Letter from the Editor

BY ADRIANNE RAMSEY

My personal history to photography is both lifelong, special, and crucial to my development. When I was six years old, I received a yellow Kodak camera, a first for me. I must’ ve taken that camera around with me everywhere, snapping pictures whenever I could and getting so excited while waiting for the film to develop. I continued to take pictures in middle and high school, uploading them to social media and receiving praise from my friends and classmates for always capturing the moments we had with one another. I also took both Beginning and Advanced Photography while in high school, where I borrowed my mother’s analog Olympia camera and learned about the photo development process. My high school had a darkroom, and I have fond memories of spending so many hours in there, either making photograms or waiting for my photographs to dry. In my first semester of college, I took Dr. Maika Pollack’s course “The Artful Science: Photography and Society, 1825-1919” and wrote papers on the photographic practices of Virginia Oldoini, Jacob Riis, Lewis Hine, and Dorothea Lange. This was the first art history course I ever took and piqued my interest in the subject as a whole, but also provided so much knowledge as to how art is even processed. The evolution of developing photography is a long one, from the negative-positive process, wet plate, calotype, multiple lens, salt paper (gelatin and print), albumen, etc.; these processes are also influenced by the advancement of technology. Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi’s “ carte-de-viste” method, in which multiple photographs are cut on a single plate and shared, is the predecessor to uploading photo albums to Facebook. Both exchanges – the former being in the nineteenth century and the latter in the twenty-first century – were ways to socialize amongst several groups. While I do not identify as an artist, photography has always remained a consistent element in my life and my introduction to art history, which I will always acknowledge.

All of these personal anecdotes are why I am so excited to release GIRLS 16: In Focus, an issue that highlights femme identifying photographers and image makers. Each of the interviewees – Rejeana, Brittany, Casey, Maya, and Star – have individual practices that are so different from one another’s, but are united in their mission to highlight stories that are often ignored or misrepresented in the larger art world. I also found it intriguing that each participant has a different method for taking and processing their photographs, thus further highlighting the diversity of the medium as a whole. I also thought it was important to include image makers into the conversation of photography. In this case, I’m using “images” as an umbrella term for video, television, film, and photography (i.e., media) and arguing that images control society. It’s not about looking at an image - our experience is being crafted by consuming popular images (memes, gifs, and stills). In a way, experiences are no longer happening in person; it's through images and technology. I am happy that this vital perspective is included in this issue of GIRLS, and again, the biggest thanks goes to all of the participants for allowing me to engage in these wonderful conversations and include them in print.