Artist Statement
| Artist Statement |
| Bill Finger Between photography and cinematography there is a certain commonality. While both have a similar technical base, each is perceived to serve differing ends.My photographs explore the hazy boundaries that exist between the two. By borrowing methodology from filmmaking, my images become an amalgamation of both truth and fiction. They are an entwining of places that I have been, with movie sets that I have worked on, during my career as an Assistant Cameraman. The creation of each image begins with the construction of a miniature diorama. Each diorama is constructed specifically to be photographed. Like filmmaking, all staging and lighting is done looking through the lens. Once photographed, the diorama is then destroyed. Through this process I create a temporary space, which like a film set, only lives on within the image. By using the genre of crime drama, I emphasize a certain degree of theatricality within my images. It is this very theatricality that lends the photograph a certain sense of falseness. By opening the image to questioning by the viewer, they are left to wonder, ‘how much truth does this photograph hold?’ With movies there is a willing suspension of disbelief. With the photograph there has always been an expectation of honesty. But here is a photograph that blurs the lines between each. By playing upon the viewers expectations, I can bring those very expectations into question. I received my MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2005 and now live in Seattle with my wife Anna. My work has been shown in both the US and Canada, and is included in the permanent collection of The George Eastman House Museum of Photography in Rochester, NY. |
 |