MAJOR ARCANA
PORTRAITS OF WITCHES IN AMERICA
Photographs by Frances F. Denny
january 12 - april 17, 2021
Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America is a collection of portraits of women from across the United States who identify as witches.
As early as 15th century Europe, people condemned as witches faced an agonizing fate. Those unfortunate enough to be accused of witchcraft were thought to be allied with the devil, and were demonized, tortured, and in many cases put to death based on the scantest of evidence. Yet despite its deplorable history, recent decades have seen a reclaiming of the word “witch.” In the mid-20th century, emerging Pagan communities in the United States and Europe began embracing the term, and since then, “witch” has been adopted by a diverse group of people, from practicing Wiccans to feminist activists. Major Arcana explores the various ways the notion of witch-ness belongs to those who claim it, representing the witch as a singularly self-sought identity that both empowers and politicizes its bearer.
Frances F. Denny, "Leonore (Montpelier, VT)," On loan courtesy of the artist.
Each person photographed for Major Arcana (including genderfluid and trans individuals) pursues a form of witchcraft, whether aligned with a religion (like Wicca, Santeria, or Voudou) or a self-defined practice. No two individuals inhabit the term “witch” in quite the same way, but many consider themselves Pagan, and engage in a diversity of traditions, including: mysticism, engagement with the occult, politically-oriented activism, polytheism, ritualized "spell-work," and plant-based healing. Among those included in the series are self-proclaimed green witches, white witches, kitchen witches, hedge witches, sex witches, and cosmic witches. “Witch” is a mutable term, belonging to and embodying a wide spectrum of people. Ultimately, Major Arcana aims to fully reflect that spectrum, re-framing the witch as a feminist archetype as well as the contemporary embodiment of a defiant, unsanctioned femininity.
- Frances F. Denny
As a photographer, Frances has built up a riveting body of work that centers the female experience without exploiting it or trivializing it. That she has now decided to focus her camera on witches is particularly significant, for in doing so she is excavating the history of female imagery construction at its very foundations. It is through this historical lens that Frances’s remarkable photographs are best viewed. Her pictures of modern witches offer a respectful, anthropological, and quite beautiful glimpse into a complex spiritual and political movement. But they also pull double duty in depicting these women and genderqueer individuals as subjects and not objects, thereby decoupling both feminine imagery and witch imagery from their centuries-old baggage of straight cis-male desire, fear, and control.
Some of these witches are sexy, but they are never objectified. Some might be shadowy, but they are never posed to shock. A photograph is, by nature, a flattened, two-dimensional picture forever frozen in time. And yet somehow, Frances’s series feels nuanced and fully formed, as does each witch within it.
Frances F. Denny, "Deborah (Nyack, NY)," On loan courtesy of the artist.
Frances F. Denny, "Shine (New York, NY)," On loan courtesy of the artist.
Frances F. Denny, "Randy (Plainfeild, VT)," On loan courtesy of the artist.
Individually, each subject comes across like their own craft-master and knowing guide who has graciously welcomed us into their sacred space. Frances’s pictures reveal a diverse and complex spectrum of contemporary witchery. Those who sat for her camera vary in practice and style, background and lived experience. Some of us are rather open about our witchcraft as we navigate our daily lives and shape our digital personas. For others, this was the first time they identified as a witch in public, but they trusted Frances as I did, for they too felt she would handle their image with care.
Together, these portraits form an eclectic visual coven that includes many different reflections of what it means to be a witch and how to truly represent female-led meaning-making. What those of us fortunate enough to be initiated into it share is a stance of strength, searching, and self-empowerment.
Witches might interface with invisible entities of whatever name we choose to call them. But in rendering us more visible, Frances has furthered our fight against patriarchal constraints and spiritual oppression. She’s cast a circle of change with the snap of a shutter.
And if that’s not magic, I don’t know what is.
-Pam Grossman, writer, curator, and host of The Witch Wave podcast.
Grossman, P. 2020. Foreword, In: Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America. New York: Andrews McMeel Publishing, pp 1-4. (edited)
A Conversation With Frances F. Denny
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State,
Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.