The Stranger

All photography is symbolic, and increasingly I find my work becoming more allegorical. What imbues a photograph with the power to point beyond itself, beyond the depicted content, to illuminate that which is deeply felt by the artist, but which can’t be photographed directly? This is a series of quiet, reflective, chiaroscuro images, a photographic poem that presents an allegory of the Stranger. The photographs encourage the viewer to consider the images, the implicit connections, and the unfolding photographic narrative. - - - o - - - “A stranger has somehow stolen into my life, one who knows all my intimate feelings and thoughts. By now the stranger has gained power over me… every thought vulnerable to the stranger’s outlook and consideration. It is an unbelievable way to live… to be tied forever in this caged inner conversation. The irony of course… is that the stranger is me.” Source: John O’Donohue, Adapted from “The Invisible Embrace of Beauty,” Harper Perennial, 2003.