The Vintage Works of Photographer Ann Zelle

We’re excited to be working with photographer Ann Zelle in putting together our next exhibition at The Gallery, a selection of vintage prints and Polaroids from Ann’s archives that haven’t been shown in nearly 40 years.

Ann’s show Remember When… opens March 20th with a reception for the artist from 6 - 8 p.m. and will be on display through June 26th.

In the 1970s, more than a decade into her photographic career, Ann Zelle picked up two cameras that would shape the way she approached photography for decades to come – the Diana Camera and Polaroid SX-70. While marketed as a “toy” camera, the technical and aesthetic options with the Diana intrigued amateurs and professionals alike; and for Ann it was the introduction of 19th century printing processes into the equation that transformed the abstracted clarity of Diana images into prints that are rich and full of energy. At the same time, Polaroid’s launch of the SX-70 that popularized instant photographs became a tool for Ann to hone her aesthetic eye in documenting her surroundings through photography as she utilized the medium to capture hidden moments and private spaces.

Included in this show are a series of black-and-white photographs shot with the Diana Camera on 120 medium format film and contact printed with enlarged copy negatives using palladium printing techniques, as well as a selection of original color Polaroids from a series of work entitled “Baltimore Days.”

RSVP for the event here.

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About the Artist

Ann E. Zelle (b. 1943) is Associate Professor Emerita, American University School of Communication, where she was Head of Photography 1982-2002. She also taught at Northern Virginia Community College and the Smithsonian Institution. She was a museum administrator and educator from 1963-l973 at the Illinois State Museum, Newark Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art and ART & SOUL (Chicago), and the International Council of Museums (UNESCO).

Ann is an artist whose work has been exhibited in national museums and galleries and published in The Creative Camera, Legacy of Light, Darkroom Photography, The Diana Show, Photographic Possibilities, Daily Rag & Washington Newsworks, Mother Jones, Village Voice, and The Washington Post. In 2007 she retired to Western North Carolina, where she has continued her creative work as a sculptor in welded metals and ceramics.