The Artist Statement for the Fictional History Series (2006-2010)

            I create fictional histories based upon the history of photography, in which moments of discovery symbolize personal epiphanies.  These crafted vignettes of photographic history reveal the power of the written word when paired with the photograph-as-evidence.  The stories are false, but, because of the carefully chosen language and the deliberate aesthetic of the photographs, they have the feeling of truth. Richly suffused with literal and visual metaphor, irony, and oxymoron, the works are intended to arouse skepticism and inspire questions in the mind of the viewer.

            Upon discovering my passion for photography, I set out to learn as much about its history as I could—as fast as I could.  By making this history the subject of my art, I was able to submerse myself in research, focusing specifically on photography's concurrent rise with the age of science and reason. During my education, I enjoyed thousands of little epiphanies, which occurred when I learned something new or made a new connection.  The epiphanies would strike suddenly, and the feeling was indescribable, but not, as I would grow to discover, entirely incommunicable.

            I began to weave into my fictional histories these moments of discovery, which represent both manifold epiphanies and the sudden inception of creative ideas.  The discoveries are revealed by myself or by an alter ego, making a unique contribution to the history of photography.  My claims of uncovering works previously lost to history are symbolic of my own desire for a place among the great men and women of science and invention.  Living vicariously through my alter egos, I playfully tinker with technical possibilities, trying techniques from past generations, while creating new images from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—and beyond.

            The subject matter is deliberately static, formally composed, and monumental.  Using both classical darkroom and experimental digital techniques, I manufacture the photographs to evoke the time period.  Although meant to represent the work of my alter egos, they are unquestionably personal, captured within a few miles of my home.  Contained within simple, contemporary frames, the subject matter is ordinary, ambiguous, and iconic.

            It is the carefully contrived, fictional history that infuses the images with context and meaning. Framed in a similar, simple black frame, the text itself becomes an image, creating a literal, mental picture.  Although pushing the boundaries of believability, my overarching ideas are contained within the possibilities of science and reason.  The works are a blending of fiction and fact, fooling the audience just long enough for them to recognize that belief is not a function of truth, but of the quality of its presentation.