Colors in the Dark: Ellen Carey 

Ellen Carey, Crush & Pull with Hands, Penlights & Spruce Needles, 2023, Unique Polaroid Positive Print, Contemporary World Art Fund.

Ellen Carey, Push Pins, 2002, C Print color photogram, Gift of artist.

September 1– December 20, 2026

Opening Reception: September 10, 5 - 7pm
FREE.  Everyone is welcome.

Ellen Carey is a world-renowned experimental photographer. She is best known for her photograms (created without a camera) and her striking lens-based work using the rare 20 x 24 Polaroid cameras. She challenges our expectations of what a photograph is by exploring photographic process: this is photography that does not point a camera at a subject, but rather, explores the intrinsic process of photography itself.

This exhibition encompasses 39 years of Ellen Carey’s work, from early abstract Polaroid self-portraits from 1987 to her minimalist color “pulls” (1996-2024) and camera-less photograms (1988- present) which are represented by the magnificent wall grid of her “Dings and Shadows.”  The majority of the work in this gallery was gifted to the Benton by the artist.

Ellen Carey, Dings & Shadows, 2016, C Print color photogram, Gift of artist.