September's Honeycomb shows a second time with a different focus
Pause for a second.
Take a breath.
Look around and take in your surrounding. What do you see? Take the moment to notice.
Mary Wessner’s photography invites the viewer to do just that - to take a moment to appreciate something exquisite.
Whether it is seeing the body-like shapes in the smoke from incense or appreciating fog rising during sunrise, Wessner’s photos make people pause and notice something simple yet powerful.
Wessner has been surrounded by photography her entire life, but not until about six years ago did she pursue a career in the field.
Within that time she has already shown at Honeycomb Cafe once before, very early in her career, and has a standing spot at the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery.
The Daniel Island resident has led multiple careers. Starting in retail then becoming a spiritual counselor. Eventually she fell into photography, noticing that taking photos brought her happiness and made her slow down to notice beauty.
I had a chance to slow down with the September artist and chat about her and her craft:
Lucie Couillard: When did you last show at Honeycomb?
Mary Wessner: About five years ago is when I last had my stuff at Honeycomb. My focus was different— it has shifted so it’s going to be a different kind of show than last time. Back then I was getting into doing more people and families and that type of thing, and just started my business. Back then that’s what I thought I liked to do. What I am now starting to do is the creative side, what we would call fine art photography. It’s more like the landscape pictures– the sunrises, the sunsets and the houses - versus doing the people, the kids. I still love doing events and I love doing pets - I think pets are the coolest things ever. I still do those. I just shifted a bit. As I get older, my photography is morphing a different way.
LC: When did you notice this shift?
MW: I don’t know. It’s just I started going out and taking pictures for my own joy - the sunrises and the sunsets. Go out with some of my photography friends; get up super early at like 4 a.m. to go take photos of a sunrise over Folly Beach. And I started really enjoying the solidary and the Zen portion of it where I could go out and be one with nature. There is a part of me too that just likes creating something beautiful for a person so when they look at it they feel what I saw. I always loved nature and always been spiritual and seen the beauty in the world around us. And a lot of people don’t see it. I wanted them to be able to see it - stop and pause for a moment and see what was there.
LC: What do you recommend people do when approaching a photo shoot?
MW: Have all the camera gear and make sure it’s all good. Bring enough lenses because you never know what you are going to find. Being over prepared is always good. I’d rather have more than less, because in the beginning I would bring only one lens and be like “darn I wish I had that other lens.” I just pack heavy. Also at sunsets or sunrises, I make sure when I get there to look around, because everyone is focused on the sunset. I look around and be aware of everything around me because sometimes I turn around and the sky behind me will just be as gorgeous as or more gorgeous than the sky in front. Being open to do a 360. There could be a branch, there could be a log, and there could be a shell that has a beautiful light on it that just glows. Make sure to really take in everything.
LC: How did you start off taking photography? Are you self-taught?
MW: I am more self-taught. I do take classes. I do read the books. My parents were avid photographers. They taught me what they knew - they were film photographers years gone by. They belonged to camera clubs. Many Sunday afternoons when I was a little girl we would go out and ride somewhere. My father would have a destination in mind - to go see what the colors are or to take pictures of horses. It was just like I’m there; I’m 10 years old so they aren’t leaving me home alone. So I would just go along with them. I watched them a lot. My father was very protective of his cameras so didn’t let me play too much with them, but my mother did. So she would explain things to me and every now and then let me take a shot. I would watch them with shadows and lights and composition. My father was perfect in his composition and his lighting. He tried to perfect the rules that we have in photography on how to take a well-composed picture. My mom on the other hand knew that stuff, but somehow with her eye, when she wanted to take a picture of something, she loved it. So somehow that feeling came out in her photos. So it might not have been perfectly composed, but there was feeling more in her photos. While I loved what my father did, I also loved what my mother did because I wanted people to feel something. I wanted them to visualize themselves there - have an “Aw” moment. I feel like I learned more of that from my mom.
LC: What have you learned about yourself through photography?
MW: That I look at things more closely. I have always felt that I was present in the moment. But now I think I am more so. I think I have learned to slow down more. Because when you take pictures you have to be precise, you have to get the settings right, you have to compose it properly. So that requires me to slow down. And sometimes I don’t and sometimes I do, it depends on what I am photographing. But I really try to slow down. And it helps me to be more present. I’ve tapped into an artist side. I had a career in retail, in store management and outside sales. Then I became a spiritual psychologist and a counselor. Then photography. I morphed. And it seems it has morphed into an artist side.
LC: How did this morph happen?
MW: The photography started right after my mother passed away. I was taking care of her right before she died; she had Alzheimer's and a few health issues. When she left there was a big vacant hole, because I was taking care of her so much and I didn’t know what to do with myself all the sudden. I wanted to pay homage to her and my father. I just bought the first digital camera that came out and was taking pictures with her before her passing because I knew my time with her would be limited. I always had a camera in my hand when I was around her for those moments when she was being silly or goofy. So I had those candid moments that showed who she was as a person. After she left, I was sitting here one day thinking, “what am I going to do now?” I just saw my camera sitting there one day and started taking pictures of other things. A friend of mine asked me to do a wedding for his daughter and they loved the pictures. He said maybe I should become a professional and I was like “Oh! Maybe that’s career number four.” That was about five, six years ago.
LC: What is your favorite piece thus far and why?
MW: I have a picture of a dock down by the Daniel Island sales office. I was doing a bride’s book for a woman. And she wanted a bride-signing book of pictures of Daniel Island. I woke up that morning to do a sunrise and it was winter. I went out my back door and I could not see a thing. I thought, “well let’s see what happens.” I went to the sales office because that’s where the sun would come up, right over that dock. As it turns out I was there for two and half hours. I have two other photos from that morning that are different and powerful in their way, and in color. But the black and white one was the first one from when the fog just broke. But when in color that picture is orange. It is the eeriest looking thing I have ever seen. I felt like a UFO was going to come out of the sky. I thought eh I’ll turn it into black and white— all the texture came out. You can see the droplets of water and the texture in the wood. That is still to this day, I took it two years ago, my favorite picture. There is something about it. The black and white is simple and draws you in, but the texture!
LC: What is your take on Photoshop? Do you alter your photos or do light editing?
MW: It depends. I shoot in RAW. And a RAW image is raw. Which means that you have to edit. When you use a JPEP, the camera has already made edits itself, and has done things like sharpening contrast, saturation, vibrancy, all of that. So shooting in RAW you have to edit, there is no way you can’t. My first go to is Lightroom. I use Lightroom more than anything else. I can do simple edits in there and I try to do as little as possible. I don’t want to over saturate. I don’t want to sharpen. My goal is to get it as nice in camera so I have to do as little editing as possible. I want people to see it as I saw it.
LC: In your bio, it says that your spiritual studies changed the way you perceive the world, in what way? How did this impact your experience with photography?
MW: When I went to school for spiritual psychology, the basis of it is living in the moment. Living in your heart, really owning up with what's happening within, and trying to stay neutral and to be compassionate to people. It was all about finding joy in something you were doing. And for me that was photography. Part of my healings was to take pictures of something that meant something for me. It made me be more present in the moment and stop and look and see. I acknowledge the goodness there is and how lucky I am. I think there is beauty everywhere. I want to share that with others because I see that.
Mary Wessner’s reception is free and open to the public from 5:30 – 8 p.m. on Sept. 8 at Honeycomb Cafe. Photos will be for sale.
Check out Mary Wessner Photography at http://marywessner.com/ or on Faceboook.