In the beginning, I took the safe route and did what was expected: college, become an art teacher, get married, have a family. The safe route crumbled when my husband died suddenly at an early age. I was in emotional turmoil but recognized that it would take time to sort things out… and while that was happening, I was going to cast my fate to the wind and take risks rather than do the predictable.
I began traveling to remote regions and remembered a game I played in elementary school—spinning the globe with eyes closed and putting my finger on a spot to see where it landed. Turning the globe upside down, Antarctica was spread out before me. I wanted to experience it all!
My camera is an integral part of me. It is an extension of my mind, heart, eye… a part of my past, present, and future. It is the synthesis of my love affair with life. It became my life preserver to stay afloat and positive during this turbulent time.
It was an amazing time of self-discovery as I was doing things for me and not for the approval of others. Along the way, I became a Kodak professional partner, my photography filled a Galapagos Conservancy Annual Report, my butterfly notecards were sold at the American Museum of Natural History, my bodies of Antarctica and Galapagos photography were acquired by Molloy University.
My photography spoke for protecting our environment because Mother Nature has no voice. It shared and inspired.
In 2014, social media led to a connection that grew into an award-winning book, Parallel Perspectives: The Brush/Lens Collaboration, by Holly Gordon and Ward Hooper. Inspired by so much of the Long Island landscape, this book is a visual memoir that combines life, loss, serendipity, and art… and proves that creative energy is a boundless force.
This collaboration led me to solidify a creative process I call “Photo-Liminalism” that was brewing and stewing intermittently for 15 years. Liminal describes a transitional period where the order of acceptability is in flux and a new order of acceptance has not yet been established.
The invention of photography gave rise to Impressionism when it rocked the conventional world of painting in the 1860s. Today, technology is revolutionizing photography as we know it… and my work is part of the change. I aim to humanize technology and show that, contrary to auto-button-pushing so prevalent on social media today, it can be as sensitive and malleable a tool as a pencil or paintbrush.
As a result, I am proud to be a “Techspressionist,” an international twenty-first century art and social movement of artists who use technology to express our ideas and visions.
Art is a wonder drug. It needs no prescription, can’t be overdosed and I heARTily recommend it to everyone! I’ve always been hyper about being and doing and making a difference. Life is full of surprises!
Holly Gordon, B.S. ’64, is an artist based in Bay Shore, New York. Her most recent solo exhibit—held August 22 to September 15, 2024, at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River, New York—was featured on the front page of Newsday. Her work can be seen at www.hollygordonphotographer.com.