Artist Biography
The series In the Shadows is an exploration of not only light but shadow as well, and how both elements can work together to create both clarity and mystery in a photograph. On the one hand, light and shadow work together to act as visual aids to the human eye when analyzing spatial relationships. On the other hand, light, both when illuminated and when obstructed, can create shadows that have mysterious qualities that can bring ominous perceptions to an image and evoke feelings of uncertainty in the viewers. Another important area of exploration within this series is the difference between natural light and studio light and the way each one can be manipulated to create mystery as well as illicit certain emotive properties in a photograph. In both interior and exterior settings, shadows can become textural and have a form that becomes almost volumetric while the light at times operates as a textural element in the environment.
There is a sense of interplay between a state of absence and presence that drives this work. This series consists of various photographs taken both indoors and outdoors. With the use of natural and found objects as well as models, each photograph represents the way light and shadow can affect the human eye through photography and create a visually compelling series while playing with clarity and mystery.
Thesis Abstract
This thesis investigates the use of light and shadow and the roles they play not only in photography but in the way that things are viewed in everyday life. It explores how light and shadow can work together, as well as separately, in making visually and emotionally complex compositions. This thesis will answer the following questions: How are light and shadow used in photography and what symbolism and meaning do they hold? Do the placement of the shadows and the temperature of the photograph change the symbolism/meaning of the image and the emotions that are felt when looking at the photograph? What are the differences between photographs with shadows found in nature as opposed to photographs with shadows created with studio lighting and other man-made equipment? In order to answer these questions, arts-based research was conducted that involved experimental photography in several different settings, both indoor and outdoor. Models were present for part of the experimentation process in order to allow for variation in the photographs and images that were produced. The photographic series, In the Shadows, can be broken down into three subsections of photograph categories that present some of the different ways to capture light and shadow. This body of work explores and presents the relationship between light and shadow as well as how they interact with different spaces and in different lighting conditions.