Tell me about your senior project.

Basically, I’m using nature photography as a self exploration of my spirituality and connection to the planet and to the natural world. I have a very specific way of looking at things in the natural world that a lot of people normally pass by. There is beauty in everything on this planet, especially in nature. Weeds, rotting wood, maggots, ants, everything is beautiful. As a kid, I was raised in a way in which my mom would take me outside and we’d go on walks together, and at my childhood home we had forests with trails. Then at my dad’s house, we had bike paths through nature, so I was really involved with hiking and being in nature since I can remember. One of my very first memories was when my mom took me to the end of our cul de sac, and there's this big gnarled crabapple tree that would drop crabapples and they would get smashed by cars. It had been there my whole life, and we’d put our hands on the bark and she’d tell me “we are made out of the same soup”- everything in the universe is interconnected, so there really isn't a big difference between me and this tree. Because of that, it would allow for communication, so as a kid I grew up like, “yeah, we talk to trees and the planet has a spirit”, it was so commonplace for me. As I got older I realized that not everyone had those beliefs. But, I want to reinvigorate that in myself and bring my spirituality to the forefront of my art. I’ll talk about it with my friends and stuff, but it’s never been something that I’ve used a lot in my actual work, and even before this project making my photography, it was spiritual, but now I am going out to photography, I am going to be one with this planet to the best of my ability, and photograph her cause she is beautiful! 

When I walk into the gallery, what am I going to see in your space?

I want to have something inviting, with wallpaper, a rug, a chair, a podium to present my photobook on, I want it to be intimate. I want people to be able to sit down and be comfortable, and hold this book and experience it in a place that symbolizes home. I want it to be welcoming. Something that Erin Sweeney suggested is that I have everything a similar color so it doesn’t distract from the work. I was a little worried about this at first, I wanted to have crystals in shelves and moss and I still secretly want to do that, but I don't want my space to take away from my work. 

Generally in your art, what are some recurring themes? 

From a technical standpoint, texture and light have been the biggest aspects in this project. I also like repetition in nature, so I am drawn to the texture of grass and bark, and leaves that look alike, etc. Symmetry is something I’m interested in, but points have been brought up that symmetrical natural works look like they’ve been placed, as if I have manipulated my setup, so I’m on the edge about that because I feel like there are spiritual connotations with symmetry, but I don't want people to think I put things in certain places. Currently, the biggest theme is light because it doesn’t matter who you are, when you walk outside and see golden hour light going through spring leaves, everyone feels a little spiritual kindling. Something awakens in you. We all came from the earth and at one point or another we have all recognized the beauty of the earth. That’s something I want my work to reflect for people. 

 Have you considered working with fractals? 

I have always loved fractals! I feel like where we are on the planet they aren’t as common, but I am really interested in them. I don’t think they would naturally come up in my work, but I am making a book with more artistic elements like the cover and such, so maybe it’ll pop up!! Who knows?

Do you think you’ll have a written element in your project?

I am hitting a little bit of a standstill with poetry at the moment. You know I was a creative writing minor for a while. Part of the reason I had to ditch that was because my creative writing mojo goes up, and then down. There is no middle ground. With photography, there is at least always a middle ground, I never go down, but with creative writing I’m either really inspired and producing a lot, or I can’t even write four words without feeling physically ill. It makes having to produce written work for senior studio really hard, at first I was into it but now, I’m not. So, I  may add a couple poems, but I don’t think it’s going to be as in focus as I originally planned for it to be. But I do think there will be at least a few poems. 

What about any other artistic elements other than photography and writing? 

Originally, I thought about doing some illustration, but the things I’m good at drawing don’t fit well with this project, though they are more in the spiritual side of art. They are more symbolic and have weird religious undertones that don’t reflect the photography. So I have considered it, I don’t think it’s going to happen but it’s been in my mind a little bit. 

If you had three artists that you’d say inspired you the most in terms of this project, who would they be? 

Two come to my mind immediately. Imogen Cunningham is my number one, and then Minor White. Mostly Cunningham because she really goes into the beauty of plants, and her work is mind blowing. She was a fantastic photographer. White works with abstraction a lot, which is something that, in this work I do enjoy. I love the moments when people see my work and are like, “I don't know what I'm looking at, but I like it!”. I feel like White’s influence comes into play there. I don't know about a third per se, maybe Anna Atkins’s cyanotypes could definitely be an inspiration for this work. I really enjoy artists that recognize and embody the beauty of plant life. I have also been thinking a lot about Alan Watts, who is a philosopher. His beliefs go pretty close to mine. The way he talks about how we are the universe experiencing itself in its own little niche, stuff like that has been really inspiring for this work. 

I relate a lot to what you're describing with your beliefs, but for me, I feel very spiritual in relation with what’s above us, astronomy and the sky. Do you think we’ll see anything on that larger scale in this project? 

I’d say generally macro work for this project. I have tried putting landscapes in my critiques for senior studio, and they’ve never done very well. As much as I love landscape work and work with the sky, I don’t think it fits into this because a central theme here is showing beauty in “ordinary places”, “ordinary plants”. As much as I adore the vistas of the White Mountains, that’s sort of what people think of nature photography and what comes to everyone’s mind first, and I respect that, but for my specific work and spirituality, I focus more on the little things. This planet is so chock full of beauty, and everything it does is so amazing and I try to focus on that a little more than grand scale. As much as those grand scale things are amazing, I want to bring myself and my viewers into a closer view. 

What does your studio or workspace look like? Are there certain things you need to be able to work?

A car would be lovely! I don’t actually have a studio space, because photographers don’t get one. Honestly all my work is in a flat file. In order to create the best work, I need to be in the woods, outside of Manchester, and generally I need to be alone because when I hike with other people I cannot take as good of photos! I stop every two steps to photograph and I get anxious about people having to wait for me and then I don’t get the perfect shot because I sacrifice it for making sure the other person is comfortable. Really the only person I can hike with is my father, since he is into photography so he understands and he’ll just keep walking. He doesn’t care that I’m squatting next to a bush taking a photo. That’s really what I need, also having a camera helps. I like working with wide angle lenses, but I'm starting to move away from that because with wide angle comes distortion and I really don’t care for distortion. 

I know how music is really big for you, what type of music would you say helps you during shooting to allow this intimate, spiritual time in nature?

I set up playlists for every season, ever biome basically to perfectly encompass what environment I’m in. I cannot go into the woods and listen to King Crimson. That just doesn't work. But I can go into the woods and listen to Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes, Broken Social Scene, etc. I generally gravitate towards folky, acoustic, or experimental, toned down music. It’s very important for my process. I personally listen to music 90 percent of the time. It plays a part in this spiritual experience. The music itself doesn’t really carry on into my work or anything, but it’s very necessary for my process. 

What would you say to freshman Emma as advice?

Don’t be afraid of the darkroom! My whole college experience would have been ten times easier if I followed that advice. So, I’ve been into photography since I was like, ten, when I got my first camera. It’s always been in my creative world, but going into college, I was like, “eh, I’m not very good at photography, I’ll just go into illustration”. Then, there was some error and they put me in fine arts. I thought, “well, maybe the universe willed it, I’m going to give it a shot!”. I’d tell myself, follow Cassidy Summer into Photo I, and I think things would be a lot easier if I would've done that right from the beginning. Both from a college credit standpoint, and also just a mental standpoint because Photo I with Yoav my junior year, I was like, “oh shit, this was what I was meant to do with my life”. 

Similarly, what do you think is the biggest difference between yourself then and now speaking on your growth? 

I’m more mentally stable and self aware, and because of that, I think I make better work. I’m not going through as much turmoil as I was in my first couple years of college. I feel like my work has grown because I finally found an art that I'm in love with, and it isn't a roller coaster kind of love, it's a steady, strong, long relationship. Because of that, I feel more inclined to put more work into it. When I was in fine arts, I created okay work, but in the process, there was no joy. Just frustration. I love the fine art community, and it wasn’t any of the teacher’s fault, but the painting itself didn’t work for me. With photography, the ability to take my specific view and freeze it in time, it’s immaculate. It’s really cool that we’ve developed technology this much that we are able to do that. Now with painting, if we take a leaf that’s glowing under beautiful light and I paint that, it’s not going to have the same reaction. It's common knowledge that people can paint whatever they want, it doesn't have to be real, in front of you. If people were to view my current work, but as paintings, they would focus on the technique, brush strokes, paints colors, and not the body of work for what it is. People already don’t take spirituality very seriously and they think, “crystals and incense and hippie shit”, and I feel like my work as paintings would also not be taken very seriously, since I could just fabricate whatever I want. With photography, it's real, these things are real, and that’s why so many people are drawn to it, this leaf exists, you can see it and anyone can stumble upon it. 

Thinking outside of college, how do you think you’re going to take photography, or this work, and use it in your life? Will you carry this idea of spirituality in terms of photography with you? 

Absolutely. The planet is never going to run out of beautiful things to photograph. It would be very hard for me to get bored of this project. There is so much to explore, and I am always evolving, crazy things are always happening, this is a way to process it. I'm in this whirlwind of spiritual happenings, and revelations, and trying to process them, and creating this work puts me in a good place to chew on all this. My family is in a network of holistic health centers and I can show my work there. People that are interacting with my work are generally more the spiritual type, so that will be a great foundation for building my practice. Some photographers will work on one project their whole lives, and I can see myself being one of those photographers. 

So you think you’re going to be on this same artistic path moving forward?

Yeah, I think so. I do see myself experimenting more, using different forms of work that still counts as photography. In an ideal world, I’d like to sustain myself by selling prints, doing commission work, photography for album covers, etc. I’d like to spread it and have it touch other people’s lives. 

What would you say you’re extracting from the community you’ve built here?

Currently, I enjoy getting feedback on my work in general. Something I've always struggled with in my art is confidence and seeing my art for what it truly is. I enjoy seeing other people’s reactions, and observations on it. It's super important, especially for a growing artist. Here, I have the ability to talk to people about their ideas and what they see. I’m really grateful to be in this community with these people and be able to create art in a safe space.