Devin Elle Gaan: Urban Snowflakes

September 4-27, 2025

Artist Statement

The first snowflake I ever printed came about after I chose to focus in on one part of an otherwise mundane photo. This was a skill I'd unknowingly been practicing. When I first started hiking, I was so focused on getting “there” all I saw were swaths of green and brown. One moment blending into the next as I raced up the trail. But as I learned to enjoy the journey, rather than focusing on the destination, a new world revealed itself to me. I began to see variations of leaves, bark, flowers, and fungi that I’ve never noticed before. The range of greens from trees and moss became like a mosaic painting. The act of being present changed my relationship with nature.

My process to create the prints in the Urban Snowflakes series comes from a similar idea. Each detail becomes an opportunity, every photo a potential piece of material to create something new. It is a process that led me to explore the craft of creating photographs and a practice in slowing down to tease out the goodness hidden in the details. It takes the idea of appreciating the ordinary slices of life a step further through a process that deviates from the standard path.

While in this exploration, I still find myself seeking perfection. Every segment of a Snowflake is aligned by hand. My intent is for each exposure to be aligned perfectly as if digitally made. But of course, it is never “perfect”. The lesson is that it's ok. Better than ok. The “imperfections” are actually what makes each print truly unique, just like its namesake. No two prints are ever the same, even if they share a similar shape, created from the same building block, the film.

In the end, these imperfections are a huge part of the beauty in each piece. They are the evidence of my touch and that I exist. With every Snowflake print I attempt, I am reminded that while perfection is the goal, imperfections make the achievement.