Nicole Rosenthal

Pretty Banged is a series of still life photographs that I made combining debris discovered on beaches, trails and in water on the East End of Long Island. The objects that I collect are both manmade and natural, they are connected and contrasted by color, shape, line, texture, and function. They are relics and remnants that have passed their initial use. Seen together, the objects form a sort of grotesque Exquisite Corpse; a troubling reflection on the waste we leave behind and its ongoing presence in the environment.

Nicole Rosenthal is a photographer, book maker and arts educator working in New York City and on the East End of Long Island. Her work explores place, journey and the encounter. She received an MFA in photography from the Hartford Art School’s International Limited-Residency Photography Program. Nicole's photobooks are held in collections at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, France, the New York Historical Society and the Brooklyn Museum Library in New York. Her photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally. With her non profit teaching collective, Five Corners, Nicole activated the Homeroom space at MoMA PS1 in 2021 with the Queensbridge Photo Collective's Still, Like Air I'll Rise exhibition.