Brooklyn Artist's Cameraless Photographs Explore Spirituality

Anne Arden McDonald's abstract silver gelatin works evoke the macrocosm and microcosm of life

Feb. 18, 2026 at 7:47am

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Artist Anne Arden McDonald, a former student of photographer Bryan Whitney at the International Center of Photography, has spent decades exploring themes of spirituality and inner life through her photographic practice. Initially creating narrative self-portrait images in abandoned spaces, McDonald has more recently turned to cameraless photography, generating abstract images on silver gelatin paper that evoke the cycles and elements of the natural world.

Why it matters

McDonald's work reflects a lifelong fascination with the tensions between the physical and spiritual realms, using photography as a medium to grapple with the human experience of being "both flesh and spirit." Her abstract, process-driven images have been widely exhibited internationally over the past 40 years, establishing her as an influential voice in experimental and alternative photographic practices.

The details

For the past 20 years, McDonald has been creating cameraless photographs, using techniques like pouring hot liquids onto chemigrams to generate imagery of circles, spheres, and organic forms that evoke the macrocosm and microcosm. She sees these shapes as visual metaphors for the cycles and patterns that structure our experience of the world, from the horizon line to the changing of the seasons. McDonald's process-oriented practice also involves ritual elements, such as keeping detailed notes, singing to the photo paper, and incorporating materials connected to her family history.

  • McDonald began making self-portrait photographs at age 15 in the 1980s, continuing this work until she was 30 years old.
  • In the last 20 years, McDonald has focused on cameraless photography, exploring abstract, process-driven techniques.
  • McDonald is currently part of a cameraless photography exhibition at an Art hotel in Milwaukee and has a solo show opening at UMass Dartmouth.

The players

Anne Arden McDonald

A Brooklyn-based visual artist who was born in London, England and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. McDonald has spent decades exploring themes of spirituality and inner life through her photographic practice, initially creating narrative self-portrait images and more recently turning to cameraless photography.

Bryan Whitney

A photographer and artist in New York City whose work involves experimental imaging techniques including x-rays, lensless imaging and alternative processes. Whitney taught the "Concerning the Spiritual in Photography" course at the International Center of Photography where McDonald was a student.

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What they’re saying

“I began my life in photography at age 15 with a series of self-portraits. I was going to a born again Christian high school in Atlanta, Georgia, and was struggling to relate to those around me. I was photographing myself in abandoned buildings, I saw these spaces as a metaphor for me; I felt left behind and forgotten.”

— Anne Arden McDonald, Artist

“These circles and loops are so much of what I see and experience. When I stand in the landscape, the horizon around me is a circle; when nature goes through four seasons and Spring comes again, that is a circle. Day begins again, circles are a constant experience, either spatially or temporally.”

— Anne Arden McDonald, Artist

What’s next

McDonald is scheduled to teach a workshop at the Maine Media Center in August 2026, where she plans to continue exploring her cameraless photography techniques with the stronger summer sun.

The takeaway

Through her deeply personal and spiritually-infused photographic practice, Anne Arden McDonald has established herself as an influential voice in experimental and alternative photography, using the medium to grapple with the human experience of being both physical and metaphysical beings.