Artist Statement – Art Made with Light
A photogram is a shadowlike photographic image made by placing objects between light-sensitive paper and a light source. I made my first photograms in photography class in the 1980s. At the time, making photograms was simply a way to learn my way around the darkroom. It taught me how to use an enlarger and what the various chemicals do. A few decades later I rediscovered the darkroom and found it’s still one of my favorite places to be. Antique garments, vintage glassware and natural objects are among the subjects in my work. I collect specimens of frogs, lizards, dragonflies and butterflies. Found leaves and wildflowers are pressed under books in my studio. The ocean offers sea whips, crab shells, seahorses and seaweed, dried in the sun. Flea markets and thrift stores hold a treasure trove of antique Christening gowns, Edwardian blouses, Victorian bonnets, delicate glassware and old lace.
I initially began making photograms using what I refer to as my “critters”; seahorses, crabs, butterflies, dragonflies, sea whips, wildflowers and other found curiosities. My husband works in coastal science and helps me gather specimens. No animals are ever harmed—they’re gathered after they’ve passed. One day my husband came home with a deceased baby stingray. He had noticed some fishermen getting ready to toss it back. He asked if he could have the ray and they agreed. So the joke now is that it’s all fine and good if your husband brings you flowers. But it’s really exciting if he brings you a dead baby stingray.
Eventually, I was led to include textiles as photogram subjects. The first image I made using a garment was a vintage full slip with a cigarette burn on the thigh, that I found at my favorite thrift store. Who wore the slip? What was her story? When I’m working on a garment photogram, I try to visualize the person who wore the garment. I generally don’t see faces, but rather fleeting images of torsos and limbs against various backdrops; simple or elaborate, seductive or domestic, light or dark.
I embrace imperfection in my images, but try to be precise when arranging my subjects. While it might be easier if I had more light to see what I was doing, that would also take a lot of the fun out of it. Anticipation has always been one of my favorite things about the darkroom. My compositions are usually simple but thoughtful, and can be viewed as ethereal, playful, dark, joyful, morose, hopeful or nostalgic. This simplicity allows the viewer to find their own story, be it family, politics, feminism, gender, sexuality, body-image, materialism, culture, economy, history or simply nostalgia. To me, they’re first and foremost, a reminder to always try to see things in a different light.
Watch a short video about Melissa’s Photogram Process
