Mildred Salas: Photography as Healing After Personal Tragedy

Mildred Salas, a self-taught photographer from Manhattan's Lower East Side, employs floral and monochrome visuals to delve into themes of grief, healing, and resilience. Her photographic journey commenced when her spouse gifted her a Canon AE-1 film camera, with her daughters serving as her initial subjects. Following the tragic death of her husband in January 1988, who was the second cab driver killed that year, she paused her photography pursuits. After remarrying and losing her second husband to a heart attack in May 2009, the same year her youngest daughter was set to wed, she resumed photography in 2010 with a Nikon D90. Salas, inspired by Ansel Adams and Drew Doggett, has created works such as "Black Peony" and "Born of Pain," aiming to convey peace and openness through negative space. She shares her art on Instagram and Facebook.