FEATURED ARTIST

Artist SPOTLIGHT

SHANNA DUGAN

Local artists invigorate the community with thoughtful, creative pieces. Each issue, Starved Rock Country Magazine and Starved Rock Country Community Foundation are partnering to highlight artists and their work.

hanna Dugan’s work is captured on film. Not the cinematic kind of film — the kind involving a darkroom. Dugan, a photographer since 1998, captures portraits on film for families and seniors. “I learned on the principle that creating an amazing photograph was worth taking time to make it amazing,” she says. “I much prefer the look, feel and romance of film, especially for portraits.”

Her studio and darkroom are located in Peru’s historic Westclox Building, which is home to many talented artists and their craft. Dugan is also in the process of opening a community darkroom this year. The challenge with that, she notes, “will be balancing my own creativity while helping others discover and strengthen theirs.”

Creativity is not in short supply for her, however. Dugan has been experimenting with new film techniques, including what she calls “film soup”: mixing “household chemicals into the developing process for wildly unpredictable results.” (See photo 3 for an example!)

“I’ve embraced my artistic nature since I was a young child,” Dugan says. “As a teenager, my parents knew if they came home to the smell of paint, I had probably painted yet another mural on my bedroom walls.”

An active member of Starved Rock Country’s bustling arts community, Dugan has lived in the area since 2003 and since raised her children here. Her work is available at her studio, Open Space Art Gallery & Studios in Ottawa and other regional shows, she notes.

Dugan has taken classes and lessons beyond photography, including ceramics, fiber art and drawing. “Art incorporates music, cinema, books, as well as visual arts,” she says. “Art boosts our morale, our brainpower, our empathy as well as our society.” C S R

DETAILS OF SHANNA DUGAN’S WORK

To purchase or learn more about her creations, visit www.photographybyshanna.com and her Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. 1. Succumbing: 35mm photograph, 8x12, available through her studio 2. Butter Dreams: 35mm photograph, freelensed and printed on silk “paper,” 11x14 matted and framed, $210, available for purchase from Open Space Art Gallery & Studios in Ottawa 3. Winter Magic: 35mm photograph developed with “film soup” method and printed on luster paper, 8x10 matted and framed to 11x14, $40, available through her studio 4. Love Wins: 35mm double exposure photograph printed on luster paper, 8x10 matted and framed to 11x14, $40, available through her studio

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Shanna Dugan uses her film camera to create meaningful, emotion-filled portraits of families and individuals in the Starved Rock Area. Her studio and darkroom are based out of the Westclox Building in Peru. Learn more at www.photographybyshanna.com.

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