Controlled Vocabulary (2008-2009)

Concept

This series calls attention to the traditional nature of a photograph as a depiction of, or window into, a scene. This characteristic is typically transparent to the viewer, peering through the frame at illusionistic space beyond the gallery wall, at a representation of three-dimensional space.

Photographing things like windows, mirrors, barriers, and tightly framed two-dimensional surfaces, brings awareness of the truth of a photograph as an illusionistic object, by almost depicting a framed photo within a photo (window), highlighting the frame as a part of the illusion itself and calling out the physical surface of the photograph as an object (mirror), interfering with/obstructing the depth illusion from taking place (barrier), or creating a sculptural (trompe l'oeil) illusion (object/surface).