Blood Prints
Photographs by Brianna Tadeo
Interview via emails, October 2017
Brianna Tadeo is an artist from a family of nurses. Blood Prints, her still developing newest body of work, consists of unique photograms made by exposing organic matter to photographic papers. Alongside an interview, select images from this ongoing exploration appear below.
Did the experiments for your Blood Prints begin intentionally, or did the process develop organically?
I would say the process of the blood prints started organically, but with intention. The process came from an earlier body of work I was making called Rotting Box. The Blood Prints are an extension of those and what I am thinking of as my Decomposition Print series. The experiment or process of making them came from dealing with death, trauma and loss. The want to figure out another ways of using the photographic material to show the effects of time and our morality. It's been a lot of trial and error, I kind of love that part of the process, the not knowing how it will all work out, but something always does even if it's not how you planned it.
Where were you in your life when you first picked up a camera?
My great-aunt Eileen would always have 4+ Kodak gold disposable cameras for any or every family event no matter how big or small. She had to make sure she captured all the memories. I would say that was the first time I picked up a camera. It was that really sparked my interest in photo because later on as I got older I ask for an i-zone Polaroid then I bought my very own ProMaster 35mm and it just kept going from there.
How has your art changed since graduating from school?
When I was in College I was shooting in the studio all the time. The photographs I would take were those of loved one's bodies, scars, bruises and skin. I was also playing with collaging those negatives together, not really quite sure of myself, but loved the act of making. For me College really felt like a time to learn and play. It was this time of trying to get at something, but not quite knowing what it was or what you were doing. When you are in school everything is moving in this mix of fast and slow. You are working in this bubble. I felt myself rushing through ideas, or letting them sit on the back burner until I had the time.
My work has really evolved over time and has been building on each other. All the work I’ve made feels like a tree each new body of work stemming from the last. I don't know if I'll ever stop making work, it's so addictive and challenging. Going through college gave me tools to add to my tool box and now is the time to put them to use.
What feels good about making work?
Everything! Making has always been a way for me to work through some of the more difficult road bumps of life, whether that be trauma, loss, heartbreak, or sometimes on the more lighter note pure curiosity and playing around. It’s alway been a very meditative process, to work through things while making. I don’t know what it would be like to not make/create, think I would feel very lost.
