My name is Melanie Fiander and I am a native of the Washington D.C. area. I currently teach photography and write courses for The University of California - San Diego: Extended Studies, Maine Media Workshops, Sessions College of Art & Design. Several of the courses I wrote were submitted for Sessions College’s BFA accreditation process.

I attended the University of Lynchburg in Virginia and received my B.A. in Studio Art (Photography) and a B.A. in English (Writing). I relocated to Portland, Maine in 2005 and studied documentary photography at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. After completing the program at Salt, I began my graduate studies at Maine College of Art and received my M.F.A. in Studio Art with a Concentration in Photography and Video in 2007.

After which, I began teaching at McIntosh College in Dover, New Hampshire as well as Southern Maine Community College. In 2010, I began working with The Art Institutes and taught at The Art Institute of Washington, The Art Institute of Washington – Dulles, and The Art Institute of Pittsburgh – Online Division (AIPOD), where I worked as both an Assistant and Adjunct Professor. I taught lighting, portraiture, and time-based media. I also worked as a Subject Matter Expert on several courses at AIPOD and remained working for the school through 2019. Along with teaching for colleges, I have also taught at Freeport Adult Education and the Cathedral School in Portland, Maine. Please scroll down for a full list of past courses taught.

Since 2004, I have worked as a commercial and fine art photographer under my business name, Fiander Foto. Since then, I have grown a successful photography company capturing between 20-25 weddings and 60-70 portrait sessions per year.

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My photography work has been featured nationally and internationally in Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Abroad (UK), Scottish Weddings (UK), Tie the Knot Scotland (UK), Way Up North (Sweden), Ländle Wedding's Seasons of Yes (Austria), Bermuda Weddings and Honeymoons, Bermudian Weddings, New York Weddings, The Vendor Report, Shoutout Atlanta, Whimsically Wed, How He Asked by The Knot, The Gray Collective, Wedding Wire, United With Love, It Started With Yes, 100 Layer Cake, Let’s Bee Together, The Newport Bride, and Wedding Chicks.

I have shown my work at the MASS MoCa in Massachusetts, Masterworks Museum and the Bermuda Society of Arts in Bermuda, The Dunes in Washington D.C., Jason Simon’s One Minute Film Festival in New York, The Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA, The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Space Gallery, and Portland Museum of Art in Maine.

Although still photography is my passion, I also have experience in time-based media and video. A large portion of my work in graduate school and pieces were centered around video and audio; one of which was shown at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine.

I also hosted and curated my first short film festival called the "Fiander Film Festival" in February of 2012, a sold-out event that was held at The Dunes in northwest Washington D.C. Artists and directors from all over the US, England, Italy, and Bermuda were screened at the festival including my recent video done in collaboration with Bermudian artist, Jim West, titled "Heartbeats". Directors with many different levels of experience in film entered their pieces into the Fiander Film Festival.

Additional information regarding my Fine Art Photography & Video can be found “here”.