|
Artists Statement |
I began taking photos when I was a teenager and I have found that my photographs always deal with the process of transformation in some way. While learning the basics of photography, I would drive around my suburbs taking pictures of modern relics that were decaying or being torn down to make way for chain stores. When I return home to visit, I often find that none of the places I have photographed still exist. In 2004 I began working on site-specific projects that focus on locations. The images I take tend to feature the interplay of man-made objects and nature, and often focus on the dissonance of one system of order taking over the other. My subjects are liminal places; areas in a state of transition and in which one is neither completely attached nor detached from culture. In focusing on such areas the images provide the ground for the viewer to them self inhabit the liminal realm and reflect on their own world. Through these photographs and projects I seek to help the viewer find their own meaning out of the interacting and confusing interplay of history, place, and self. My work could be described as landscapes, however for aesthetic and conceptual reasons, I have departed from this genre through the manipulation of focus. Unlike traditional landscapes, which tend to have foreground, midground, and background elements unified by their focal point with strong midground emphasis, I try to explore the whole photographic frame. I currently use a 4x5 view camera because of the ability it offers to control the plane of focus more precisely. My compositions use the entire frame and are rarely cropped. The edges are very important as the out of focus regions are just as important as the in focus, what can be seen, what can not, and what can be deciphered have equal values. I work in color and prefer to print my work in larger sizes because they enable viewers to see all the details captured using a larger format, specifically the detritus in my scenes as well as the large swaths of blurred regions. The role of time in my photographs is also very important. Unlike traditional western conceptions of time as linear fashion, I conceive of time as fundamentally cyclic and instantaneous. This also plays a role in my composition of landscapes, which utilize circular motifs in addition to purely linear ones. Photography as a medium as it has developed over the years, is very embedded in linear conceptions of time. The idea of capturing the "perfect moment" is something I try to move away from in my work. Rather any moment is every moment. The work takes on a dreamlike quality that meditate on space rather than trying to capture it. |
Resume |
EDUCATION 2003-2006 1999-2003
EXHIBITIONS 2008 2007 2006 2005 REVIEWS 2006 RELATED ACTIVITIES Semi-Finalist, 25 Under 25: Up-and-Coming American Photographers, Judge: Sylvia Plachy, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke Juror – Somerville Arts Council Local Cultural Council Grant Program – Multicultural and Multidisciplinary Panel. Writer – The Triumph of Musical Tourism, PopMatters; a widely read online magazine Speaker – Experience Music Project Pop Conference – Music in Dark Times panel. Discussed arts in Kosovo and presented my photographs. Still Photographer for short film “Eat to Defeat” – One of the audience award winners at the 48 hour film festival in Boston Advisory Board – Health Care for Artists |
Press and Publications |
Writing: Essays, Articles and Other Stuff |
