Shades in the Dust
Shades in the Dust was initially conceived during time spent in Louisiana in the graduate photography program at Louisiana State University. The project began as a narrative series exploring issues of identity and alienation, but, over time, the work began to address the nature of the family unit, as well as the idiosyncratic concepts of fear that accompany familial attachment. The series has continued to metamorphose as my family has changed with me over the better part of a decade.
As I photographed the project, I experienced several personal losses and struggles. There is a hesitant grief that lives in the photos. Through symbols and dream logic, I present a narrative of my experience to the viewer. Water, for instance, began to signify a shifting perspective regarding time; sometimes stagnant, other times flowing; sometimes clear, sometimes murky.
Through the limited scope of photographing only my family, I created metaphors as bridges to explore the larger issues of archetypes and mythologies that emerge during times of crisis and loss. There is a sense of tension and release in the photos echoes the nature of struggle in crisis. As such, Shades in the Dust ultimately emerges as a study of the fragility of the human experience and the cyclical nature of our existence.