Portrait Collage
The Portrait Collages
These Portrait Collages are created from 3 centuries of photography and reference European court paintings as well as early American folk art portraits. The cryptic stories they present, set in the mid 19th century American South, are unriddled by their symbolism, giving insight into themes of survival, nature, spirituality, celebration, and death.
My interests lie in the beautifully flawed processes and the haunting characters found in the daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes and carte de visites of early photography. I’m fascinated by the rigid poses, the formal attire, and the anxious expressions distrusting of the new and mysterious camera.