Meghann Riepenhoff

Following Meghann Riepenhoff's (born 1979) acclaimed 2018 publication Littoral Drift + Ecotone, this volume features unique cyanotype prints made in freezing landscapes, where elements like precipitation, waves, wind and sediment physically etch into the photographic materials. Made in waters ranging from Walden Pond to remote creeks in Western Washington, the prints are full of subtle details, each expressing a slightly different temperature, type of water and crystalline structure of ice forming on photographic paper.
Through this process, Riepenhoff participates in a type of “collaboration” with the landscape, in which she opens herself to chance and embraces the textures of nature into her working process. Variations of inky blues, flecks of gold and spots of white make up the dreamlike, abstract prints and create a raw and physical impression of nature. Rebecca Solnit contributes an accompanying essay.

Studying the 19th-century cyanotypes of Anna Atkins, Meghann Riepenhoff (born 1979) was motivated in 2013 to get out of the darkroom and into the world to make her work. She began making cyanotypes directly in the environment, where elements like precipitation, waves, wind and sediment physically etch into the photo-chemistry. Two of Riepenhoff's cyanotype series, Littoral Drift and Ecotone, are brought together in this new publication.

Riepenhoff makes these images by placing cyanotype paper in the sea or setting it out in the rain and snow; the photosensitive chemicals simultaneously expose in the sunlight and wash in the water around them. The prints' receptivity to the environment means they are never wholly done processing, and they continue to change over time. This beautiful new publication documents Riepenhoff's fugitive cyanotypes, exploring our relationship to the landscape, the sublime, time and impermanence.