After receiving thousands of nominations over a several-month-long period, the Royal Photography Society has named University of Hartford professor Ellen Carey one of the world’s top 100 female photographers.

Beginning in 1975, Professor Carey’s work has been displayed in over fifty exhibits, myriads of museums, alternative spaces, and commercial galleries, such as the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The Society’s Vice President, Del Barrett, said that female photographers have a uniquely powerful voice and that the aim of the organization is to, “ensure that there are no barriers in photography.”

Women often express themselves differently from their male counterparts, and Professor Carey’s work is just another example of this.

Early in her career, she focused primarily on portraits, believing that in order for a portrait to truly convey a person’s essence, it had to be combined with the “evocative power of paint and collage.”

By incorporating different styles of art into each of her pieces, her self portraits not only gained a sense of realism but also allowed the viewer to feel the very essence of the artist.

Later in her career, Professor Carey began using an antiquated method called the photogram. Created in a dark room without a camera, the image is created by placing objects directly onto a light-sensitive material such as a leaf or a piece of photographic paper. Carey has diverged from the status quo in nearly every way, arguably revolutionizing the world of photography.

“ My work represents a departure from the picture/sign idea in photography found in images such as landscapes, portraits, or still life. Instead, my work consists of a photographic image made without a subject, or any reference to a place, a person or an object,” said the University of Hartford professor.