Artist Spotlight: Melanie Despres
We are delighted to present Melanie Despres' first solo show at Left Bank Gallery.
“This body of work is about coexisting with nature," she says. "That feeling you get when the ocean puts your life into perspective and calms you. It is about the feeling of atmosphere and how you explain what is like to be in an atmosphere. These photographs to me represent the elusive description of atmosphere. I find the Cape to be fascinating, it is a small area of land that holds so many naturally beautiful environments. From sunsets and sun rises, to the tides and winds. They are always changing the landscape and keeping it fresh.”
As a child growing up in Massachusetts Melanie had the luxury of experiencing the ever changing seasonal colors as well as having access to the beautiful Cape Cod shores. She dabbled with painting, crafts, and sculpture before she found her true calling. “The first time I picked up a film camera I was about 10, I could feel the connection between myself and the camera. I read through the manual and taught myself how to use it. Being fascinated with the endless possibilities of photography, I decided to continue on this adventure and study the field.” Melanie attended Burlington College in Burlington VT where she received her BFA in photography. In addition to her photography degree she has an AA in Fine Arts. A degree that helped train her eye for her photography career.
As a photographer who seeks the beauty and simplicity that her natural surroundings, Melanie finds herself waiting and chasing the perfect warm tones of the afternoon light and the dramatic hues that the setting sun brings daily. Her images are shot using long exposures and moving either camera and or subject. The outcome of this technique leaves the image feeling smooth and dreamlike, almost like a painting. Melanie uses a Nikon D600 and a 24mm Nikkor lense to capture her abstract landscape series. These photographs are all straight from camera. Melanie does very minimal post editing to her images. She feels that the mystery of each image is enough, manipulating the natural beauty would simply detract from the work. She tries to not let the technical aspect get the best of her when in the field. “There is always something beautiful you can create with whatever tools are available to you.”
