Patricia Bender

Patricia A. Bender is a photographic artist living and working in New Jersey and Michigan. She began studying photography in the early 2000s, and was hooked from the moment she shot and developed her first image. She works exclusively with black and white film in the darkroom, and personally creates each image from the moment it is shot through the finished gelatin silver print. Bender has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions internationally and throughout the United States, and is the recipient of numerous awards for her work. Her work is held in several corporate and private collections.

Artist Statement:

I am an old-fashioned, black and white film photographer who loves to work and play in my traditional chemical darkroom. Most times I prefer my own company or the company of nature to the company of other people. I find peace, beauty, joy, inspiration, and a connection to all things as I wander alone in the woods or work alone in my darkroom. My primary medium is light. I love light. I follow light. I play with light. I capture light on film emulsion and photographic paper, and then I go to work. The film image is merely a starting point in my artistic process. It is where my creativity begins. When I create an image from a negative, I do not aim to make a crisp, clear representation of what I have photographed. I try to make my mark on the image, make it mine. I experiment with many different things: chemicals and papers, deliberately damaging the print by exposing it to light or to bleach, forcing the image in or out of focus until it feels right. This is largely an intuitive process. I allow these things to happen without thinking about them. Much of the time my impetus seems to be to age my work, to place it in the past. I don’t know why.

Patricia recently came in second place at the New Brunswick Art Salon 2018 — Photography: “A Facility for Photogenia” awarded by Andrew Darlow.

“Bystanders (1)” by Patricia Bender

Artist Interview