Rachel Wolf

Rachel Wolf is a professional photographer who specializes in camera-less photography, alternative/antique processes, and creates immersive environments through light-based installations. Growing up in Alaska, the presence and absence of light has been profound in Rachel’s life and work. The aurora borealis gave her a direct experience of light as both transcendent and embodied. Since then, light has been Rachel’s muse, and her work is devoted to exploring and expressing its multivalent qualities in the field of photography and beyond. Rachel loves to inspire others by sharing her passion for light and photography as a professor and speaker. She also believes in the power of art as a collaborative endeavour and its raising of community. She is a founding member of FO(u)RT Collective, a multi-disciplinary arts collective that creates/curates exhibitions and events. Rachel has exhibited both nationally and internationally including Germany, Hungary, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Portland. Her work is held in both public and private collections. Rachel earned her BA from Hampshire College and her MFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art, and can be found playing in her darkroom in Portland, OR.

“While my images are photographs, the principle method I use to create is without a camera. Camera-less photography consists of the family of grams: photograms, chemigrams, and luminograms. As my camera-less process blurs the distinctions between these grams I call my work liminography, which is an exploration of the essence of the photographic process that consists of standing at the threshold (a liminal space) and turning light into matter. By releasing our expectations of how a photograph is created and what emerges as the image, we are invited to consider what a photograph is, must or can be.”