Recent Artwork

Here are some prints I made in "The Visual Narrative," my second-session class in photography. The instructor was Fritz Hoffmann, a National Geographic photojournalist. Hoping to use my familiarity with and access to the Penland dishroom to my advantage, I photographed the work-study students (with permission, of course) as they cleaned up after meals. In the process, I discovered that what I was really drawn to in that situation was the action of working bodies in space, the interaction of bodies with bodies, and of bodies with the crowded, challenging environment; it was like visiting a filthy, sweaty, soapy sculpture garden. Over the course of five days, I shot about 700 photographs, and then edited down to these final 11. They were taken with a Canon Powershot G9 (thank you, Marianne!), printed on handmade paper (again thanks to Marianne Dages), and hung on the dishroom wall for a day to get splattered with food waste and greasy suds.