Vanessa Powell

Lux Botanica explores the emotional imprint of memory, the fluidity of sense of place, and varying facets related to the passage of time. Having been captured over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, each piece in the collection is frozen in a global pause, cradling a fragile sense of place, created in one moment among a string of seemingly countless moments.

I created the ephemeral images of Lux Botanica utilizing a centuries old cameraless photography technique. Lumen prints are achieved by layering black and white photographic paper with botanical materials and exposing the layers to natural light. The resulting image is a likeness of the botanical material permeated with fugitive color. Each lumen is unique to the chemical reaction between specific photographic paper, plants, ultraviolet strength, humidity and exposure times on the day the image was made.