Welcome New Artist Marcelle McDannel

Ptarmigan Arts Gallery is happy to welcome Marcelle McDannel.  Marcelle’s underwater photography is glorious and unique.  As a cold-water diver, Marcelle goes to extraordinary lengths to capture unique imagery that most of us will never see.

Before she ever considered photography, Marcelle became an Alaskan cold-water diver.  Whether navigating an icy ramp of disintegrating concrete in Whitter, skidding down a trail on a snow-covered beach in Juneau, or doing a back roll into the 37 degrees winter waters of Resurrection Bay, Marcelle and Alaskan divers go to extraordinary lengths just to get underwater.  So, what’s down there that could possibly be worth the effort, much less the bone-chilling cold?

Answering that question is what led Marcelle to buy her first underwater camera.  Photos of Alaskan wildlife above the oceans are readily available and some sea life is well-known on restaurant menus.  But few photographers have watched an Alaskan King Crab scurrying across the ocean floor or seen the dazzling reds and oranges of a poisonous Lion’s Mane jellyfish drifting in a swell.  The raw photographs Marcelle takes provide a glimpse into this little-known world.  However, she wants her images from these photos to do more—to convey the sense of awe she feels experiencing these forbidding waters first-hand with a touch of the otherworldly magic that keeps drawing her back.  Please view the slides below for a sample of her wonderful images.