Steffanie A. Padilla (b. 1989, Riverside, CA) is an artist, photographer, and educator based in Southern California, working between the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County. She holds an MFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA in Photography from California State University, Long Beach.
She is currently the Education Programs Manager at the California Museum of Photography at UCR ARTS, where she develops photography and filmmaking workshops for K–12 students with a focus on media literacy. She also works as a Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) coach.
Available for commercial, editorial, and assignment-based work.
email: SteffanieAPadilla [at] gmail [dot] com
Instagram @sff.pll
Linkedin
CV
EDUCATION
MFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Photography, 2021
BFA, California State University of Long Beach, Photography, 2016
CLIENTS / PRESS
New York Times, Wire Magazine (UK), Cream Magazine (MX), Capricious
AWARDS / CERTIFICATES
Collegiate Teaching + Learning Certificate, Rhode Island School of Design, 2021
T.C. Colley Scholar for Excellence in Photography Award, Rhode Island School of Design, 2020
PHOTOGRAPHY + FILM WORKSHOPS @UCR ARTS
Media Literacy: Finding Meaning in Visual Storytelling, 2025-2026
Portrait Lighting 101: Classic & Creative Techniques, 2025-2026
The Filmmaker's Guide to: Creative B-Roll, 2025-2026
Framing Nature: A Photo Walk Inspired by Ansel Adams, UCR Botanic Gardens, 2025-2026
Seeing Is Not Always Believing: Generative AI, 2025
Off the Block: Documentary Filmmaking Program, 2023-2026
Future Look: Professional Headshots, co-taught w/Miguel Esparza, 2024-2026
Documentary Interviews: Basics of Lighting, Camera, and Audio, co-taught w/Nikolay Maslov & Rene Balingit, Ramona High School Film Festival, CA, 2025-2026
Storytelling Through Photography: Christina Fernandez (2022), Jon Henry (2023), Digital Capture Southern California & the Pixel-Based Image World (2024), Lenard Smith (2026), Dispatches: The Photography of Douglas McCulloh (2027)
PRESENTATIONS / ARTIST TALKS
Artslift Conference, 3D Magic: Interactive Stereo Photography with UCR ARTS California Museum of Photography, presented w/ Lindsey Hammel & Lisette Bourne, Riverside County Office of Education, 2026
SPE West Chapter Conference, Storytelling Through the Lens: Youth Media Education, presented w/ Lindsey Hammel and Nikolay Maslov, 2025
ArtsMatter Professional Development, 3D Magic: Exploring Photography with Stereo Images & Virtual Reality, presented w/Lindsey Hammel, Los Angeles, 2024
California State University of Long Beach, Experimental Photography, (virtual) invited by Brice Bischoff, 2020
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Hallucinating California, The Wrong Biennale (online) / 2023 Every Day We Have to Invent the Reality of This World: AI Post Photography, California Museum of Photography, Riverside, CA—Alpha Film Festival, Onlookers selected by critic Ben Nicholson (MILC metaverse) / 2022 Milan Machinima Festival MMXXII, Onlookers, curated by Matteo Bittani (online) / 2021 B-Words, ClampArt Gallery, Chelsea, NY—Ask: Our Diverse World, Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (online) The Makeable Mind, Noorderlicht International Fotofestival, Netherlands—Time Capsule, Watson Institute, Brown University (online)—RISD Graduate Thesis Show, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI—Memories and How We Hold Them, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI / 2019 I’m People (Concept Creep Post-Internet), The Wurks, Providence, RI, Graduate Biennial, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI—One, Red Eye Gallery, Providence, RI—Inaugural, Sample Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC / 2018 Contemporary Photography, CICA Museum, South Korea, Taking Pictures, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR / 2017 Winter Works, Bromfield Gallery, Boston, MA / 2016 Misplacement, Max L. Gatov Gallery, Long Beach, CA, One: Mind, Body, Spirit, Self-Help Graphics & Art, Los Angeles, CA.
Interests: Media ecology / literacy, technology, psychology, graphic design, popular culture.
©2026