MARILYN CANNING PHOTOGRAPHY

Bio

Marilyn Canning is a Chicago based fine art photographer and mixed- media artist. Much of her work interrogates humanity’s relation to the natural world in unnatural ways.  This includes replicated, recreated, and man-made environments that are artificial representations of the real world. Image sources include dioramas, displays and exhibits sourced from museums zoos and aquariums.  These “out of context’ venues are a vast repository of image sources that present humanity’s relation to the natural world in unnatural environments.

 

Her work has been exhibited nationally, included in publications dedicated to fine art photography and is held in a number of private collections. Recent juried shows include: Lens 2018, 2019, and 2020 at Perspective Gallery, PRAXIS Gallery, Don’t Take Pictures Online Gallery; and the Chicago Photography Center. She has received numerous awards and has been published in multiple issues of B & W Magazine.

 

Canning began her photographic journey in the traditional darkroom.  Thus, much of her work reflects the visual sensibility of toned silver gelatin images.  According to Canning there’s a purity to black and white photographs which distills images to their essence without the distraction of color. Her work has been described as projecting a sense of mystery or ambiguity which is enhanced by the starkness of black and white imagery.

 

Canning has been represented by Perspective Gallery and Gallery 14. She was a founding member of Les Femmes Photales and UNTITLED which was a member run artists organization.