Alexander Brauer is a contemporary landscape photographer based in the heart of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. His work focuses on documenting the evolving landscapes of the American West, with a particular emphasis on the complex interplay between human activity and the natural world.

Brauer earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in photography from the University of Arizona in 2013. His photographs have been exhibited in numerous venues, including the Center for Creative Photography, the Tucson Museum of Art, and the Tohono Chul Main Gallery.

While early influences like Ansel Adams initially drew Brauer to the grandeur of untouched wilderness, his artistic vision has shifted to reflect a more nuanced, contemporary reality. In an era defined by urban expansion and industrial sprawl, he sees the pristine landscapes of the past as increasingly rare. Instead, Brauer turns his lens toward the shared spaces of today, where the marks of human presence intersect with natural resilience.

Influenced by the philosophies of Robert Adams and Frank Gohlke, Brauer explores the quiet, often overlooked remnants of human life within the landscape. His subjects include abandoned structures, overgrown lots, and traces of history embedded in the earth; each image serving as a meditation on change, loss, and endurance. Rather than dramatizing destruction, Brauer is drawn to the understated aftermath: how nature reclaims, how communities adapt, and how the everyday landscape tells stories of coexistence.

Brauer invites viewers to reexamine their surroundings and find meaning in the subtle intersections of the human and natural worlds. His work challenges traditional notions of landscape photography, encouraging reflection on the ways we inhabit, alter, and are shaped by the environments around us.