Exploring Body Form

The Photo Art of Elijah Northen

Each year for the past four years, the Inglis House Poetry Workshop has sponsored a contest which has resulted in the publication of a chapbook. While poetry is the main feature of the books one of the things that has invited readers in has been the cover art. For the last two years, those covers have been design by photo artist Elijah Northen. Both covers have drawn very postive comments from readers.

The title of the 2006 chapbook was Something Close to Beautiful.

Something Close to Beautiful - Cover

Something Close to Beautiful - Cover

In 2007, the chapbook was titled On the Outskirts.

On the Outskirts - Cover
On the Outskirts -Cover

Partly as a result of his work on the above covers, Northen has been exploring various permutations of the body in photography. In "2dewds" he looks at the genesis of body shape from elements of nature.

2dewds
2dewds

In "Collapse" rather than the substance of the body, he plays with the notion of alternative body structure.

Collapse
Collapse

Elijah Northen is an architect living in Baltimore and working for Alexander Design Studio, a firm specializing in sustainable and environmentally friendly architecture. He is currently involved with the Clipper Mill Project, renovating and converting a nineteenth century mill site into contemporary housing. Northen is a frequent contributor and winner in the online Worth1000 photography competition.