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GEORGE BARKER
Statement:
My Photographic work is an interplay within the theoretical disciplines which concern three of the driving forces of modernism: Expressionism, Surrealism, and Absurdism. The photographic images I produce are highly theatrical, and are frequently informed by 19th and early 20th century photographic experiments as well as the still imagery of mid-20th century Noir cinema. My photographs touch upon dreamscapes, the unnatural images which cannot exist within the world as we know it; however these are "dreamscapes" which do hold a place in the realm of the subconscious. These images often examine social situations which imply something forbidden or dangerous. The camera (or the viewer of the printed image) is frequently placed in the role of voyeur, secretly spying upon and visually recording a private vision or scene as it unravels. Once the image is revealed, having peeped in on a private scene, the viewer becomes a witness to unspoken transgressions. Lighting in these images plays an extremely important role, almost taking on a character of its own. Light, shadow, what is revealed, what is hidden, the lighting texture of the image is seen as a critical aspect in regard to the information within the image that is conveyed to the viewer.
