Marcus DeSieno

Marcus DeSieno is a lens-based artist from Albany, New York who is based in Tampa, Florida. His work explores the longstanding relationship between photography and science and combines classical and contemporary photographic techniques. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida and the New College of Florida.

DeSieno received his Degree in Documentary Studies/Documentary Photography from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in 2008 and his Bachelor of Arts from Marlboro College, where he focused on Photography, in 2010. He went on to complete his Masters in Fine Arts in Studio Art at the University of South Florida in 2015.

DeSieno’s works include several collections of photographs, including The American West, Surveillance Landscapes, Mars, Self-Portraits, Parasites, and Cosmos. DeSieno uses antiquated photographic processes along with contemporary imaging methods to explore how the invention of photography has shaped our perception of nature and the universe around us.

Cosmos Series

To create his works for Cosmos, DeSieno collected various strains of bacteria from public and private places, such as ATM machines, iPhone screens, toilet seats, saliva, and human orifices, and bred them on surfaces of film depicting scenes from outer space originally taken by Hubble, NASA, and the European Space Agency (ESA). He then scanned the film, killing the microscopic ecosystem, after it had been partially eaten away by the bacteria. Examples of titles of the works in the series include A Photograph of the Reticulum Constellation Eaten by Bacteria Found on My Television’s Remote, A Photograph of the Crab Nebula Eaten by Bacteria Found on a Table at a Red Lobster Restaurant, and A Photograph of the Planet Venus Eaten by Bacteria Found Inside of a Vagina. Uniting microscopic organisms with infinite galaxies, DeSieno states in an interview with FeatureShoot that “Cosmos ultimately refutes mankind’s dominion over the universe as much as it strives to affirm it, and the bacteria become an allegory for the fragility of human life. We, like the microbes, flicker in and out of existence, and if we’re lucky, we leave something beautiful behind”.

DeSieno attributes his inspiration for his work to three notions. The first is a lifelong fascination with the invisible. As a child, he would place everything under the lens of the microscope his parents gave him. The second is a desire to interrogate photographic materiality in an age of digital uniformity. The third is an exploration and confrontation with his childhood fears of bacteria and germs.

Parasites Series

In his making of Parasites, DeSieno combined classical and cutting-edge photographic techniques. He captured images of microscopic organisms that dwell in the human body obtained through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), microscopy laboratories at the University of South Florida, and Etsy. DeSieno first dehydrated the dead organisms and viewed them under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). He then used images collected from the SEM to print a digital negative, which was exposed to a dry plate gelatin process ferrotype. The ferrotype was scanned, enlarged, and printed at four-foot length prints. In an interview with National Geographic's Proof, DeSieno articulates his belief that "photo and science have had an intrinsic relationship since its conception—the founding mothers and fathers of photo were all scientists themselves. My practice is really driven by curiosity, which is at the heart of scientific inquiry. I’d like to hope that my work can light an inquisitive spark in my viewer that allows them to explore their own wonders and fears”.

American West Series

To create his images for American West, DeSieno used the method of toned albumen print of screenshots he captured from Google Streetview.

DeSieno has had solo exhibitions entitled Parasites at Gallery 501 and Invisible Monster: Parasites at the Vermont Center for Photography. His work has also been exhibited nationally at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado; the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana; and Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco, among others. In addition, DeSieno’s pieces have been featured in a variety of publications including FeatureShoot, Hyperallergic, Huffington Post, LENSCRATCH, National Geographic's Proof, PDN, Slate, Smithsonian Magazine, and Wired

Selected group exhibitions

2013

• Transformations, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT. (Juror: Ellen Jantzen) Catalog
• Emerging Photographers Auction, Dan Cooney Fine Art, New York, NY.
• Identity, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO. (Juror: Barbara Tannenbaum) Catalog
• Me, Myself, and I, Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA. (Juror: David Hilliard
• Four Documents, William Oliver Gallery, Tampa, FL.
• Alter Ego, The Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA. (Juror: Stephen Sheffield) Catalog
• ONE, William Oliver Gallery, Tampa, FL.

2014

• Clarke's Third Law, Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA. (Curator: Paul Swenbeck)
• Fauna, Smith Anderson North Gallery, San Anselmo, CA. (Juror: William Wegman)
• Alternative Process, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO. (Juror: Christopher James) Catalog
• Through My Lens, Beard Gallery, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY.
• Explore, Flow Arts Space, St. Paul, MN.
• Summation, Arts Center of Sarasota, Sarasota, FL.
• Photography NOW 2014, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY. (Juror: Julie Grahame)
• Fabrik exhibition, Photo Independent, Los Angeles, CA.
• PhotoSpiva, George A. Spiva Center for the Arts, Jopin, MO. (Juror: Dornith Doherty)
• National: Best Contemporary Photography 2014, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN Catalog
• The Alternative Approach, The Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA. (Juror: Christopher James) Catalog

2015

• Miami Photo Salon, Spectrum Art Fair, Art Basel, Miami, FL. Catalog
• Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Satellite Fair, Art Basel, Miami, FL.
• Space Jamz, Humble Arts Foundation, New York, NY. Online. (Curator: Jon Feinstein)
• Alternative Process Competition, SohoPhoto Gallery, New York, NY. (Juror: Joni Sternbach)
• SPE Regional Caucus Exhibition, Clemson Center for Visual Arts, Clemson University, Greenville, SC. (Juror: Byron Wolfe)
• Abstract Catalyst, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR.
• Re-Picturing Photography, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL.
• Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty, Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL.
• 21st Annual Juried Peter Urban Legacy Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA. (Juror: Jim Casper) Catalog
• Alternative Processes, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT. (Juror: Amy Holmes George) Catalog
• Photoville's Fence Exhibition (in association with United Photo Industries and Photoville), Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, Boston, MA.
• Photoville's Fence Exhibition (in association with United Photo Industries and Photoville),Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York, NY.
• Photoville's Fence Exhibition (in association with United Photo Industries and Photoville), Atlanta Belt Line, Atlanta, GA.
• Photoville's Fence Exhibition (in association with United Photo Industries, Houston Center for Photography, and Photoville), Houston, TX.
• Sun Kissed, University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL. Catalog
• Oranbeg Net #14: A New Glass, Oranbeg Press, Online. (Curators: Roxana Azar and Ginevra Shay)
• Viral: Photography in the Age of Social Media, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.
• 14th Annual Joyce Elaine Grant Photography Exhibition, Texas Woman's University Fine Art Galleries, Denton, TX. Catalog (Curator: April Watson)
• Alternatives 2015: Artifacts, Ohio University Gallery, Athens, OH. Catalog

2016

• Texas Photographic Society 25, Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine, TX. (Juror: Rixon Reed)
• Texas Photographic Society 25, Martin Museum of Art, Waco, TX. (Juror: Rixon Reed)
• Exposures, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA. (Jurors: Anita Douthat, John P. Jacob, Leslie K. Brown, George Slade, and Francine Weiss)
• Monster PhotoGestalt, Bg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
• Open16, Front Gallery, New York, NY. Online. Catalog
• Wunderkabinett, Light Factory, Charlotte, NC. Catalog
• Macro, Jadite Gallery, New York, NY. Catalog
• Foreign Exchange, 2731 Prospect Gallery, Cleveland, OH. (Jurors: Andy Adams, Laura Ruth Bidwell, and Katherine Oktober Matthews)
• Creatures: Real and Imagined, uBe Art Gallery, Berkley, CA.
• American Road Trip, SITE: Brooklyn, New York, NY.
• Consilience of Art and Science, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA.
• SPE Regional Caucus Exhibition, Lee Gallery, Clemson University, Clemson, SC. (Juror: Byron Wolfe)

2012

• Recipient of the Jane and Harrison Covington Award in Fine Arts
• Recipient of the Adah Schaich Endowed Scholarship for Photography

2013

• Finalist for Photo Lucida’s Critical Mass 2013 – Top 200
• Winner American Aperture Awards – Conceptual/Experimental Category
• Winner American Aperture Awards – Landscape Category

2014

• Finalist for Photo Lucida’s Critical Mass 2014 – Top 200
• Editor's Pick – Lensculture
• Cultural Council of Cortland County Award Winner
• Selection for PDN Photo Annual
• CHOSEN – American Photography 30 Archive
• Juror's Merit Award - Fort Wayne Museum of Art

2015

• Second place in SohoPhoto Gallery’s Alternative Process Competition
• Selection for Photoville's Fence Exhibition in Atlanta, Boston, Houston, and New York Selection for Review Santa Fe
• SPE Student Award for Innovations in Imaging
• SPE Southeast Caucus Scholarship Prize
• Texas Woman's University/Arlington Camera Gift Award

2016

• Winner of Foreign Exchange Photo Competition
• Finalist for Front Gallery’s Open16
• Third Place Texas Photographic Society 25
• First Place in New York Center for Photographic Arts’ Macro Exhibition