Jennifer Eddins's portfolio

Work samples

Her Old Bedroom

In an old tobacco baron’s mansion in rural Virgina, soft pink paint could still be made out on the puckered, peeling walls. Soft light was streaming in along with a soft spring breeze making an unbelievable vignette in the once opulent bedroom. Who grew up in this room? What was the family like? Only the walls can tell the story.
Roller Skate

In the dairy barn of a small rural fam a lone child’s roller skate was on the floor. The number of personal belongings left suggested a hasty exit by the previous family and struck a chord of sadness in me. The light filtering in was soft and melancholy.
Asylum Carriage

In the former children’s ward of the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum a vintage rattan pram stood in stark contract against the bright peeling paint of the room in the bright afternoon sun. Thinking to what life may have been in such an environment made me think of how far we have come as a society in our views and treatment of the mentally ill and neurodivergent – and still how much farther we have yet to go.
Jail Ball

While exploring a former sanitarium-turned-prison I came upon a basketball court surrounded by wildflowers. It dawned on me that this court could have brought a small slice of joy in an otherwise unimaginable environment. The fact that so many people are ‘thrown away’ in the system is a dark, stark contrast in theme to the bright happy flowers that surround the court.

About Jennifer

Carroll County

My introduction to photography was through a black and white film course in college and I loved it. The meticulous film development process and endless darkroom time was a tangible and emotional investment into each finished print. Fast forward over 20 years later and the quality and flexibility of digital photography has now become my medium. My photographs can be recognized by their drama and dark textural tones. In my fine art and landscape photography I often use wide-angle lenses… more

View Jennifer's Resume

The Throwaways

This project explores the history of mental health facilities and jails in the US over the past century. Mothers that dropped their children off because they were "hard to manage" placed in facilities with children who were truly in need of treatment due to living with advanced mental illness. Faclilities that were horribly overcrowded which grew into the places of nightmares. Then we have the penal system. Grown men and women that are incarcerated due to systemic failures, watching opportunities and dreams slip away. Thankfully we have evolved in some areas, but we have so much farther to go.