Using alternative photographic processes, photographer Elizabeth Dowling-Nash creates beautifully quiet and still natural scenes, setting the stage for an emotive story of healing.

Since the evolution of photography, our many relationships with nature have been explored through this visual medium. These narratives have been presented in the beautifully vibrant, yet delicate cyanotypes of Anna Atkins, all the way to the vast and exquisite photographs of Ansel Adams. However, in a time where we have become arguably disconnected from this subject matter, some photographers are turning to alternative and creative photographic processes to make work which is building back the bonds between nature and art.

In her series of screen-printed images and cyanotypes, titled “A letter to end”, photographer Elizabeth Dowling-Nash offers the idea that alternative photographic processes can encourage transformation, of not only a physical object, but also state of mind. Through the seemingly aged, yet transient style of Nash’s photographs, showing beautifully quiet and still natural scenes, sets the stage for an emotive story of healing.

The paper which the photographs are printed onto, were once letters, written by Nash at the time of losing loved ones. Coupled with writing penned one year later, these personal texts have been torn, ripped and pressed into new blank pieces of paper, giving the work a foundation of new beginnings. As if new leaves in an unwritten chapter of a book, this slow process of creation and attention to the unseen details of these tangible works, creates a deeper journey of thoughts and emotions, which have been lost and replaced with new perspectives on life as time has passed.

The chosen subject matter of natural scenes within this portfolio, poetically adds to the genre of nature in contemporary photography. And while the style of the work is wonderfully quiet yet bold, Nash touches on ideas of contemporary photographers such as Javiera Estrada, who reflects on memories, which are shaped into her own reality through her work. Photography is a way to the soul, and through perfectly capturing details of the landscape to evoke metaphors, Nash portrays a far greater story than what can initially be seen, just like the Romantic painters. However, playing on photography’s time-based process, Nash controls the life of her work. How long each piece takes to create, how long each cyanotype will be exposed for and how long the series of images will be. Through this choice of maintaining complete control, there is security, in addition to a sense of fragility. In our conversation, Nash explains, “Nature is a way to connect to the earth, to regain the feeling of living and growing. A place of sacrality and peace, a place to reflect on those who have been lost. Letters written and destroyed to generate a new beginning, transforming words into imagery.”

One of the most striking aspects of these images are their deep inky blue colour palette. “The colour blue isn’t one often seen in nature, making it something new, something deceptive that doesn’t exist in these spaces”. This interesting juxtaposition of natural and unnatural plays with the idea of presenting sublime, yet ordinary nature, in a form which acknowledges human interaction with this landscape.

Nash continues: “In this project there is a mixture of cyanotypes and screen-printed images surrounding nature’s beauty and the form of the land. These landscapes represent a larger depth of emotion that isn’t obvious at first glance. In this project I explore my reaction to death and how I can connect myself to nature, to regain that sense of belonging in life after losing people close to me. Nature represents a sacred place to reflect and feel connected to the world, which I show through the physicality of my prints and through the process of making them. Following death and the process of healing, I used pieces of writing I had previously written at the time, and new pieces I had written one year later as a process of connecting my emotions together. Finding out why I reacted to nature and chose this as a place of healing. In my letters I talked about how long it took me to be okay and how I used that time learning to be patient. Only I have seen these letters, making it something sacred. However, the process of using these letters was much like a ritual. I ripped up these letters and pieces of writing, soaking, and pressing them into new pieces of paper, some markings remained but mostly undetectable to the original writing. Destroying what once was and making it into something new, becoming a reincarnation, becoming something entirely different, thus meaning something new to me now; that being peace instead of misery. Patience was a huge theme within this project, it relates to the process of grief and how you need that patience with yourself, to give yourself time and find ways that help deal with that emotion. As well as having patience with the process, taking time to write and make paper, the time of exposing my images, the process of screen printing – mixing colours and pressing it through the screen.”

This stunning body of work reminisces that the natural landscapes around us can help transform our views on life in positive ways. All the while nature is also evolving as the seasons change and time goes on. This circular journey, which never ends, can be sensitively captured through photography. Accumulating these images can build a bigger picture, telling the story of the photographers own personal journey through life in an emotive way. Creating a time capsule of thoughts, feelings and memories, even letters to the end.

Thank you to Elizabeth Dowling-Nash for sharing her amazing project with Bloom in Doom. To find more of her work visit her instagram or website.

A Letter To End

Using alternative photographic processes, photographer Elizabeth Dowling-Nash creates beautifully quiet and still natural scenes, setting the stage for an emotive story of healing.