The formal qualities of Daniel’s photographs bear witness to his parallel practice as a sculptor. His acute eye for shape and contour, the graphic elements within a composition, is softened by a developing painterly feel for texture and color. Daniel is continually investigating the possibilities of photography; his images are the result of both intuition and calculation.

Daniel is intrigued and energized by the density and chaos of the city. In his personal projects he has addressed urbanization and industry, and particularly the effects of their decline on landscape and community. His photographs maintain an integrity of emotion across considered archetypes – as in his book project on the fictitious Rust Belt city of Blisner, Illinois – and in documenting the lives of real working people.

Approaching his subjects with intelligence, Daniel likes to immerse himself in their world, bringing out the specifics of a location and its humanity.

Daniel Shea was born in 1985. Following a BFA at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD (2007), he gained an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, in 2013. Daniel now lives in New York.

In 2018, Daniel was chosen as the winner of the twelfth Foam Paul Huf Award. This annual prize, given to a photography talent under 35 years, consists of an exhibition at Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. In 2014 Daniel had a solo exhibition at Andrew Rafacz Gallery, and a two-person show at Heaven Gallery, both in Chicago. Publication of Daniel’s artist’s book Blisner, Ill. (2012) was marked with an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, in Chicago, where he has also shown at LVL3 Gallery (2012, 2011); MDW Art Fair (2012); and Acre Gallery (2010). International solo shows include Alt. +1000, Switzerland (2011) and Centre for Art and Culture, Aix-en-Provence, France (2005). His work has also been included in exhibitions at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (2012), Museo de Art Acarigua-Araure, Venezuela (2012), Asia Society, Beijing, China (2011), and IUAV Gallery, Venice, Italy (2008).

Clients include: Alyx, AnOther, AnOther Man, Atmos, Dazed & Confused, Double, AirBnB, The Atlantic, Calvin Klein, Fantastic Man, Fast Company, Frieze, G by Givenchy, Gucci, Levi's, Louis Vuitton, M Le Monde, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, The New York Times, Proenza Schouler, Re-Edition, Theory, TIME, The Wall Street Journal.