Transforming The Insignificant
Missy Prince is a photographer who grew up in The Gulf Coast of Mississippi and had an opportunity to live in various states across the U.S. The diverse experience allows her to bring a distinct point of view into her work. The act of observation in photography creates a triangular relationship between the subject, the camera, and the image maker. The complexity of this relationship stems from the voyeurism inherent in the process, which coexists with an effort to connect with the subject and uncover the deeper layers of the narrative unfolding.
Another layer of complexity involves the subject's perception of the photographer viewing them as an insider or an outsider. This perception significantly influences the development of the photographer’s relationship over a brief period with the subject. In discussing her experience, Missy says, “Being out in the world is the best part. The promise of making something out of nothing, of transforming the insignificant, adds greater meaning.” The true magic lies in the connection established between the viewer and the image, evoking emotions and the recognition of the place or people you’ve never seen before but relate to the story.
In this interview, we discuss Missy's transition from studying Philosophy and Literature to embracing photography as another form of art. We delve into how Missy observes the surrounding world through the prism of personal curiosity. We also discuss the impact land and sense of place have on people who inhabit them, as well as the shifts in perspective that arise from a photographer as an insider or an outsider. Additionally, we address themes of nature and exploration of survival through a discussion of two series, Disappearer and Double Down.
Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski
‘Some say that experience mediated by a camera is somehow less immediate. I'm not sure what that means.’
My Narrative
Hi Missy, it is great to have you in the magazine! I fell in love with your work and the atmosphere you create. How are you doing?
I would love to start speaking about you and what brought you to photography after studying Philosophy and Literature. Do you think it is the same magic today, or has your interest shifted with the years to other aspects of photographic practice?
I'm great. Glad to talk with you. I was interested in photography before my academic ventures, but it didn't gain traction until later. It was a matter of the right time, right place, right camera. Philosophy, Literature, and Photography all orbit around my curiosity about the world and the way people live. What has given it lasting power in my life is the kind of engagement it affords. Some say that experience mediated by a camera is somehow less immediate. I'm not sure what that means. Looking is life. Active looking with the intent to photograph enlarges on that. Being out in the world is the best part. The promise of making something out of nothing, of transforming the insignificant, adds greater meaning. Yes, the magic is still there, but it has gone through changes like anything else. As the work grows, so does my relationship to it. Printing has always been an important part of the process. Lately, I've been making one-off books. I can occupy myself indefinitely with any aspect of photography. The possibilities are never-ending.
‘The only image titles I can muster are geographic. It's as descriptive as I want it to be.’
The Place
You grew up in The Gulf Coast of Mississippi and lived most of the time in Oregon, the Pacific Northwest of the US. You also experienced living in Ohio in the Midwest. In what way do you think a place or people living in the place, especially when we compare pastoral landscapes with big cities or the different states in the US, affect the images and themes you choose to work on?
Sense of place is everything for me. It is an exploratory prompt and the glue that holds it all together in my mind. The only image titles I can muster are geographic. It's as descriptive as I want it to be. Place is an unobtrusive suggestion. I’m less interested in straight documentation than facilitating perception. Photography is a perception game. The tension between the literal and the imagined is what gives it power. We naturally want to define people in terms of where they live. I think the land is the least ambiguous shaper of its inhabitants, and environmental details give realistically fanciful jumping off points for the imagination.
I try to avoid stereotypes while referring to them, to play into assumptions, expectations, and myths while disrupting them. Mississippi provides a rich landscape for that. It wasn't until I left and came back as an outsider to photograph that I found value in my conflicting feelings of love and aversion. Those feelings inform my images.
The Pacific Northwest, like the South, has a big personality. I spent a lot of energy chasing its dark, dank mythos. Literature is a big influence, and books like Sometimes a Great Notion and Trask fed my vision for a long time. I was part of a photo group called The Portland Grid Project, whose purpose was to document each square of the city map month by month. It was a practice in observing regional details on a micro level, but its documentary nature was still subject to my personal sense of place. Objectivity isn't the goal. I'm after the idiosyncratic.
Ohio is more subtle to my eyes, and I'm still feeling it out. I feel less like an observer here. Perhaps I'm changing. How that bears out in photos might be interesting.
‘I try to gain trust from my subjects by being real, making myself vulnerable, and showing that they have control of the situation because, without them, I get nothing.’
Being an Observer
The road, landscapes, meeting people who let you into their lives, even if for a short period, and how the narrative is structured and appears in different series leads to the theme of being an observer. This is a very specific type of observation in a way that you manage to create a feeling of familiarity and home while being, in a way, a ‘visitor’ of the places you portray. The connections you form with your subjects are perceived as close ones, though those might be people you have just met. Could you walk us through the process of visiting places you portray and what drives your attention when making a photograph?
The observer is the protagonist at the same time there is an apparent subject, so I am also revealing myself. I walk into the unfamiliar only to find the familiar. At the heart of voyeurism is the desire to understand, to grab onto some piece of sense through looking. If you're lucky you get to do more than look. One thing leads to another and you're exchanging something. The fact that I'm after a photo detracts from the innocence, but there's no way around it. I try to gain trust from my subjects by being real, making myself vulnerable, and showing that they have control of the situation because, without them, I get nothing. I want to work for it, not come home with a photo equivalent of a gift shop bolo tie. I am ultimately an observer passing through, but I want to connect and reveal something about the connection.
‘I only print the images that move me. Some end up in series, and some float around loose. I get stuck in my own editing limitations.’
Darkroom
What is the process of working in the darkroom like for you? Could you walk us through how you choose the images and which ones finally become part of the selection to be available as prints on the website?
It makes me sad to talk about it because I no longer have access to a color darkroom. I used to print once a week at a lab in Portland. When it closed I drove an hour and a half to Olympia, Washington to use the darkroom at Evergreen University. When it closed I had no choice but to start scanning my negatives and inkjet printing at home. It's not the same. I dislike scanning negatives and staring at a screen. But there are benefits. I can print anytime and there is no time limit. I only print the images that move me. Some end up in series and some float around loose. I get stuck in my own editing limitations. I find it really hard to make edits that aren't held together by themes of place. It's a weakness. I like when other people edit my work because they combine images that I would not, and it helps me see them in a new light. It's hard to anticipate what people want to buy. I'm not great at guessing. It's a crapshoot. Portraits seem least desirable. Perhaps they are less conducive to imposing one's own fantasies onto them. I offer photos I am proud of but I take requests. Sometimes I'm surprised by what people want.
Disappearer & Double Down
I wanted to speak with you about the two series, Disappearer and Double Down. The feeling that appears when looking closely at your work is of comforting silence. Some of the places are empty of people, but they provide a sense of ease and a safe place for one to immerse in. Also, in Disappearance, we meet fewer people while exploring the wilderness and nature when compared to Double Down, which tells a different story of a place and its inhabitants. What is it like for you to meet people while working on projects, hearing their stories, and building those sometimes very short moments of connections?
I prefer exploring less populated places. Even in cities I’m drawn to scenes that feel detached from their surroundings, like time has stopped while life goes on. There is existential comfort in stillness, where things just are what they are in an elemental way. Disappearer reflects that. Double Down does too, I think. I've realized over time that I am exploring survival. It's not an intentional theme but one that has emerged. I'm drawn to people and places that evoke survival, that most fundamental enterprise of life. Nature is marked by eons of persistence. People are marked by nature and each other. My encounters with them are marked by recognition of something familiar and eternal. I can’t pretend to know what I’m doing. I’m searching. I don't care to overthink it, but probably, this idea of survival relates to my preoccupation with certain places.
Upcoming Projects
What theme or narrative are you researching, and what can we expect from you in the upcoming months?
I don't really premeditate themes or narratives. Anything goes. I follow what is interesting and count on narrative glue to emerge later. So much in life is scheduled and defined. Photography is an escape from that. In the near future, you can expect to see the East Coast, particularly The Rust Belt, represented.
