Note: It’s been about eleven months since I saw this image in the FRAMES Magazine group on Facebook. Yes, I admit, I have been quite remiss in writing, but it appears that the things that kept me away from it, are, like early morning fog, giving way to a clearing. I thank Marcellus for his patience with me in getting this article written.

"The concept of serendipity often crops up in research. Serendipity is the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things that were not being sought. I believe that all researchers can be serendipitous.

–Akira Suzuki

The patient negative sat in a box, awaiting its turn for the man to choose him to come out to play. Knowing that the artist who created it liked one of a kind works, textures, and allowing for the image to take on a life of its own, the negative was excited by the possibilities! Finally, the day arrived, and the patient negative would come to life. The artist decided to use the mordançage process that day, something that was somewhat new to him, but that allowed for each print to be unique. But that particular day, the solution reacted differently than he expected: the solution had failed.

Despite the technical failure, Marcellus found there was still something to love about the way the image came about. He told me, “ There is a dissolution of form, or form rebirth depending on your perspective that I found intriguing, both in the person as well as sunflower.  That the sunflowers look to me like they are almost dripping towards the bottom of the frame offers a surrealness that captured my mood and thought process that originally was in the photo at its creation but could only be manifested and realized as a result of the (failure) of the bleach-etch process.”

For me, I am interested in the way the textures make a statement within the frame. It gives me the impression of emerging from something negative. It looks as if the flower and the man are pushing away the thing that had borne down on them. Given that the image came to life when world was still recuperating from life under pandemic conditions, it seems fitting. But I am also interested in the way that despite the initial failure, Marcellus found a way to use the image to say something. I have this theory that the most creative people work with what they have, with what circumstances allow. Marcellus has done this, and effectively so. If you have seen some of his other self-portraits, you know that continual experimentation with output is his working practice.

Bravo Jamie! Please keep on surprising me with what you do next. I love how you use process.

Artist Bio

Jamie Marcellus is a Toronto based photographer.  With no formal art training, he first picked up a camera in 2019.  He utilizes a combination of modern and historic photographic techniques including wet plate collodion, experimental film techniques, and darkroom printing to achieve spatial forms that become distorted because of light, dust, silver (and a touch of magic).  Primarily working in long/multi exposure portraiture, including self-portraiture, his work explores the intersection between reality and dreams.  He incorporates pictorialism and chiaroscuro sensibilities to create visual interest and expressive mood.  He invites the viewer to examine the emotion of connection to form while reflecting inwardly.

More of his work can be found at https://www.instagram.com/jsmarcellusphoto/

Author Bio

Diana Nicholette Jeon is an award-winning artist based in Honolulu, HI, who works primarily with lens-based media. Her work has been seen both internationally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions. Jeon holds an MFA from UMBC.