LAYERED LANCASTER: The BDC Summer 2009 Collection:

Melanie’s (MGD) photographic imagery offers a refreshing, contemporary view of the Lancaster landscape. Viewing the changes in Lancaster with complexity and irony, MGD watches through the lens of the artist perspective as the area continues to change and evolve. “It’s really become an artistic mecca here during the Renaissance of the last few years: the everyday around us is magical!”

MGD’s photography of Lancaster went from documenting area blight ten years ago as a school project at Goddard College, to sharing with friend’s in far away cities the unexpected beauty emerging from within the essence of the brick and marble buildings as the city started to come back to life with new galleries, restaurants, historic protection of local architecture and a myriad of other city advancements.

Combing her love of photography with a unique artistic flair MGD strives to reveal the many contradicting layers of light and dark that define Lancaster. The texture and beauty of her work explore the dichotomies within the local culture: the people and nature that has helped produce this unique city. Her exploration with bold colors and abstract artist process presents us with an evocative glimpse of the city the artist has grown to love over the last decade.

Mike White, freelance writer & critic for the Detroit Metro Times describes MGD's work as: “Presenting the rustic beauty of Lancaster, be it through her striking, colorful naturalistic shots or via the enhanced images that bring out the otherwise unseen beauty of the world around her. My favorites, oddly enough, are the flowers and the (Watt & Shand) cherub. The colors in the flowers pop and the cherub's fragility -- and, ultimately the cracks in the marble -- are breathtaking.”