honorable mention
Soen Settanni united states
title
Katabasis
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entry description
Within the rigid and flat confines of a two-dimensional photograph, I seek to mold an imagery that speaks of dimensions existing behind the physical. In this series I explore the various ways in which the basic literal nature of the photograph can inspire something both surreal and otherworldly. In each step of the process, from setting up the camera to burning and dodging an image in a darkroom, I am trying to locate a mood and environment that represents something only the imagination can produce. Using both studio settings and specified locations, and experimenting with film exposures, I desire to take the literal representations of the subjects and distort them, exaggerate them, and fragment them so that they become more so allegorical impressions of a world that exists within memory and the unconscious. Both the physical process and the desired goal of my work represent a kind of alchemy, given that I am always working with an element of unknown within film and paper development. The content of the images themselves at times mirror this type investigation and mystery of selfhood that seeks to be uncovered while always shrouded in a layer of depth and fear. In this way I want to create dioramas wherein one can observe representations of hidden psychological landscapes that ask to be traversed. They may be of a reality that we perhaps cannot objectively point to but can relate to and recognize within aspects of our own emotional worlds.about the photographer
I am a 34 year old fine art photographer working in analog film and darkroom printing and residing in Oakland, CA. I grew up in Southern California and graduated with a degree in Philosophy from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2007. Since I was a teenager I began DJing and writing music in the genres of electronic music and experimental music. I originally went to collage to study music but with insufficient classical training I had to choose another major and instead left with a degree in philosophy. After collage I explored Zen meditation and Buddhism and worked and practiced for several years at various meditation centers in Northern California, Colorado, and New Mexico. After intensive practice and study at these centers I left to pursue a career in music production while working various trades in the culinary industry. I eventually moved back to Oakland in 2014 and wrote and performed electronic music in the Bay Area. In 2017 I decided to try shooting film in a camera my father had given me a few years back, it was a 35mm Olympus OM-10 camera. After finally getting it developed months later I was amazed at the quality of the pictures, and mystery of film and light exposure. I explored further and soon decided to try out planned controlled portraits in a studio setting with various themes and using my friends as models. It soon grew from there into exploring the full range of analog film and photography and i purchased a Yashica LM medium format film camera. Early on I was turned on to surrealist photographers like Francesca Woodman, Clarence John McLaughlin, and Man Ray. Starting in 2018 I began taking classes in darkroom printing and soon became the main patron at a local community art center's darkroom.back to gallery
