HereAfter is a collection of photographs reminiscent of photography styles of the past by Heather Allison and Eric Retterbush. Heather Allison captures dramatic, still life botanicals with a nod to vanitas from the Renaissance era; while Eric Retterbush brings the work of tintype into the modern era with his timeless portraits. Together this collection examines life, death and who we are as humans here and after.

Heather focuses on the After within this collection. Her work touches on death and bringing light to this topic that can have a negative stigma. There was a time when death and grief was public, by the way one would dress in public, mourning periods and now it is often something we keep hidden.

Artist Statement on HereAfter from Heather Allison

We live in an era that allows us a separation from the natural world and it’s cycles. It is this distance that also permits us to ignore the fleeting nature of our time here and although death is the one thing no one can escape, we turn away from it until it touches us personally. Through photographic still life, I explore concepts of impermanence, rebirth, and our corporal existence. The subject of each body of work determines the objects in the compositions, tapping into iconography and color symbolism to call attention to what makes us human. Pulling from the vanitas style of the seventeenth century Dutch masters, my work combines contemporary mediums with Renaissance styling to speak to modern viewers of mortality, connection, and encourage inner contemplation.

This exquisite photographic exhibition is on display at The HeArt Box from November 6th - 28th. We were able to ask Heather a few questions about her work and the collection on display, here is her response.

(HeArt Box) Has photography always been a part of your life, how did you get into it?

(Heather) Photography has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father was a commercial photographer for quite a few years, and this was during the time when corporations would send photographers and their crews all over the world on massive budgets to get the imagery they wanted for their brand. I used to sit at the top of our basement stairs watching my dad and his assistants load and unload all of their equipment in between assignments, listening to their stories of adventures from wherever it was they had just returned. Of course, much has changed in the field of photography since then, but it has always called to me. I was around seven or eight years old when my father first let me hold his Leica, look through the viewfinder, and click the shutter. We were out on a hike through an Audubon Sanctuary in the fall, and he taught me to look for light and how it hit or shone through all of the things around me. That was it, I was hooked from that moment on. I didn't start out in the genre of fine art, but whether I was working as a photojournalist, a commercial photographer, or making my way to how I practice currently, I have never been able to let it go or step away from the medium.

(HeArt Box) Where do you draw your inspiration from for your work?

(Heather) The inspiration for my work is based very much in my personal experience with grief and loss, and from my background in art history. My father passed away unexpectedly six years ago from complications with chemotherapy, and as I mentioned previously, he was influential in my entering the field to begin with. He sparked my passion for the art and we even worked together, building a studio and playing off the other's strengths in the medium. When he died, I was lost for a long time and it took me quite awhile to realize that photography was how I would be able to reconnect with, and honor him now that he is no longer in this physical world. During this period, I was finishing up my studies in art history with a focus on the Northern Rennissance and the Dutch Masters; I was completely immersed in art that acknowledges human mortality and reminds the viewer of the importance of, and the beauty of living. Right around the first anniversary of his passing, I realized I could translate these types of work into my photography. So, I pull from the tradition of the still life vanitas of the 17th century Dutch masters and use this Rennissance styling to speak to modern viewers of the process and expression of grief, the importance of being able to discuss death and to try and break the taboo surrounding these topics. I also look to floriography, the language of flowers, to insert messaging into the work spoken through the specific bouquets found in most of my tableaux, and to iconography to speak through the imagery as well. Additionally, the genre of still life has historically been considered "women's work", an acceptable subject for the woman artist to address in her work, and I aim to reclaim that and insert my work into the grand tradition.

(HeArt Box) The frames are so special and really create a one of kind with the photography, they are transportational. How did you come to this idea and the process of finding these special gems?

The frames play such an important role in these pieces. As I've stated, this work is very much based in grief and recognition of our mortality, as well as remembrance. Most of the frames I use are from the Victorian Era, and it was during this time that culturally, there was a shared grief, where death played a much bigger role in daily life; public grieving was not only accepted, but expected, and Queen Victoria lead the way following the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Now, I don't believe that we should return to the strict rules of how and how long one must dress in all black and grieve their loved one, but I do think that when public mourning became taboo, we lost something that has yet to return. So, these frames, from this period in which people were not only allowed to express their loss, but were encouraged to do so in beautiful ways connect right back to the images themselves. In this work, I really resist dragging the contemporary into the tradition of still life, and this not only applies to how I stage these scenes and what I include in the tableaux, but also to their presentation.

(HeArt Box) Can you tell me about the process of creating each of the still lives, working with the botanical pieces, bones and such. Is this a long process to gather all the materials, almost feels like it would be like putting a puzzle together. Do you see the final piece before starting or feel your way through it?

I love that you liken the process of creating each still life to putting together a puzzle because it very much can be! I usually start with a single object and build off of that depending on the mood or the messaging I intend for that particular still life. I do have classical training in regards to art and photography, so of course that plays a role as well, whether that comes out consciously or not. Generally, all of the items in the images are from my own collection which I have been building for close to decade now, so I am pretty familiar with what I have available and usually start to "build" the composition in my mind before I physically place anything in my studio. However, this is not always the case. For example, recently a very close friend lost her grandfather, a man who played a pivotal role in her upbringing and who she remained close to for her entire life. Following his passing, she spent some time in his garden, something he tended to with love for decades, and she brought me persimmons from one of his trees. I took these fruits and knew I had to create a memorial piece, and so I built the image around him, his family, and their grief. Once I have everything in place, I light the set based on the mood I wish to convey and then comes the tweaking, and more tweaking, and more tweaking. A little adjustment of light here, a little more shadow there, move this object up, and that object down... this can go on for awhile. If there is anything I have learned in the years I have been developing this body of work, is that there is no rushing it, and that it is OK to walk away for awhile and come back with fresh eyes; I may see something I didn't before, and it may be just what that particular image needs.

(HeArt Box) Anything additional you would like to share about the collection for HereAfter, collaborating with Eric. Anything you learned?

First, working with Eric was such a pleasure and a breeze. I found the way our imagery contrasts and compliments the other's simultaneously to be beautiful and adds to whole experience of the exhibition.

I also think this show is so timely. When we began talking at the end of last year about putting together an exhibition, we never could have guessed at what 2020 would bring. Now, we are all experiencing this collective grief and are being asked to accept and even normalize death in a way we never have before. On top of that, the pandemic has restricted and changed the way people are able to say goodbye and mourn their loved ones. It is my hope that these images are able to connect to those who are feeling loss, and this loss does not have to be a death either, there are many types of grief and they are all important to acknowledge. I hope that HereAfter opens up conversations about loss and grief because once you experience it and then find another person who has experienced the same thing, everything changes.

View the Entire HereAfter Collection

The After with Heather Allison

The Heart Box Gallery + Studio