Ann Mitchell: Chance Chronicles

Ann Mitchell is fascinated by the narratives that spark her imagination when she finds abandoned places. She is drawn to western landscapes where the expansive sky and open space welcomes visionaries. In this series of photomontage images, Mitchell has created a world that exists somewhere between a dream and a cinematic still. An environment with echoes from the past where it seems that the story and its locale continue beyond the frame. Mitchell’s visual language weaves man-made structures into places where nature is returning. The warm monochromatic palette imparts a sense of nostalgia. 

The title, Chance Chronicles, describes the process Mitchell used to create these scenes. After randomly selecting a written meditation prompt, she began to write. The writing process led to creation of the images that provide the foundation of her work. As this project evolved, Mitchell sought evocative, non-specific locations that draw the viewer into the “authenticity” of her fictional world. She created a set of textures taken from various vintage processes – the glass from old proof frames, the edges of wet plates, film left out in the elements to age. She printed these images in hand-coated platinum/palladium, a 19^th century process that she prizes for its luminous mark of the hand.