EXPOSED

“EXPOSED” was my final art exhibition I did in my senior year of college. The show was a collection of portrait photographs double exposed with nature photographs. The portrait above is a self-portrait similar to the rest of the show, of which was very self-exposing. There is more of the collection which is available on my online portfolio. The following is the artist statement.

 

EXPOSED

By Sam Shepherd

Exposed is a reflective composition of my personal experiences shown through photography. Each photograph exposes an emotion, ranging from bliss to anger to defeat. I am guarded a lot of the time and this exhibition is a way to expose the emotions I feel but don’t always know how to show.

My exhibit is an homage to film photography, consisting of black and white photographs. Film cameras are very unlike digital cameras in the way that once the picture is taken, there is not much you can do afterwards to boldly change it. Film photographs are stark and blunt, a quality I possess as well.

Exposed consists of portraits that are double exposed, or layered, with a range of specific nature photographs. I have chosen to layer portraiture with nature because I wanted to show how people’s connection with their environment plays a big part in influencing their mood. This was part of my intuitive process; I did not know what emotions went with which photograph until after I had layered the photographs and saw what looked best. The deciding factor in my process was to make the subjects’ eyes visible, because I want viewers to experience a direct connection to the photographs.