Colton Rothwell


Mt. Sentinel Burn Scar, 2020, from the series Treading Cheatgrass

Summer Fire, 2023, from the series Treading Cheatgrass

Trophy, 2021, from the series Treading Cheatgrass

Dimorphous Bunny, 2023, from the series Treading Cheatgrass

Untitled (Montana Landscape), 2021, from the series Treading Cheatgrass

Artist Statement

In the two bodies of work I have shared, I connect sexuality and my own queer identity with natural and constructed landscapes through the use of alternative and analog photographic techniques. The resulting images, through different approaches, provide representations of beauty, desire, and intimacy often excluded in photographic and art history.

Artist Bio

Colton Rothwell (b. 1999, he/him) is a photographer and artist living and working in Missoula, Montana, USA. Born and raised in small towns throughout the Rocky Mountain West, his photographic practice reimagines the traditions of landscape photography to explore ideas around memory, desire, and the environment through a personal queer lens.

Recently, he has been a recipient of Aperture and Google’s Creator Labs Photo Fund (2023), was an artist in residence at the Banff Centre in Banff, Alberta, CA, (2023), and an exhibited artist at the Hessel Museum of Art in NY (2024). He received his BFA from the University of Montana in 2022.

Artist’s Website

Artist on Instagram

Aperture Winner of the 2023 Creator Labs Photo Fund




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