Pairings

My final project for my photography class is a study of photographic pairings. As I was sorting through the pictures I created during the course, I started to notice how an image can come to life when placed next to a complementary image - the impact of the pair is much stronger than either one alone – and I began to look for these serendipitous pairings. My criteria were more visceral than logical. When two photos form a pairing, they seem to “sing,” creating a visual resonance in the same way that the notes of a chord form a tone more rich and satisfying than a single note alone. And the way that these images are strung together tell a story, like the notes and chords of music form a song.

This is a study of the visual experience, rather than a statement about the subjects themselves, but there are themes that repeat themselves through the series. There are repeating images that are fully or partly composed of chain link fencing; these images accept a challenge to make this ubiquitous and ugly part of the American landscape into something beautiful, sculptural, or ethereal. They are images mostly of my small community, and the patterns of life there. Many of the images contain water, plants, or animals – I see this as my reflection cast upon this series, and my personal affinity for the natural world. In a nod to this theme, I have included a watery reflection of myself in one of these pairings. Isn’t every photograph really a self-portrait in some way?