Peter Shellenberger draws from the history of science and photography to explore alternative ways of making photographs, from camera-less techniques such as photograms, salt prints, and autoradiographs - exposures made with radiation, to large format camera images inspired by the experiments of Nikola Tesla. These techniques can require exposures that extend from days to years, calling into question the instantaneous nature of photography. His series of glowing purple “nuclear” prints are the result of two years of experimentation with different types of film and lengths of exposure to create autoradiographs using the uranium oxide present in the glaze of red 1930s Fiesta Ware dinnerware - the same kind of uranium later used to make the atomic bomb.

Peter Shellenberger received his BFA from the Portland School of Art and his MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Recent exhibitions include Artifacts and Particles at the Addison Woolly Gallery and Uranium Photographs at the University of Vermont. He is represented by Zero Station Gallery in Portland, Maine, and his work has also been exhibited at the Portland Museum of Art, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and the University of Southern Maine. Shellenberger is the founder of the Photography Cooperative as well as a founding member of the Portland Film and Video Artists Collective. He is currently a Lecturer in Photography and Filmmaking at the University of Vermont.

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