Self-Preservation is a series of photos made through alternative processes to print images onto leaves and tree rounds. In an attempt to learn about my family history, I learned that African American genealogy is difficult to trace due to the legacy of slavery, which resulted in the separation of families and lack of documentation for the victims of slavery. Through chlorophyll printing and cyanotypes, processes that use UV light to print photographic images onto leaves, I’m connecting family, history, and nature in an exploration of self. As I grow older and watch my ancestors do the same, my efforts are urgent to immortalize memories while simultaneously dealing with the ephemeral state of them. The prints are impermanent and will decay over time. Their transience mirrors the fleeting state of memories and history.
