My magnum opus is experienced on a screen. I was an early adopter of digital technology in my artistic practice, which allowed a workflow that mirrored the speed at which I think. My documentary work, modeled after Gilded Age photographers Lewis Hine and Jacob Riis, required me to be extremely present in my surroundings - often in literal danger.

The presence of the images themselves, however, largely exist as pixels of light emanating from screens. Only a fraction of my work has ever become historical artifact. I find it disconcerting, sometimes, that my attempts to preserve history, and the bulk of my imagination, exist only in this form. It’s such a different experience of history, being so removed from physically holding one-of-a-kind images, or looking at them through physical instruments.

In many ways, I appreciate this liminal space; I see it as a spirit dimension of photography, and it reaches a mass audience. I also miss leafing through physical photo albums with my grandmother and asking who the ghostly faces were in the pictures, the stories she’d tell, and feeling that immediate connection to my ancestors.

My project is to combine my digital practices with analogue presentation. For several years I’ve been volunteering with the Penumbra Studio in NYC, which creates tintype portraits using antique cameras. I will be collaborating with the brilliant Ilicia at Parallax Shift, who specializes in 3D imagery/alternative materials, to print my digital work on metal, glass, fabric and stereoscope cards. I have been collecting antique photo albums to fill with my work; I am also learning how to create hybrid photo paintings with the cyanotype process.

After many years of creating and photographing sets for theatre productions and photographic vignettes, I love the idea of ONLY experiencing my photography though antique means. I would like to create an immersive installation of a Victorian parlour: part living history museum, part David Lynch's Red Room, part Sleep No More, I want the experience to be unique and hands-on.

There is quite literally an ancestral tie to this project, as I am also collaborating with my mom to hand-sew Victorian-style decorative elements (cushions, wall hangings) using my cyanotypes printed on fabric. My young niece will also be featured in one of the stereoscope photoplays.

I’m looking forward to exploring this further and sharing it with everyone in my upcoming solo show through my managers, Ndr Nw Mgmt, this upcoming spring. I have also spoken with the Morris-Jumel Mansion staff about potentially exhibiting this project there next autumn. I am open to showing in galleries or historical spaces alike. I am also working with antique dealers to find authentically old items that would best showcase my work.

I am on the hunt for the following to create this space, if you have anything like this lying around that you would like to donate or sell:

Victorian sofa/chairs
Antique gramophone (ideally the kind with a horn)
Victorian-era wall frames
Victorian-era photo albums
Empty daguerreotype/ambrotype cases

I will also need funding to cover the following:

Fabric
Chemistry and photo paper for cyanotypes
Framing costs
Travel costs
General living costs
Gallery and publication submission fees

Should this project interest you, all funding will go toward those items, and - most importantly - making sure my printer collaborator gets well-compensated for her materials, expertise, and time. I am immensely grateful for all assistance.

Alice Teeple

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