Highland Park Suburbia, 2022
Undergraduate project For ART 241: Introduction to Photography (digital medium only); instructed by Chelsea Mosher @ Cal State Long Beach//Sprg 2022
My latest photographic projects are highly representative of my current artistic standards, goals, and aspirations. In 2022, I created three bodies of work that collectively document my experience learning analogue photography techniques and exploring my photographic gaze.
Highland Park Suburbia is a conceptual project in hypothetical collaboration with London-based photographer Cian Oba-Smith. His work is centered around the visual exploration of various community identities and the ways in which they are misrepresented (Bright, 2019).
Finding this artist created a perfect opportunity for me to respond creatively to his artistic practice and work by addressing the people, places, and misrepresentation of those subjects within my own community.
Cian’s body of work is largely comprised of portraiture, which he goes about creating by building authentic connections with his subjects to the best of his ability. The Nigerian-Irish-English artist has spoken about his experience feeling like a lone wolf, but claims to have developed adaptability from belonging to no particular people — an advantage as a photographer allowing for the making of intimate photos which reflect a bond (Negative Feedback, 2019).