Tracing Light; Cameraless Photography by Anne Arden McDonald

Exhibitions

January 30 – March 31, 2026 | Opening Reception: Tuesday, February 3, 5–7 PM, Artist Talk 5:30 PM (snow day Feb 4) | Closing Reception: Tuesday, March 31, 5–7 PM

Beings of Light, 2025, cameraless silver gelatin print, 20x16 ins.

The UMass Dartmouth CVPA Campus Gallery is proud to present a solo exhibition, Tracing Light: Cameraless Photography by Anne Arden McDonald. A reception will be held on Tuesday, February 3, from 5–7 PM in the CVPA Campus Gallery, located on the first floor of the CVPA building at 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth, MA 02747. An artist talk is planned for 5:30 PM at the gallery during the reception. Light refreshments will be served. Visitor parking for this event only is in Lots 5, 6, 8, and 8A.

Additionally, there will be a closing reception on Tuesday, March 31, from 5–7 PM with the artist present. All events are free and open to the public.

Anne Arden McDonald is a New York City-based visual artist who creates images on photographic paper without the use of a camera or a negative. While still utilizing photo paper, light, and chemistry, she experiments with historic processes, like the photogram, to invent new ways of producing images. Her methods involve an unorthodox collection of materials and techniques drawn from both domestic and scientific realms. 

The work in this exhibition explores circles and spheres as atoms or planets—representing the microcosm and macrocosm of the physical world—as well as symbols of growth and wholeness. Featured works include recent experiments with rust, bubbles, and ceramic glazes, alongside large-scale cameraless scrolls from 2005–2011, many of which exceed 100 inches in height. Additionally, the artist created a special video for this exhibition offering a behind-the-scenes view of her innovative processes.

Glowing, 2025, cameraless silver gelatin print, 20x16 ins.

“I am inspired by the dialogue painters and sculptors have with their materials, and the way that interaction informs the resulting image,” states McDonald. “Another inspiration is the scientific method: observing phenomena, formulating a hypothesis, and testing it through experiment. I use careful measurements and note variables to build an image.”

By applying glue as a resist and navigating the paper surface with alternating photographic chemicals, McDonald coaxes images to emerge in the form of "chemical paintings." Her experiments range from painting bleach onto blackened paper to building layered piles of glass and eggshells—illuminated by a handheld flashlight—and even cultivating a self-replicating garden of mold that feeds on silver gelatin paper. Whether created in total darkness or broad daylight, these additive and reductive processes result in a series of innovative photographs that challenge our definitions of photography.

Viera Levitt, UMass Dartmouth Gallery Director, is pleased to showcase how McDonald revisits historic processes such as Man Ray’s photograms, Pierre Cordier’s chemigrams, and lumen printing.

“Anne is able to create magic out of ephemeral optical situations and chemical reactions,” says Levitt. “Her work underscores a relentless curiosity and patient research into what can be achieved in this medium without a negative. Her willingness to fail and try again is both inspiring and educational, offering a profound lesson to any aspiring or established artist.”

The artist adds: “When I stand in the landscape, the horizon is a circle; when nature goes through four seasons and spring comes again, that is a circle. As each day begins again, circles are a constant experience, either spatially or temporally. For many years, I made self-portraits with a camera, creating narrative images. With this abstract work, I am exploring the deeper story—the older story, the story of all of us, the story of atoms and planets, both circles. It is also an expression of my search for a sense of wholeness.”

Emerging, 2025, cameraless silver gelatin print, 34 x 29 ins.

About the Artist

Anne Arden McDonald is a Brooklyn, NYC-based visual artist who was born in London, England, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. From age 15 to 30, she created photographic self-portraits by building installations in the landscape or in abandoned interiors and performing privately for her camera in these spaces. She published a monograph of this work in 2004. More recently, she has been making process- and science-inspired images which involve both photography and sculpture. Her work has been exhibited in contexts that range from self-portrait, staged, ritual, plastic camera, antique process, and experimental photography to sculptural installations as large as a room and as small as a pocket watch.

McDonald’s work has been exhibited widely; in the past 40 years, she has had over 50 solo exhibitions in 10 countries and participated in approximately 600 group exhibitions in 20 countries. Her work has been published in over 215 venues across 20 countries—including Aperture, European Photography, and Eyemazing magazines—and is in the collections of six major museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Denver Art Museum; the Detroit Institute of Arts; and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. She was a Lapine Fellow at the Millay Colony and has been a resident at Saltonstall, Byrdcliffe, Oak Spring Garden, the Sharpe Foundation, and Schrattenberg in Austria.

McDonald taught for six years at Parsons School of Design in New York and has lectured on topics including staged photography, self-portraiture, Czech and Slovak photography, alternative processes, and her own artistic practice.

Anne Arden McDonald's website