MELD - Photography as a creative blender

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it”

This well-known Ansel Adams (1902–1984) quote would have had a very different audience and intention given the image-making technology of his time. Adams challenged the then mainstream idea that a photograph was a document and confidently stated that the tools he used to record scenes were tools of a fine art craft rather than instruments of factual recording.

Issue #73 - MELD - Cover image by Sarah E. Fuller , photo by Margaret Mulligan

Photography purists still applaud Adam’s proclamation that photography should be considered an artform; but this quote takes on a bold new meaning now, given the limitless technology options available today to creative practitioners.

From historical processes to AI, the “making of photographs” has never been a more diverse and contentious landscape. New combinations and previously unheard voices present us with truly exciting, fresh conversations.

Cameras are no longer even needed to create hyper-real images. “Photographs” are “made” every day at a rate beyond anyone’s comprehension with AI. With the volume of images being “made,” my question is “What are they saying?” What are we visually breathing in from beneath this avalanche?

Issue #73 celebrates photo-based artists that dare to meld technologies to craft powerful creative statements.

Emma Nishimura feature story by Corinna vanGerwin — **Emma Nishimura** feature story by Corinna vanGerwin

Emma Nishimura’s multimedia works are a tribute to her family history. Her use of photographic documents in crafting intricate, delicate, beautiful pieces connects the viewer with a very real family immigration story. The images she “makes” blend her story with that of her grandmother’s.

All the artists in this edition share practices that are slow, arduous, complicated, and layered. Works presented in this issue offer disruptions and diversions from the high-volume digital life quips that we have gotten used to streaming endlessly on our screens.

Prolific outsider artist Martha Davis’ dioramas and greenscreen projects are vivid, quickly made sketches that demand attention and slam down really hard conversation ignitions about genuinely important topics: community, seniors, children, our environment, social justice, and more.

Natalie Hunter’s work takes a gentler approach, inviting viewers into a physical experience of quiet light and joyful colour. Her work asks us to pause and breathe as we enjoy a rare analog experience.

Natalie Hunter feature by Bart Gazzola — **Natalie Hunter** feature by Bart Gazzola

In the context of mainstream conversations arguing the virtues and warnings of AI, Benjamin Freedman’s work questions, and mirrors Adam’s quote directly. Benjamin’s fabricated camera-less narratives in the context of contemporary art ask us not to challenge the truth of an image (those days have passed) but present us with a new tool for storytelling our memories, and other narratives that may or may not exist.

Duane Isaac’s work combines the physical craft of mask-making with photography to present viewers with an Indigiqueer perspective that explores identity, culture, and sexuality. (Read more here)

The PORTFOLIO pages in this edition are especially exciting for us, as the artists we present here have been selected by our curatorial team from our first-ever international open call.