Mary Randlett has been photographing the Northwest for more than 55 years. She makes a poetic and clear visual record of the Northwest, observing and pondering the essence of what surrounds her. Many of her images look like she camped out waiting for the quintessential moment that is strikingly poignant or unique. Her grasp of the silver gelatin medium gives her black and white work great subtlety and nuance in tonality and grace. This is the best of what black and white photography can offer and Mary Randlett, in her long career, has mastered her craft beautifully.
Born in 1924 in Seattle, Mary Randlett began an early interest in photography receiving her first camera at the age of eleven. She studied at Whitman College and began exhibiting her work in 1969, initially at the Richard White Gallery in Seattle. She has a lifelong interest in the natural surroundings of the region and befriended many artists whom she would photograph. Her photographs are included in over forty permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution. She was recently given a retrospective exhibition of her landscapes at the Tacoma Art Museum, which includes a catalog that couples her work with the poetry of Denise Levertov.