Original words and pictures: sometimes scholarly, sometimes reflective
As a recovering academic, a relative newcomer to photography, and a burgeoning narrative nonfiction writer, I’ll be recounting the various poetic forces that knock around in my head—and my camera lens—from time to time.
I will also be sharing some reflections on my various travels across Europe from the past few years. Some posts will be about old memories, some of them will be entirely new.
About Me
Scholarly Background
I received my Ph.D. in Early Modern English literary studies from Rice University. My dissertation, Theophanic Reasoning: Science, Secrets, and the Stars from Spenser to Milton, argues that sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literary writers relied on the concept of theophany to covertly communicate heretical ideas about astronomical observations and cosmological theories about the universe.
the·oph·a·ny | /THēˈäfənē/ | noun
a visible manifestation to humankind of God or a god
In addition to this book-length scholarly project, I have also published two peer-reviewed works of literary criticism: one shorter piece on temperance and environment in Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene and a full-length article on gender and oceanic studies in William Shakespeare’s water-obsessed play Pericles.
Photography & Visual Arts
I now realize that these unique experiences in my early adulthood started what would eventually become a long-term love affair with both text and the visual arts.
In college, I minored in art with a concentration in graphic design. Shortly after graduating, I joined the production desk at a daily Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper as both a graphic design and copy editor. I also freelanced for several non-profits and community projects for their various design needs (view a glimpse into my design portfolio from the early years here).
I now realize that these unique experiences in my early adulthood started what would eventually become a long-term love affair with both text and the visual arts.
Because I finished the Ph.D. in April 2020—right in the middle of pandemic shutdown—I found myself with more free time on my hands than I ever had in recent memory.
A foreign concept to be sure!
Thus I began navigating the world of fine-art photography, some of which is catalogued on my photography instagram.
There will be some overlap between ALMA GENETRIX and its titular sidekick on Instagram, but my goal for this space is to curate an immersive, intertextual, and multimodal experience between word and image, rational musings and emotional evocation.
As both photographer and writer, I am looking to tell poignant stories about the people, objects, and places that contingently intersect with my life.
My hope is that this dual-focused Substack will attract new readers who are lovers of multimodal experiences and the interrelation between narrative nonfiction and photographic practice.
Why Me, Why You
The intertextual exchange between word and image I discuss above drives the endeavors of ALMA GENETRIX.
My goal is for this space to curate an immersive, intertextual, and multimodal experience between word and image, rational musings and emotional evocation.
What I’m ultimately focused on is sharing my creativity and passion for the world around me in ways that I have been unable to offer in the past, whether due to constraints on both my time or energy, or the chaos that accompanies a trauma-entrenched upbringing.
Nonetheless, I think we are better people when we create and engage, so I’m excited for is the process of sitting down to write, edit, and share.
Thank you for allowing me to create and engage—and to write, to edit, to share—with you.
—ALM
