Recent Work
In my newest body of work, I hand color and digitally alter vintage photographs. None of the people in the photos are familiar to me. Each person depicted held meaning for someone at one time, but to me they are all strangers. Lacking context, I don’t attempt to support the original intent of these photos. Instead, I alter them in an improvisational way and with digital tools, to arrive at a new meaning.
Anyone can easily take relatively good quality photos. Yet, objective reality and a “collective truth” are still in drastically short supply. Hence, with this work, I have abandoned any attempt at objective documentation. In fact, if anything, I strive to obliterate it. This work is completely subjective in intent. It comes to me as an emotional wave or as a small, quiet, yet highly intuitive voice. That voice is rarely loud or overly certain, but it should often be heeded. That voice is the guiding force in this irrational, existential work.
The existential nature of this series means that we’ll each come to different conclusions about its content and meaning. Some things are certain though. The digital additions and alterations are not hidden, but unlike much of what is found on the internet, the viewer should know immediately what’s real and what’s not. In a way, it’s much more honest. I hope to convey, at least through subtext, my recognition that “collective truth” (which cameras have traditionally been used for) is gone, at least for the foreseeable future and, in spite of that, it’s crucial that we continue to navigate this world and find some meaning within it.
Anyone can easily take relatively good quality photos. Yet, objective reality and a “collective truth” are still in drastically short supply. Hence, with this work, I have abandoned any attempt at objective documentation. In fact, if anything, I strive to obliterate it. This work is completely subjective in intent. It comes to me as an emotional wave or as a small, quiet, yet highly intuitive voice. That voice is rarely loud or overly certain, but it should often be heeded. That voice is the guiding force in this irrational, existential work.
The existential nature of this series means that we’ll each come to different conclusions about its content and meaning. Some things are certain though. The digital additions and alterations are not hidden, but unlike much of what is found on the internet, the viewer should know immediately what’s real and what’s not. In a way, it’s much more honest. I hope to convey, at least through subtext, my recognition that “collective truth” (which cameras have traditionally been used for) is gone, at least for the foreseeable future and, in spite of that, it’s crucial that we continue to navigate this world and find some meaning within it.
