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 started as a narrative series exploring issues of identity and alienation but, over time, the work began to also address issues such as the nature of familial attachment and loss. The work has continued to metamorphose over the better part of a decade.

In the course of making these photographs, I experienced several personal losses and there is a hesitant grief that lives in the photos. Through symbols, repetition and non-linear narrative, I present my experiences to the viewer. Water, for instance, began to signify a shifting perspective in me regarding time; sometimes stagnant, other times flowing; sometimes clear, sometimes murky. 

In Shades in the Dust, I use metaphor as a bridge to address larger issues of archetype and mythology that can emerge during periods of crisis and loss. A sense of tension and release infuses the photos and echoes the nature of the coping process. As such, Shades in the Dust ultimately emerges as a study of the fragility of the human experience and the cyclical nature of life.