Allison Barnes is a Georgia based large format photographer. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts and is currently working towards her MFA at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the United States and internationally, including, 30 Under 30 Women Photographers and Personal Portraits, curated by the National Portrait Gallery. She is a contributing photographer to The Cultural Landscape Foundation. I have had the privilege of seeing Allison’s work first hand. From developing tray to critique wall. She has a unique way of sharing her experiences behind the lens. A true master in the making.
Wet Hands in Salt Deposits, 2012
Deer Head By Homestead as Leaves Turn Up to Rain, 2011
Statement :
Aboriginal Australians used toas, typically made of wood and gypsum, as signposts to mark the direction of departure from a campsite so that others could follow. Here, I present images that document marks as a collection of clues, suggesting that place is itself temporally layered, a palimpsest of the multiple traces left by individuals and groups. These markers are sometimes literally embedded within the landscape, such as raccoon tracks in the earth and the evidence of human passage, or commemorate a natural event, including a boars passing and the death of an animal.
A Triassic Display; Crystal, Slate, Petrified Wood, 2012
Wild Boar Encounter, 2011
Fish in Iron Oxide Pool Seeping From a Desert Sea, 2012
Practice Walls, 2012
Autobiography and geography converge and each image indicates a location of personal experience while the 8×10 contact prints offer an intertextual investigation of the landscape. The traces, whether literal or transient, reveal the landscape as a repository of historical memory, of traces of a past and their complex connections to other places and peoples. Living in history means we cannot help but mark our journeys.
Palimpsest; Saguaro Cactus, 2012
American Bison Encounter, 2011
Leaving Camp, 7:55 am. 2012
Buffalo Gourds Over Pack Rat Nest; Noxious Weed, 2012
To view more of her work, please visit her website.