Vanessa Harper-Mathews

Alongside creating contemporary digital photographic artwork I specialise in combining 21st century digital imagery with 18th and 19th century antiquarian photographic printing processes, creating hand crafted, unique state artworks. The result is a wonderful intersection between the material nature of these one of a kind, precious and historical articles and the ephemeral nature of the digital image in the internet age. Each of the historical processes I work with have distinctly individual hallmarks, evident in the resulting artworks, from the different types of chemistry and techniques that go into the processes. The works record the marks of the maker and are each exceptionally unique, some quite painterly and much long lasting than digital imagery. They are definitely best viewed in person, rather than online.

I have six degrees, including a Masters of Documentary Photography, and a Graduate Diploma in Art History. I have trained at various institutions around the world to develop my specialist technical skills in reproducing these historical photographic processes.