City Space
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Dates2011 - Ongoing
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Author
- Location Chicago, United States
Rooted in the act of the pedestrian, City Space investigates the modern city center—a transitory space in which the masses convene for brief moments in time. Drawing from personal experiences and observations, I create images that deconstruct the pedestrian urban experience, contemplating anonymity, anxiety, urban planning, surveillance, and the divide between public and private space.
Borrowing closely from the genre and practice of street photography, I expand on what it means to make photographs on, and of, the street. The images in City Space appear to be candid street photographs; however, they are highly controlled performances for my camera. By constructing images based on the psychological impact of personal experiences and chance encounters the city, I expand upon the tradition of street photography, conceptualizing the city instead, as mysterious, monumental, overwhelming, or alluring.
City Space functions as a metaphor for life in flux in the modern city. As we become a global society, the population is shifting from suburban and rural landscapes to urban centers. As a transplant to the city, I know that this shift can be fraught with mixed emotions. By pointing to the mundane, yet powerful, moments of a pedestrian’s pursuit, I ask the viewer to reference their own experience and be mindful of the way in which they see and navigate space.