Artist Statement

My photographs explore dichotomies: I endeavour to visualise the dynamics of push and pull between diametrically opposed forces. The visualisation of these dynamics occurs through an integration of subject choice, the physicality of the photograph and its presentation, and the critical underpinning from which the idea/concept originates. I engage with diverse taboo subjects, to date death and crime scenes; and focus on the symbolism and the subculture that surround each of them and their visualisation. The resultant photographic works shift between pure colour abstraction and graphic pin-sharp clarity, where the push/pull that exists between the two opposing forces is constant. Previously, my documentation of vacant morgues explored the absent/present nature of death, and my photographs of animal blood and floral tributes addressed the nature of life and death. My current practice has centred on specific forms of crime scene photography, investigating the positioning of reality and fiction in the creation of new photographic work and its subsequent interpretation. To investigate the push/pull dynamic between reality/fiction, life/death, and absence/presence I document the visible detritus that exists out of unseen prior actions: e.g. the stained morgue table after innumerable autopsies, the actions of the slaughterer within the abattoir, or the remnants of the violent interaction between a city and its inhabitants. These are the substantive material of my photographs.