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After earning her BFA in 2010 from the Corcoran College of Art + Design, Erika was thrown into the digital world. While she has embraced digital photography Erika still has a passion for shooting on film. We live in a fast paced, immediate society. When Erika isn’t shooting an event or wedding, she likes to work on her art and craft in the darkroom. The process of bringing a photograph to life is not like that of the digital image. Shooting on film takes patience, something most people don’t have today. Erika finds that by slowing down and composing each image with a purpose she is able to produce work with more meaning.
As an emerging photographer, Erika actually first started out with digital camera and quickly became interested in film. Erika’s camera of choice is a Hasselblad with a 80mm lens, she has a darkroom in her home where she processes and prints her work.
Having experimented with a variety of formats Erika has found that medium format is what she enjoys the most. Her camera of choice is a Hasselblad and primarily black and white film because it can be processed easily in her home. “It's nice to be able to take a step back and try to see the world in a black and white square frame, it's also a bit of a challenge.” Erika will continue to shoot this way until the challenge goes away or until she can no longer get the film, chemicals, and paper.
Currently, Erika is working on The Hyattsville Project. She is documenting what is going on within the city limits of this ever-changing DC suburb. Erika is striving to make this a homegrown project by limiting the workspace to printing in her home darkroom.
The Hyattsville Project
The Hyattsville Project started after I realized that the only new photographs I was producing was for paid work. I longed to be able to freely produce work that was truly my own. It’s hard to find time in the busy fast paced life to step back and do something that is just for you. I decided that I would work on a project that I couldn’t avoid, my back yard. I set out to discover and document my neighborhood.
Almost four years ago my fiancé Stephen and I purchased our first home in Hyattsville Maryland. This historic community has seen a lot of ups and downs over the years and I was attracted to its overall charm. Once a town full of small businesses with a cable car that ran all the way into downtown Washington, D.C., it had become nothing more than a strip of used car lots along route 1.
Over the past decade or so the area has seen a revival and a push to return to its roots. As I got to know my neighbors, many who have lived here for many years, I realized that Hyattsville truly is a special place. I began walking the streets in my neighborhood and documenting the overall change that was going on. Many homeowners are renovating their Bungalows and Victorians. This is a community striving to return to its former glory. As I explore each street I have noticed that as much as things are changing much of it has remained the same. The Hyattsville Project is a documentation of the town as it is today.
It was the decision to make this project homegrown that prompted me to build my home darkroom, something I had been dreaming of for years. I have grounded myself to only photographing within Hyattsville city limits, and only shooting on black and white film. These choices are necessary for the project, as I am consciously making an effort to produce it completely in my town.
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