Marina Black originally studied history and painting; while her passion for history hasn't diminished, it has added new dimensions to Black’s photography, which has become her main focus. Her process of working has always been about experimentation and the physical process of reworking the surface.
Marina creates her photographic stories while often being influenced by the works of world literature, using historical photographic processes and techniques to modify reality by prints’ manipulation with the goal of creating a sequence of images that are inspired by their writing.
Black's images reside in the world of ambiguity. An undercurrent feeling of mystery permeates the archetypal people, places, and settings of the fictitious universe. Although Marina uses historical references in her work, her creations are not constrained by the limitations of historical replication. Instead, she combines fiction with reality, the past and the present. Her visual style is not merely a nostalgic diary, but a look at the present through ‘a rearview mirror’ in order to see what’s coming.
Embracing contingency and appreciating the unpredictable are of great value in her working process. By allowing the unpredictable to happen, she allows herself to transcend the conventional process of creating an image that enables her to embrace the unexpected. She works in analogue, digital and camera-less technologies and likes the tactile qualities of prints.
Black received the W. Lawrence Heisey Graduate Award for outstanding achievement in creative & scholarly work at York University, Canada, as well as a number of Ontario Arts Council grants. She was a featured exhibitor at the FOTOFEST international photography festival in Houston, USA, and the CONTACT International Photography Festival in Toronto, Canada. Her work has been published in The Best Of LensCulture Vol. 3; Eyemazing Susan Vol.II; FOSSILS OF LIGHT + TIME; and BURN. Black’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions worldwide and is included in the public collections of the Heritage Municipal Museum of Malaga, Spain; the Alliance Francaise in Canada; and the IZOLYATSIA non-governmental arts foundation, Ukraine.
Marina's work is represented by Galerie VU' in France, Lumina gallery in Norway
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