Many of the photographs in these projects present images that are a visual description, or suggest an accurate idea of their subjects – the very definition of a “picture”. But not all photographs are pictures. Other images work as prompts, directing attention to non-visual concepts. Both groups are ultimately presented as products of photography.
In 1997 my grandfather wrote and dedicated a book to me about his escape from western Ukraine during World War II. As a response, I visited Ukraine over 50 years later to create a “dictionary for a diaspora”. This project was published as a book which contains twenty-four “definitions”; sets made of a title, image, and definition/description. The book acts as a cultural bridge for contemporary Ukrainian-Americans, covering subjects such as political protests, life in the remote Carpathian Mountains, sex tourism, and personal meditations on cultural identity.
“Any individual working with the medium sooner or later impinges, merges into, fuses with the fringes of mysticism. Camera Vision deliberately aims at the outermost reaches that any medium can hope for” -Minor White
The process of developing a personal artistic style can be a struggle. The shadow cast by predecessors is at times daunting. Among these intimidating, almost mythic, individuals is Donald Judd. As one of the most prominent artists associated with the schools of thought I find influential, I set out to create a bittersweet love letter to ideas that both inspire and patronize me.
The environment in which Donald Judd’s sculptures are placed contribute to the way viewers see them. The temperature of light and the direction in which it shines ensure that no two viewings of a piece will ever be the same. In order to reverse the shadow I see Judd casting over me, I photographed my silhouette on every section of his 15 untitled works in concrete (1980-1984). The images are documents of this performance. The act meant to go beyond a dialogue between Judd and myself. Instead of reacting to (or commenting on) his concepts, part of me became a component of his ideas.
Mirroring the non-sequential organization of Judd’s sculptures, Casting Content is presented as a box-set of 4X6 inch photographs that can be viewed or presented in any arrangement.
While living in New York City’s East Village, I became familiar with an initially unsettling sight: tour busses full of people veraciously snapping photographs of my apartment. They weren’t interested because it was my apartment, but it still felt as though I were on display. Due to nearly unlimited storage, “snapshots” have been pushed to the extreme. While photographing subjects “without artistic or journalistic intent” can be traced back to the late 19th century, today’s tools allow complete surrender to the compulsion of photographing everything.
Downtown Loop is an homage to this type of photography. I took a commercial bus tour through my own neighborhood and photographed only subjects that the guide pointed to. This was done with no conscious thought given to framing and the camera was set to a fully automatic mode. The ideas present in this performance draw inspiration from concepts explored in John Baldessari’s Commissioned Paintings (1969), however they diverge at the point of presentation.
Of the seventy-one images taken only six are exhibited. In contrast to the lack of care given taking the photographs, the six images were carefully chosen on their subjective quality. The camera’s extremely high resolution allowed the photographs to be printed significantly larger than traditional snapshots. The polarity between how the pictures were taken and the manner in which they are presented is intended to encourage a discussion on the value of snapshots and their purpose as pictorial objects.
The ironic undercurrent in all photographic self-portraiture is the attempt to locate oneself in the overwhelming onslaught of technology through technology. The desire to capture such contradiction is not a new photographic impulse. Still, the selfie’s inherent exhibitionism (whether for sentimental, humorous, erotic, sartorial, critical, or other purposes) is intensified by the ability to share images online instantly and the increasing perception of attention as commodity.
While making Michigan Homecoming, I witnessed little of the event I was attending, despite my proximity to the game. This mirrors the dissociation between experience and memory -reality and representation- that often occurs with mobile photography and social media. Posing as a repeated object suggests that I (not the game, circumstances, or medium) am the subject of the work. My role as a Photographer is the focus of the series.
