May 1, 2025

Though I am interested in the relationship between photographs and memory, I tend not to think of photographic images as visualizations of memories—or for that matter as replacements for memories. In fact, I often find photographs that I’ve taken quite dissociated from the time and place they were taken. Looking at an image does not typically transport me back to the time it was taken, nor does it spark some memory associated with the image itself.

Visual culture has trained us to think of photographs as windows we look through rather than objects we look at. This naturally leads to questions like, Where was that taken? or Who is that of?

I think this is a product of a certain kind of discomfort we feel when faced with art—a discomfort associated with trying to talk or think about it in a certain way. I think art perpetuates this discomfort, which can lead people to distrust their own responses to work.

Many photographers have tried to emphasize the materiality of photographic images instead of the mimetic quality they possess. Wolfgang Tillmans’ Paper Drops are the first example that comes to mind, though there are many others.

I wanted to try something slightly different with this selection of images. I wanted to combine a series of images that are united by place (New York) but are otherwise severed from context. I wanted to then rearrange them in a way that might tempt the brain—which already wants to create narratives—into linking the images.

Until next time!

xz