“Your portfolio is eerily familiar, with the textures and tonalities of the very first light markings on light sensitive substrates… I imagined, while contemplating your images, a future observation of 1000-year old photographs of what the moon used to look like before it disappeared from our solar system. Your work inspired fantasy and pathos in me… and I really love it… for all the faults and artifacts of ancient and simple salted paper images. The circle inspires narrative. The artifacts inspire obliteration of the sphere. The sphere inspires feelings of the proverbial planetary home now melancholically missed and absent. Sorry if I’m reading to deeply into your images but my digression is very much a compliment and I admire the risk you took with your work. Your portfolio represents, for me, a perfect example of the balance between intellect and art” Christopher James 

DM Witman’s portfolio recived Special Recognition in the 2024 Denis Roussel Awards. 

Would you please tell us about yourself?

I work primarily in alternative process along with video and installation. I currently teach photography and lead the Graduate Program for the School of Art and Design at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the Borderlands of South Texas. When I’m not teaching, I am back home in Midcoast Maine. In my previous life I worked as an Environmental Scientist. I have a B.S. degree in Environmental Science and earned an MFA from Maine Media College.

31 © DM Witman

30 © DM Witman

Please tell us about the portfolio you submitted to the Denis Roussel Award.

The last two years have been an extremely productive time for me which comes on the
heels of my new environment in the Rio Grande Valley. My work has always involved
the natural world, and primarily the climate predicament. In most recent years, I have
focused on the phenomena of eco-distress. In this newest iteration of work, I was
pursuing a more direct interaction between my physical actions and the process and
materials of salted-paper. And what resulted was this completely intuitive and yet
physical synthesis of my experience, with the paper, silver and gold. I enjoy the
abstraction and knowing that each piece is unique, never to be repeated again from my
hands, or the materials.

Please tell us about your process.

The process for this series is the salted-paper process, which I adore. I appreciate the
ability to develop a body of work that can be very consistent and precise but can also be
completely rogue and unpredictable. There are so many variables with salted-paper
which can make themselves known at any point along the way. I used paper that I had
made more than a decade ago while an artist-in-residence at the Women’s Studio
Workshop. I had never made paper before this. I went to WSW with the intent of
working in the darkroom but fell in love with making paper. So, for the better part of five
weeks I made abaca paper. I’ve held on to this paper since that time, and a few times
was tempted to give it away or throw it out. But I held that urge at bay, convincing
myself that it would find its purpose. And finally, that happened when the initial
experiments proved successful.

What is the most frustrating part of the process?

I’m not sure that there is anything I find frustrating. But the way I work with salted-paper,
it requires huge chunks of time and space. It’s not something I can do when I’m feeling
rushed or only have an hour or two to devote to it.

Do you enjoy the process itself or is it just a means to an end?

I definitely enjoy the process. I find it beautiful and responsive. There are many steps
involved, each presenting a range of variables, which contribute to the flexibility but
certainly can pose challenges. But I love it.

How long have you been practicing this process?

I first began working with salted-paper in 2014 when I began what would become the
series “Melt”. Learning about all of the variables and trying to achieve consistency in a
series was a challenge in the beginning. But I developed a methodology of making that
worked for me and the ideas I was tackling (climate).

Do you have a mentor or a teacher that has helped your journey?

I am always inspired by the natural world – that is primary for me. There have been
mentors along the way such as in graduate school–my primary mentor was Arno
Minkkinen who reinforced in me a strong work ethic and his graciousness as a teacher
and mentor.

How do you work through times when nothing seems to work?

I don’t have one specific approach. There are times when simply the aspect of “time
passing” helps me to more clearly understand the “what” and the “why”. I also have
found that embracing the process and materials without being “married” to the outcome
helps me to enjoy what it is I am doing. Having a concrete expectation in the exact
imagery or the exact aesthetic diminishes the joy of discovery and experimentation for
me.

What part of image-making do you find the most rewarding?

That’s a tough question for me – as I like it all, and sometimes it seems to all run
together for me. I can note that the most challenging aspect for me is wrapping
something up.

37 © DM Witman

What tools have you found essential in the making of your work?

For me it’s more about making the time to have both the physical and mental spaces to
work for the blocks of time that I feel I need, which tend to be very time intensive. The
necessary tools vary depending on the kind of work I am making.

Is there something in photography that you would like to try in the future?

There is so much that I am excited to explore in terms of concepts. I just don’t have
enough time to pursue everything I am interested in. For me, the materials and process
are driven by the ideas. There is often an energy that I live within when I am wrapping
something up and the glimmer of something new or an extension of something I already
have in progress. But I can note that I am very much interested in pushing the
boundaries of photographic materials and process to see how far they/I can go.

What’s on the horizon?

Likely, more experiments with salt for sure.

Thank you. To learn more about the wok of DM Witman please visit her site by clicking on her name.