51. January 2010: Jessica Somers

Jessica Somers is a photographer specializing in historic photographic techniques and self-portraiture. Her interest in photography began at a young age by her grandfather's side as he took hundreds of photographs and with the invitation into her parents' late night printing sessions that were held in the bathroom transformed into a darkroom after sunset. At the age of seven she received a Kodak disc camera and has been making photographs ever since. Jessica grew up in Wallingford, CT. Her work has been exhibited nationally and has been published in Shots Magazine, F-Stop Magazine and the second edition of The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes, by Christopher James. Somers currently teaches photography at various colleges and art centers in Connecticut. The photographs in the series Bend So Not to Break explore the balance between the choices one makes and the uncontrollable circumstances that intervene with these choices. Each image is an attempt to remain fully open to tenderness, abounding love and the achingly beautiful realizations of ephemeral life. www.jessicasomers.com