Mendelsons

I find the world to be an intense and overwhelming place; yet it is with my photography that I am able to more acutely interpret my surroundings and explore where it is that I reside. As a whole I have a difficult time making sense of this immense environment; however, when I focus on certain singular aspects I am able to more clearly understand and appreciate the individual features of the whole. Once I capture and decipher my environment piece by piece I am able to appreciate my surroundings in a much more effective manner.

This week I went to Mendelsons Liquidation Outlet in Dayton. Talk about being overwhelmed! I wasn't so intrigued by the Dunkin Donut showcases or the soft drink dispensers on the first floor. Instead I headed to the third floor, which was labeled "electronics." There I saw rows and rows of bright wires, rooms filled to the brim with light bulbs, tubes and insulation and switches and filters and rope and countless items that still remain a mystery to me. I also thoroughly enjoyed the sweet disco ball and the box of bowling pins.

The Merc

In August I began working on my senior thesis project. I have chosen to photograph the paths I explore and I aim to visually map my identity and experiences through their associating sequences. I study a space so that I can resist others images of my past and instead redefine my surroundings; as a photographer I have control over what I respond to and thus cultivate.

While the bigger picture may be cluttered, uneven, and run-down, my collective images express the order that I find necessary in my story. I remain closely intact with visual organization, which includes an extensive use of line and direction. In my sequences I search for a flow that will keep my images united and unbroken. I present these images in sequences that are reminiscent of the means in which I have taken to arrive at my destination.

This is my first sequence - the images were taken at an abandoned building in downtown Dayton. I actually had to crawl through a broken window to get in - I felt like such a rebel!

Louvre

As communicative beings we create our own personal storylines in which we discover who we are and the lives in which we would like to lead. With this information we intend to transfer and enjoy the process of creating and interpreting messages. Being a photographer is a way of exerting control over what is to be documented and thus remembered in this process.