Stare
University of Virginia, Fine Art Photography, Final Thesis, 2013
Stare – Artist Statement
When I photograph people I invite them to spaces where we can be alone: my home, a park, a backyard. By engaging with them in a place where they feel comfortable, I am able to converse with them on a personal level, and observe the expressions they give me when they listen, sigh, reflect, and engage. Because photography naturally creates vulnerability, my camera has become a vehicle that allows me to delve deeper, to stare longer. I look to document our time together, our dialogue. I ask how the day went or what the individual wants to give to the world and we develop a conversation. I fall in love with the honesty of their expression and I sincerely care about who they are, who we are. I want the world to see what happens when I put a camera in between us- how the conversation we have transforms into a 1/60th of a second. I try to capture a pivotal expression or gesture the subject gives me within that dynamic pause. It is authentic, it is raw, it is real—it discloses an experience between subject and photographer, giver and receiver. They stare into my lens and I stare right back. The photograph is evidence.
Published in "Substance of Fire: Gender & Race in the College Classroom" / 2018
