I graduated from Smith College in 1972 with a degree in fine arts and economics, and I went on to obtain graduate degrees in architecture at Rice University and business at Stanford University. I found work as an architect and, later, in real estate. After marrying and having children, I discovered photography. From the first, I felt that something auspicious was happening in the darkroom. The wonder of seeing a picture emerge on a piece of paper sloshing about in an open tray of liquid chemicals in a darkened room was thrilling to me. In addition, the quiet order of development and printing processes was somehow both exciting and meditative.

My first major project consisted of a version of "Cinderella" which I illustrated with photographs. My children, husband, and neighbors acted as models, and fragments of garden photographs provided a background for the story pictures. I subsequently transformed the background garden photographs into large format images in their own right. All of them were shot in the autumn, when the gardens were in a wonderfully wild, full-blown state. There is a certain tension in these pieces which stems in part from the way they are printed and presented. Their large size, mirror imagery, triptych format, and subdued, narrow color range give all of them a kind of elegance, formality, and power. The heavy, textured watercolor paper surface and conspicuous photographic grain compound the abstraction that comes about with making a mirror image of patterns of leaves, grass, and flowers that is at once natural and idealized.

I am now at work on three series of photographs: one of British formal gardens, a second of American gardens, and a third of individual flower portraits. Like my first efforts, all of these series feature color palettes with graduated tonalities. Photographic grain is less conspicuous, but still celebrated. Rather than mirror imagery, strong geometries lend order to individual compositions. And again, these prints are made on heavy, textured watercolor paper which softens edges and lends an aura similar to that achieved with cold press watercolor papers. The basic developments in these new groups of images are in format (these are single, large images rather than triptychs), color palette, and in subject matter. The theme of abstraction versus depiction is continued in all of this new work, and the end result remains picturesque and romantic, but stylized.

I use a medium format Hasselblad camera and black-and-white film. Once I have scanned my negatives, I tone and print them digitally. The vast bulk of my time is spent making prints rather than photographing. A certain consistent darkness and lyricism erupts spontaneously when I make photographs. I continue to draw from both highly formal and wholly natural settings for inspiration. The fact that photography is an inscrutable, but reliable link to something beautiful and soulful compels me as a photographer.

Nori Hall, 2011