I have lived in the south all my life and manifestations of this have crept slowly into my artwork. This piece is a visual stream of consciousness retort to where I live. I try, with even my most modern landscapes, to instill a feeling of uncertainty and tension. I generally try to do this subtly with framing and color composition choices. Pool, for example, has an ominous feel about it that is slightly off-putting even though it is a fairly straightforward photograph.
The beer cans act as the logical conclusion of southern living. They were meant less as a criticism and more as an abstraction of a group of people and how they live. With the beer cans I wanted to reflect on and entertain stereotypes of the south with mild cynicism. The entire project came as a precipitation of my attendance of the Southern Literary Festival in New Orleans.
Hush
Mulch
Pool
Sonic
Stairs
Beer Batter
Last 5 posts by Ross Berry
- DIY Bada** Picnic - July 3rd, 2008
- People Assume I'm the Wedding Photographer (They Are Wrong) - June 22nd, 2008
- The Spirit of the Times: A Night at Zeitgeist - April 9th, 2008
May 8th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Mulch is a pretty interesting photograph. It reminds me of something I saw in Juxtapose a few weeks ago. I would put a link but I can’t find it. Anyways, I like the photograph - so real that it’s bizarre.
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May 9th, 2008 at 7:08 am
I agree completely. Hush and Mulch both make me feel like someone’s sitting on my chest.
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June 17th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
One of my favorite things about some of the food shots is that the criticism is there, but since I happened to be there at the time, I know that that’s Ross’s food. So its an interesting look at breaking down the culture one is immersed in.
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