Not surprisingly, she counts as one of her major influences the work of photographer William Eggleston, who creates art from commonplace subjects, finding beauty in the banal and mundane. “There is a subtle harmony in his photographs. Eggleston makes very powerful images of “nothing” and has the rare ability to make the boring look interesting. His compositions are so intuitive and natural, nothing seems forced.” She also cites the wonderful installation artist and sculptor James Turrell as a reminder to play with light, and English botanist Anna Atkins, for her exploration of plant specimens in the late 1800s through cyanotype.

 

 

Jane Linders is fascinated with the process of getting the image onto paper, and for this reason uses a variety of alternative processes in her work. “Typically the subject matter determines which technique I will use to best capture an image. The Polaroid transfer technique works best when I mine the oddities of roadside America while the infrared camera is the best tool to capture bucolic landscapes or an eerie cemetery image. My attraction to cyanotypes is the physical involvement during the printing process, allowing me to use my hands, eyes, and intuition when printing. I like the way the light, time, salts, and myself combine together to slowly deposit them on beautifully handcrafted paper. The depth of the tactile experience and the imposed slowness reveals moods and nuances in my images that I wouldn’t normally see too.”

 

 

Jane’s day job as a laboratory analyst for a pharmaceutical company she describes as “soul sucking, mind numbing work”, and that it is the cause of her craving for a creative outlet and a catalyst for her to throw herself into photography.

She has been a photographer most of her adult life, but only started selling her images ten years ago. “I kept seeing other photographer’s work and thought that my images were just as interesting, so I started selling my images at art fairs and galleries. I still enjoy participating in art fairs and craft shows, but have since branched out to selling online in places like Etsy and Fine Art America.”

 

 

An absolute highlight for her was to get her work exhibited in the Smithsonian. Not once, but twice! A couple of years after the first exhibition she got the opportunity to exhibit there again “and they also used one of my photos for a short documentary on the Smithsonian Channel about photography!” She also admits to being excited about having one of her polaroid transfers stuck on the fridge in the CBS sitcom, “Two Broke Girls”.

 

 

Jane’s very best piece of advice is to “enjoy the journey of learning your craft. There aren’t any shortcuts when it comes to mastering photography. The journey is gradual and slow. If you don’t have the passion and perseverance, you’ll never pull through. I still have a lot more to learn and look forward to enjoying the life-long learning process.”

 

 

Jane has lived in St. Louis, Missouri most of her life, is married with two daughters, and is a very active member of the St. Louis Craft Mafia which organises art and craft shows around the St. Louis area. She has exhibited extensively, has had her work featured in numerous magazines and has won several awards.

Importantly, she is the director of The Faces Project, an art initiative that raises awareness about gun violence in the USA. She hopes to expand this project to every major city in the USA in 2014.

You can find more of Jane’s work in her Etsy shop, JaLinde.