SPE SHOW

Panel

archival pigment print
25" x 40", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

"Post Venus", Grace Lawler

Entrance

Gallery 1 Shot 1

archival pigment print
24" x 36", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

The Seven Deadly Sins of Being A Woman is an empowerment project with the intent to reclaim characteristics facing criticism due to societal norms, stereotypes, and expectations of the male gaze.  We are sinners if we are Too Sexual, Too Prude, Too Sensitive, Too Dramatic, Too Opinionated, Too Ambitious, or Too Self-Centered. This series shows us as empowered, conﬁdent sinners.  

Throughout my own personal life I have been made to feel like I must ﬁnd the perfect line of how a woman should act. If I do not balance perfectly on that line I will fall. Through my sessions in therapy and conversations with my female identifying friends and family members I have been thinking a lot more about feminism and what female empowerment means to me. Within my other photo projects about my experiences with youth sexualization and female performance I have frequently received advice from well meaning individuals to not focus so much on making my subjects look so beautiful as that contributes to satisfying the male gaze. However, I have personally come to the decision that I will do the opposite for this project. If we cannot ﬂaunt our beauty in fear that it will please a man we are still behaving for them, whether it be negative or positive. My models wanted to feel strong, beautiful, and like the bad bitches that they are. 

I have felt immense shame when I wear clothes that show my skin, even if they make me feel conﬁdent. I cannot say no to a man without being made to feel like I am being cruel. A quote within a bluntly sexist article titled 21 Things That’ll Turn Off Any Guy Even If You Are Hot which stuck out to me was “men feel pleasure when they see their partners enjoying themselves. If she only lays there like some starﬁsh, he'll think that she's not into him or worse, a selﬁsh partner”. This is a perfect example of what this project tries to get at, it is implied that we are here to stroke the ego of men and act accordingly in order please them. Statements like these are why I need to do this project. Statements like these are what have contributed to me behaving for male validation since I was 7 years old. However, I must reiterate, I do not want to victimize myself or the woman who I have collaborated with, this is empowering and we felt great documenting our strongest versions of ourselves.

"The Seven Deadly Sins of Being a Woman - Too Prude", Teresa Burkey

The Seven Deadly Sins of Being a Woman - Too Prude - Teresa Burkey

"The Seven Deadly Sins of Being a Woman - Too Dramatic", Teresa Burkey

The Seven Deadly Sins of Being a Woman - Too Dramatic - Teresa Burkey

archival pigment print
31"x 24", 2022
Lincoln, Nebraska

A few years ago, I learned that I am donor conceived (DC). In my series, I am another you, I document my search for meaning as I delve into exploring what kinship is and the power it holds. Beginning with my mother, I study her body and form, past and present. In doing so I see myself in her childhood. As I age, I become a diluted copy of her. Meeting my biological father for the first time, I find myself not to be his image but rather his sensibility, his chin, and his love of the Midwest. My two familial lines have become three branching trees: two biological and one social. I am nature and nurture. In this search for understanding, the Platte River has become a framework for that inquiry. As I explore my heritage, I study the land as if through knowing it, I can know myself. The river’s braided channels are the links of my DNA, the blood in my body. In this work, I analyze my family and the river, making portraits of bodies and channels, studying texture and form, similarities, and differences. Learning of my origin as donor-conceived has opened a new realm and journey into knowing, exploring, and becoming kin.

"My Mother's Hand", Laura Cobb

archival pigment print
31"x "24", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

I have a partner who has been together for five years. We've been in long-distance since we met. An ongoing photo series, "Yolk without a shell" is about being in a long-distance relationship, the connection between us, feeling of missing and longing, and fragility in our relationships. This relationship continues until one day we can be together.

"Yolk Without a Shell - Stay With You", Healim Hwoang

My Mother's Hand - Laura Cobb / Yolk Without a Shell - Stay With You - Healim Hwoang

archival pigment print
24” x 36”, 2022
Lincoln, Nebraska

Landscapes are transforming faster than our ability to see, absorb, and adapt to the changes. In my visual practice, I use photography as a vehicle for storytelling, collaboration, and advocacy to document environmental, cultural, and historical change. The colloquial shelterbelt of the Great Plains and Midwest is a lexicon of agriculture. States vie to be the first in solar power or wind, or have the best corn production.  The world reversed is not upside down, but generational déjà vu and déjà fini. We have seen it before and done it already. There is no recurrent globe. My photographic project Shelterbelt is interested in breaking the cycle of re-: a Latin root of doing something again.  Bygone ions and eons, the midwest becomes the mideast.  Turn the climate on and electric language ushers in a paradigm shift from the gas station era.  The current is not a tarot card that can predict the next wave of events.  In the age of accelerations, I argue that a decade is no longer 10 years. Pressures on existing systems compound, while new ones are inherited from prior generations. The Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio provide a foundation for fieldwork and documentation. Building on the extensive visual research in rapidly changing urban landscapes, my interest is how midwest cities and vast farmland are preparing for climate-smart futures and what can be gleaned from urban and rural policies for Climate Action Plans in the Great Plains.

"Reflect", Dominique Ellis

Reflect - Dominique Ellis

archival pigment prints
32" x 24", 2022
Madison, Wisconsin

To all the men I’ve slept with, loved, and lost,

I grew up thinking I could never be with you. 
I grew up thinking wanting you was wrong.
All I ever wanted was to feel your skin against mine.
All I ever wanted was to kiss you openly and in public.
In my mind, we were more than just friends.
In my mind, we were in love.

I remember thinking that I was never going to feel wanted by someone.

Until I met you I didn’t know what love was. 
Until I met you I didn’t know what it was like sleeping next to someone I cared so deeply about. Until I met you I didn’t know what heartbreak was.
Although we didn’t last, you still mean the world to me.
Although we didn’t last, I’m happy you were in my life when you were.

Thank you for making me feel wanted for the first time.

***

The work presented in this exhibition are part of a larger body of work titled Would You Lie With Me. This work is a semi-autobiographical exploration of relationships; a love letter to all the men that have come in and out of my life whether they have been romantic, platonic, or physical. This series is a result of a year-long journey of self-discovery and embracing my identity as a gay man. Growing up in a Latin American Catholic household, I was surrounded by homophobic thinking from family members and peers which resulted in me feeling like I could not live my life authentically. Prior to coming out at 23, I never had any form of romantic or physical intimacy with anyone, although it was something I longed for. The photographs on display feature a mix of self-portraiture and portraits of different men with whom I have developed connections of varying degrees. The imagery depicted plays with truth and fiction. With staged photographs serving as a false memory of my fantasies that I’ve carried from a young age while others may depict an act of genuine romantic intimacy. These images have become a cathartic experience for me as I now have achieved the things I’ve longed for when I was younger. Together the photographs create a visual diary of my queer history, a diary that I allow to be viewed and read for those who choose to see.

"Heartbreak 1, Heartbreak 2, Are You Going to Join Me?, Can We Just Lay Here For A Minute?", Jorge Ariel Escobar

Heartbreak 1, Heartbreak 2, Are You Going to Join Me?, Can We Just Lay Here For A Minute? - Jorge Ariel Escobar

archival pigment print
16" x 24", 2021
Elgin, Illinois

As an adopted person who has spent the last decade searching for my birth family, my work is about the search for truth, and the ideas of family, loss, memories, and identity. Through my work, I implore viewers to think about their own definition of family, and how we connect to the world around us. My work fits in the World Record by telling one’s story of adoption, a topic that isn’t focused on enough in society. Many use adoption as a false dilemma without thinking of the trauma giving up a child has on everyone involved, and the fact that there are already hundreds of thousands of children who await adoption.

"Television", Brian Garbrecht

Television - Brian Garbrecht

gelatin silver print
8" x 10", 2022
Omaha, Nebraska

Hearing the phrase, “You won’t make the good work until you make the hard work,” in Fall of 2021 forever opened my guarded heart to experiencing vulnerability through photography. I had never prior comprehended how to explore my trauma and insecurities through art until I took my first analog photography class, where I heard that phrase for the first time. For that class’s final project, I dove in headfirst to untangle secrets, emotions, and shame that were restrained within me my whole life. The relief I felt in opening up was metamorphic, and this process of unveiling internalized shame has endured even to this day.  

My work examines and celebrates femininity, sisterhood, and the unspoken struggles of being a woman. My objective is to unashamedly explore “taboo” experiences such as infertility, domestic abuse, and having body parts deemed “unattractive” by society. Alongside this, like to the other side of a coin, I also explore the “divine feminine;” themes such as sisterhood and the natural female form, where I often use fruit, flowers, and even my own sisters as subjects. My intention is also to implore others to step outside of their own comfort zone and to normalize acne and skin texture, which I attempt by frequently using myself as a model and through not retouching natural skin texture in any portraits I make.

"Happy to be Here with You", Kate Glass

Happy to be Here with You - Kate Glass

"Sisterhood", Kate Glass

Sisterhood - Kate Glass

archival pigment print, embroidery thread
19" x 13", 2022
Plattsmouth, Nevada

When I was 13 years old, I was sent to my first therapist. From then on, I have been diagnosed with, ADHD, PTSD, depression, social anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, body dysmorphia, dermatillomania, panic disorder, eating disorder, autism, BPD, and panic disorder. Of course, none of these mental illnesses started right when I went to therapy. At 16 years old I realized that I was bisexual and came out to my mom, she refused to believe it was true and forced me into conversion therapy; I was told to never tell another living soul. At 17 years old, I was raped and sexually assaulted by my ex-boyfriend many times. Because of him I lost everything: my will to live, my dignity, and my friends. For two years I struggled with this alone. For two years I kept my mouth shut, I continued as if nothing happened. I had no one to turn to, and no one wanted to help. Slowly I developed these disorders. I tried so hard to keep them at bay, which just made everything worse. I wanted to be normal and to feel as if I fitted in with the people around me. But I never did. I lost friends and haven’t gained any, I lost memories and haven’t remembered, I lost family that used to be close, and can never be the same with. I lost everything not just because of what happened, but because I refused to believe that my life had changed, that I am not the same person I was two years ago. I will never be the same, and I couldn’t get that into my head. I have been so affected by my own emotions that I can’t fix myself. I have felt alone, scared, exhausted, and numb.   

I have not felt comfortable expressing myself through these images yet. But I know that I am not the only one struggling. I know that my peers, fellow classmates, and my viewers have their own story, and it is okay to let your emotions free. 

"BPD", Katie Goossen

BPD - Katie Goossen

archival pigment print
24" x 36", 2022
Chicago, Illinois

Wildfires are raging across the western United States, burning up increasingly large swaths of land every year. While fire is a natural part of many ecosystems, the increasing presence of larger, faster, and hotter fires is a reminder of the rapidly changing environment. Begun after experiencing the devastation of a wildfire in my hometown, this work explores solastalgia, which describes emotional and existential distress caused by negative environmental change, generally experienced by people with lived experience closely related to the land. Lands integral to our identity, our livelihoods, and our wellbeing are shifting and changing without notice or control. The experience of a wildfire is all consuming. Our communities are facing collective traumas as we wait for news about the spread and containment, constantly refreshing web pages and data bases. Although these are localized examples of wildland fire and the trauma that follows, collectively the scale of these events is unfathomable. The day to day struggles of normal life continues on as fires rage outside our windows, setting our lives in a scene of gray oppression.  

Integrating photographs, moving images, and textual works, The Sun Sets Midafternoon examines the immediate aftermath of megafires on surrounding communities and what the experience of local fires are like, interweaving narratives of ecological devastation, collective trauma, and climate grief. 

"Solar", Jessica Hays

Solar - Jessica Hays

GIF
2021
Lincoln, Nebraska

In my series of work, The Ornamental Flesh, I use GIFs and photography to grapple with the fetishization of femme-bodies within the Chinese diaspora through the simulation and subversion of my ancestral Chinese traditions and rituals. I reference historical Chinese objects as a method of reclaiming my history and building a world where I can safely exist. My work examines the ways Euro-America views bodies like mine through the lens of technology and mysticism. My work subverts private ceremonies and rituals to investigate the ways Chinese American femme-bodies are made public and reclaims problematic stereotypes using aesthetics of Camp, artificial lighting studio and drag.  

What does it mean to be viewed as an object, to be fetishized and consumed? For Asian American femme-bodies, it’s met with violence, from minor feelings to death. The starting point of my current work was the indescribable rage and sadness I felt after the March 16, 2021 Atlanta Spa Massacre. As a queer 2nd-generation Chinese American, this led me to examine the pressure I had to fit my body into the idealized mold of femininity as prescribed by
Euro-American heteronormative standards. Yet, it is an impossible task, as my body will always be seen as perpetually foreign, as a “yellow woman,” in the eyes of other Americans.  In fact, my body is perceived to be always on display, but also interchangeable, as evident in the way Afong Moy was paraded across the U.S. as the first “Chinese Lady,” a living exhibition, and then replaced by another Chinese woman. The Ornamental Flesh is a way for me to confront and explore the ramifications of bodies like mine being treated as an object, as an ornament.

"Objectification", Jamie Ho

Objectification - Jamie Ho

archival pigment print
24" x 39", 2020
Lincoln, Nebraska

In my series of work, The Ornamental Flesh, I use GIFs and photography to grapple with the fetishization of femme-bodies within the Chinese diaspora through the simulation and subversion of my ancestral Chinese traditions and rituals. I reference historical Chinese objects as a method of reclaiming my history and building a world where I can safely exist. My work examines the ways Euro-America views bodies like mine through the lens of technology and mysticism. My work subverts private ceremonies and rituals to investigate the ways Chinese American femme-bodies are made public and reclaims problematic stereotypes using aesthetics of Camp, artificial lighting studio and drag.  

What does it mean to be viewed as an object, to be fetishized and consumed? For Asian American femme-bodies, it’s met with violence, from minor feelings to death. The starting point of my current work was the indescribable rage and sadness I felt after the March 16, 2021 Atlanta Spa Massacre. As a queer 2nd-generation Chinese American, this led me to examine the pressure I had to fit my body into the idealized mold of femininity as prescribed by
Euro-American heteronormative standards. Yet, it is an impossible task, as my body will always be seen as perpetually foreign, as a “yellow woman,” in the eyes of other Americans.  In fact, my body is perceived to be always on display, but also interchangeable, as evident in the way Afong Moy was paraded across the U.S. as the first “Chinese Lady,” a living exhibition, and then replaced by another Chinese woman. The Ornamental Flesh is a way for me to confront and explore the ramifications of bodies like mine being treated as an object, as an ornament.

"Veiled and Unveiled (Groom)", Jamie Ho

Veiled and Unveiled (Groom) - Jamie Ho

archival pigment print
36" x 24", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

Guts or Glory is a photo series that questions the value of self-sacrifice, and the effects institutional expectations can have on an individual. These images show how individuality is lost or suppressed when one devotes themselves to an institution’s cause. The colored fabric used throughout the series alludes to the use of colored or patterned fabrics as markers of affiliation within our culture. The fabric is used in interactions with the body to show how institutional beliefs affect the individual. The Caravaggesque style of the photos is implemented to combat the idealization of martyr figures within our culture. This series acts as a response to the glorification of martyrdom within institutions and reapproaches martyrdom from the perspective of an individual. 

Guts or Glory is relevant today due to the prevalence of radicalization within political and cultural movements. During times where belief systems take precedent over the well beings of individuals, it is important to further support the agency of the individual. While radicalization and conformity to institutional belief systems has been prevalent throughout history and is most likely to persist, it is important to use art to empathize with the individual and motivate independent thought. Guts or Glory seeks to humanize those who’s individual values and well-being come in conflict with the ideologies of the institutions they are a part of.  

"Guts or Glory V", Ethan Humrichouser

Guts or Glory V - Ethan Humrichouser

archival pigment print
24" x 31", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

I have a partner who has been together for five years. We've been in long-distance since we met. An ongoing photo series, "Yolk without a shell" is about being in a long-distance relationship, the connection between us, feeling of missing and longing, and fragility in our relationships. This relationship continues until one day we can be together.

"Yolk Without a Shell - Emptiness", Healim Hwoang

Yolk Without a Shell - Emptiness - Healim Hwoang

archival pigment print
31" x 24", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

I have a partner who has been together for five years. We've been in long-distance since we met. An ongoing photo series, "Yolk without a shell" is about being in a long-distance relationship, the connection between us, feeling of missing and longing, and fragility in our relationships. This relationship continues until one day we can be together.

"Yolk Without a Shell - Longing", Healim Hwoang

Yolk Without a Shell - Longing - Healim Hwoang

archival pigment print
24" x 17", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

My “currents” focus on the actual ocean surrounded state of Florida, specifically, my second home in Miami. This series is dedicated to my religious devotion for the city of Miami and my parents’ hometown of Hialeah. Every photography from this series has been taken from second homeland and up to Ohio to be edited. This is devoted to my other self’s upbringing. Because I feel so fondly towards a state that isn’t where I live, it is easy to express it in ways that aren’t negative. To love something, one must love it fully in acceptance of its cons. The state itself, is ruled by beings that seek to destroy much of what I stand for and love. Yet, they are not the land. For I love the place that Florida is, the home it has provided and the lessons it has allowed me to understand.

"D + S (Written Inside a Heart)", Orion Inez

D + S (Written Inside a Heart) - Orion Inez

archival pigment print
25" x 24", 2022
Dayton, Kentucky

I adore the power photography has on the way memory is retained and manipulated. My work is built upon the fact that photography retains healing properties due to the fact it is now what most of us recall as memory. Each photograph I create for my ongoing project In a Place I Used to Sleep is meant to provide a safe space for me, and you to come together as a common collective through individualized memories. 

By making work through photography I give myself the power to control my narrative, but by having that power it hinders my ability to tell a truthful story. I offset this power using interviews and writing with my subjects. I create photographs candidly in order to not have the story shaped by me, but instead have the story lead me to where it wants to go. My practice is in constant struggle with the obstacles my medium places in front of me. This, I feel like, is why I chose the medium of photography for In a Place I Used to Sleep. Myself, the subject, and my medium all seem to feel the same way about making memories- it is flawed, but necessary.  

I began my work in hopes to heal myself and my own family, but as time passed and new memories were made I felt the overwhelming feeling that this work became not just for us. In a Place I Used to Sleep has become something for the collective to use as a starting point for healing. My work is made so that others no longer need to feel alone in their times of hardship, and can keep hope that the challenges they are facing will one day be building blocks for improved relationships, rekindled love, and memories to look back on to be reminded of their strength. 

"Mother's Chair", Grant Lawler

Mother's Chair - Grant Lawler

archival pigment print
24" x 36", 2021
Madison, Wisconsin

Just as I submerge underwater, my hair floats atop the surface of the ocean. Water represents my connection to the ocean but also how all life is born in water as well as the transformation that occurs when becoming a mother. In conveying labor and birth, my hair depicts the moment I felt my son crown and the gush of water that came forth when he was born.

Matrescence. The physical, psychological and emotional process of becoming a mother. It is one of the most profound transitions a woman will ever experience. These powerful biological and psychological changes expand the dimensions of a woman’s existence. I didn’t realize the magnitude of this identity shift until I became one. Nothing could have prepared me for motherhood except for experience itself. Using self-portraiture, I photographed my experience of becoming a mother during the Covid-19 pandemic. But how do I process this identity shift when the world around me has shifted as well? Making the mothering experience visible became a way to retain agency and power as a woman. Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh said: “The wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water.” The wisdom of nature’s fertile landscape reminds me how mothering is complex, diverse, and extraordinary.  

Lianne Milton is an independent photojournalist, social documentary photographer, and visual artist. Her practice-led research explores the complexities of the human condition, in particular, the maternal. It is concerned with themes of contemporary social justice issues.  


"Birth Canal", Lianne Milton

Birth Canal - Lianne Milton

archival pigment print
24" x 19", 2021
Madison, Wisconsin

As my son nurses, he digs his sharp nails into my chest. For me, breastfeeding is the only moment where my son and I are one again. But the feeling of emptiness in my belly still lingers after his birth. I never imagined how strong this feeling of attachment would be.  

Matrescence. The physical, psychological and emotional process of becoming a mother. It is one of the most profound transitions a woman will ever experience. These powerful biological and psychological changes expand the dimensions of a woman’s existence. I didn’t realize the magnitude of this identity shift until I became one. Nothing could have prepared me for motherhood except for experience itself. Using self-portraiture, I photographed my experience of becoming a mother during the Covid-19 pandemic. But how do I process this identity shift when the world around me has shifted as well? Making the mothering experience visible became a way to retain agency and power as a woman. Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh said: “The wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water.” The wisdom of nature’s fertile landscape reminds me how mothering is complex, diverse, and extraordinary. 

Lianne Milton is an independent photojournalist, social documentary photographer, and visual artist. Her practice-led research explores the complexities of the human condition, in particular, the maternal. It is concerned with themes of contemporary social justice issues.  

"Sunrise", Lianne Milton

Sunrise - Lianne Milton

video
2022
Lincoln, Nebraska

I create installations using video, sound, and computer generated imagery to examine the intersections of my identity as trans and disabled. I reference social media and internet pop culture as storytelling devices, highlighting the ways trans networks of care arise from the internet. Through imagery that is generated using game engines, the series examines the implications of cameras becoming a field of vision in video games, and how images shape perception. The integration of computer generated elements blurs distinctions between natural and unnatural, and emphasizes how our digital worlds come to shape our away-from-keyboard worlds.

"when i opened my eyes i was in your bedroom / it was raining and outside your window /honeysuckle opened soft like little mouths / with my tongue, i twisted my tooth around and around, hanging on by the thread of my gums / i pulled it out and the rest came with it / a strand of pearls", Penny Molesso

when i opened my eyes i was in your bedroom... - Penny Molesso

"Glowing (Transition)", Penny Molesso

Glowing (Transition) - Penny Molesso

archival pigment print
30" x 24", 2022
Cincinnati, Ohio

As a woman, entering unfamiliar spaces alone can be a stressful or even fearful experience. After being followed while making images in a park, this fear was not only validated, but met with frustration. Frustration over my disrupted independence, frustration over an unknown limit of image making, and frustration that women are forced to face the world with caution when without company.  

Through these images I channeled the fear, frustration, and grief of personal experiences, as well as researched experiences such as the attacks at Mount Airy Forest.  

What comes of these events, if not forgotten, is a cautionary tale and a lecture to be safer.  If your guard is already up put it up higher. Carry pepper spray and hope it doesn’t fail. Shift the responsibility to those who are in no control of the situation. These images serve as a testament of these societal frustrations as well as a call for a solution.

"Caution Under Callery Trees 2", Danielle Schuster

Caution Under Callery Trees 2 - Danielle Schuster

"Caution Under Callery Trees 1", Danielle Schuster

Caution Under Callery Trees I - Danielle Schuster

archival pigment print
18.5" x 24", 2022
Lincoln, Nebraska

Looking upon my childhood, I am confronted with the many emotions that accompany nostalgia. We were children of the fields, of farmers, of deeply instilled work ethics; eventual adults who would have our own families, willing onward into continuity. Moving through adulthood, my values have expanded from when I was a child and an acceptance for myself has settled into my core, while rural Nebraska has remained stubborn. I, along with countless others, do not fit well into a mold designed to critique self-expression and uphold rigid social norms.  

Fold Clean is an image within the body of work Contrafluid that aims to convey these internal conflictions. My goal was to simultaneously depict the contrasts of feminine, masculine, rural Nebraska, and how the divinity of fluid self-expression conquers self-silencing demons. Flowing, shimmery fabrics were paired with a yearning for acceptance, which the model channeled through his posing. I aimed to balance femininity by honoring the masculine, ultimately creating fluidity between the two. I hope that in viewing this photograph, others who have felt constricted by judgmental norms will find solace knowing they are not alone.

"Fold Clean", Amaris Stebbing

"Body Dysmorphia", Katie Goossen

Fold Clean - Amaris Stebbing / Body Dysmorphia - Katie Goossen

archival pigment print
24" x 30", 2022
Madison, Wisconsin

My artistic research is rooted in investigating the past in respects to my family lineage/culture. It begins with interviewing elders in my family to learn about their time spent in Italy and the process of immigrating to Cleveland, Ohio. I am a first-generation immigrant.  

I work with photography and textiles to pull the themes of identity and culture together. I engage with older textiles to explore domesticity and gender roles. The photograph exhibited is part of a photo series titled, “Oceans Between”.  In this series, I reflect on the distance between the Midwest and the homeland, the body of water that migrated my family to the United States, and what was left behind in Italy. Most Italian women had a dowry of textiles made to be passed down through generations. This collection is referred to as a corredo. When my family was preparing to emigrate, my grandmother sold her corredo of textiles to financially support their trip. The lace textile seen in this photograph is a portrait of my ancestors. My artwork has become my own, contemporary corredo.

"Oceans Between", Annmarie Suglio

Oceans Between - Annmarie Suglio

archival pigment print
17" x 24", 2022
Edwardsville, Illinois

Home is a very personal space for many individuals, but there is a group of people who are very courageous to invite strangers into their spaces. And their stories, life perspectives, and experiences fascinate me.  

In this environmental portrait series, Couchsurfing Hosts, I visited a group of people in New York City and the surrounding vicinity who open up their homes to travelers in exchange for the opportunity to learn and share cultures. I went from house to house carrying my DSLR with one speed light and a diffuser to talk with them, surf in some of their homes, and create portraits with them. Couchsurfing is a homestay and social network community that connects members to find a free place to stay while traveling (surfer) or to share their home with travelers (host). I first became aware of this community in 2009, but I had never hosted or been hosted before embarking on this project. It is a fascinating community that allows people to make connections, particularly those who enjoy traveling and learning about different cultures.  

As I work on this project, I am thinking about how, in a world where social media has a large influence on our lives, this network helps bring people from all over the world closer together. Is the planet becoming smaller at the expense of the city becoming larger? 

"Couchsurfing", Natcha Wongchanglaw

silver gelatin print
20" x 16", 2022
Omaha, Nebraska

As individuals, we operate within the many roles of our multifaceted existences. The different versions of ourselves that we present, may have, in part, been crafted by someone or something outside of our own will. Workplace procedures, familial expectations, school, societal pressures, along with racial, cultural, and gender norms of every form are perpetually pulling at the pages of the personal story each of us are penning with every passing moment. But when all the chapters of outside influence are torn away, what’s left of our story?  

On a personal level, do we embody the aura we emit, or are our personas inherent to our beings? Which aspects shape the way others come to view us as individuals, and do these defining factors accurately reflect the way we see ourselves?   

This image of Brooklyn is part of a large format portrait series that serves as a visual study on perceived versus true identity. It touches on her strength, her passions, her vision and her future. When approaching the content and composition of these double exposures, the question at hand is always some version of: ‘what feeds your soul?’ The very quote that inspired this project is one that I myself try to put into practice with every collaboration and meaningful connection I make:  

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for – and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.”  - Oriah Mountain Dreamer