Artist Statement:
My current photographs examine war and history. Whether I re-imagine a historic battle or photograph a contemporary war artifact, my interest lies not in visualizing historic events, but in exposing the ambiguity of photographic meaning and the problems with how history gets told.
In my new photographic series, "Battlegrounds," for instance, I consider the iconography and images of war. The series consists of still-life photographs of wartime ephemera, appropriated battlefield views, and images of various media-types. To make the series I first purchase the war objects used from Ebay and find the original battle views in newspapers, tv ads, and art history books. Once I locate a battle view, I re-photograph it, crop it, enlarge it, and print it. The resulting print reveals the materiality of the image; the benday dot pattern, for example, informs the Afghani landscape, while the computer interface obstructs the Iraqi war ground. Ultimately this series explores the construction of the war image, the visual interpretation of war, and the fragility of human experience from the perspective of a civilian living thousands of miles away from battle.
Although my recent photography has focused almost exclusively on the interpretation of history and war, I draw inspiration from classic still-life photographers, such as Edward Weston, who achieve a visual directness and clarity that I strive for in my own work. In contrast, I am also inspired by contemporary artists, like Lorna Simpson, who contemplate identity. For me, there has always been tension between the material world (that of representation) and the psychological world (that of interpretation). It is my hope that my photography, whether historic or personal, embodies this tension.
For print or project inquiries please email: hannahsmithallen@me.com