Untitled

These collages, set in the mid 19th century American South, are created from 3 centuries of photography and reference the portraits of both European court paintings and early American folk art. The cryptic stories of the characters depicted in these images are unriddled by symbolism, giving insight into themes of survival, nature, sexuality, race, spirituality, and death. My interests lie in the flawed processes and haunting subjects found in the daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes and carte de visites of early photography. The rigid poses and pensive expressions, the formal attire, the lush landscapes, and the architectural ruins become the elements I use to construct these pieces. In this process I extract fragments from historic photographs and imagery and then combine them with elements from my own photography. The final collage containing dozens of layers is merged together and printed onto brushed aluminum.