As a photographer, much of my artwork centres on collaboration with dancers and choreographers and explores the oxymoronic relationship between stillness/photography and movement/dance.
Stemming from the idea of 'The Epitome of an Oxymoronic Endeavour' (a concept lent with permission from dancer/choreographer Michael Parmenter), my work explores collaborative 'performative' photography between still and movement artists.
An Oxymoronic Endeavour is a collaboration combining two oxymoronic (apparently contradictory) art forms i.e. still/photography and movement/dance.
In this case one artist is often also the subject.
‘Performative’ photographic work is where the choreography and performance occur only for creating the images and exist only in the resulting art work.
These collaborations also explore the binary of being creator and performer and the liminal space in between. They break with the conventional relationship of photography to dance, in which the purpose of the photography is often to document the dance work rather than exist as an artwork in their own right.
Exploring ‘performative’ photography (performance made for camera), collaboration, agency and expanded authorship are key to my practice. I am constantly exploring new ideas with long time and new dance collaborators.
My artwork enriches my commercial work and visa versa. Photography is at the core of my artwork.
I have a Master Fine Arts, specialising in photography from Massey University, Wellington.
Click on any of the collaborations below to read more.
