My series ”Burn Line” explores the fragile boundary between destruction and renewal in the context of California’s wildfires and climate change. I wanted to go beyond the media images of the fire and find a way to focus on the emotional impact of the destruction. I am developing a unique process I call ”Pyrotype”: a photographic process that engraves images into wood using a CNC router, then transforms the wood into charcoal using pyrolysis by heating the wood in a low-oxygen environment. It’s a process that mirrors the cycle of loss and transformation at the heart of this project. The final product is a black-on-black distressed object that requires slowing down to take it in.
One piece in the series, ”Lost Shoes”, began with a photograph of destroyed footwear from the Eaton Fire (the Alta Dena fires in Los Angeles, January 2025). The original image was taken by Emi Takahara, who lost her home in the fire. Working with Emi has been incredibly meaningful — her image of her own shoes, mundane objects turned into fragile artifacts, became the foundation for the series about personal loss and resilience.
What remains in this object is not just what survived the fire, but what was remade through it — a meditation on memory, destruction, and the possibility of renewal.
Biography:
Often very different from one another in form, Ari Salomon’s projects share a conceptual interest in what photography can reveal about shared experience and the gap between sensing and understanding. 
Recent solo exhibitions include ”Interface” at the Kyotographie festival (2024) and the series ”6 Feet Apart” at the Head On festival in Sydney and the Transmission Gallery in San Francisco (2023). 
Recent group exhibitions include ”Memento Mori | Memento Vivere” at the Marin Art and Garden Center (Curated by Trisha Lagaso Goldberg), ”The New World” at Minnesota Street Project (curated by Sandra Philips) and ”Uncanny Beauty” at Harvey Milk Photography Center (curated by Emmanuelle Namont).
Born in Israel and relocating to the United States at a young age, he discovered his passion for photography during his high school years in San Diego.
He earned a B.A. in Art History with a concentration on contemporary art theory and studio photography from the University of California, Santa Cruz, inspired by great professors such as Victor Burgin and Geoffrey Batchen.
His artistic journey saw recognition in various exhibitions, notably being selected for Hey Hot Shot! at Jen Bekman Gallery and EMERGE at Gen Art in 2007 for his project, 18 Rue. In 2009, he presented a solo exhibition featuring panoramic photographs at the SFMOMA Artists Gallery at Fort Mason.
In 2010, he transformed the street-level display cases at the SFMOMA Minna and Natoma windows into large-scale light boxes. The ”Motion Studies” series received solo exhibitions at 4x5 Gallery in 2014 and Dzine in 2015 and in Kyoto in 2020.
His involvement in the photography community includes participating in portfolio reviews including Review Santa Fe, FotoFest Houston, Photo Lucida Portland, and the inaugural PhotoAlliance review in San Francisco in 2007.
For over 15 years, Ari has played an active role in both participating in and organizing exhibitions as part of his membership with the Bay Area Photographers Collective.
Most summers, he resides in Japan, where he explores the intricate urban landscape through various series. In 2018, his work was showcased in Japan for the first time at Photo Yokohama, and he later celebrated his inaugural solo exhibition in Japan at Dojidai Gallery in Kyoto, as part of Kyotographie KG+, in 2020.