Alice Marsh-Elmer has created bodies of work using both digital and traditional
photographic methods since 2002. Having earned a BA from the University of
Redlands with an emphasis in Visual Culture - Alice demonstrates a highly-
individualized style in creating works that explore unique landscapes in various
contexts, including urban spaces and the human body.
In recent years, Alice has investigated urban environments both in her local Los
Angeles region and abroad, having produced work on themes such as the impact of
communism in contemporary Prague, and youth culture in Les Halles (the
metropolitan center of Paris). She has traveled and photographed extensively,
including visits to Italy, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belize, and Guatemala.
Alice’s issues of interest include interactions with space in urban environments, and
changes affected by the development of technology and mass-production. Alice
explores urban landscape with an eye for the ignored, abandoned, and tarnished,
searching for the items and peoples that collect in these liminal environments.
These areas just outside of major metropolitan districts have an atmosphere of
being in-between, somehow both quaint and busy, and in these areas a
photographer can freely collect forms, shapes, and textures while exploring
environments rarely given any attention. Alice’s attention to the obscure found in
these landscapes allows them to transcend traditional photography, and the
photos become a dreamscape with qualities that evoke reminiscent memories and
nostalgia.
In addition to the explorations of the contemporary urban landscape, Alice has
explored topics of identity and body, largely using alternative photographic
processes to create intimate profiles and studies. Alice approaches portrait
photography with many of the same tools, and is intrigued by deconstructing the
human body into forms, shapes, and textures. Her portraits also have a dreamlike
quality which interacts lightly with the viewer. With a camera, Alice becomes a
witness to the body; slightly removed from the interactions with her subject, she is
part of the environment in which the subject exists. With still pictures one is able
to capture a copy of a moment in time, and as the shutter clicks back into place a
small wall falls that closes off time and the moment changes. Through her open
shutter, Alice explores the world, constantly renegotiating choices about what
occurs inside of the frame and how her world will appear in the final picture.
People, spaces, and the environment become concepts, and/or theories that can
be used as tools when constructing a thesis.
“The intimate portraits showcased in my most recent portfolio are Polaroid images
taken with plastic cameras. This was an experiment in patience and studying the
human body. The basic cameras and the nature of Polaroid film made control of the
work limited, and this exploration grew organically with each pose. Each Polaroid
was shot with a wide aperture and a shutter of 5 seconds; the results are
saturated, luminescent studies of bodies, male and female, and intimate portraits
that question the relationship between the photographer and the photographed.”
Currently residing in the Los Angeles area, Alice is actively exhibiting as she
continues to develop a unique approach to creating imagery that operates to
influence perception, challenging the eye to see more than what is before it. Her
work reflects on the world in ways that evoke personal insight, questioning the
evocative and the bazaar.
photographic methods since 2002. Having earned a BA from the University of
Redlands with an emphasis in Visual Culture - Alice demonstrates a highly-
individualized style in creating works that explore unique landscapes in various
contexts, including urban spaces and the human body.
In recent years, Alice has investigated urban environments both in her local Los
Angeles region and abroad, having produced work on themes such as the impact of
communism in contemporary Prague, and youth culture in Les Halles (the
metropolitan center of Paris). She has traveled and photographed extensively,
including visits to Italy, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belize, and Guatemala.
Alice’s issues of interest include interactions with space in urban environments, and
changes affected by the development of technology and mass-production. Alice
explores urban landscape with an eye for the ignored, abandoned, and tarnished,
searching for the items and peoples that collect in these liminal environments.
These areas just outside of major metropolitan districts have an atmosphere of
being in-between, somehow both quaint and busy, and in these areas a
photographer can freely collect forms, shapes, and textures while exploring
environments rarely given any attention. Alice’s attention to the obscure found in
these landscapes allows them to transcend traditional photography, and the
photos become a dreamscape with qualities that evoke reminiscent memories and
nostalgia.
In addition to the explorations of the contemporary urban landscape, Alice has
explored topics of identity and body, largely using alternative photographic
processes to create intimate profiles and studies. Alice approaches portrait
photography with many of the same tools, and is intrigued by deconstructing the
human body into forms, shapes, and textures. Her portraits also have a dreamlike
quality which interacts lightly with the viewer. With a camera, Alice becomes a
witness to the body; slightly removed from the interactions with her subject, she is
part of the environment in which the subject exists. With still pictures one is able
to capture a copy of a moment in time, and as the shutter clicks back into place a
small wall falls that closes off time and the moment changes. Through her open
shutter, Alice explores the world, constantly renegotiating choices about what
occurs inside of the frame and how her world will appear in the final picture.
People, spaces, and the environment become concepts, and/or theories that can
be used as tools when constructing a thesis.
“The intimate portraits showcased in my most recent portfolio are Polaroid images
taken with plastic cameras. This was an experiment in patience and studying the
human body. The basic cameras and the nature of Polaroid film made control of the
work limited, and this exploration grew organically with each pose. Each Polaroid
was shot with a wide aperture and a shutter of 5 seconds; the results are
saturated, luminescent studies of bodies, male and female, and intimate portraits
that question the relationship between the photographer and the photographed.”
Currently residing in the Los Angeles area, Alice is actively exhibiting as she
continues to develop a unique approach to creating imagery that operates to
influence perception, challenging the eye to see more than what is before it. Her
work reflects on the world in ways that evoke personal insight, questioning the
evocative and the bazaar.
Biography
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |