Mary Woodman’s photographs are based in observation, but they achieve a painterly quality that rivals the density of charcoal in their final forms. The Kennebunkport photographer explains she is driven to observe the world around her by the sheer beauty of local, natural forms. Within and among these forms, she is drawn to the rhythms of nature and uses these as her cue for finalizing any image. “Observation,” she explains, “is just the beginning of the photographer’s job. We sometimes like to pretend that photographers don’t intervene in the image, but they always do by cropping, controlling contrast, dodging, burning, length of exposure, and so on. I began shooting black and white film and working with a master printer to help me get my desired results. So the step to digital work was very natural. My photos are presented as ends in themselves: they have no specific agenda and need no explanation. I think the viewer’s relationship to them should be complete, and this is why I also focus on scale, printing, framing and so on.”

Woodman’s Eggs in a Nest won a prestigous 2007 B&W Magazine Merit Award. presents a seemingly simple and well-known form and presents its rhythms, complexities and dualities with a sharply interested eye. The nest glows with light from within, mirroring the yolk or life inside the eggs. The two eggs themselves present the pairing of thoughts: siblings, inside/outside, parents, figure/ground and the balance of rhythm with time. The deep tonality of printing and sharpness of the image make a very elegant and complete first impression, but the sensation of completeness very quickly gives way to visual and rhythmic play.