I was never there, 2020
found photographs, paint, birch plywood, 28h x 34w x 3d inches
“Photographs are, of course, artifacts. But their appeal is that they seem, in a world littered with photographic relics, to have the status of found objects – unpremeditated slices of the world.” p69 On Photography Susan Sontag
I was never there was one of the pieces made during those first weeks of lockdown - a stressful period. It came about after reading Sontag – or one day the desire to make it happened and then I realized why I was so interested in incorporating the photo into a layer (after reading Sontag) – this particular one started the series. It is an object using an image. It is an image with the added dimension of being an object. It is a photograph of a place I’ve never been to and of a person I have never met. I am not emotionally attached or have insight into what is taking place and yet the photo has much to say to me. I was drawn to the photo of the boy preparing to dive underwater while his neighbor goes overboard. I wonder at his state of mind, is he afraid? He does not show emotion or look excited; is he readying himself to the possibility of death? I realize that I am projecting my own fear of being underwater and this is what started my inquiry. I used that photo (and others, one I took in response) to build a narrative. In juxtapostion I made shaped panels, and cut up the first photo, focusing in to look, look and look. I have used it as a fragment.
