Emmaline Norborg Carter
Emmaline Norborg Carter is a conceptual photographer who has exhibited in Cincinnati, Ohio and Laguna Beach, California. Her most recent exhibitions include locations such as the University of Dayton in Ohio, several inclusions at the Reed Gallery in Cincinnati, Las Laguna Gallery, and Tabula Rasa Gallery in Cincinnati. Emmaline’s awards and grants include the 2022 Lenscratch Student Prize: 25 to Watch Directors Choice Award at the University of Cincinnati as well as the 2021 Emerge, Midwest Center for Photography Annual Award and Grant. Her featured publications include Lenscratch: Photographers on Photographers interview with Ashley Markle, Rental Magazine, Out of Service Magazine, and Velvet Eyes Magazine.
The photographs, both in black and white as well as color, depict moods and concepts steeped in coping with or expressing trauma based on domestic violence and sexual abuse. There remains a melancholy aura within the works whether it be through the depictions of directed sunlight, isolated surfaces, or figures expressing discomfort. Through texture, surface, and light Emmaline chooses subtle pictorial metaphors towards various sensitive emotions.
Often cropped and containing low contrast, Emmaline’s photography ranges in subject matter from fields of grass, close up textures of the ocean or concrete, and figures drenched in various reflections of light which sometimes contain visual distortions. The figurative visual interferences usually depict the subjects as if blending in with their backgrounds or being blotted out by natural elements such as light and water. With low saturation, the photography reveals an atmospheric uniformity which almost reflects a sfumato or fog within the compositions. Despite the dark undertones, Emmaline’s photographs can be described as quite beautiful and serene in their subtle capturing of luminosity and texture. Through sparkling or transparent reflections or soft, gradient shadows, her quiet scenes induce meditative qualities which can be interpreted as either steeped in sorrow or contemplation.
One piece from the I Thought I Saw It in the Earth and in the Open Sky series (pictured above) contains the depiction of a delicate hand contrasting against the harsh texture of aged concrete. What remains unusual about the piece would be for the viewer to notice the fingertips are depicted as bright white, unlike the pinkish tone throughout the rest of her hand. As if the model’s hands were pressed upon a surface for a sustained amount of time, the pale fingertips are displayed upon as in an inflamed status similar to the raw texture of the concrete.
Emmaline Norborg Carter can be described as an artist who explores psychological implications through the depiction of subtle atmosphere and elusive tension. Her photography captures the essence of elements in both nature and physical forms to express musing, ruminative, and hypnotic qualities similar to the lucid films of David Lynch or the rhythmic songs of Dulce Pontes. Emmaline expresses a calm ambience in her works depicted through selective texture and illumination rather than through familiar iconography and motifs.
