Artist Statement
As one of the last real hold-outs of head-in-the-sand reactionaries and process-fixated geeks, I have a love/hate relationship with photography, and faced with the pig-headed conservatism of most photographic purists I instinctively run a mile. Likewise, much of the discipline's revered canon leaves me cold, and yet it's a medium I've given twenty years of my life to and that I still believe capable of generating critical dialogue (though ambiguity is simultaneously photography's greatest asset and its worst enemy) and which encompasses potential for the creation of intelligent and stimulating works of art.
Process Statement
While the Objectivist claims of documentary photography have long been discredited, I do not take this to mean that a valid form of documentary is unachievable, but instead that until now the tool has been inappropriately applied to the task. Consequently, although much of my photography may be storyboarded, artificially lit and even scripted like cinema, I do not accept the argument that such working methods necessarily render the resulting images any less truthful than other forms of photography. Indeed, much of my recent practice is motivated by a desire to breath new life into the rotten corpse of the documentary genre. Yet unlike traditional reportage photographers who believed their crystal-clear Leica rangefinders somehow gave them direct, unfiltered access to "the truth", in contrast, my preferred tactic is to place as many obstacles as possible between myself and the final image: by expanding the space in time between the moment of selecting the subject and that of pressing the shutter, I am able to fill this void with the subjectivity of my collaborators in the hope that the end result reflects something more than just my own narrow world view. Following the linguist George Lakoff, I have come to think of this method of working as Experiential Realism.
USA/UK, 1975
RECENT SOLO SHOWS
2013 - The Map and the Territory, Espacio F, Madrid, Spain
2012 - Silence Has An Echo, Christinger De Mayo, Zurich, Switzerland
2012 - Silence Has An Echo, APhF12, Technopolis of Municipality of Athens, Athens, Greece
2012 - Hakuro, an Itoshima Almanac, Ito Art-Farm festival, Fukuoka, Japan
2009 - Difficulties in the Way of Persuasion, Galerie Julia Garnatz, Koln, Germany
2008 - The Lies We Agree On, Endemica Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
2008 - I Represent, Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2007 - Difficulties in the Way of Persuasion, Artrepco Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
RECENT GROUP SHOWS
2013 - Open Kura, Studio Kura, Fukuoka, Japan
2013 - Superstructures, Arroniz Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico
2013 - Portraits 2013, Center For Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, USA
2012 - Onward12, curated by Todd Hido, Project Basho, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2012 - Grand Prix, Fotofestiwal, International Festival of Photography, Lodz, Poland
2012 - Divergence, Fotofreo Fringe, Perth, Australia
2012 - Projection du Jury, Boutographies, France
2012 - The Curve, CENTER Santa Fe, NM, USA
2012 - Slide-show Grand-Prix Fotofestiwal 2012, Kanepe Culture Centre, Riga, Latvia
2012 - Boutographies projection du Jury, Festivale Fotoleggendo, Roma, Italia
2011- Like A Stranger In Moscow, Christinger De Mayo, Zurich, Switzerland
2011 - Narrative, Black Box, Portland, OR, USA
GRANTS, AWARDS, RESIDENCIES
2013 - Studio Kura residency (II), Fukuoka, Japan
2013 - Awarded a grant by the Asian Cultural Council, NY, USA
2013 - Awarded a grant by the Oppenheim - John Downes Memorial Trust, London, UK
2013 - Intercambiador ACART, Madrid, Spain
2012 - Onward Compe 12, Project Basho, Philadelphia, USA, juried by Todd Hido - winner
2012 - Red de Residencias LOCAL residency, Universidad Nacional De Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
2012 - Grand Prix, Lodz Fotofestiwal - finalist
2012 - Gallerist's Choice Award, CENTER Santa Fe, NM, USA - 3rd place
2012 - Studio Kura residency (I), Fukuoka, Japan
2012 - Awarded Roberto Villagraz Scholarship, EFTI, Madrid, Spain
2012 - Awarded bursary by Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, London, UK
2011 - Conscientious CPC 2011 Prize - winner
2011 - Awarded Santo Foundation Individual Artist Grant
2011 - Raymond Weil International Photography Prize - finalist
2011 - Donkey Art Prize - finalist
2008 - Script for short film First Impressions awarded funding by Canal+, France, as part of "La Collection 2008"
2007 - Magenta Foundation Flash Forward photography prize, finalist
2006 - Quality Award, Centre National de la Cinematographie
2006 - Festival KIMERA -Termoli, Italy
2005 - Script for short film Hotel California awarded funding by Canal+, France, as part of "La Collection 2005"
2005 - CNC Special Award, France
TEACHING, WORKSHOPS AND VISITING ARTIST'S LECTURES
2013 - Universidad Complutense de Madrid, CES Felipe II, Madrid, Spain
2013 - Intercambiador ACART, Madrid, Spain
2013 - Universidad Nacional De Colombia, Bogota, Colombia?2012 - Studio Kura, Fukuoka, Japan
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