where does it all go?

where does it all go? […] it ultimately resides in the loving and in the making and in the living of every present day
                                                                                  - Hold Still, Sally Mann

On May 23, 2015, the first camera I bought for myself arrived in the mail. In the 10 years since, I have met hundreds of people through this medium – from chance encounters on the road to artists who inspire me and friends who have patiently agreed to pose when I see a nice patch of light. This show is the culmination of a decade’s worth of relationships, experiences, and exploration and the beginning of all the work that is to come in my next decade.

In the excerpt above from Sally Mann’s memoir, Hold Still, Mann was writing about death when she asked, “where does it all go?” But this passage resonates with me because photography is where I find “it.” Where “it” finds me. The feeling of looking back on an image I made with someone, sometimes from our one and only meeting and other times from the last moment we spent together, allows me to cherish the time I took when I had it – in the loving and making and living.

When I decided to hold a show to commemorate 10 years of photography, I wasn’t sure what I would share. My path within photography hasn’t been achievement driven; I make images because the process makes me happy. I wanted this body of work to feel true to the place in life that I feel I’m currently in. A two-part show – The Sunroom Series and the untitled multimedia collection – felt appropriate.

The Sunroom Series illustrates the part of me that craves quiet connection, building an entire series one portrait at a time in the same space. The audio-visual series gave me the opportunity to learn a new skill and explore how far I could take an image. I experimented with a field recorder to capture ambient audio from the space where I made the images. For me, the experience of making an image is as rewarding as the end result, and I hope the sounds of the environment are an invitation to sit with them longer; to bring you all closer to that moment with me.

where does it all go? is an appreciation for the love that’s found in connecting with others and myself.

-MP