While it might appear to be pretty, black and white photos of wildlife to others, Pseudo was a deeply contemplative and immersive project for me.
As a youth, I was captivated by the realism of the nature exhibits at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. If you stood from just the right angle, they looked real. In revisiting them as an adult, I first set out to capture those perfect angles to create gorgeous, but fake, wildlife photography but it quickly evolved beyond that.
Fascinated by the idea of the fake appearing real, I chose equipment and post-production methods that would recreated daguerreotype photography. What seemed like a straightforward task in composition and post production grew into something much more difficult, however, as I wrestled with the realization that, while stuffed, I was photographing what once was living, breathing wildlife.
Fake, yet not fake.
Realistic, yet morbid.
What started as a special effects project ended in a deeper, contemplative project about the role of life in this world, and my own place in it all.
As a youth, I was captivated by the realism of the nature exhibits at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. If you stood from just the right angle, they looked real. In revisiting them as an adult, I first set out to capture those perfect angles to create gorgeous, but fake, wildlife photography but it quickly evolved beyond that.
Fascinated by the idea of the fake appearing real, I chose equipment and post-production methods that would recreated daguerreotype photography. What seemed like a straightforward task in composition and post production grew into something much more difficult, however, as I wrestled with the realization that, while stuffed, I was photographing what once was living, breathing wildlife.
Fake, yet not fake.
Realistic, yet morbid.
What started as a special effects project ended in a deeper, contemplative project about the role of life in this world, and my own place in it all.
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