Jennifer Ablard

Photography

Jennifer has always made art, but photography is her love. Her first darkroom photography experience was in 9th grade. She minored in Studio Art in college and continued to make photographs for the next few decades! The rediscovery of cyanotype printing reignited her love of photography.

This alternative photographic process is a hands-on medium which does not heavily rely on a computer to create. After the pandemic she decided to pursue her love full time.

The source Jennifer’s photographs are drawn from are a lifetime of work. She loves seeing old work in a new light. She currently has exhibit space at the Mill district Local Art Gallery in North Amherst, MA. She has taught workshops there as well as with the Western Massachusetts Master.

Jennifer’s body of work is an exploration of the process of making cyanotypes:

• A light- sensitive emulsion is applied to durable paper. Then a photograph negative, plant material or other solid object is placed on the paper, and the arrangement is exposed to UV light.
• After exposure the print is processed using tap water.
• There are variations to this process such as using wet paper, double exposure, moving the objects during the exposure process.

It can feel like EVERY print is the result of an experiment. Each print is unique, subject to the variables of length of exposure to UV light and the technique used to apply the chemistry!

Jennifer's photography is inspired by the love of the outdoors, nature, and the abstract and patterns found in everyday life. Her work evokes questions of ‘where?’, ‘how?’ and ‘what?’.