Meet Melody Locke

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melody Locke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Melody, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

The question implies that I have. I’m 18 years into my third act, and it was only recently that I felt like I wasn’t lying on my income tax return when I referred to myself as an artist. It was when artists started coming to me for help that I felt comfortable referring to myself as an artist.

I’ve become more confident in my artistic abilities as I have gained acceptance by artists whom I’ve long admired.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I usually refer to myself as a traditional and alternative photographer. When I do, I then need to explain what that means, which leads me to describing my process. I started working in a darkroom 18 years ago when I took an introductory darkroom class at Glassell School of Art. Up until that time, I had only seen photographic printing in the movies and thought that it was Hollywood trickery. The first time that I printed a contact sheet of film, I was hooked. I love the process and never tire of watching an image appear on the photographic paper. About 15 years ago, I started experimenting with black & white infrared film. I live in the Houston Heights, a historic neighborhood in Houston. The infrared film gave the images of my changing neighborhood an otherworldly and timeless look that I found appealing.

About 10 years ago, my photography instructor at Glassell introduced me to lumen printing–a camera-less photographic process in which leaves, petals, and other natural elements are placed on photographic paper and exposed to sunlight. The images are then made permanent in the darkroom. The resulting images are often described as ethereal, with some folks describing the prints as X-rays of the plants. I quickly became hooked on the process and never looked back. I still shoot film and make black and white prints in the darkroom, but about two-thirds of my work revolves around lumen printing.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Being willing to try new things and not being daunted by circumstances out of my control has been vital to my creative journey. The ability to look for a window when the door to your world closes has been the secret sauce to my life. I experimented with lumen printing when a torn ligament in my dominant wrist prevented me from doing my infrared photography and darkroom printing. Lumen printing has since become the primary focus of my art.

Throughout the various stages of my technical and artistic careers, I have benefitted from the words attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Although I haven’t always enjoyed the preparation, I have ultimately benefited from it, particularly during numerous layoffs and economic downturns.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I have been lucky to have a circle of talented artists who have helped me along my artistic journey. I’m a true believer that we grow stronger when we are part of a healthy network. It truly took a village to make me.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All image credits are mine (Melody Locke)

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