A Confusion of Tongues

As an avid reader since childhood, I have been fascinated with how one can use words and language to communicate an emotion or feeling. It wasn't until I was older and started experimenting within the arts that I found that there are more universal ways to communicate outside of the written/spoken word. When I became a photographer, I realized my potential to use visual language to express myself across multiple cultures without necessarily needing to speak or understand a particular language. I have found that there are words in other languages that have no direct translation in English. I realized that I could "translate" those words to images that convey the sense and feelings that may have gotten lost or lessened in the translation process. I am interested in the ways that different cultures and languages have a disconnect between each other and how that can be bridged by invoking a feeling through a photograph. A lot of my past photographic work has resulted in very personal images that I have used to express a particular state of mind. I work very closely with my emotions and am able to push them out into the world in an understood but unspoken way through using color, light, and shadow to invoke a sense of mood. Photography is a perfect medium for helping people to relate and experience what I feel, and I found that I could bring that same tool to these untranslatable words that I have brought to my other work.