Gallery With A Cause • Located in the New Mexico Cancer Center • Benefitting the NMCC Foundation
Please call gallery director Regina Held to arrange a private gallery tour, make a purchase, or ask any questions.
Artist Statement
This collection of non-silver photographic prints is a collaboration between the artist, Susan Tabor, and her daughter, Carrie Nielson. Susan combined Carrie’s images with her own to create unique montages using a traditional cyanotype process of exposing transparencies to chemically treated paper using the light of the sun. Susan stumbled on the art of cyanotype prints when she came across sun prints of British algae, published by Anna Atkins in 1843. This process of printing photos in Prussian blue was discovered in April of 1842 by Sir John Herschel (1792-1871). Susan’s montages celebrate the preciousness of life, the art of slowing down, and the practice of forest bathing.
Cyanotype prints can be created using one of these two processes:
As Photogram – a camera-free process resulting in one-of-a kind images: An object of interest such as plant material is placed on chemically treated paper both of which are then exposed to the sun. Once the exposure is complete, the object is removed and the paper washed with water and hung to dry after which the image is revealed.
As Photographic process: A transparency, or photographic negative the same size as the final image, is placed on chemically treated paper and exposed to the sun after which the paper is washed and hung to dry. Once dry, the image is revealed. Since the transparency is not destroyed in the exposure process it can be used again to create an image like the first one, although it is next to impossible to create identical images given that all steps in the process are done by hand from coating the paper with a brush and chemicals to using natural light for the exposure and developing the image in water.
Beyond these basic Prussian-blue prints, there are numerous techniques and substances that can be used to tone prints in various colors. Prints can also be colorized with watercolors. The choice of papers will greatly change the look of the final print. Exposure times range from several minutes to hours if using the wet paper method.
Biography – Susan Tabor, Photographer and Printer
Born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, I earned a BFA in painting and printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, but life took me in another direction. A mid-life crisis propelled me to New Mexico where I sought adventure and romance. I found both. I retired in 2015 and discovered the art and craft of cyanotypes and rediscovered my passion for art. I happily live and print in Albuquerque with my dog, KC.
Biography – Carrie Nielson, Photographer
Growing up in a log house at the foot of the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, I spent my childhood exploring the woods surrounding my home. Life eventually took me all over the country: to Albuquerque where I met my husband, to Connecticut, and back to my mountains in Knoxville, Tennessee. I’m a Veterinary Technician who enjoys my free time hiking in the mountains, photographing the beauty of nature, and encouraging others to partake as well.