“Nocturne in Blue is a collection of cyanotype impressions that are either fixed in place or exposing in process. With these methods, I invite viewers to witness images at various stages of their creation and to consider how memory is transient rather than permanent. My practice is greatly inspired by the works of Anna Atkins, renowned for her 1843 book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first publication of photographic images. But unlike Atkins, whose focus was on creating singular, archived moments, my works attempt to move both forward and backward in time, encompassing broader spans of history.

The works in this exhibition are presented in two opposing formats. On the gallery pedestals are in-process cyanotypes encased in glass contact printers. These impressions are made by placing flower and plant materials directly onto light-sensitive cyanotype paper and exposing them to light for the entire thirty days of this exhibition. The organic materials used were foraged from industrial areas within the Rehoboth region. In these images, everything is in a state of ongoing transformation as the organic materials decay while the pictures form over time. Everyone shares in the creation of this work, as the act of looking is the act of making.

The framed images on the gallery walls are long-duration cyanotypes, created during previous exhibitions and artist residencies. Spanning ten years, these images were made across the globe, including the US states of Illinois, Indiana, California, and Maryland, as well as countries such as Canada, Iceland, Italy, and Japan. Using foraged materials from industrial areas in those regions, analogous to the durational exposures in this exhibition, they were exposed to light for extended periods, ranging from days to months. After the exposures were completed, the rotted materials were removed, and the prints were washed to permanently fix them in place. On the surface, these still images appear to be singular moments in time, when in fact they reflect a much longer history.

Please join me in viewing my photographic impressions, whether permanently fixed or exposing in process, and together we can consider the ephemeral nature of materials, objects, images, and life itself, through a medium that uniquely archives time.” –John Steck Jr

John Steck Jr. is a visual artist and educator who resides in Baltimore, MD. He is a maker of photographic images and ephemeral objects. Using light-sensitive emulsions, he creates photographs that both fade and form over time. This work addresses our complex relationship with time, memory, and impermanence.

Steck has exhibited across twenty states and six countries. His most recent solo exhibition, A Silver Memory, which highlighted over ten years of his artistic practice, took place in 2024 at the Moreau Gallery at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. In the summer of 2025, he presented on his project, Beneath the Layers, as part of the Metamorphosis of Time conference at the University of Gdansk in Poland. Steck has been included in over fifty publications, including a feature in Art21 Magazine as part of an article on the ephemeral nature of art. He is also a member of the International Society for the Study of Time.

Steck is a first-generation graduate who received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and his BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art & Design. He has been an educator for ten years and is currently the Photography Coordinator and Senior Lecturer for the Center of Visual Arts at Johns Hopkins University.

Steck’s work can be viewed on his website at www.johnsteckjr.com

CV

Image: Nocturne in Blue Series, cyanotype by John Steck

Gallery Talk: From the judge with John Steck, January 10, 2026 (10am)