Elizabeth Opalenik is regarded as one of the most creative photographers of our time. She is known for her sensual images, including work in the Mordançage process (taught to her by the master, Jean Pierre Sudre), handpainted black and white, infrared films, Polaroid manipulations and specialized toning. From carbon and platinum printing to digitally printing onto beautiful handmade papers, with limitless creativity Elizabeth has found her voice as a photographic artist, learning that all good photographs are self-portraits that lie somewhere between imagination and dreams.
A highly sought after educator, Ms. Opalenik teaches international workshops privately on the figure, portraiture, and alternative processes, and has been teaching multiple workshops over more than 40 years in partnership with the Maine Media Workshops, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and National Geographic Expeditions among others. Ms. Opalenik’s work is in museum, gallery and private collections throughout the world including La Bibliotheque Nationale – France; The Portland Museum of Art; and The Milwaukee Art Museum among others. She has been shown in over sixty exhibitions internationally.
As Elizabeth says, “from portraits to landscapes, our images are stepping stones that trace where the mind has been and form the unique vision each of us carries through life.” Elizabeth teaches that by revealing ourselves, we discover new ways of seeing. Her desire is to respond to the light and to the essence of the subject of her images, creating a lasting yet momentous representation of a lifetime of moments and experience.
She has been a photographing since 1978. Her first monograph, “Poetic Grace: Elizabeth Opalenik Photographs 1979-2007” is available in signed and limited editions at Gallery 270. We’re thrilled to represent Elizabeth and to access the full range of her one of a kind photographic works from her four decade plus career .
