Seaside Recollections Artifacts series, Ocean City Maryland, 2022
Seaside Recollections, cyanotype photograms of items collected at various locations on the Ocean City Boardwalk, is inspired by the work of Anna Atkins, a 19th century British botanist and photographer who used the cyanotype process to make photographs of algae. Collected items, such as food, wrappers, cigarettes, clothing tags, napkins, and natural elements including, sand, feathers, leaves and broken shells are collected and placed on coated light sensitive paper and exposed to the sun. Opaque objects block the light, leaving a white shape, transparent and translucent items reveal words or shapes in different shades of blue, after exposure, the paper is washed in water to remove the chemicals, revealing the final image.
A remainder of the memories of visiting Ocean City’s Boardwalk, Seaside Recollections asks the viewer to consider how commonplace objects can be transformed into something to be admired, making trash into something beautiful.