Artist Statement
Chance Encounters.
These are photographs of people as I find them. They explore the tension between our personal and public selves, addressing our ideas about ourselves as a people and a culture. The commonplace and the ordinary are in these images; there is also a sense of loneliness and isolation. Within them, the viewer can find religion, humor, vanity, ambiguity and humanity. The environments the subjects inhabit are at once private spaces and public stages. There is a beauty in these common places that is both familiar and uneasy. I took these photographs in different American towns, small and large, rural and suburban. I have brought my camera to neighborhoods and vacation colonies, to flea markets, beaches and parades. Each of these environments is unique, yet they share common elements. The houses and front porches, the yards and gardens all reflect the expectations and personalities of the people within. American culture provides a background for the images. Seeing people and their homes, I have tried to photograph moments, which convey a sense of a place and of an age. A portrait, for me, is the outcome of quiet observation and awareness of expressions, gestures, and subtleties. I try to convey the subjects’ weight and authenticity. The people in these images are not staged; the photographs are points where my way of seeing and the way people present themselves to me overlap. Henri Cartier Bresson said that the camera can be “a weapon, a psychoanalytical couch, or a warm kiss” To me photography is a combination of all three – confrontation, psychology and intimacy. A portrait is as much about the photographer as it is about the subject. I believe that you see yourself most clearly when you see yourself as a stranger.
Resume
Marla Sweeney has an MFA in Photography from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She also completed the Master’s Class in Photography with Stephen Shore and Larry Fink. Her work has been exhibited widely including solo exhibitions at Yossi Milo Gallery in New York City; Galerie Litchblick in Cologne; Fotofest, Houston, Texas; and Encontros da Imagem in Braga, Portugal. Portfolios of her work have been published in Zoom, Camera Austria, and Fotomagazin. Her work is included in several permanent collections including the Musee de Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; and the Harry Ransom Center Photography Collection, University of Texas. Austin, TX.
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