Meghann Riepenhoff

This work stems from my fascination with the nature our relationships to the landscape, the sublime, time, and impermanence. Entitled Littoral Drift, a geologic term describing the action of wind-driven waves transporting sand and gravel, the series consists of camera-less cyanotypes made in collaboration with the landscape and the ocean,...
This work stems from my fascination with the nature our relationships to the landscape, the sublime, time, and impermanence. Entitled Littoral Drift, a geologic term describing the action of wind-driven waves transporting sand and gravel, the series consists of camera-less cyanotypes made in collaboration with the landscape and the ocean, at the edges of both. The elements that I employ in the process—waves, wind, and sediment—leave physical inscriptions through direct contact with photographic materials. Photochemically, the pieces are never wholly processed; they will continue to respond to the changing environments that they encounter over time. As part of the larger project, I selectively re-photograph moments in the evolution of the images, to generate a series of static records of a transitory process which will potentially end in self-destruction. Perhaps where the fugitive cyanotypes are analogies for a terrifyingly fleeting and beautiful existence, the process of re-photographing them is a metaphor for the incorporation and mediation of photography in the contemporary human experience. Image Titles: 01 Littoral Drift #26 (Tower Beach, SC 05.28.13, Tidal Pools, Dipped and Buried) 02 Littoral Drift Continuum #02 (Four Moments in Forty-eight Hours, Rodeo Beach, CA 07.21.13, One Wave, Plunged) 03 Littoral Drift #11 (Recto/Verso, Rodeo Beach, CA 06.31.13, One Wave, Dipped) 04 Littoral Drift #06 (Triptych, Rodeo Beach, CA 08.01.13, One Wave, Splashed) 05 Littoral Drift Continuum #07 (Four Moments in Forty-eight Hours, Jade Cove, CA 07.15.13, One Wave, Poured); 06 Littoral Drift #05 (Recto/Verso, Rodeo Beach, CA 08.01.13, Two Waves, Dipped) 07 Littoral Drift #16 (Recto/ Verso, Diptych, Rodeo Beach, 08.01.13, Two Waves, Buried and Saturated) 08 Littoral Drift Continuum #01 (Three Moments in Forty-eight Hours, Rodeo Beach, CA 07.21.13, One Wave, Poured) 09 Littoral Drift #18 (Recto/Verso, Diptych, Rodeo Beach, 08.01.13, Two Waves, Buried and Saturated) 10 Littoral Drift #10(Recto/Verso, Rodeo Beach, CA 07.21.13, Three Waves, Submerged)
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Littoral Drift #26 (Tower Beach, SC 05.28.13, Tidal Pools, Dipped and Buried)
Littoral Drift Continuum #02(Four Moments in Forty-eight Hours, Rodeo Beach, CA)
Littoral Drift #11 (Recto/Verso, Rodeo Beach, CA 06.31.13, One Wave, Dipped)
Littoral Drift #06 (Triptych, Rodeo Beach, CA 08.01.13, One Wave, Splashed)
Littoral Drift Continuum #07 (Four Moments in Forty-eight Hours, Jade Cove, CA 0
Littoral Drift #05 (Recto/Verso, Rodeo Beach, CA 08.01.13, Two Waves, Dipped)
Littoral Drift #16 (Recto/ Verso, Diptych, Rodeo Beach, 08.01.13, Two Waves, Bur
Littoral Drift Continuum #01 (Three Moments in Forty-eight Hours, Rodeo Beach, C
Littoral Drift #18 (Recto/Verso, Diptych, Rodeo Beach, 08.01.13, Two Waves, Buri
Littoral Drift #10(Recto/Verso, Rodeo Beach, CA 07.21.13, Three Waves, Submerged