I have become interested in images that remove the specificity of place and time. In this series, I have begun to use a focus that is deliberately and apparently "out of focus" as a technique to imply the information not depicted, the gaze of the camera being elsewhere outside of the plane of focus. We could refer to this work as “out of focus” and we could counter that it is perfectly in focus, that the camera just happens to be focused on an unoccupied point in space. What we end up looking at is the ground of the figure/ground relationship, the background, the envelope of information that might provide the context for who or whatever could occupy the point of focus.

I started working on this idea by seeking the stereotypical, vernacular, visual vocabulary of what might constitute an ideal scenic or visual backdrop. These first several images are based on commonly chosen locations for engagement and wedding photography. Without figures in the foreground, I am hoping that the image becomes a more visceral experience, something more immersive, about perception, about the place of the photographer and of the viewer.