Oriana Poindexter is an American-Italian photographic artist and marine scientist whose academic background spans photography, fisheries, and marine conservation. She dives, photographs, and collects specimens to create photo-based works that document the ocean’s shifting ecosystems. Her process, rooted in both traditional and alternative photographic techniques, results in light-formed records that engage viewers in contemplating the relationship between humans and the sea.

Poindexter earned an M.A.S. in Marine Biodiversity & Conservation from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, and a B.A. in Visual Arts from Princeton University. Her work has been published by Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and exhibited at Laguna Art Museum, Oceanside Museum of Art, and Center for Fine Art Photography, among others. She creates exhibits for museums and aquariums, with a year-long solo exhibit currently on view at the Catalina Museum for Art & History. Her works are held in public and private collections across the United States and in Europe.

2025
16” x 20”
Silver gelatin print
$1,500

Original lumen print created with rainbow leaf (Mazzaella splendens) collected by the artist from the intertidal zone in Boiler Bay, Oregon, on June 13, 2025. Collected in collaboration with researchers during an artist residency at OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in summer 2025.

2025
16” x 20”
Silver gelatin print
$1,500

Original lumen print. Pressed algae collected by the artist during an an artist residency at OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in summer 2025. The species in the image represent red algae.

2025
30” x 22”
Cyanotype on paper
$2,000

Original cyanotype on paper. Pressed algae collected by the artist during an an artist residency at OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in summer 2025. The species in the image represent the red algae.

2024
15” x 11”
Cyanotype on paper
$1,000

Cyanotype photogram created with Hydroclathrus clathratus, collected by the artist while freediving off Descanso Beach, Catalina Island, California on May 9, 2024.

2024
18” x 24”
Cyanotype on paper
$1,500

Cyanotype photogram created with Hydroclathrus clathratus collected by the artist while freediving off Descanso Beach, Catalina Island, California on May 12, 2024.

2022
16” x 20”
Cyanotype on paper
$1,500

Unique cyanotype on paper. Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) collected by the artist while freediving off Point La Jolla, August 27, 2022.

2025
24” x 18”
Cyanotype on paper
$1,500

Cyanotype photogram on paper created with bladder chain kelp (Stephanocystis osmundacea) collected by the artist while freediving off Descanso Beach, Catalina Island on April 13, 2025.

2021
22” x 30”
Cyanotype on paper
$2,000

Walking Kelp (Pterygophora californica), La Jolla, California. Contact cyanotype print made with algae collected by the artist in with algae collected in La Jolla, California.

2023
63” x 60”
Cyanotype on raw canvas
$6,200

Exposure made with giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) collected by the artist while freediving off Point La Jolla, California on March 19, 2023.