realized many of the same cultural forces were at play. Today, Maura lives in the Williamson Valley (AZ).

Featured in Black & White Magazine UK, Western Art & Architecture, Cowboys & Indians Magazine, SouthwestArt Magazine, Western Art Collector and more, Maura frequently speaks about chronicling the West. Her mixed media work is shown in galleries nationwide and included in private, public and museum collections nationwide.

Maura serves on the Board of Directors of photolucida (the Portland, OR-based non-profit dedicated to building community through photography) and the Board of Trustees of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, AZ.

John Wayne Journal | “Image & Myth” | July 2024 | Article Link

PORTFOLIO Magazine | Feb/March Feature of images Article Link

Southwest Art Magazine | Feb/March 2023
No Limits: Maura Allen Reimagines Mixed Media to Tell Stories of the Contemporary American West
Article Link

Black & White Magazine | UK
May 2022
Article PDF | COURTESY OF BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE (UK)

Images Arizona
Maura Allen | Layers of Time | January 2022
Article link

Western Art & Architecture | “The Next West”
Oct/Nov 2019

Western Art Collector | “Art from the Other Half of the West”
March 2018

SouthwestArt Magazine | “Geography of Hope”
June 2017

Cowboys & Indians | “The Contemporary Works of Maura Allen
April 2017

Dorado | “At Home: The Wild, Wild West”
March 2017

Denver Post | “New Frontier”
January 2017

SouthwestArt Magazine | “The Santa Fe Trail”
2015

Western Art Collector Magazine | “Art from the Other Half of the West”
2015

SouthwestArt Magazine | “Today’s West”
Cover + Feature | 2014

SouthwestArt Magazine | “Celebrating Women”
2014

SouthwestArt Magazine | “Cowgirl Up! Show Preview”
2014

SouthwestArt Magazine | “Spotlight”
2012

#2 U.S. Mobile Photographer of the Year | 2024 | One Eyeland
Winning Portfolio mobile phone black and white rodeo series

B&W Magazine | 2023 Portfolios Portfolio of Merit 2023

Women by Women | 2023 | SE Center for Photography
Juror – Laurie Klein - Photographer, Author, Educator
Show link
Catalog

Black, White & Monochrome | 2023 | SE Center for Photography
Juror – Michael Foley – Founder/Owner, Foley Gallery; Faculty Member, School of Visual Arts, New York
Show link
Catalog

Shapes | 2nd Place Honors | 2022 | AAP Magazine
Juror – Ann Jastrab, Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art (CPA), Carmel, California
AAP Magazine #26 | Shapes

"Women" | 3rd Place Honors | 2022 | All About Photo
AAP Magazine #23 | Women
National press coverage, including coverage in The Washington Post

#1 Mobile Photographer of the Year | 2021 (#5 in the world) | One Eyeland
Winning Portfolio mobile phone black and white rodeo series

“A Woman’s View” – 2021 | SE Center for Photography
Juror - Elinor Corruci, Author & Photographer
Show link
Catalog

SE Center Open 2021 | SE Center for Photography
Juror - Douglas Beasley, Owner/Publisher, Shots Magazine
Show link
Catalog

Chico Review 2021 | Jury Selection
List of jurors, keynote speakers, selected photographers

B&W Magazine | 2021 Smartphone Annual Juried Competition
Collection of Merit | Black & White Magazine

“Portraits” – 2019 | Center for Fine Art Photography
Juror - Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director & Curator, Griffin Museum of Photography