Melissa’s love for photography began while attending Howell 

High School in Farmingdale, NJ. She entered a photography 

competition with the Technology Student Association and went on to place in the top ten in the nation three years in a row. Upon 

graduating in 2001, she was accepted in the Delaware College of Art & Design where she received an A.F.A. studying under Ron Brignac. It was here that her art began to take direction. 

 

While studying Kenneth Josephson, Jerry Uelsmann and Harry 

Callahan, she began experimenting with multiple exposures. She 

started with 35mm black and white film and moved on to using 

color. Harris received a Bronica during her sophomore year and 

it is still that camera she prefers to use for her multiple 

exposures. “There is something about the process, the noises and the surprise after waiting to see the negatives – it’s an 

experience.” Harris’ work first appeared in a public show at the 

Wilmington Library in 2003. That same year, she enrolled in the 

Corcoran College of Art & Design. She continued her work there 

and was greatly influenced by Andy Grundberg and Frank 

DiPerna. Her first big show came in March 2005 at the Corcoran 

Museum of Art. The following May, she graduated with a B.F.A. 

in photography. Harris began working as a portrait, event and 

commercial photographer after graduating and did not reenter 

the art scene until 2010. In August of that year she won top prize 

in her category; Details, for her piece “Pinned Glass” in the 

Members’ Show at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, 

Tampa, Fl. She has since been steadily making art, still enjoying 

the process of her Bronica.