A COLORADO NATIVE, JANELLE PIETRZAK IS MORE OFTEN BASED OUT OF A SUITCASE THAN ANY SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION.  TIRELESSLY, SHE TRAVELS FAR AND WIDE, SCOUTING OUT MAGNIFICENT AND UNIQUE LOCATIONS FOR HER SURREAL IMAGES.  USING TRADITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, AS WELL AS THE LATEST DIGITAL COMPOSITING TECHNIQUES, JANELLE’S WORK IS AS FANTASTIC AS IT IS BEAUTIFUL.  DRAWING FROM HER UNUSUAL IMAGINATION, HER WORK HAS A FAIRYTALE QUALITY, WHICH EVOKES BOTH LIGHT AND DARKNESS, GOOD AND EVIL.

IN HER SELF-PORTRAIT SERIES THE SECRET GARDEN, JANELLE PIETRZAK SUMMONS THE VIEWER INTO HER LONG-EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPORTS THEM TO MYSTICAL PLACES THAT SEEM MORE DREAM THAN REALITY.  SIMILAR TO VICTORIAN ERA IMAGES OF SPIRITS AND FAIRIES, ONE CANNOT IMMEDIATELY DETERMINE THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS BEING SHOWN.  SOLO FIGURES HAUNT EXTRAORDINARY STARLIT LANDSCAPES, DECAYING SPANISH HACIENDAS, AND RUGGED COASTS. AS THESE IMAGES WERE CREATED USING LONG-EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHS, RATHER THAN DIGITAL MANIPULATIONS, THEIR ANALOGUE QUALITY, LENDS AN AUTHENTICITY, TO WHAT IS BEING PRESENTED.

IN HER NEWEST AND ONGOING SERIES, MYTHS, LEGENDS AND FAIRY TALES, JANELLE USES STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY, AS WELL AS DIGITAL MANIPULATIONS TO BRING FANCIFUL CHARACTERS TO LIFE.  ACCOMPANIED BY WHIMSICAL CAPTIONS, EACH IMAGE APPEARS TO BE AN ILLUSTRATION TAKEN DIRECTLY OUT OF AN UNKNOWN STORYBOOK.  SIMILAR TO CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG’S CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOK, THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK, HER IMAGES CONJURE STORIES UNTOLD OR UNFINISHED.   EMPLOYING A VARIETY OF PROPS, WIGS AND COSTUMES, THIS SERIES FEATURES MOSTLY SELF-PORTRAITURE, BUT OCCASIONALLY USES MODELS, AS SOME OF THE IMAGES ARE TOO COMPLEX TO EXECUTE AS SELF-PORTRAITS.