Identifier

etd-11062009-124817

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

Art

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

In our everyday lives we are bombarded with thousands, even millions, of images. Suffering information overload, we filter out the vast majority of these impressions – the person we pass on the street or sitting in the car next to us at a stop light. We only ‘see’ those people, places and things that ‘matter’, all else becomes ‘noise’; filtered into the background of consciousness – vaguely familiar, yet simultaneously foreign, creating a ‘manageable paradigm’ or construct of the world we inhabit. I take photographic portraits every day. Not of the ‘important’ in my life, but the nondescript, often overlooked and unknown individuals we each encounter daily. These portraits may not be newsworthy, but are tributes to those steering their lives through the everyday, the ignored moments, and the places they pass. What I present invites the viewer to take an interest, to notice, and ultimately to acknowledge the people depicted. Photography has afforded me a reason and the luxury to approach complete strangers which I find interesting and ask if they would allow me to take their portraits, and while doing so, tell me a little about their lives. Most of these encounters last for a relatively short time, the memories, however, surpass what is caught on film.

Date

2009

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Neff, Thomas

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.3431

Included in

Fine Arts Commons

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