“You don’t take pictures with your camera. You take pictures with your heart and mind.”

~Arnold Newman

Andrea Passarella is a contemporary visual storyteller and educator with over 20 years of experience in photography, arts education, and contemplative arts pedagogy. She bridges photography with a mindful approach to help students connect their inner and outer worlds, deepening their practice and illuminating what is most meaningful for expression. Through reflective practices, dialogue, and creative exploration, Andrea fosters curiosity, emotional awareness, and risk-taking, guiding students to develop a visual language that is both technically proficient and personally meaningful.

From studying with renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark in the neighborhoods of Oaxaca to leading workshops with teens in Los Angeles and conducting research in higher education, she brings a holistic approach to teaching and learning—an approach reflected in Mark’s observation:

“You have a warm and great way with people, and it shows in your pictures.”

~MEM

My artistic work explores themes of memory, matriarchy, labor, and resilience. Projects such as Remembering the Matriarch and Below the Line inform my teaching, offering concrete examples of how art can connect with community, history, and identity. These projects demonstrate to students the power of art as both personal expression and social engagement.

I’ve come to see that knowing where we come from shapes how we see the world. This wisdom has become the cornerstone of my academic and personal inquiry, guiding both my mindfulness practice and my research into family, culture, and identity.

As a child, I found space in the woods—exploring, playing, and learning to listen to the world around me. Those early moments of wonder became the roots of my contemplative practice and the way I show up in the world.

No artistic or scholarly practice is complete without mindfulness - an ongoing act of noticing and observing. I like to live in the sometimes: it’s softer than always and never. These sometimes spaces ask us to be fully present—to meet each moment as it is, with openness and care.

I’d love to guide you on your own exploration of research—your own mesearch—and the discoveries that arise when curiosity meets presence.