Imagined
New Jersey is my muse, but we have an open relationship.
I have now lived in New Jersey for twenty years; enough time to know the place without losing perspective. My photographs are deeply rooted in imagined authenticity, capturing the cultural artifacts and characters that together define our collective vision of this peculiar, marvelous, and most American of places.
My subject matter is New Jersey itself - and, by extension, American culture - and in my images the landscapes are at least as important as the subjects. While the narrative is only implied, the imagery, time of day, and point of entry allow the viewer to interpret each story through their personal lens.
And yet nothing in these photographs is real, for my images are photographs of dioramas. I build, paint, and light 1:87 scale models, using hand-painted figures as my actors. Backgrounds are enlarged images on back-lit screens, enabling the complete composition to be captured in a single studio photograph.
This approach allows me to create the photographs I want to see.
By presenting micro elements in oversized prints, I highlight the artificiality of the photographs and challenge the viewer to interpret them as fiction.