UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The HUB-Robeson Galleries presents "Anacostia Portraits," an exhibition of tintype photographs by Elana Volkova, on view in Art Alley, June 8–Sept. 22.
"Anacostia Portraits" is a participatory arts project using a historic photographic process to create a visual archive celebrating the people who make up the Anacostia region of the District of Columbia. In this revival of the 19th-century tintype, individuals with a connection to the community were invited to portrait sessions with photographer Elena Volkova at the Anacostia Arts Center. Each sitting produces two portraits, one for the participant and one for a final installation.
According to Volkova, "Anacostia Portraits" is a way for people to shape their own representations, and to encourage a dialogue between past and present. The tintype, or wet plate collodion process, makes exposures on metal plates coated with wet silver nitrate. Like a Polaroid, each exposure produces a single image. A single tintype takes about 15 minutes to create. Volkova uses the forced slowness to collaborate with participants, learning enough about each person to reveal their internal stories in a final portrait.
Subjects come with a diverse range of connections to Anacostia: life-long residents, people who grew up and moved away, and newcomers making art or building businesses in the region. Their lives touch on different parts of the varied and changing landscape of Anacostia, which began as a Native American settlement, grew into a center for DC’s African American community, and now grapples with the push and pull of gentrification.
"Anacostia Portraits" was supported by a grant from Corcoran Women’s Committee and ARCH Development Corporation. Volkova’s work can be viewed online.
Volkova is a Ukrainian-born interdisciplinary artist, educator and curator, whose creative practice uses historic and contemporary photographic techniques to explore complex themes of domesticity, liminality and subjective experience. Volkova has been a fellow at Hamiltonian Artists and exhibited her work nationally and internationally. She received several recognitions and awards in support of her creative practice, including Janis Meyer Traveling Fellowship, Corcoran Women’s Committee Grant, Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant, and Baltimore Municipal Art Society Travel Prize. Volkova has been a social practice resident artist at Maryland Center for History and Culture, Anacostia Arts Center, and Maker General, among others. Volkova resides in Baltimore, Maryland, and teaches photography at Stevenson University.
Classes, student organizations and University offices are encouraged to visit the HUB-Robeson Galleries, a unit of the division of Penn State Student Affairs. Inquiries can be directed to galleries@psu.edu. For more information on this and other exhibitions, contact the HUB-Robeson Galleries at 814-865-2563 or visit the galleries online. Keep up to date with the HUB-Robeson Galleries by signing up for their Listserv or follow them on Instagram @hubrobesongalleries.