Abstract

In my photography project, Guillemette, I entertain the idea of inheriting an ability for mediumship from my maternal family lineage. As an origin, I use the question of having (or not having) these powers to explore intertwined relationships between myself and my mother, mediumship and theater, belief and entertainment, and the spirit and earthly worlds. The setting of the series moves between France, where my maternal family is from, and Western New York, where I currently reside, and the birthplace of 19th-century Spiritualism, the belief that spirit mediums can communicate with the dead. Mediumship, a central pillar in the work, manifests throughout the images as an allusion to seeing, channeling and performing. Borrowing from the realm of performance, I use props, sets, artificial lighting and a cast of strangers, family members, and myself to construct photographs that speak to each other through a language of repeated symbols, colors and characters. In the series, time is presented as non-linear and the self takes boundless forms through the presence of costumes and doppelgängers. This instability of a one true “self” and the lack of distinct character boundaries reflect dual narratives: the first being my ongoing efforts to construct a distinct sense of self, tethered to but not mirroring my mother, and the second being that some mediums can channel other individuals and family members during readings. In Guillemette, I take advantage of photography’s deceitful relationship to truth to orchestrate a world of images that push and pull between the real and the imaginary.

Publication Date

4-28-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Photography and Related Media (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

Photographic Arts and Sciences, School of

College

College of Art and Design

Advisor

Joshua Thorson

Advisor/Committee Member

Ahndraya Parlato

Advisor/Committee Member

Juan Orrantia

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Download

Share

COinS