Save the Date!

Society for Photographic Education Northwest Regional Conference
Nov. 4-6, 2011
at Spokane Falls Community College

The conference, titled Visual Evolution, will invite photographers, both SPE and non-members, from all over Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska. Attendees will include professional imagemakers, instructors, students, hobbyists and collectors who are interested in relevant photographic trends, technologies, and education. This year’s schedule will include individual imagemaker presentations, panel discussions, multiple gallery exhibitions, portfolio reviews, and a trade fair.

SPE, a national nonprofit organization, provides not only a forum for the discussion of photography as a means of creative expression and cultural insight, but nurtures its development through teaching, criticism, and scholarship. For more information, go to www.spenw.org.
















Image copyright by Erik Sohner

Upcoming exhibition

You Have Been Here
New Images by Melissa Rackham

Exhibition opens Friday, May 6th, 2011
5:30-8:30pm

Brick Wall Photographic Gallery
530 W. Main/Skywalk
Spokane, Washington 99201

Portland Images

Had a great trip to Portland. I spent most of the weekend at galleries and museums, but had a little time to photograph down by the water.

Starting the New Year

More Recent Images

This bunch has a different feel than the others, don't you think?

Getting Back In the Game

After a great weekend workshop with Arno Minkkinen at Newspace Center for Photography, in Portland, I feel the creative juices flowing once again. I took a photo hiatus after having beautiful baby Maddy, tending to full-time mommyhood, and am only now feeling less rusty and more inspired. I am heading back down a path of curiosity of the world around me, exploring quiet scenes that feel familiar but unnerving. I don't know where this body of work is heading, but it feels like something I have been moving toward for awhile.

For the Workshop

I created these new images within the past few weeks, in preparation for a weekend workshop. The assignment was given to think about the 3-dimensionality of photography and consider all of the edges/corners of the image frame while ignoring the center. These images were inspired by that notion.

Been Awhile...

So, my life has changed a bit since my last post! I am now the proud mother of 4 and a half month old, Madeleine Amelia. She is an absolute joy and is the apple of my eye (and my husband, Mike's). As you can imagine, her arrival has changed my work, both in subject and frequency. I returned to teaching in January, and as my energy has begun to return, so has my desire to get some images made. I have begun a new series, inspired by my curiosity of what my beautiful little girl sees. Imagining the world from her perspective has allowed me to see things anew, noticing peculiarities in my own surroundings. We shall see where this body goes.

Some Photos...

I keep forgetting to post new images...well, pretty new. I have found it increasingly difficult to find the energy to shoot! With baby here in a matter of weeks, I can foresee the scope of my work changing considerably.

A Quick Post of Dallas Images...

Running out of the door for a gallery tour of Dallas, but wanted to post a few more new pictures.

Some images from Dallas

So, I'm in Dallas for SPE right now (photo conference for my non-geeky friends). Being in this photo-centric environment always makes me contemplate the work I am creating and gives me so many new ideas. It's simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating. Plus, I love being in a new city and viewing it with virgin eyes. The snowy image below, not Dallas. It was the drive over Snowqualmie Pass to Seattle, where I flew out of, and was taken before the weather got bad. Two hands on the wheel became necessary in the ensuing snow storm.






More images to come.

New Images...

I've been photographing windows lately, or window-light vignettes. Now that I think about it, I used a lot of window images and doorways in my thesis. At the time, I looked at the symbolic connection between my anxiety with finishing school, the choices I would have to make, and the window/door images (symbolic icons of choice/options). Now, as I look forward to my new role in life as a mother, I suppose that the windows would resurface. I wonder what it means that the windows are shrouded, either in fabric or diffused, so that the external options cannot be viewed....hmmmm. Maybe it just means that the future is unclear...welcome to parenthood, right?

Found Images

I came across these 2 images while putting work together for an exhibition; I think I shot both of them this summer. I've had some extra "down time" with a broken foot, so I've been going through images and trying to be somewhat productive!

"Aggregate" Show Opens Next Week

My show next week at Spokane Falls Comm. College is a compilation of several different series all in one exhibition. This collection, a combination of digital, c-prints, and B&W images, offers unsettling vignettes of often strange, psychologically charged spaces, creates an exploration for narrative, and brings a sense of confinement with modular groupings.

Showing Work at SFCC

After months of self-banishment, confined to our new "old" house with paintbrush/scraper/drill in hand, I am finally venturing out into the Spokane art community. As an intern (yes, I said intern) at a gallery downtown, I am meeting some amazing, talented local artists and getting my feet wet with the local art scene. Speaking of which, I am honored to be showing a varied collection of work at the photo gallery at Spokane Falls Community College in a couple of weeks. And, my photo friends can really appreciate this, but I hear that the college has an original Ansel Adams print in the gallery which will come down for my show.......Yes, I think a certain hot Southern destination truly has frozen over.

Return to the Blog...

I've been MIA since the holidays. So much happened around that time and I am only just now refocusing. Anyway... I am preparing for an exhibit in February, enjoying my experience at a gallery here in Spokane, planning several upcoming trips, and lastly, gearing up to teach at a local college. With sunshine reappearing after a long winter absence, I suddenly feel anxious to get out and photograph. That, however, will have to wait until I heal from a foot fracture- in 6-8 weeks. Regardless, I plan to use my down time productively, building model airplanes or learning to knit or something. :)

Winter Storm

It is a winter wonderland here in Spokane today. We have more than 2 feet of snow in our yard and porches. Molly, our Boston Terrier, had a scare when she got lost in it last night. Luckily for her, I went to her rescue in my pajamas and pulled her out from under our deck. I would build a snowman, but I might get lost in the yard.

Some Recent Images...

Molly in a hail storm.