melissa zexter Embroidery in Contemporary Photography.

I came across Melissa Zexter whilst looking into Julie Cockburn in another post. I first saw Julie in a museum a couple of years ago and was immediately drawn to it. That sort of play with embroidery and photography is a hybrid I really wanted to get involved with. 

Her method adds a very expressive style to photography. Instead of using found photos she deliberately takes the photo She takes photos then adds detail later like in this piece above. A simple portrait of a female in a vail, that is then adorned with sketchy embroidered flowers. A deliberate composition. The photos seem to fade away when the thread is added. A bit of desaturation added so it doesn't over power the impact of the embroidery. I read she removes some of the surface emulsion to create this effect.

I really like this style of photography. My love for physical photography grows more when I discover methods like these. You can tell there is a process to taking these photos for their purpose, so a skill is still evident. But they have to be printed out and played with in order to get the desired result.

I was surprised to discover her after already finding 2 other artists (Julie Cockburn and Frances Cramer) who are all very different in styles, but both use physical photographs or postcards to make their art. 

I also spotted this mixed method of scratching the surface. It's almost like a frustration piece where she has started an idea then it hasn't worked and she has unpicked it and scratched the idea instead. I know from trying it myself that embroidering paper it is hard. The paper can break and not turn out as neat as you would like.

And below the mass of patterned embroidery which is dense around the face then more subtle across the skin. It's a beautiful piece which takes a quiet moment and gives it life. 

She does take plain non manipulated images which depict life and moments. She works a lot in Black and White which I have come to love. Especially in people photography. The removal of colour really announces the focus in the photo onto the subject.

Although I love 100% digitally edited imagery. I can't help but be drawn to photography like this artist. Using a medium that you can hold in your hands means so much to me. A type of nostalgia I guess that makes it relatable to me. Also my love for analog collage sprouts from being able to assemble photo albums. Might be an old fashion way of working but I think there is a lot of charm in having images sitting in front you you.  

source: http://www.melissazexter.com/about photos from google images