Circle of Magic - Spellbound (29 Palms, CA) - 2009, 20x24cm, Edition 8/10. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inventory #5919.08. Not mounted. What makes Stefanie Schneider’s work so unique is that it’s immediately recognizable. Distinctively ‘wabi-sabi’ in appearance and content. Dreamlike, colorful with depth and vision. From start to finish, a truly self-made artist with a distinctively female perspective. Stefanie Schneider lives and works in the high desert of Southern California where her scintillating situations take place in the American West. Situated on the verge of an elusive super-reality, her photographic sequences provide the ambiance for loosely woven storylines and a cast of phantasmic characters. Schneider's Polaroid photography is often described as "timeless," "nostalgic," and "dreamlike." Her use of expired Polaroid film, with its unpredictable colors and textures, creates a sense of unreality in her images and creates a sense of fragmentation and ambiguity that blurs the boundaries between past and present, and it creates a sense of memory as a fluid, shifting concept. Schneider's interest in Americana motifs, particularly those associated with the 1950s and 1960s, speaks to a sense of longing for a bygone era. Her images of motels, diners, and vintage cars evoke a sense of nostalgia for a time that may never have existed in reality. At the same time, these motifs are often paired with images of decay and abandonment, which suggest a darker, more complex interpretation of the American dream. 

 Schneider's depictions of women are also a significant aspect of her art. Her female subjects are often depicted in states of undress, but the images are not intended to be exploitative or objectifying. Rather, they are intended to explore the complexity of human relationships and emotions. Schneider's women are often depicted in moments of vulnerability, suggesting a sense of shared humanity and a challenge to traditional notions of female beauty and perfection. 

 Overall, Schneider's Polaroid photography is a deeply evocative exploration of memory, nostalgia, and the human experience. Her art challenges viewers to question their own perceptions of reality and to consider the complex, shifting nature of time and memory.