ARTIST STATEMENT

I work primarily in monochrome tableau photography, collaborating with dancers, actors, and models to create carefully staged scenes. By “tableau,” I mean scenes constructed and choreographed, not merely observed – a practice in the tradition of artists like Jeff Wall, Gregory Crewdson, or Cindy Sherman. I find this approach incomparably fulfilling, because it engages my creativity both behind and in front of the camera, and not only at the instant of the shutter press, but in every thoughtful, inentional moment leading up to it.

Staging a scene transforms the camera into a tool that generates worlds. The act of photographing becomes an integral part of creation, not a secondary afterthought. For me, art – and photography in particular – means more than just mirroring nature; it is a generative force. It actively shapes reality, uncovering hidden truths and forging connections beyond the everyday. In this sense, tableau photography itself participates in an abundance of creation ... it’s a form of creation “in excess”, as it were, with unlimited potential. (Although budget constraints, in terms of production value, set construction, etc., are of course a limiting factor.)

In my landscape photography, I similarly embrace creativity in the editing process. I meticulously shape these images in post-production, introducing abstract elements – e.g., motion blur, tonal inversions via solarization, heavy grain – to convey emotion and idea. Though I apply such techniques in both my staged work and my landscapes, the editing of natural scenes often carries an even greater creative weight, allowing me to build an expressive reality from the materials of the world.

I am drawn to these methods not to record an objective reality, but to bring forth a crafted reality that becomes independent once it exists. This reality emerges through collaboration: between me and my subjects, and between the artwork and its viewers. It is a communal achievement rather than a solitary reflection.

My academic background is in philosophy (I am currently pursuing a PhD), and I find tableau photography extends my philosophical inquiry into a more expressive realm. It feels like a continuation of philosophy by other means, imbuing abstract ideas with the emotional and visual depth that academic writing often lacks. I believe art attempts something undeniably difficult, yet extraordinary: communicating nuanced, multifaceted ideas without words ... only with visuals. Photographic art, as I take it, participates fully in this tradition.

My personal history also infuses my work with meaning. I grew up behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, in a society stripped of spiritual life. As a member of an ethnic and religious minority, my family endured efforts to erase our identity – our language, our traditions, even our names were erased or forcibly changed. Raised in that void, I came to see creativity as essential to survival and to the reclamation of self.

Photography has become, for me, a therapeutic and redemptive practice in several ways. First, constructing and photographing scenes puts me into a flow state, momentarily freeing me from the limitations and pain of my body, allowing me to move through the world as if whole. Second, this practice connects me with others – collaborators and viewers alike – nurturing bonds and a sense of community that oppression once denied me. Finally, the creative process hints at something beyond the personal: a glimpse of transcendence or the “cosmic order.” In this way, I feel connected to thinkers and artists – Charles Taylor, Kandinsky, Tarkovsky – who suggest that art can gesture toward the sacred or the ineffable.