Carol Henry
Carol Henry is a darkroom artist that has spent decades making unique prints on Cibachrome paper without a camera and film. She has been represented in 34 galleries and 200 exhibitions with her camera-less technique. She calls her darkroom prints, Florachromes and Shadowgraphs, a process she developed when receiving a BFA from Northern Michigan University in photography. She has also studied at the University of Cincinnati and UCLA. Carol spent over 3 years as the fine print specialist for the Ansel Adams Gallery for Ansel’s signed originals, was a 3 year artist in residence at Studio Channel Islands Art Center, is a charter member of Women in Photography International and is currently the photography director at Carmel Visual Arts. Carol Henry’s work is widely collected both nationally and internationally and is in many permanent and corporate collections. She is especially interested in health care environments and the healing qualities of her imagery.
Artist’s Statement
It has always been my desire to expose viewers to the unseen elements and small details that may surround them from the natural world while creating these unique one-of-a-kind prints. Also taking it a step further and combining layers and exposures that create illusions, I find that intense color and translucence captivates. Color is one of the tools that I utilize to achieve those feelings of awe. For about 30 years I have been working with Cibachrome, which became Ilfochrome. The archival color darkroom material is a positive receiver and my process is a projection of light passing through my compositions. This exposure onto this light sensitive material, when processed, gives me the luminous color I am looking for to achieve meditative pieces, that envelope and engage. In 2012, the last run of Ilfochrome, a Swiss product was manufactured. Although my paper supply is now expired, I am still printing at this time with a diminishing inventory of unexposed paper. Since the process is experimental it is a bit like catching a snowflake on your tongue, sometimes its frustrating but when successful the elusive reward is a pleasure for the senses!