honorable mention
Amy Shapiro united states
title
Medical Panoramas
back to gallery
entry description
In Medical Panoramas I used photography as a way to empower myself when I felt vulnerable undergoing breast cancer treatment. I was wearing only a hospital gown, waiting in a cold room for the expert to examine me, take my blood and look at my scars. One day I took my phone out of my bag and I started to take photographs. I felt a thrill in doing this. Was I violating any agreement I’d signed somewhere in the mountain of forms I’d fill out repeatedly? I found the act of artistic creation helped me to feel more in control and less uncertain when left alone in the exam room. The panorama format lends itself extremely well to the subject of a medical atmosphere. The format helped to communicate to the audience the overwhelming array of equipment and the repetitiveness of exam room and hospital design. I hope that by sharing my experience that I will help others whose lives have been touched by cancer.about the photographer
Amy Shapiro received a degree in Fine Arts from The School of Visual Art in New York in 1987 and is co-owner of Luxlab. Night Messages is a photographic series taken at night that has quotes written in the images made by painting with light during a long exposure time. Pairing quotes, which have had an impact in our culture with photographs of public spaces, is an intersection of painting, public art and photography. It is by leaning into this edge that the work explores new territory. For thirty years Amy Shapiro specialized in interactive performance and installation art which was presented at venues on the Lower East Side, East Village, Williamsburg and Meat Packing District in New York City. Throughout this time she photographed her art work and the communities around her. These photographs are the source of her 2016 project Welcome to New York 1985 – 2005. Shapiro released the photo series Medical Panoramas in 2014 in which she used photography as a way to empower herself when she felt vulnerable undergoing breast cancer treatment. She has received grants from the Burning Man Organization to create sculptures in the desert and burn them.back to gallery