Vestige

These lumen prints are a collaboration between process and intention while addressing themes of identity, mortality, and the body from a uniquely female perspective.

Vestige is a series of lumen prints in which my hair, saliva, blood, breastmilk, or bathwater are placed directly onto silver gelatin paper. In these color-scape photograms, the female form, which is subjected to an onslaught of societal pressure and objectification, defies conventional representation, appearing as mark-making and surface disruptions on photographic paper. Here the circle is not a direct stand-in for my body, but a nod to the female figure throughout art history. 

Lumen prints are made by exposing silver gelatin paper to light for extended periods. The paper develops outside the darkroom, needing only sodium thiosulfate to fix the image. Although these images resemble paintings, they are fundamentally photographic; the colors directly relate to the type of paper used, exposure time, and UV in the light source. 

This project is a natural extension of my work with figurative and portrait photography. Instead of a classic depiction of my body, these images reinterpret the gaze, by eliminating sensuality (the body) for the sublime (abstraction). Creating a new and unrecognizable self-portrait while challenging representation of the corporeal. Here physical remnants of my body become an affirmation and serve as evidence of my existence. These images become a collaboration between process and intention while addressing themes of identity, mortality, and the body from a uniquely female perspective.