Stories in the Details

                                      

                                                   Walker Evans, Circus Signboard, 1936

                                 

                                                       Aaron Siskind, Tombstone 3, 1949

I was recently inspired by two photographs, Circus Signboard by Walker Evans and Tombstone 3 by Aaron Siskind. Although I've always been a fan of the narrative qualities of Evan's work, I was not aware of this particular series of wall images. Simple, yet profound in composition, this piece tells stories about people, place, and time, simultaneously. While Siskind may have been more concerned with formal abstraction, the resulting narrative is similar. I am fascinated with the idea of telling a story with a minimal amount of information, allowing the viewer to more actively engage in the storytelling process. It reminds me the what I love most about reading; using tools provided by the author to activate my own imagination.

When photographing my mother's backyard, I kept these two images in mind. When deciding what to shoot, I asked myself what story I was trying to tell and which images would best serve as a catalyst for guiding the viewer into that story.