Miles Astray is a multidisciplinary artist, combining photography and prose. Inspired by a slow, immersive, and messy journey around the world that started in 2012 and is ongoing, his practice is framed by candor, but not caged in by any one genre. Miles’ work aims beyond catchy, one-dimensional black or white narratives and notions of misery, happiness, modernity, and exoticism to portray authentic glimpses of here, there, and elsewhere. The result is both homage and appeal.
As a traveling photographer rather than a travel photographer per se, Miles' eclectic body of work encompasses anything from soul-feeding landscapes and pulse-accelerating cityscapes to story-telling street photography, keen cultural observations, bold documentary, and unusual animal encounters both in color and monochrome.
A self-taught artist first by passion then profession, his work has been exhibited in Paris, Rome, and Athens, and garnered international recognition at a variety of photography contests.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Julia Chatterley about F L A M I N G O N E over at CNN International's First Move.
Check out the video: How a real picture won an AI photography competition | CNN
"Societies worldwide are confronted with escalating risks from hazards such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, and water pollution, as well as mounting social pressures driven by migration, population growth, and urbanisation. In response, we are enhancing our resilience to these challenges through innovative local initiatives, such as community-driven action, nature-based solutions, and novel financial strategies. This Exploring Risk Visual Arts Festival 2025 is about documenting, capturing, and inspiring the transition from being impacted by hazards to being resilient. "
Bilbao
"First we pressed PAUSE, then PLAY, and now we press the REC button. The abbreviation for Record, which usually appears as a red circle on our screens, refers to a register, to memory, to the story of the past, and to images as a witness to reality. The relationship between image and record is a central debate in visual studies, one that has been addressed by the great names of the theory of photography such as Walter Benjamin, Susan Sontag and Georges Didi-Huberman. But what is left of this debate today in relation to contemporary technologies? What is the difference between accumulating archives and telling a story? What is the future of the image –and of memory constructed through visual recording– in a world of extreme, immaterial, manipulable and seemingly infinite REC?"
Museum for Communication, Berlin
"The first comprehensive exhibition on news in Germany sheds light on how the news developed and our relationship to it. The focus is specifically on one key actor many people know very little about – the news agencies. What has been their historical role and why do we need them today?
From election results to sporting achievements and tomorrow’s weather – it has never been easier to find out what is happening in the world. All around the globe, you can access the news 24/7 anywhere. So why are people increasingly turning their backs on the news? When asked about our own relationship to the news, we all have a different answer. Our interactive exhibition invites you to explore your own personal news habits, needs and knowledge. At the same time, it encourages us to think about what we need as a society to be well-informed now and in the future."
Here are some of the top global media outlets and art magazines that have covered my work:
CNN, US
CBS, US
Smithsonian Mag, US
Business Insider, US
ARTnews, US
CTV News, Canada
The Telegraph, UK
Le Parisien, France
Radio France, France
Le Quotidien de L'art, France
Science & Vie, France
Beaux Arts, France
Arts in the City, France
De Standaard, Belgium
De Telegraaf, Netherlands
NZZ, Switzerland
GEO, Germany
Telegraph, India
The Express Tribune, Pakistan
La Vanguardia, Spain
El Confidencial, Spain
Il Post, Italy
Kultura, Hungary
La Nación, Argentina
El Litoral, Argentina
El Tiempo, Colombia
Art News Japan, Japan
Maeil Business Newspaper, South Korea
Art Emperor, Taiwan
Fortune China, China
VnExpress, Vietnam
Antena 1, Brazil
The Press, New Zealand
ARTShub, Australia
Check out the article here: Photo of headless flamingo that won an AI award turns out to be real - The Washington Post
Check out the article here: AI Photo Contest Winner Disqualified Because It’s Real (forbes.com)
Check out the article here: Photographer takes on the machines in AI competition – and wins | Photography | The Guardian
Check out the article here: How This Real Image Won an AI Photo Competition | Scientific American
Trieste, Province of Trieste, Italy
International Festival of Photograhy
In 2023, one of my photos ended up among the winners of the CEWE Award, the world’s largest photo contest. In the runup to the 2024/25 award season, CEWE reached out to me with a very flattering offer: to be the representative of their new Young Talent Award! Check out the link to see my image SILLY LOVE in action and read my tips for aspiring photographers:
Young-talent-award | CEWE Photo Award 2025
Very honored to have my work "F L A M I N G O N E" featured alongside an incredible selection of photographs in the 2023 KAAF catalogue: kaafphoto.ir/dl/KAAF Photo Contest 2023.pdf
The Glasgow Gallery of Photography
Two works of mine will be on display at The Glasgow Gallery of Photography during the month of July for the international group exhibition "Travel." Do stop by if you get a chance!
