(Above) Sunrise, Sunset, 2022, Digital photo collage.
Gated
(Above) Gated, 2022, Digital photo collage.
Repeating Landscapes
In this series of works, I wanted to capture mundane spaces and utilize more unorthodox views, such as a kaleidoscopic lens perspective. The original spaces are places I interact with daily, and typically do not think much of. Using these mundane spaces as a base for my new compositions, I can transform the once mundane into a much more interesting and elaborate perspective that draws the viewer in. In agreement with Bamberger, I am able to make these once ordinary spaces and transform them into a more beautiful piece, making it more “true”. My main focus was transforming mundane everyday spaces into a space that exemplifies beauty and draws viewers in. In my first piece, “Stairways”, I chose to transform a photograph that looks up a staircase and shows an open door that leads to another door. Using the photograph as a base, I created a series of repetitive staircases that go both up and down. I flipped the original base photograph vertically and horizontally along with stitching all photos together to create the final composition. This process changed the meaning of the piece into an abstract and surreal set of stairways that makes the viewer question what they are looking at initially. In my second piece, “Gated”, I created a horizontal landscape with repetition using mirroring as my main strategy. Using a photograph of the view from my outdoor porch, I manipulated and transformed the base photograph into a repeating landscape that depicts a once mundane view into an abstract and interesting landscape. The repetition of the fence draws the viewer in horizontally. In my final piece, “Sunrise, Sunset”, I combined my strategies and intent from my first two pieces. Utilizing the mirroring technique for repetition along with transforming a once mundane space into an exaggerated and exemplified new beautiful reality. The new composition created reflects a sunset landscape both vertically and horizontally, creating a view that has two sunsets. With the base image already having a highly saturated sunset, the viewer is already drawn in from the intense colors. Once the viewer has been drawn in to view the composition more intimately, they will begin to notice the element of two sunsets that appear to be both rising and setting. The original photo was an ordinary view of a sun setting in a parking lot, but has been transformed into a clean, repetitive landscape that depicts a sun that appears to be both rising and setting. Overall, with this repetition series I wanted to focus on Bamberger’s philosophy of how when a photograph is beautiful, it is true. Henceforth, the more beautiful and interesting I could make my new compositions, the truer they would become. Inspired by his repetitive landscape series, I wanted to see everyday spaces into a new beautiful reality. Transforming mundane views and spaces I interact with every day into an exaggerated, interesting, and beautiful new landscape helped create new meaning for each piece. While the original photographs are ordinary to me, the new repetitive landscapes created exemplify a new perspective and allow everyone to appreciate the once, “ordinary” in the world.