History Out of Place

The inquiry I have focused on is a historical-based lens to conduct photography. I have also concentrated on a current-day version of still-life works that predate photography. Caravaggio is the most famous to have done this type of work. I brought together things with an iconographic meaning, whether religious or otherwise. Specifically, I have used actual historical items in my work. I have put them in the place and dignity they ought to represent, and in some cases, I have emphasized that the objects are not where they ought to be. 

The photos started with the specific topic of religion and faith. I then broadened this out to a more general historical theme. My photos then became still life-focused. I also used the theme/motif of time in my work. You can see this in one of my first works, in which the religious iconography surrounds the clock in the image. I then focused on the depth and lighting of the image in a heavily set up/still life-oriented way. I moved away from actual objects to represent the still-life theme and went more abstract. I used statues from the pre-Columbian age to help me carry the historical theme through this section of work. Rather than a collection of objects in purposeful placement, I used Photoshop to use the same statue in multiple places at once. This made the image layer look like the statue was in all its various locations in one image. This opened the door to light manipulation, which I took advantage of. I took specific lighting schemes with individual images and then layered the light in with the statue to make it seem like the multiple lighting setups were in one image.