Studio Visit | Monique Atherton
Monique Atherton is many things: a photographer, a creator, and a seeker of connection. She has been commissioned by Artspace New Haven, she received the Connecticut Emerging Artist grant, and she was nominated for the Mack First Book award as well as the Kassel Dummy Book award.
Yet Monique was not always a digital creator. Her story begins overseas in Thailand. She moved around a lot as a child and eventually came to the United States at age seventeen. She was always creative when she was younger, but the arts were not something she did until later in her life. Her background lies in international trade policy. She received her bachelor’s degree in International Studies and spent time in Washington, DC working in this field. However, she soon realized this was not the path she was meant to be on. Working long hours, she began to ask herself, “Is there more to life than this?”
This is when she thought about another path. She had always wanted to pursue art. Atherton eventually quit her job to become an artist. Washington DC portraitist, Ian Wagreich, helped her make this transition by teaching her the basics of digital photography. Atherton also began learning editing on an open-source software program and later, she got into digital editing using more advanced software programs. Today, she has mastered the Adobe Creative Suite.
Monique Atherton, Untitled (Mask Chau), 2016. Photographic print, 10 by 8 inches.
Being an artist, she said, “is more than just making. It means thinking a certain way, knowing how to market your work, and knowing about the industry.” Without learning this background, there would be little advancement in the field. After she quit her job, she attended the San Francisco Art Institute where she received a post-baccalaureate in photography.
Following her time in San Francisco, she moved to New York City where she took classes with artists like Keren Moscovitch and Jen Davis. While in New York, she also interned with Kutlu, a beauty and fashion photographer.
Soon after, she decided to expand her education in the arts even further and apply to Yale’s Master of Fine Arts program, a program that only accepts ten people annually. Atherton was accepted and was very excited to continue her education at one of the finest art programs in the nation.
This past year, Atherton was commissioned to develop a workaround for a project she had been developing for a few years which resulted in Everyday Encounters. This series involved photographing people from different parts of her life in New Haven. Many times, her projects or series take up to two to four years to complete.
For example, First Avenue was a series of photographs from her old neighborhood and the connections she had made there. Throughout the project, she took around 4,000 photos, all shot with a Canon 5D-II, her favorite camera. Each day she went out to shoot, she would print a hundred to two hundred photos out and hang them on her wall. Each photo had a personal meaning to her; however, Atherton understood that her audience would not share the same emotional connection. Therefore, she had to learn to be objective, separating her personal experience of shooting and her understanding of what makes a good picture.
Monique Atherton, Untitled (Bob at Duncann), 2016. Photographic print, 10 by 8 inches.
After a few weeks of living with the photos in her room, she chose her favorites and continued to shoot and take more photos until the series was complete. This series consists of portraits of people from her neighborhood. The pictures of the people expose small, quiet moments of their lives. Each photograph offers different emotions that enable the viewer to immerse themselves in the town.
Atherton chooses to take photographs of people she knows, explaining, “When you’re shooting someone you know well, then there are opportunities for quiet moments—a more genuine picture.” The small details make a raw series.
Atherton also chooses to shoot photographs in a series. This is a defining aspect of her practice as an artist. She said, “One photograph can be very powerful and very good, but then what?” Sometimes, one photograph cannot tell the same story as a group of photos.
One of Atherton’s favorite ways to come up with new ideas is riding on the bus. She looks at the strangers who sit around her and takes inspiration from them. She does not take photos of them, but many strangers tend to have different stories. Atherton enjoys learning about human connection, human behavior, and human interaction, all of which is all seen in her work.
Many times, these themes can be best seen by observing others in a natural setting. If a person sticks out to her, she would rather make that connection with the person in order to gain more weight to the photo.
Monique Atherton, from the First Avenue series.
Atherton also participates in transcendental meditation for twenty minutes every morning and night to gain access to her unconscious. After, she journals her ideas for future reference. Because Atherton stresses personal relationships in her work, she tends to draw ideas from events and people in her own life. She is “constantly looking for a connection to something, someone, or somewhere,” adding that, “it is important to get connections as an artist.” In a society that lacks human connection, Atherton’s work inspires others to form these personal connections and live in the present.
Her series, Sometimes We Go Out, was about the relationship with her ex-boyfriend when they had first started dating. She stated, “There’s always tension at the beginning of relationships,” and she chose to document these tensions. Atherton chose to recreate that feeling of intimacy that is hard to get.
One final note Atherton would like to leave is the idea that we all have one life. She says, “We only have this one time, I don’t want to spend my days working for someone else; I want to be a creator.” She did not begin her career as an artist, but art followed her and put her on this path to further explore. She continued, “I think it is really important to do what we’re brought here to do, which is create.” There is no reason to waste a life doing something that you are not proud of.
Making a connection is an essential part of life. It is imperative to capture these ideas, as Atherton does through these art forms to better understand the world we live in. She asked, “What is it that you want to do? What do you want to leave behind and what do you want to create?” These are the same questions she asked herself when she made the transition to become an artist.
If she had to give any recommendations to new artists, she suggests learning about artists who already have the same ideas as yourself. She said, “We see so much art out there right now. If you really want to be an artist, you have to know who else out there is having similar conversations as you, the same themes you’re interested in.”
All of Atherton’s quotes are from a conversation with the author on March 1, 2020.
Monique Atherton, from the Bad Faith series.
Christine Holl
Christine Holl is a senior at the University of New Haven, majoring in psychology with a concentration in community/clinical psychology and minoring in criminal justice. Born in Livingston, New Jersey, Holl grew up in a small town in Riverdale that totals a square mile. She graduated from Morris County School of Technology in 2017, where she discovered her love for working with children after teaching in a preschool during her time there. She has worked several jobs in the childcare field—her favorite being a gymnastics instructor at The Little Gym of Wayne for children ranging from six months to twelve years. She currently works as a substitute at the Bright Horizons daycare and at the University of New Haven Admissions office as an ambassador. As a student, she holds an internship at Saint Martin De Porres Academy working with the fifth and seventh grade classes. She helps students demonstrating behavioral issues in class by developing behavioral plans to create a better learning environment for all students. After Holl graduates in fall 2020, she wants to attend graduate school to obtain her master’s degree to become a licensed professional counselor specializing with children. When she has free time, Holl enjoys going on runs and hikes.
