48. August 2009: Kelli Knack

The series "My Escape" was born out of a desire to reconnect with myself. It is easy for a landscape photographer to take pictures of pretty things, defining the world around us, instead of the world within us. Trapped within that realm and desperate for a change, I left for the coast, I escaped to the one place I could go where I could truly be myself. Two years have now passed and it is safe to say this series has changed everything about me. Each trip to this region, every walk on the beach, brings me closer to who I really am. As a result, I have fallen in love with the ocean. Something that will never know about my existence, something that will never love me back. And I find this profoundly comforting. Low Tide at Twilight: My trips to the central and northern California coast are planned to occur during low tide at sunrise. I’ve always found the morning twilight to be more attractive for black & white film, lighting the water instead of the sky, the ocean seems to come alive as it turns from black to grey to lavender to peach and then to blue. And low tide is most revealing, a sort of nature’s Pandora’s Box. Every time the water retreats, new secrets are revealed, and like unearthed fingerprints, every low tide is unique. Most important, for me, a woman who covets her solitude, at this hour I am able to have the beach to myself. About the Titles: These images are more about thought and feelings than ocean scenery, and I created titles to convey this notion. The ocean is a melting pot of emotions and this is what I hope to capture. This is not landscape photography, at least, not for me. The Process I use a medium format camera, and develop all film by hand, two rolls at a time. The images are printed on fiber base paper, and the color is applied with pencils The prints vary in size, from 11x14 to 16x20, and are available as limited editions. www.kelliknack.com