Beatrice Thornton: Pacific Shadow, Big Sur 2025

11 x 14

Plant-Developed Gelatin Silver Print Darkroom Composition. Film Developer: Kentmere 100 in Fig Leaves. Print Developer: Elderberry, Yarrow, and Fig Leaves. Ilford warmtone semi-matte paper. 

“This multi-negative darkroom composition explores ideas of healing and pain, themes running through my work and one of the many reasons for my use of plants. For this print I included medicinal herbs selected for their abilities to calm and more personally, to lessen symptoms of menstrual pain and irregularity associated with PCOS, a condition I was diagnosed with earlier this year. The plants in my chemistry are ‘invisible’ to the viewer, similar to the invisibility of pain, an inherently elusive yet ever-present part of the human experience. I also intend for the print to heal visually through its imagery.”