NEWS
What Will You Remember, “Best Photo Picks for April.”, March 31, 2022
Remains of Summer 1 was on display during April/May in the waiting room of the Mayor’s Suite, Boston, MA.
Member Spotlight, Cambridge Art Association blog, March 27, 2019
Historical Printing Processes: the past become the future, lecture with Robert Brazile, Newton Camera Club, 7:30pm, March 25, 2019
Boston Voyager, “Life and Art with Vicki McKenna”, Jan 25, 2019
What Will You Remember, “Best Photo Picks for Oct.”, Oct. 4, 2018
VICKI MCKENNA
photographer and printer
Yellowstone at daybreak is a magical place as cool air gives body to the mists billowing from hot springs. I catch my breath with delight as the morning light gilds the looming rock columns ahead. I reach out to touch the cliff face. It is hard and cool from the night air, and I envision when it was the opposite, red-hot magma. I appreciate that I’m touching but a moment in time, one point in this valley’s epic history.
Geological time is deep and complex, but it is composed of the accumulation of the changes produced by daily, dynamic forces at the junctions of fluid earth, solid earth, and biosphere. As a geologist and teacher, I started taking photographs to illustrate concepts to my students. Soon I became intrigued by the challenge of creating engaging representations of a three-dimensional world in two-dimensions. To help convey the astonishing geologic evolution underlying seemingly common landscapes, I harness the textures, tonality and timelessness of classic black and white photography. In introducing elements of abstraction, I try to ease a scene from its specific location, inviting others to marvel with me at the “ordinary” in our remarkable natural world.
After earning a PhD in Geological Sciences from Brown University and ALB in Natural Sciences from Harvard University, I studied photography at the New England School of Photography, the Photography Atelier at the Griffin Museum, and Maine Media Workshops. As a core member of Fountain Street gallery, I’ve had three two-person shows. I’ve also had juried solo shows at the Firehouse Center for the Arts, Newburyport and the Newton Free Library, and have exhibited in galleries throughout New England and along the East Coast. Among those are the Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA, the Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA, PhotoPlace Gallery, Burlington, VT, and the Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA. I have taught a freshman seminar focused on photography at M.I.T., where I also photograph for student programs and events. I work from Riverwandering Studio in Newton, MA.
Link to Vicki McKenna Exhibition History
Download Vicki McKenna CV
Download Vicki McKenna Bio