Alison Rossiter: Semblance | Yossi Milo Gallery

Kara Bischopink, Musée Magazine, February 25, 2026
The beauty of time lies within its own unpredictability, revealing traces of life passed and the quiet beauty of what once was. Alison Rossiter’s exhibition, Semblance, reveals the unique details that come with aging and the subtle histories that rise when materials are left to their timelines. On view at the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York City until March 14, Semblance is Rossiter’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition presents a selection of unique gelatin silver prints made from vintage and antique photographic papers.
 
Rossiter positions herself as the co-author of her works, with time serving as a collaborator to the field, landscape, storm and horizon within the paper. Unlike traditional photography, Rossiter relies only on developer and time, as the most precious and indescribable details and memories surface with time. By listening and observing, Rossiter steps back and allows nature to take its course, developing the art she highlights for everyone to gaze upon.
 
Semblance transforms into a stamp of time, with time serving as an active collaborator in the delicate, shifting chemistry of photographic paper. Rather than images of something or a person, Rossiter’s photographs are of something, containing remnants from life — a life within a singular paper, holding the records of humidity, the slight of a light leak or the slow oxidation of silver. With each piece, Rossiter reveals the world embedded within, where each imperfection breathes its own story.
 
One piece in the collection, “Wellington & Ward, S.C.P.,” comes from a rare sheet of early 20th-century Wellington and Ward silver chloride paper. Its surface carries the quiet traces of a century of chemical drift, where nine pieces come together to reveal the tonal shifts of time.
 
Rossiter’s series, inspired by Man Ray’s 1911 “Tapestry” piece, showcases century-old gaslight photographic papers arranged into precise geometric patterns. Much like her other works, each paper in the piece carries its own chemical history, paying homage to Ray’s experimentation with textile designs.
 
To curate such delicate and intricate works, Rossiter confines herself to a dark room, serving as her laboratory for excavating the past. While the type of paper often remains consistent, the age vastly ranges to observe the evolution of the material over time. Rossiter experimented with gaslight papers circa the 1910s-1920s, printing papers, bromide portrait papers from the 1930s, and mid-century Kodak papers from the 1970s. Each type carried its own chemical property, resulting in distinct visual outcomes to create a medley of material responses. As a result, each piece is unique, carrying a distinct fingerprint — a record of the life it has lived and the history it holds.