Mary Agnes Williams
Philadelphia, PA
"Marsh Grass Flying" is a pinhole photograph taken at the Forsythe Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, a 48,000-acre salt marsh that is an important link in seasonal bird migration. It was an extremely windy day in March when I shot this photo. When I saw the negative I was struck by how much the marsh grass ""flying"" in the wind mimicked the birds flying off to their destinations after feeding at the refuge. Shot with black and white film, and not digitally manipulated. Archival pigment print.
Pinhole photography is apparently simple and direct, but it can yield complex images. With no lens or viewfinder, the pinhole camera allows me to explore and create mystery and ambiguity – in many of my photographs the images appear to be emerging from, or about to enter, another time or place. I have used pinhole cameras for more than 25 years, traveling throughout the American South, the Chesapeake Bay watershed area, and Italy. The iconic bridge over the Schuylkill River in my Philadelphia neighborhood of Manayunk has been a constant source of inspiration and pleasure.
My pinhole photographs are shot with film, black and white and color. They have been shown in juried, group, and solo exhibitions throughout the country and are in private and public collections. I collaborate with my husband, Thomas Parker Williams, on artist books under the imprint Luminice Press. I write original text and poetry which I hand set for our books.
