In the autumn of 2009, I was visiting the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where I took a photograph of a guard. I had been studying him and thinking about how he must stand all day on the concrete and that he must adopt a particular stance to protect the muscles in his lower back. I stood behind him and zeroed in on his hands, his hips, and angled posture. Museum Guard was the first in my Strangers series–a different kind of portrait-street photography that hints at stories of people in the city without showing their faces.

 

While working on this project I found myself uncommonly close to people­–deep in their personal space. This intimate proximity to my subjects forced a slow and careful approach as to not upset the shot. My hope was to capture the subtle moments in a person’s day. I was looking for the private time that people dedicate to themselves-not the secret moments, but, rather, the daily quiet meditations. Sometimes they take the form of a morning ritual as in First Cup or Newspaper, and sometimes it is the contemplative relaxing time as in Metro or Tea. These observations capture a pause in the day and leave the viewer to complete their own version of the story.

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Portfolio Showcase 5

Center for Fine Art Photography

Juror: Chris Pichler