Inheritance in Blue

Inheritance in Blue examines the emotional labor of grief, the weight of family legacy, and the power of photography to preserve stories. This series of cyanotype photograms features crystal bowls passed from my grandmother to my mother, and now to me. Stored for decades in my late mother’s cabinets—and, to my memory, never actually used—these objects embody the weight of grief: too precious to part with, yet a quiet burden to keep.

The photograms, created by exposing the bowls to light over light-sensitized paper, transform these vessels into ghostly impressions, revealing that each bowl holds not just its physical form, but an echo of the memories and stories it witnessed. Each print is inscribed with a name from my maternal line, written in a font inspired by the handwriting of Anna Atkins. By incorporating her script, I honor her legacy as the first woman photographer to use this process and the long lineage of women after her who have shaped their own narratives through photography.

Viewed together, the bowls appear like microscopic details, resembling cellular structures or fragments of memory magnified and suspended in time. They speak to the act of preservation—of objects, stories, and grief—and to the joys and burdens of what we leave behind. Inheritance in Blue invites viewers to reflect on the nature of inheritance, the emotional weight of what we carry, and the quiet power of holding space for loss.

10 x 10 inches, Cyanotype, 2025