Bodies of Water (series), 2023 - ongoing
Silver prints developed with seaweed
Variable dimensions

These black-and-white photographic series explore ongoing relationships within bodies of water. Skin curls like waves, ice cracks in patterns of veins, boundaries dissolve. There is no beginning nor end, only the flow of momentary fragments coming together to form a whole. We are not singular but a multitude of porous exchanges in constant flow.

Bodies of Water is developed using seaweed instead of the traditional chemical agents found in photographic processes. Elise Guillaume collects seaweed, both living and dead specimens, locally. Fucus vesiculosus from the North Sea and Fucus spiralis from the High Arctic, intertidal brown algae, become the basis of a low-toxicity photo developer that she creates. The resulting image is not captured but co-produced with algal life, carrying its own agency within the work.

Bodies of Water draws on Astrida Neimanis' concept of hydrofeminism, as articulated in her essay Hydrofeminism: Or, On Becoming a Body of Water (2012), particularly her call for multispecies solidarity and interconnection across watery bodies.

Below is a selection of works from the series. For further inquiries, please contact : eliseguillaume.studio@gmail.com