25-171 Original 1979 Photograph Willie Anne Wright 25 x 19

Willie Anne Wright (American, b. 1924), ”Group with Matisse Towel, Nag’s Head, N.C.” 1979. 25 x 19 inches as custom framed in matte black wood. A pinhole photo is an image created using a simple, lensless camera: a light-proof box with a tiny hole on one side and a piece of photographic film on the opposite side. The technique was invented in the 1850s. Willie Anne Wright (b. 1924) is a renowned American artist and photographer, best known as a pioneer in pinhole and lensless photography. She is recognized for her experimental approach, using techniques like Cibachrome paper for color prints and creating images with a distinct, soft-focus, and sometimes whimsical quality. Wright’s work is held in numerous public collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), the Chrysler Museum of Art, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. In 2023, the VMFA organized a major retrospective of her work titled Willie Anne Wright: Artist and Alchemist, celebrating her extensive six-decade career and her contributions to alternative photographic processes.