2026/2027 Artist in Residence · Photography
Tracey Clark
Costa Mesa, CA
Throughout my near-lifelong photography practice, I have always been interested in discovering space, in and around a sense of place. Drawn to the expansiveness of land, sky, and sea, I use an intuitive process to capture my images, working with nature as my co-creator.
When I am shooting my subject, whether it be everyday objects, trees and flowers, architecture, animals, or people, I’m also inviting other components in: Light, shadow, and movement. The result is what happens when a soft, loosely defined representation develops through the process, offering a perspective that’s unique, unexpected, and evocative. These quiet, fleeting moments serve as a reminder; proof of the poetic beauty that can come from elements coexisting in a gently intermingled, transitory frame.
Tracey Clark is a Southern California-born artist whose professional career and daily photography practice have evolved through an ongoing curiosity about how to use her camera to interpret the world around her. Drawn to visually communicating the quiet, intimate moments that are often overlooked, she seeks to open new ways of seeing not only for herself but also for those around her.
Author of 4 books, including Expressive Photography: A Shutter Sisters Guide to Shooting from the Heart and Elevate the Everyday: A Photographic Guide to Picturing Motherhood, and creator of The Picture Series photo prompt projects, Tracey facilitates participatory creative experiences that invite people to take the time to consider life through an artistic lens. Her work and writing have appeared in numerous publications, and her methodology is shared in online classes and workshops across the country.
Tracey’s current series, Spaces In Between, draws on her connection to the California landscape and a longing to soften the lines between elements: sky, sand, sea, flora, and fauna. Through intentional camera movement and other experimental techniques, she collaborates with light and nature to transform familiar places into dreamlike, suspended memories—proof of the poetic beauty that can exist in a gently intermingled, transitory frame. At the heart of her practice is the belief that how we look at the world changes our experience, offering an ongoing invitation to look longer, notice more, and feel it all.
