For this assignment I created a combined subject matter of
people and smoke. When I started out I thought that my project would convey
smoke in a positive light, showing the purification property of smoke. I wanted
to recreate the use of smoke within Native American by showing the subject
inhaling the smoke and showing a cleansing of their skin as time went on.
However, as I worked on this project I started becoming more interested in the
smoke itself.
There
is something captivating about smoke particles and the way that they intertwine
and rise in a dance of confusion and elegance. I wanted to show the details within the smoke
and how it appears so solid at times. As a whole this project has become a
smoke study. What I saw happening in my photos is a display of the way smoke
can consume us and the way in which we consume it. We have developed a strange
sort of mutualistic relationship with it, which I still don’t fully understand.
What I find most interesting about
this subject matter is the solid shapes that smoke can form, and in that way it
is so unlike anything else. Smoke is fleeting and constantly changing, and I
believe that to be the reason why we as humans can connect and develop a
relationship with it. Sometimes I find myself wishing that candles would
smolder a bit longer after I blow them out so that I can sit in a smoke trance.
It leaves you longing for more, wanting just a few more seconds of memorizing
beauty. This quality of smoke is why I chose it as my subject matter, because
it’s something that’s so difficult to fully appreciate with the naked eye. I
wanted to show the beauty of smoke that cannot be appreciated during its brief
accent. I hope that this series brings attention to the surreal detail within
smoke and gives insight to how we, as humans, can for a relationship with it.
