Artist Statement
Origins of an Emotion
The word “origins” in the title refers both to my own source, my family, and to my discovery of the power of making pictures. My intention is to make images that compel the viewer to reflect and deepen his own understanding of the world, to look intently and intimately at one’s surroundings and relationships.
I photograph subjects that are quiet, yet evoke an emotional intensity. I search for beauty in the ordinary - surprises in the commonplace. I am fascinated by the universality of the individual, and look to capture the thing that hooks me into my subject.
In contemplating this series, I am confronted with the uneasy sense that this body of work is as much about beginnings as it is about endings, life and death. It is about securing my own memories and capturing the image of everyone I love to keep them close and safe.
Monika Merva received her B.A in Philosophy from Northeastern
University and her MFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art &
Design in 1998. Her project The City of Children was awarded second place
under photojournalism in the PX3 2009 Competition. The monograph, The City
of Children (Kehrer Verlag, 2010), was a finalist in The Pictures of the Year
International Awards (POYi), and The City of Children was selected by Alexa
Becker of Kehrer Verlag as one of the Discoveries of The Meeting Place. Her
most recent work, Origins of an Emotion was selected for the Fresh
Klompching Gallery’s Annual Summer Show and exhibited at the APhF: 12
Festival in Athens, Greece. It was also the cover story for the Summer 2012
issue of HotShoe International. Recently she was selected as a Critical Mass
2012 Finalist. She has been exhibited in the U.S and internationally. Her
photographs are in the collections of The George Eastman House, The
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Johnson and Johnson Corporate Art
Collection.
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