Juror | Kevin Tully
Exhibition dates | November 8 to December 19, 2024
Reception | November 23, 2024 3pmCST YouTube video posted in ASG Conversations
Creating conceptual photographic stories is an art form that goes beyond simply capturing moments. It involves shaping images into a visual narrative that resonates with the photographer's inner world and invites viewers to embark on a journey of discovery. For me, the approach blends a cinematic touch with the power of mysticism and ambiguity, all guided by an instinctive urge to reveal and conceal parts of myself within the work. Each series becomes a kind of self-portrait, a glimpse into my inner world, yet one that’s shrouded in layers of mystery, where viewers are encouraged to bring their own interpretations to complete the story. My creative process is deeply rooted in this philosophy, with the addition of classical music as a constant, atmospheric presence that shapes the images’ emotional tone.
The Weight of my Sins, Director's Award
Imbuing Self into the Imagery
Creating conceptual photographic stories is, in many ways, like crafting a series of self-portraits. Each image bears a fragment of my identity, my reflections, and sometimes my own questions and vulnerabilities. This approach allows me to give life to pieces of myself that are difficult to communicate directly, as they dwell somewhere between consciousness and memory. Even if I’m not physically present in the images, there’s an essence of my existence that infuses the work—a quality that resonates from within, coloring each narrative with a touch of my personal experiences, dreams, and even fears.
When working on a series, I think of the stories as being told not from a detached perspective but as personal artifacts, distillations of my observations of the world and inner explorations. This depth of personal investment often brings a layer of vulnerability into the imagery, almost as if I’m revealing parts of myself I didn’t consciously realize I was offering. This “self-portraiture” isn’t always comfortable, yet it’s necessary to create images that feel real and authentic. Ultimately, I aim to offer a genuine connection through these visual stories, one that brings viewers into my creative journey even as they bring their own interpretations to it.
Crafting Mysticism and Ambiguity
Mysticism and ambiguity form the core of my aesthetic, often pulling the viewer into a world that feels both familiar and strangely uncharted. I love working in that gray area where reality and imagination intersect, allowing me to create images that feel slightly otherworldly, as if they hold secrets just out of reach. Mysticism allows me to capture the sense of the unseen—a shadow of something you can’t quite place, but feel drawn to explore. It’s this sense of curiosity, tinged with a slight unease, that I strive to cultivate in each piece.
To achieve this effect, I often rely on cinematic techniques, using lighting, composition, and layering to create images that evoke both wonder and introspection. I’ll incorporate contrasting textures, shadows, and surreal elements to suggest that there’s more happening beneath the surface. By crafting scenes that aren’t explicitly spelled out, I leave a sense of mystery that lingers in the mind. The ambiguity in these images provides viewers with space to project their own interpretations, enabling the story to shift and reshape itself depending on who’s looking.
This deliberate choice of mysticism and ambiguity also lets me explore broader themes—universal emotions, shared dreams, and experiences that connect us all. Even though each viewer brings something unique to the image, there’s a shared sense of humanity that I hope ties everything together.
The Temptation of Eve
Stories that Leave Room for Interpretation
One of the defining aspects of my approach is my belief in leaving stories partially untold. Instead of providing a neatly wrapped narrative, I prefer to give viewers a starting point and allow them to connect the dots themselves. The images are like fragments of a larger puzzle, each one a clue that invites viewers to imagine their own version of the story. This approach respects the viewer's intelligence and creativity, as they fill in the blanks using their personal insights and experiences.
In practical terms, this means my series rarely have a clear-cut beginning, middle, and end. Each image contains hints and cues that suggest connections, but they are deliberately left open-ended. For instance, a photograph may show a lone figure standing in a misty landscape, but without context—is this a place of escape or exile? Is the figure a hero or an outcast? The ambiguity encourages viewers to place themselves in the scene, projecting their own emotions and memories onto the story. This interplay between the known and the unknown, the seen and the unseen, creates a dynamic, collaborative experience between the artwork and the viewer.
This open structure aligns with the way I perceive life itself: stories are rarely complete or fully understood. There’s always room for reinterpretation, always something hidden or yet to be discovered. By designing narratives that encourage this open-ended exploration, I hope to provide viewers with a unique space to reflect, explore, and even find pieces of themselves within the images.
The Role of Classical Music in the Creative Process
Throughout my creative process, classical piano music plays a critical role in setting the tone and pacing for my work. There’s a depth to the music—particularly in composers like Liszt and Scriabin—that mirrors the emotions I strive to capture in my photography. The melodies seem to float between joy and melancholy, past and present, much like the interplay of light and shadow in my images. This music acts as a guide, grounding me as I work yet lifting me into a more intuitive state where creativity flows effortlessly.
When I listen to classical piano while creating, the music almost becomes a dialogue between the visual and auditory realms. Each piece of music seems to evoke a different palette of emotions, inspiring compositions and moods that I might not otherwise consider. The music creates a rhythm that seeps into the imagery—sometimes prompting slower, quieter scenes, and other times urging bold, dramatic contrasts. In many ways, it’s as if the piano music and the photographs are in conversation with each other, each adding a new layer of meaning and emotion.
At times, I imagine my images almost as silent films, each frame accompanied by an imagined piano soundtrack. This thought shapes the sequencing and pacing of my work, as I aim to create a kind of visual symphony that resonates with the viewer. By pairing the imagery with the feel of classical music, I hope to evoke a sense of timelessness—a feeling that these stories exist in a space beyond the constraints of time, much like the music itself.
The Gateway
Conclusion
Conceptual photographic storytelling is an art form that requires a delicate balance of self-expression, mystery, and viewer engagement. For me, creating these images is a process that begins with introspection and evolves into a visual language that others can interpret and complete in their unique ways. By infusing my work with elements of mysticism and ambiguity, I leave space for viewers to explore the unknown and construct their narratives. The presence of classical piano music throughout the process serves as a subtle, emotional guide, grounding the images in a shared human experience.
In each piece, there’s a sense of self-portraiture that isn’t merely about my appearance but about my inner world, a layer of my being that finds expression in these visual stories. The resulting images stand as fragments of a larger story—a story that exists not just on the surface but within the folds of ambiguity, waiting for the viewer’s gaze to bring it to life. My hope is that these photographs resonate like the notes of a piano piece, lingering in the mind, reinterpreted by each viewer, and ultimately becoming as much theirs as they are mine.
A Smith Gallery is a fine art photography gallery located in Johnson City, Texas. Its mission is to promote photographic arts through exhibitions, workshops, and support an active vibrant community of photographers.