Visual Art + Tech

How do we choose what to take photographs of? Why are some moments worthy of being photographed and not others? Why do we share images of our lives on social media, and why are these images often performances?

 

These were the questions I asked myself as I overdocumented and cataloged my life in photographs. I started with small explorations: taking photos every 30 minutes, every hour, once a day, and at specific locations or times. It wasn’t until I was left with hundreds of exposures that I realized what I was drawn to the most: the grimy, raw, and monotonous events of everyday life.

 

To capture these moments I threw away rules of what I thought photography should be. I made my own rules, which included leaving my surroundings and myself unchanged in the scenes I wanted to capture. At times I was hesitant to take pictures of certain experiences, but what emerged was a process of challenging the oversaturated and manufactured versions of our lives we post about on social media.

 

There were photographs I was afraid to show others, but the fact that I felt this way told me I was right in my critique – photography on social media is a part of our everyday lives and yet we conceal some of the most real moments. Through curating images of our lives and posting them online, we perform versions of ourselves for others to see. We create social rules about what is appropriate to share and what isn’t. I wanted to challenge these rules and create the most honest photographs I could. Viewers are invited to take a look into my life, one image at a time.