Solitude in Populous Cities

The city is often conceived as a site for transactions, a place we pass through on errands of pleasure or business. Seeking a deeper meaning, I photograph out-of-the-way places, or even iconic spots, in the city that are chronically or temporarily unpopulated, especially during twilight, the boundary time between day and night. In such places I find a refuge for meditation, a silence at the heart of the bustling metropolis. There, paradoxically recording timeless moments during a fleeting transitional time, I feel as if I have shed the city's busy-ness, news, and clamor. I am looking outward to commune with the city's own dreams of geometry and shadow, while also gazing deep into myself. Sometimes a passerby appears in a scene. I used to think such interlopers threatened my communion with a place. Then I realized that these figures, serving as surrogates for me & the viewer, only emphasize the solitude of a place by their presence. My artistic inspiration for exploring the metropolis as an unexpected site for moments of meditation includes the work of Edward Hopper. I have also been influenced by French photographer Charles Marville, suggesting silence in the swirl of city life.