Michael Martin White
I’m a photographer who moves freely between analog and digital, old and new, always chasing the moment when something familiar starts to feel strange again. My work isn’t about documenting facts but translating what it feels like to stand in a place, to see light move across time.
I first fell in love with photography in the late 1980s when I discovered the darkroom as a teenager at North Central High School in Indianapolis. The first time I watched an image appear in developer, I was hooked. That mix of light, chemistry, and uncertainty has guided everything I’ve done since.
Today I work under the name Stop Bath Studio, exploring historical and experimental processes such as direct positive paper, glass plates, infrared imaging, pinhole, and film. I often pair modern cameras with vintage equipment, including a 123-year-old Kodak lens once owned by my great-grandfather. By merging eras, I’m reminded that photography has always been about curiosity, not technology.
My images tend to live somewhere between observation and emotion. They don’t aim to tell stories as much as to hold a feeling and to show how a place or moment can seem both real and otherworldly at once.
I am a Juried Artist Member of the Hamilton County Artists’ Association, where I also teach and maintain the public darkroom at the Birdie Gallery. The darkroom was created to keep hands-on photography accessible to the community and to inspire others to experiment.
Whether I’m working in large format, infrared, or drone photography, my goal is simple: to notice what most people pass by, to stay open to the unexpected, and to make room for mystery.
Stop Bath Studio
870 Logan Street
Noblesville, IN 46060