About Maria Pulice
Maria’s first recollection of photography was when her uncle handed her a camera at the age of seven years old. It all started with family. Relationships, culture, and travel continued as a theme throughout the years as she visited family in Italy and Peru, spent time with her husband in Germany, and traveled around the world for work.
For her, photography is curiosity — a way of translating unique experiences through her photographic soul. Each image reflects a specific moment in time; even when returning to the same place, the experience is never the same. Follow her work, whether captured in black and white or vivid color, as it traces a visual evolution from film through digital photography — led by instinct, experience, and connection.
1990s | Roots & New York Awakening
Throughout the 1990s, Maria traveled frequently to her father’s hometown in Calabria, Italy, where she photographed traditions and people in southern Italy, drawn to portraiture and generational stories. These early images — often captured on 35mm film — focused on faces, gestures, and unscripted interactions.
During this period, she also moved to New York City, her work expanded into black-and-white street photography and portraiture, shaped by the energy of the city. Calabria gave her the roots; New York gave her the momentum.
2000s | Between Film & Light
Initially resistant to digital photography, Maria spent much of the early 2000s navigating the space between analog discipline and digital flexibility. Traveling frequently between New York and Miami, she began working more with natural light — using Miami’s ambiance as contrast to her film-rooted approach. During this time, she also founded her own record label, and started taking photos of up-and-coming artists. This period marked both creative and personal transition, where experimentation became part of the process.
2010s | Life in Transition
The 2010s marked a turning point. After meeting her husband — who is German — Maria began spending extended time in Germany and traveling across Europe, experiencing local customs and celebrations, like Oktoberfest, and opened up a new world of Christmas Market culture.
At the same time, she also began a new career, bridging her work in banking technology with photography. This opened the door to frequent time in Latin America and Caribbean, where she photographed indigenous communities and environments ranging from urban centers to remote regions. The work during this decade produced a print-focused body of work grounded in observation and place.
2020s | Home, Elsewhere and Back Again
The 2020s ushered in a more observant way of seeing. With travel slowed and routines reshaped, Maria turned her focus closer to home, photographing familiar and newly explored corners of New York City alongside vineyards and natural surroundings throughout New York State. These settings revealed different details from her past work — lines, materials, and texture.
As travel resumed, time in the Middle East and Africa introduced modern design and desert landscapes, — elements that influenced how she approached photographing beyond borders.
The decade also came full circle in August 2025 with a photo exhibition titled In My DNA, displayed in her father’s hometown in southern Italy and showcased Showcased special religious events such as Easter process, festivals, food culture. A return to history and origin, tied to the earliest chapters of her work.
