Handwriting

1989 - 1990
This series began with photographs of condolence letters when my father died. Not far into the work I realized the handwriting itself expressed as much, or even more, about the writer and their feelings than the message did. Ultimately I experimented with putting the writing sideways or upside down because if the writing didn’t need to be legible, any orientation could be as powerful as the “correct” one. The great photographer and critic John Coplans was very influential in yanking me away from the anchor of verisimilitude.

I worked with a 4 x 5” view camera. The print size varied, often it was around 2 x 3’. These pictures were shown singly and in groups of two, three or four.

Lyson or Archival Inkjet Prints.

"writing," Nancy Hellebrand was published in 1989 in conjunction with a solo exhibition at Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York.