My first Exhibition! Solitude in Urban spaces
In late November, I had the pleasure of exhibiting my work in print for the first time. The gallery was held at Archangel Studios – a brand new photography studio here in Vancouver BC. The gallery is owned by Curtis Look, a talented local photographer who was generous enough to open his space for the public to view my work!
I put together a collection of black and white images captured in urban spaces. During my travels, I have spent many hours wandering different cities taking street photos. After amassing quite a collection of these images, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to showcase them.
These works will be on display again from February 1 to April 1 at Meet on Main- an all-vegan restaurant that works with local artists to decorate the walls of their various locations! My prints will be available for purchase throughout this period, so don’t miss out if you’re interested!
The following statement was written to accompany the collection. It is a reflection on the introspective nature of street photography, and how the act of street photography impacts the identity of the photographer. I appreciate your time in reading this, as it is a very personal piece relating to my identity as an artist.
Artist’s Statement
Street photography is a solitary activity (walking and looking). In the studio, where we carefully curate each frame, the photos are made. On the street, where nothing is controlled, the photos are taken. These images are snipped carefully from the lives and environments of others, assembled here to create a larger work.
The larger work is an act of collage: an artifact produced by 100 hours of walking alone. It is the story of solitude in urban spaces, and the experience of haunting someone else’s story.
There are two feelings that recur during these street photography walks, that I wished to express in this collection. The first is the feeling of being noticed and forgotten. As I raise my camera and cut my images from the lives of those around me, they may cut a snippet of me as well. How many eyes have noticed me, or my lens- stood on a street corner, aimed at them from behind a mirrored window? How many have felt seen by me, and in turn, seen me? How many minds could still remember me?
The second feeling is the inspiration for the title of this exhibition. Solitude is felt loudly in urban spaces. Photographing vast, World Cities home to millions and millions of stories- lived out by people who I will never meet. People who know each other, see each other at the grocery store or local cafe or walk their dogs on the same block. People who smile, wave, hug. But I am only a figment there, soon to be gone- and to remain a figment forever. I am the stranger.
When I return to a city, I recognize the neighborhood. The street corners I stopped to inspect, the architecture I admired. But the people remain unfamiliar. A new experience emerges: a long-exposure photograph of this place in which walls remain sharp and clear but human lives are reduced to cloudy rivers. I Peer through the layers to find a familiar face- and for what? To haunt them again from behind my lens, and disappear once more with a fresh extraction in hand.