Kathleen Velo

About the Process

I think artists are explorers: As a process driven artist, I find inspiration in experimentation and wondering. I have worked with non traditional photographic processes for almost 30 years and am fascinated by light and space. I began my journey as a photographer using black and white film, traditional cameras of different sizes, and processing my images in a traditional darkroom. The more I worked with light in my photographs, the more I wanted to eliminate the distractions of gadgets and capture light as simply as possible. Discovering pinhole photography in the early 1990's changed my entire approach to photography. I became more in tune to the essence of a scene, and the way light and space interact. Spaces the natural world are essential to me for inspiration. As I became more aware of the natural environment through my photography, I wanted to use my images to show a different perspective of nature; hence, my major project "Water Flow" was born. I wanted to see how light could capture the essence of water, and show the distinctions that are usually invisible between pure and contaminated water. I created a unique method of exposing color photographic paper underwater (which required total darkness, night time exposures) and controlled light. I worked with this process for over ten years, capturing visible descriptions of the quality of water. During this time, I worked in numerous water sources, from CAP recharge basins, to the entire Colorado, in water sources at the Biosphere 2, and finally on the Hopi reservation, comparing the arsenic laced water that is delivered to Hopi homes, with filtered water and water from nearby non-reservation sources. I completed this work two years ago, and am wondering what to explore next.