The water has a body and so do I. A body as old as time itself, one that has ebbed and flowed for longer than I can comprehend. Yet, within the tradition of photography, we have often restrained bodies of water and other natural elements to a romantic fragment within their time. We halt them within the photographic moment, creating a portrait that eventually replaces the very body of water itself. These photographs fail to recognize the water for its ephemeral and animate nature, one that requires our dedication and time to understand.
Overflow seeks to recognize picture as privilege by inviting water to be a collaborator in the photographic process. By using a cameraless medium, the traditional gaze of the lens is removed from the creation of the image, allowing the water to take a leading role in its own imaging. To create these images, I met the water at the shoreline, often in the quiet of morning, and arranged a composition that included nearby flora, natural objects along the shoreline, or my own body. As the water rushed to meet the paper, it slowly carved its features into the material, aided by natural light or artificial UV. As the sun rose, I listened to the water while the image formed and was completed. What emerged were vibrant self-portraits of one of the earth’s most dynamic elements, both an abstract documentation of an uncontrollable force and a tangible record of the connection between myself and water forged over the passage of time. Made by visits to both freshwater and saltwater, Overflow exists as part of a pursuit to image the natural world in a truthful, respectful, and reciprocal manner, placing importance on learning to revere the oceans and lakes that surround us.
Madison Chow is a visual artist and photographer whose work primarily focuses on the natural world and our connections to it. Working in digital, analogue, and alternative processes, Madison’s work takes on a variety of forms, emphasizing the tangibility of photographic objects. Within these mediums, she explores the notion of the landscape image, seeking to extend our vision of natural spaces by elongating the photographic moment in Organic Soul and focusing on photographic collaboration with the water in Overflow. As an artist, Madison seeks to use both lens-based and cameraless mediums as a conduit for thorough reflection, healing, and empowerment.