Catherine Just (Los Angeles, b. 1968)
Catherine Just is a visual artist and photographer based in Los Angeles whose work traverses the psychological, spiritual, and emotional dimensions of belonging and connection. Working primarily with large format film cameras, long exposures, vintage Polaroid cameras, and alternative processes, her practice engages the invisible thresholds between presence and memory, intimacy and absence.

Over the past three decades, Just has developed several bodies of work that are as conceptually rigorous as they are emotionally resonant. Her images surface what cannot be spoken: the space between words, between breath, between heartbeats—between what is known with the mind and what is known without knowing. She often hand-sews with embroidery thread directly onto her photographs and uses a vintage typewriter to inscribe words and textures, creating a layered, tactile field of memory and meaning.

Rooted in personal experience—including over 37 years of continuous sobriety from meth addiction—her work is a deep inquiry into transformation, the recovery of inner wisdom, and the ongoing evolution of identity through relationships with self and others. Her apprenticeship with Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements, continues to influence her philosophical and creative orientation: she approaches image-making as a portal for truth-telling, reality-questioning, and the alchemical process of personal and collective healing.

Just received her BFA in Conceptual Photography, Film, and Video from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions including Photo London, The Milan Photo Fair, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Photos de Femmes (Château de LaLande), and WhiteWalls Art Projects (Australia). Her photographs have appeared on the cover of National Geographic Magazine, in O Magazine, and other international publications. She is represented by WhiteWalls Art Projects (New South Wales) and Alta Vista Arts (Los Angeles).

In addition to her fine art practice, Catherine leads retreats and workshops internationally and teaches at the Los Angeles Center of Photography. She is the single mother of Max, her teenage son with Down syndrome, with whom she collaborates on projects that reframe visibility, inclusion, and unconditional love.


Catherine Just
Visual Artist | Photographer | Creativity Mentor
Based in Los Angeles & Paris
catherinejust.com | studio@catherinejust.com

EDUCATION

BFA in Photography, Film & Video
The Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 1992

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025
Context Art Miami - Fabrik Projects Gallery - Miami, FL (upcoming, December 2-7)
Alta Vista Arts Gallery – Paris, France (upcoming, November )
Afforadable Art Fair - Fabrik Projects Gallery - NYC (upcoming September 17-21)
Alta Vista Arts Gallery – Los Angeles, CA (upcoming, September)
Artist / Proof, The Makery – Los Angeles, CA (upcoming, August 3)
Contemporary Visions, Fabrik Gallery at bG Gallery – Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
Los Angeles, OFFUS Gallery - Los Angeles, CA
Photo London, Fabrik Gallery – Somerset House, London, England
MIA Photo Fair, Alta Vista Arts Gallery – Milan, Italy

2024
Alta Vista Arts Gallery – Paris, France
OFFUS Gallery – Bendix Building, Los Angeles, CA
Tryst International Art Fair, OFFUS Gallery – Torrance, CA
Chasing the Fog: Learning How to Breathe, OFFUS Gallery – Los Angeles, CA

2023
Alta Vista Arts Gallery – Paris, France
PBA & Associates – Beverly Hills, CA
WhiteWall Art Projects Gallery – New South Wales, Australia

2022
WhiteWall Art Projects Gallery – New South Wales, Australia

2021
Laurel Canyon Open Studio – Los Angeles, CA
Monochrome, WhiteWall Art Projects Gallery – New South Wales, Australia

2020
Photos de Femme – Château Lomenie, France
Photos de Femme – Château de LaLande, France
Art in Isolation – North Dakota Museum of Art
WhiteWall Art Projects Gallery – New South Wales, Australia

2018
The Polaroid Show – Brooklyn, NY
Duncan Miller Gallery, Les Rencontres d'Arles – Arles, France
Home, SE Center for Photography – Greenville, SC
The Shed Collective Pop-Up with MOPLA – Los Angeles, CA

2016
She, Pop-Up Art Show with Jennah Ferrer Foronda + Fantine Reucha – Paris, France

2015
Personal Project, LA Center of Photography – Los Angeles, CA

2014
The Mobile Photo, MN Center of Photography – Minneapolis, MN

2013
Cell Phone Exhibition, Lenscratch
Love + Lust, Open to Interpretation, Lenscratch

2012
Love, Lenscratch Online Photography Magazine

2011
Self Portrait Group Show, Gallery 122 – Minneapolis, MN

2005
Juried Show, Newspace Center of Photography – Portland, OR

2001
Group Show, The Darkroom Gallery – Portland, OR
Abajo del Río (Solo Show), Forbidden Fruit Gallery – Portland, OR

PUBLICATIONS & PODCASTS

Selected features from 2003–2025:
The Art Talk Magazine – Zurich, Switzerland (2025)
National Geographic Magazine (Cover)
O Magazine Online
Rangefinder Magazine
PDN (Photo District News)
Shots Magazine
Lenscratch
Light Leaked
Digital Photography School
Refinery29
DanielleLaPorte.com
The Desire Map, Book by Danielle Laporte (Author Image)
PsychCentral.com – How to Unlock Creativity
Enso Radio Interview
White Hot Truth with Danielle LaPorte, Author Image
Inside Story with April Adams
Dream with Dan Podcast, Dan Mangena
Lane Kennedy Podcast
Into the Deep with Catherine Just Podcast (Host, 2020–present)

AWARDS & HONORS

2020
Photos de Femme, Château Lomenie – France

  • 1st Place: The Crown

  • Honorable Mentions: Self Portrait in Paris, The Stitched Heart, Day 23 of Quarantine

2014
Honorable Mention: The Mobile Show, Minneapolis Photo Center

RESIDENCIES

OFFUS Gallery – Los Angeles (July 2024 to March 2025)

TEACHING & MENTORING EXPERIENCE

Courses & Programs

LA Center of Photography
The Visual Poetry of Self Portraiture
Online through Catherinejust.com
The Deepening-Photography Mentoring Program
Self Portraiture as Medicine
Art as Medicine
Conceptual Photography 101
From Good to Great Self-Paced Photo Course
Bedside Stories - Release Internalized Ageism using self portraiture as a tool for transformation

Mentorship & Healing Work
1:1 Mentoring for Women Artists and Women in Recovery
EFT Tapping and NLP techniques : 1:1 Sessions

Retreats & Experiences
Artist Retreats in Paris and the South of France – 2016–Present
Photography Sessions (Capturing Breath on Film) – France, Morocco, Italy, Canada, US, Mexico – 2016–Present



NEWS



Alta Vista Arts : Group Exhibition : Milan Photo Fair, March 2025





Alta Vista Arts : Group Exhibition : Paris, November 2024



Residency at OFFUS Gallery inside the Historic Bendix Building in Downtown Los Angeles

July 2024 - ongoing



Chasing Fog : Selected Photographs from the larger body of work : July 2024



Alta Vista Arts Group Exhibition : Paris : November 2023



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