Landscape - Susan Derges

Susan Derges

By Mandy Litwin

First trained as a painter, Susan Derges has decided to combine her painterly interests with her passion for photography. Going beyond the basics, Derges works with unique camera-less techniques. As she describes, she is now painting with light. The fact that she could work in an abstract way intrigued her. “It is able to speak of the invisible rather than record the visible,” Derges says.

She is one of the most famous camera-less photographers, having her work shown internationally. Much of her work is conceptually based around nature. One technique Derges has worked with is placing a light-sensitive paper in water to capture the ripples. She is attempting to create a new perspective for the viewer to see nature. By abstracting relatively common objects with her techniques, the viewer is likely to spend more time trying to figure out what Derges has done to achieve her images.

While she enjoys using various light-sensitive materials and emulsions to capture light in a more analog style, she has also recently combined those processes with digital techniques to create work that pushes her style even further. Like in her Moons series, shown below, she combines images she took of the moon with images made in the dark room of water and branch patterns affected by sound vibrations. What we are left with is fascinating imagery created by Derges. [Link]

Questions:
Have any of you worked with other photo processes, such as in our Materials and Processes class? If so, which process interested you the most?