The Portal to Texas History 2026 Research Fellowship Awardee
Kael Alford
Project Title
Speculative Lands and the Idea of Trees
Project Description
Her research explores the transformation of the Texas landscape over time and evidence of human relationship to place as recorded in archives available through the Portal to Texas History. She will be examining aerial photographs and images of landscape, with a special attention to trees, as well as newspaper clippings and other historical documents.
Biography
Kael Alford is a photographer, artist, and educator who seeks creative responses to our catastrophe-ridden era in her work. She examines the stories we tell about ourselves in light of the past to help navigate our shifting present and point toward possible futures. Drawing from three decades as an international photojournalist in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the United States, she expands the responsive, narrative approach of documentary to include performance, speculation, and re-interpretation. Alford has taught journalism, photojournalism, and art photography at the college level and in workshop settings since 1996. She holds a BA in English Literature (1993), an MA in Journalism (1998), and expects to complete an MFA in Studio Art at the University of North Texas in 2027. Her work is held in museum collections including the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans.
