Artist Statement
A tree cannot grow without roots holding it fast to the ground, procuring its very nourishment. The family tree is equally dependent upon its infrastructure. We are bound to specific lineages that have brought us to this present state in time. Much of what is known about past generations can be found in both written and visual forms. However, any record of time is an acute interpretation of the past. Photographs, for instance, frame the outward appearance of things, while they simultaneously divulge hidden qualities embedded in the photographer’s process. Similarly, words frame experiences and shape meanings.
I use a large format view camera to document the aging Virginia landscapes along my ancestral line. My commitment to darkroom processes keeps me deeply rooted in time even long after I have left each historic site. I expose my images with text to reveal layers of experiences. The gelatin silver prints are bound together in handmade wooden books that represent the family tree. This work illuminates the compounded research and recordings of hundreds of descendants all working at different times to secure family histories. It is our responsibility to continue engaging with the past since it is not a closed book, but an open invitation to interact with the remnants of time and contribute our own meanings.
I use a large format view camera to document the aging Virginia landscapes along my ancestral line. My commitment to darkroom processes keeps me deeply rooted in time even long after I have left each historic site. I expose my images with text to reveal layers of experiences. The gelatin silver prints are bound together in handmade wooden books that represent the family tree. This work illuminates the compounded research and recordings of hundreds of descendants all working at different times to secure family histories. It is our responsibility to continue engaging with the past since it is not a closed book, but an open invitation to interact with the remnants of time and contribute our own meanings.
Bodies of Work
ABSTRACT
Land that has descended for generations along a single ancestral line is threaded with layers of collective memories that are waiting to be woven into their local histories. I use an antiquated view camera to record Virginia’s historic homes and aging landscapes connected to my family tree. I curate surviving records from each property and construct my own historical account of the past. These remnants of time are bound together into wooden books whose pages are adorned with gelatin silver prints. This entirely handmade narrative speaks to how history itself is crafted. Whenever time is documented, decisions have to be made as to how it is constructed. Photographers selectively frame their subjects just as writers make very deliberate word choices. I investigate the relationship between writing and photography, beginning with the earliest photographic text created by Anna Atkins’ in 1853 titled, British Algae. Later came Eugene Atget’s pictorialist landscapes. A collection of his early twentieth century albumen prints were compiled in a collection titled, Atget’s Trees. These contrasted greatly with the precisionist landscapes captured by Ansel Adams and the group F64. I also explore many contemporary photographers who still utilize darkroom processes to allude to the past such as Sally Mann and Deborah Luster. Other relevant photographers include Sophie Calle, Joel Sternfeld, and Carrie Mae Weems who each combine their images with text in different ways, but all strive to connect people, places, and experiences across time. The theories of both Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes provide a solid foundation on which photographers can rest their conversations on the incredibly transformative nature of photography. My work illuminates that space between memory and imagination where family land and all of its’ complicated histories are ultimately transformed.
Installation Views
|
New Hampshire Institute of Art
MFA Photography Thesis Exhibition "A Forest for the Trees" Manchester, NH January, 2017 |
