Contact: opulent.tarnish@gmail.com

I am a film photographer who uses vintage and toy cameras. I’m comforted by the mechanical solidity of a heavy old film camera, and delighted by the unpredictable results of expired film and toy cameras. I enjoy the challenges of working within the limitations of film, but I’m also intrigued by the possibilities created when mixing the old and the new and by choosing from the best aspects of both. This desire for experimentation has also led me to cyanotypes and cyanolumens, as well as a recent interest in instant film.

My subjects are generally things that are overlooked or abandoned. I seek out architectural details that city dwellers pass by every day without a glance, the fading beauty of a time when even functional structures were created and embellished by artisans, and cemeteries were once visited for their grandeur as much as a place of remembrance. I find that vintage and toy cameras allow me to do this in a way that is both spontaneous and intentional..

My work is often described as being "nostalgic" or "dreamlike." I think this is because the framing of a photograph can hide ugliness and noise and mass-produced modernity, and allow a moment of true quiet for emotional contemplation. I strive for a reaction from the viewer and I know I’ve succeeded if my work stirs feelings of melancholy, of nostalgia, of wonder, or even of creeping dread…or laughter.

The cameras:

Vintage cameras

  • PentaxK1000 and Zorki-6 rangefinder (35 mm)

  • Agfa Isolette 4.5 (medium format)

  • Polaroid 600

  • Polaroid SX-70

Lomography/plastic/toy cameras

  • Diana+ and Holga (medium format)

  • Diana Mini (35mm)

  • Diana Baby (110)

  • Sprocket Rocket (35mm panoramic)

  • Lomo'Instant (Fuji Instax Mini Film)

Vermeer 6x6 pinhole camera

And more waiting to be used…

I scan all negatives myself, using Photoshop only for dodging/burning and dust removal. Any "effects" such as double exposures were created in-camera; unusual colors are due to using expired or altered film, or specialty films such as LomoChrome Purple or Redscale.

Exhibitions

  • 2023 Love of Polaroid, Shop 53 Art Gallery, La Plata, MD

  • 2022 1460 Wallmountables, District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), Washington DC

  • 2022 Special Exhibit: The Photographic Process, The Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA

  • 2021 1460 Wallmountables, District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), Washington DC

  • 2020 The Spooky Show, LightBox Photographic Gallery, Astoria OR

  • 2019 Ars Necronomica: Dark Dreams in the Divine City, Providence Art Club, Providence RI

  • 2019 1460 Wallmountables, District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), Washington DC

  • 2018    The 2018 Athenaeum Invitational / The Cabinet of Curiosities, Alexandria, VA

  • 2018    Silicon Valley Plastic Camera Show, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

  • 2018    1460 Wallmountables, District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), Washington DC

  • 2017    1460 Wallmountables, District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), Washington DC

  • 2017    Artomatic, Crystal City, VA

  • 2016    Crystal City Photowalk, Crystal City, VA

  • 2014    Artomatic Takes Flight, Washington National Airport, Arlington, VA

  • 2013    2013 DCist Exposed Photography Show, Longview Gallery, Washington DC

  • 2012    Artomatic, Crystal City, VA

  • 2012    2012 DCist Exposed Photography Show, Longview Gallery, Washington DC

Publications

  • 2019 “2019 NecronomiCon Providence Memento Book,” Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council

  • 2016    “Exposed DC Photography Show: 10th Anniversary Edition,” Exposed DC

  • 2016    “Folk Horror Revival: Corpse Roads Poetry & Photography,” Wyrd Harvest Press

Arts Education

  • 2012    Corcoran College of Art + Design, Washington, DC (spring semester, Continuing Education)

  • 1991    Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA