In the Eye of the Beholder

My aim in this body of work is to re-evaluate our perception of what constitutes beauty in a culture obsessed with the pretty and the “perfect.”

This body of work takes as its starting point the photogravures of Karl Blossfeldt, who along with others (e.g. August Sander) introduced a style of photography bereft of pictorial sentimentality. Blossfeldt’s imagery is a precursor to the work of influential contemporary photographers such as Thomas Ruff whose portraits reflect an unblinking and dispassionate eye. Deliberately large yet under-stated, the scale of these photographs allows viewers to examine minute details and invites closer inspection of each print, similar to picking up a dried or wilting flower and drawing it near to have a closer look.

As we do so, carefully and thoughtfully, we can compare the minute elements that make up each flower’s appearance now, with its myriad of twists and folds, to the image in our mind’s eye of its pristine state in full bloom. One may then see that both these states are relative and equivalent: both sides of the same coin. Our preconceptions determine their beauty and nothing else. The resulting narrative encompasses the transience of life, but just as importantly, helps us reframe beauty outside the sexist and ageist perspectives of our popular culture.