Am I Not Light - 2021 submission

In 2015, photographer and scientist Bob Farese, Jr., moved to a new and somewhat bewildering city, finding himself suddenly without the usual creature comforts of family and friends, and experiencing aloneness in an unexpected and profound way. To soothe his feelings of isolation, Farese began taking street photographs drawing inspiration from the spontaneous and observational style of iPhone photographers David Guttenfelder and Gueorgui Pinkhassov, and the work of Cartier-Bresson. Images were captured in a mindful and receptive manner, alert to interesting viewpoints of everyday things that are hidden in plain view. Beauty in the banal. The work reflects the photographer’s experience of arrival, the yearning for connection, and the newfound feeling of solitude. It is a meditation on loneliness, but not on solitary aloneness. Rather it expresses how one can feel alone even whilst being among many. Wandering glimpses. Beauty.