ARTIST
Mission
I WANT TO SHOW YOU THE UNSEEN
Come, slow down with me. Everything seems to be moving so fast! Life can be mundane, even routine. But it can also be interesting. When roaming I look up at ceilings and into the sky, or down on the ground to stop and see what was put there with intention but is now overlooked. When I find that thing, that amazingly interesting but otherwise unseen thing, I turn off my power wheelchair... and wait. I'm no longer strong enough to hold my camera to my eye, so I use my camera's tilting screen as the viewfinder while I leave my camera on my leg and angle the lens towards the thing you sped right past.
Capturing that instant is alchemy, as the movement and speed of life is forever held still. I first felt it in a photographic darkroom when film, paper, chemicals, and the perfect amount of light at just the right time brought an image to life.
Artist Statement
Heather C Markham says that her power wheelchair impacts how she moves through and views the world, and provides a steady surface from which to photograph it. Her interests are in form, function, and the whimsical and sometimes grotesque in fantastical fitful frenzy.
Official portrait from Barcelona 2022 gallery show
All bundled up and roaming on my power wheelchair
How I photograph herons at the lake
The power of a tilting view screen
Taking off my mask turned this into something funny