MODE: The World’s Photography Festival

Sarah Kraning is a painter with synesthesia whose work transforms music into large-scale visual art. Born with multiple forms of auditory-visual synesthesia, she translates sound into color, texture, and motion, creating paintings that function as visual scores. With early recognition from the Guggenheim Museum, Kraning has been compared to a modern-day Wassily Kandinsky. Her synesthetic practice spans studio painting, film, live concert painting, animation and projection design, education, speaking, and creative direction. In Kraning’s experience of sound, each pitch corresponds to a specific color on the visible spectrum, allowing her to translate music into color and motion in real time.

Sari Rowe brings more than 20 years of integrated production experience across leading agencies and creative studios in the U.S., including Ogilvy New York, TBWA\Chiat\Day, RPA, and VSA Partners Chicago, where she led the production department before transitioning into an Executive Producer role. She later developed and led the animation division at We Are Snyder before returning to the pharmaceutical sector, producing for Omnicom. With a strong background in multimedia production, Sari has built lasting industry relationships and deep expertise across photography, illustration, animation, live action, AI, Web3 technologies and experiential activations. Above all, Sari is passionate about discovering and championing emerging artists, as well as her love for her family and the beach, with a book, in a chair :)

SmugMug powers your photography–and your business. You bring the visuals, we’ll bring the everything else.

Sony is a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology, guided by its purpose to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology.

Stacy Schwartz started working in the Twin Cities music scene around 2006, photographing local bands. Soon after she was hired to shoot live music for Pitchfork, SPIN, the Walker Art Center, 89.3 The Current, The Onion, and various other publications. Stacy has been the Photography Coordinator (among other things) at the undefeated best venue for live music, First Avenue, for over 10 years. She’s lucky to work with both up and coming and veteran photographers. Stacy photographs multiple concerts each year while squeezing in time to work at the record counter at The Electric Fetus, where she has worked since 2008. Stacy has two kids and a husband who also love music, although tastes vary widely.

Bio coming soon!

Thomas Maddrey is Chief Executive Officer of ASMP, a position he has held since December 2024 after serving as Chief Legal Officer beginning in 2021 and external General Counsel from 2016 to 2021. An ASMP member since high school, Thomas brings more than 25 years of connection to the Society and a career spanning photography, entrepreneurship, law, and advocacy. He spent more than a decade as a commercial and fine art photographer, co-founded Dallas’s Blue Square Art gallery, and established Eclipse Photography Institute, an education company whose instructional DVDs reached more than 800 stores worldwide. After earning his J.D. from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, he founded Maddrey PLLC, a boutique law firm dedicated to supporting creative professionals. Thomas has authored more than a dozen amicus briefs, including U.S. Supreme Court briefs in Warhol v. Goldsmith, Allen v. Cooper, and Unicolors v. H&M, advocating for copyright protections and the interests of working creatives. He is admitted to practice in Texas, before the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. His leadership service includes serving on the boards of the Copyright Alliance, Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, and Arts Counsel Texas; he also chaired the Dallas Bar Association’s Entertainment, Art, and Sports Law section.

Timothy Archibald has long believed that photography and the arts are a lifelong journey—a path shaped by continuous exploration and a personal connection to the medium. Introduced to photography as a teenager through the guidance of a strong mentor, Timothy has carried that spirit of mentorship throughout both his commercial and artistic careers, striving to build communities that nurture creative growth. As a working commercial photographer, his work has been featured in Communication Arts Photography Annual, American Photography Annual, Popular Photography, and Photo District News. His commercial client list includes major brands such as Facebook, McDonald’s, American Express, Netflix, and Botox Therapeutics. Beyond his commercial practice, Timothy’s personal projects have led to lectures and exhibitions at institutions ranging from SFMOMA and Emory University to the Museum of Sex in New York City. His work is also included in the permanent collection of Le Musée Français de la Photographie in Bièvres, France. Timothy’s current project is a work of narrative fiction titled The AI Camera Club. He is the Director of the School of Photography at The Academy of Art University.

Bio coming soon!

Tony Bynum is a Montana-based conservation photographer and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Grand Ronde. With a Master’s degree in Resource Management and extensive experience as an environmental scientist and resource manager—including work with the Yakama Nation and the EPA—Bynum uniquely blends tribal values, scientific expertise, and policy knowledge in his photography. His work focuses on conservation, wildlife, public lands, and environmental stewardship, creating powerful narratives that go beyond aesthetics to highlight ecological and cultural significance. Since 2006, Bynum has been commissioned to create images on six continents. His wildlife photographs have appeared on over 300 magazine and book covers. He is regularly commissioned by publications and platforms such as The Washington Post, Terre Sauvage, The Weather Channel, NPR, Montana Quarterly, and many more. He has also contributed to award-winning films, including National Parks Adventure (2016), The Last Keeper (2024), and The Real Yellowstone (2025). His conservation photography work has also been featured by the New York Times and Der Spiegel. As a past president of the Professional Outdoor Media Association and a passionate advocate for conservation, Bynum’s philosophy, “Don't just love something, do something for it,” encapsulates his dedication to protecting nature, public lands, natural resources, and cultures around the world.