My photography for this project explores the ideas of distortion, surrealism, and contrast. Although my show focuses on photography, the final works are a compilation of photoshoots, deconstructing and reconstructing images printed on your typical copy paper. The final collage is then scanned and enlarged, printed, and finally, wheat-pasted onto the wall. The use of wheatpaste is an ode to urban street art and graffiti.

The fisheye lens is an integral part of this project as it is one of the initial methods of distortion my images go through. This lens’ distortion and almost 180° field of view not only forced me to be close to my subject, but it also made me rethink my more traditional way of composing images. Beyond the camera, my images underwent multiple edits and revisions that led to the manipulation of several versions of each image. Combining the use of X-acto knives and hand-tearing the images created a balance between precise cuts and rough edges, each revealing a layer of color below. Unlike digital editing, the physical manipulation of my images forced me to trust my intuition and embrace each tear, even if I felt it was not perfect. 

The “icons” part of the project comes from the icon-like posing in several of my images. This posing was subconsciously influenced by my Western Art History course, where we looked at many early Christian paintings, including icons. The posing of the icons was interesting to me because they conveyed a lot of motion, but the subjects mostly had these stoic expressions.

Ultimately, this show is the culmination of my journey to discovering new tools, processes, and ways of seeing photography. Each technique was completely new, and it pushed me to challenge my creative boundaries. One of the major influences of this exhibition includes Martha Cooper’s book, Subway Art, where she photographed the graffiti culture in New York in the 1980s. Another significant influence was Osgemeos’ Endless Story exhibition in the Hirshhorn Museum.