PROJECT STATEMENT

Difficulty Choosing is a project that began in my senior year at The New England School of Photography. Post graduation, I continued working on the project until completing it in 2006, at which point I stopped constructing and photographing in studio. The experience of making this work continues to inform my artistic practice with its experimental approach, openness to chance and unconventional methods.

The project began with the intention to photograph the experience of being underwater. Without the equipment to actually photograph in and under water, I set out to build a set which would photograph as if it were. As I worked through iterations and experimented with different materials and objects, a question at the back of my mind started to influence creative decisions.

When I felt compelled to incorporate a figure, I put myself in the frame because I didn’t want to impose on a model to endure the long exposures; it was also easier to direct oneself than another. With each shoot and the choice of materials evolved, I came to understand they were part of a state of mind and thoughts: glass sheets to form a compressed and constraining space, liquids and frozen solids symbolizing fertility and the cycle of life, unconventional light sources for an out-of-reality environment. In this space I confronted and explored the question of whether or not to pursue becoming a parent - a choice that was culturally and personally loaded.

The images in this series are single frame long exposures, made with c-41 cross-processed slide film. The set involved shooting with the camera on the floor, with a glass table, ice, various liquids, small high intensity lights and TV light changing randomly in the background. The final limited edition chromogenic prints (c-prints) are made by the artist.