Marie-Elena Schembri Photographer & Visual Artist

Beautiful art, dance, music and people at the reception for @amadorarts show Roots, featuring the Nevada County African Drum and Dance ensemble!

Blackberry leaves are the prettiest 😻

Positive/Negative #pinholephotography #darkroomphotography #papernegative #analogphotography #analogphotographer #norcalphotographer

Happy New Year!! I went hiking on New Years Day with @bradhoshawmusic and found this adorable little cave! There was also a waterfall but it was far back on private property so I didn’t get any pictures. Oh, and I took a pinhole camera on this adventure so you’ll be seeing some of those shots real soon! 📷🎞💚 #happynewyear #newyearhike #norcal #adventure #naturelover #naturephotographer #filmphotographer

Season’s Greetings to you and yours! I’m finding inspiration everywhere I look, I hope you are too. 💚🌲✨

I was gifted this camera yesterday and it has a roll of exposed undeveloped film in it! I will have to develop it and see if anything turns up. I love developing found film, especially really old stuff- you never know what you might find! #filmphotography #filmcamera #127film #kodakcamera #oldfilm #mediumformatfilm #filmdeveloping

Iris #photogram #blackandwhite #darkroomphotography #flowerart #norcalartist #artistsofinstagram #photoart #naturelover #fineartphotography

You’ve got about 2 weeks left to see my photo in this fabulous show in Jackson, California @amadorarts ! Grateful for this opportunity and community. #safespace #queerally #lgbtqia🌈 #ruralarts #artexhibition #artscouncil #californiaarts #norcalart #norcalartist

Thankful for a break in the rain, and a much needed art day! Also thankful even the “weak” winter sun puts out enough UVs to cook up these Cyanotypes in no time! Another perk of living in the #NorCal #foothills 🙂

It was a joy to create this arrangement for my brother’s memorial using ferns, grapevine, wildflowers and other foliage that I foraged from the family property and surrounding areas in the foothills. It was also a joy to spend time with family at a place my brother cherished amongst the beautiful views of Lake Tahoe. I didn’t have time to get out my camera but snapped a few on my phone....this arrangement travelled from South Lake Tahoe to Logan Shoals to Reno Where it sat in the car overnight and back to South Lake Tahoe, and still looks pretty darn pretty!! #foragingflorist #funeralflowers #laketahoelove #familyforever #floralphotographer #floristphotographer

Autumn morning walk in Wilseyville!🍁🌾🍂

Happy Halloweeeeen!! Here’s one of my “creepy” photograms of a squirrel skull (I think)! #creepyart #creepyartwork #deadthings #skull #bone #spooky #halloweenart

I’m throwing an art sale party! You and all your friends are invited! 😋 I need to make some room for new work (and also make some money, to be honest), so I am putting these one of a kind, made by hand, alt-process/experimental photographic prints up for sale for a special limited time price (this batch all are 75 each or 2 for 100, normally 150-400)! Each will come mounted in a white archival mat with backboard in a protective crystal clear plastic envelop. You can display as is, or just pop the mat into a frame of your choice! Only 1 available of each print. Details on each piece will be in the comments. :) Shipping will be additional and calculated based on your address. DM me for any questions! #artsale #artforsale #handmade #handmadegifts #altprocess #uniquegifts #giftformyself #helpastarvingartist #feedastarvingartist #brokeartist

When you are out to breakfast and find a new dead thing to take home 😝 #artistlife #prettydeadthings #butterfly #foundobjectsart

My little family is making our dream come true and finally moving to Northern California! I was born in the Bay Area but have lived in Nebraska since 2nd grade. We are so excited for this adventure!!! Now to decide which camera(s) to bring on the trip! #roadtrip #moving #adventure #goingbacktocali #california

I was looking at this little cutie today. It is a fruit bat skeleton that I bought off eBay a couple years ago. One of my favorite subjects for photograms! In fact I got this guy for my Alchemy project, which was a portfolio of 20 photograms developed in a homemade caffenol-C developer (Swipe for a screenshot of that image)! #artfromdeadthings #bones #weirdart #batsarecute #bat #skeleton #analogphotography #caffenol #photogram #darkroomphotography #fineartphotography

Check out the opening for Ephemeral/Eternal tonight at Link Gallery in Blackstone! Lower level of the blackstone mansion (enter from 39th street or the back entrance across from Corkscrew’s patio)! #analogphotography #photoexhibition #femaleartists #disposablecamera #omahaart #analogart

Ephemeral/Eternal opens this Friday at Link Gallery and Workshop, in the lower level of the Mansion at Blackstone 7-9pm! Please come see. Featuring photos by @saramcneillyammon @nadz_illa @lc_burke @laurabeth_art and me!

To celebrate this charming young lady’s birthday I made a DIY sun print kit for her and taught her how to make cyanotypes, and she made this very funny face with sequins and a feather 😋 #coolneice #coolaunt #handmadegiftsarethebest #artgifts #alternativephotography #cyanotype #sunprint

It was a joy to visit @centralcameraco this morning. I managed not to give them all my money, but it was hard. If you’re in #chitown I highly recommend giving it a visit. They ship too! #filmisnotdead #filmcameras #photostore #camerastore

Had the unique opportunity to see these Ansel Adams prints from @mocpchi ‘s collection, followed by the incredible Joel-Peter Witkin Exhibit @edelmangallery and then Gregory Crewdson black and white photos @plhkgallery !!! What a day!!! #photographicart #fineartphotography #modernart #chicago #artgalleries

This image by @carlosjavierortiz brought me to tears yesterday at the @mocpchi —and the rest of the show up right now is amazing too. Carlos Javier Ortiz, Lil Al Vigil, Englewood Chicago 2008 @columbia university’s Museum of Contemporary Photography #powerfulart #photographicart #modernphotography #endgunviolence #powerfulportraits #illinois

Stopped by the ol’ stomping grounds...it felt very strange. It has been almost a year since I quit working as a lab tech at MCC and I miss it so much. Best job I ever had! I am so thankful for the experience and knowledge this place gave me, but I feel ready for new adventures and learning more about myself as I make this huge scary awesome transition (moving from NE to CA)!! ❤️🙏🏻 #photolab #mccphoto #dreamjob #labtechforhire #iwillmissthisplace #communitycollege #alwayslearning #becomeyourbestself

So thankful for @saramcneillyammon for getting me back in the darkroom today (it had been a while)! This is one of the outtakes from our printing session today. It looks trippy because it was an underdeveloped, un-fixed test print that I scrapped. After turning on the lights I quickly dumped some fixer on it, because it seemed like a fun thing to do, resulting in the swirls and odd coloration you see here! It is entirely possible that this print will continue to change since it was not properly fixed. That’s the fun of it! #experimentalphotography #darkroommagic #darkroomprint #temporaryart #collaboration

It’s been awhile since I posted art stuff. I’ve been thinking about my grandma Eleanor lately, and I made these photos in memory of her after she passed. Hand applied emulsion on sliced cedar. You can see the full not cropped version on my website-link in bio! #silvergelatinprint #alternativephotography #handmadeart #artonwoodslices

If you happen to get the Borsheims catalog in the mail, you’ll get to see these shoots I worked on! I can’t take all the credit, it was definitely a collaborative effort between us photographers and the marketing team. P.S. The last image is the cover of the Spring catalog and is just for reference, I did not contribute to it in any way. :) #catalogphotography #productphotography

Photographed these multi-colored diamond and rose gold hoops the other day. Easter bunny approved! #coloreddiamonds #fancydiamonds #hoopearrings #diamondjewelry #jewelryphotography #inthestudio #productphotography #easter #colorful #browndiamonds #yellowdiamonds #pinkdiamonds

More incredible jewelry in the studio today! Anyone wanna guess retail value on this ring?? 5.71 ct center diamond, near colorless (G) with a clarity rating of VS2 #jewelryphotographer #jewelrylover #photostudio #productphotographer #diamondjewelry

Shot this magnificent Ruby (5.29 ct) and diamond ring today....This ring is worth about 12 times what I make in an entire year. I should probably be paid more. #jewelryphotographer #gemstonejewelry #diamondjewelry #rubyring #inthestudio #gemlover #finejewelry

More alexandrite!! I’m obsessed. #jewelrylover #jewelryphotographer #gemstonejewelry #gorgeous #natural #alexandrite #obsessed #sorrynotsorry

FINALLY got my hands on some #alexandrite and had a blast photographing it at work this week! This pair of stunning Alex + diamond halo earrings was one of my favorites. The image on the left is shot in studio light (white LED) while the one on the right is a combination of studio +incandescent light, showing the color change from green-blue to red-purple! Awesome, right?! #colorchanging #naturalstones #amazingnature #gemstonejewelry #jewelryphotography #jewelryphotographer #naturalmagic #diamondjewelry #cooljob