honorable mention
Rachel Blaser united statesPhoto © Rachel Blaser
title
Sunset on the empty quarter
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entry description
Blowing sand and gulf haze produces glowing red sunsets over the dunes in the Empty Quarter, UAEabout the photographer
I study learning and memory. I’m especially interested in how the objective, physical stimuli in the world are filtered by our perceptual system to be processed, stored, and retrieved. The data are clear that our brains work quite differently from cameras – our memories are not objective recording devices, and our memories of events are always filtered, distorted, and colored by our emotions, interpretations, and other experiences. In my photography, I am interested in creating images that resemble memories. I like photography because just like our experience, it feels objective, even when it is obviously not. Photos, like memory, trick us into believing that we are observing a simple recording rather than a re-creation of reality. Some of my photos are heavily edited digitally, some undergo minor adjustments, and others are manipulated only in camera setup. I pursue a style of photography that keeps this distinction ambiguous, so that a viewer is not certain how accurately the image reflects the original scene.back to gallery