Assemblies
“Assemblies” is a series of photographs taken at gatherings of my friends and family. Recorded over an extended period of time, they are directly linked to my experience of intimate, human relationships. I display these life-size, individual images in a panoramic view. Because no single image can capture the range of social interaction, I use fragmented scenes to capture complexity in human interaction.
My instinct is to veer away from “the decisive moment,” a phrase established by Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photography. Though I favor the continuous, generous narrative of cinema, I vacillate between these closely related media. I hold tenaciously to contemplative, static images while using a multi-image, wide format. The Assemblies do not match up seamlessly, but require the viewer to make leaps in time and narrative. Repetitions, changes in positions and gestures, offer a slow-motion shift from static photography towards time-based film.
My attempt to show the totality of a time and space often eludes me from one frame to the next. I use spaces in between the photographs to allow for the slippage of subjectivity, the tension between the democracy and partiality of photography. I suggest the transience of human relationships from moment to moment. I make photographic note of the efforts people make to be together or distinguish solitude at a gathering. Using florid color, I transform my observed experience into a rich, complex, visual narrative.
