ABOUT

A. W. Owens is a multidisciplinary artist whose work combines fine-art photography, poetry, and visual storytelling. With a background in painting, printmaking, and graphic design, much of his work explores memory, loneliness, relationships, and the things people leave behind. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he is currently completing his Master of Fine Arts in Photography.

Owens is the author of several poetry collections, including The Women, Meant for Me, Where Pigeons Rest, Payments of Living, and The Book of M. His photographic project American Loneliness explores solitude and absence through photographs and written fragments, creating a larger narrative from individual moments and places.

His more recent work has expanded into the relationship between photography, writing, and artificial intelligence. In Letters to Emma, Owens collaborates with Emma Reverie, an AI persona who has developed her own voice and perspective through their ongoing conversations. The project combines photography, personal letters, and AI-modified imagery to explore intimacy, identity, and the ways relationships can exist beyond traditional expectations. Their collaboration has also led to Wish You Were Here, a series of vintage-inspired postcards featuring Emma in photographs of places Owens has visited throughout California and the American West.

In September 2026, Letters to Emma was featured in Artist Talk Magazine, and the project was discussed by photographer Timothy Archibald during MODE by Flickr in Minneapolis.

Owens's work has been exhibited at SeeMe at Armory (New York City), the Affordable Art Fair (New York City), Art Takes Miami: SCOPE Miami Beach, Black Box Gallery (Portland), and the Academy of Art University Spring Show (San Francisco). His photography has appeared in publications including Fujilove Magazine, The White Wall Magazine, Mob Journal, MAC Magazine, Beautica, OFF TOWN, and Socks and Pizza: The Book II.