"Jo in the landscape," c. 2014.
"My grandfather and his nurse," c. 2014.
"Reaching up," c. 2015.
"Men's prayer group," c. 2014.
"My grandfather exercising," c. 2014.
"Reaching through a fence," c. 2015.
"Snow fight," c. 2014.
"Junior looking out the window," c. 2014.
"Christopher looking in the window," c. 2014.
"After party," c. 2014.
"Dancing couples," c. 2013.
"Cynthia in the garden," c. 2013.
"A couple waiting for the bus," c. 2013.
"Skylar reaching for Elijah," c. 2014.
"Cindy and her niece in the parking lot," c. 2014.
"Mirror game," c. 2014.
"Smelling flowers," c. 2014.
"Alex getting his hair cut," c. 2014.
"Reaching hands," c. 2014.
"Izzy pushing Chris," c. 2014.
"Skylar reaching for Lady," c. 2015.
"Two sisters," c. 2013.
"Genevieve in the window," c. 2015.
"A boy longing for a girl," c. 2014.
"Carmen and a child," c. 2014.
"Cindy and Junior," c. 2015.
"Party games," c. 2014.
"Reaching out," c. 2014.
"My grandfather getting out of the pool," c. 2014.
"Sophie watching birds," c. 2014.
"A family on a porch," c. 2014.
"Eye drops," c. 2015.
"First birthday party," c. 2014.
"Christopher in the rain," c. 2015.
"Jo and Barbara by the snow bank," c. 2015.
"These Days I Feel Like a Snail Without a Shell"
The title of this series is based on an exchange between Hajime, the protagonist of Haruki Murakami’s novel South of the Border, West of the Sun, and Izumi, one of Hajime’s several female love interests. In the beginning of the novel, Izumi asks Hajime how he feels about her, and seeks to further clarify his feelings by asking a leading question, “You won’t hurt me?,” to which Hajime replies, “I won’t hurt you.” The dialogue between the two characters continues, and Izumi discloses to Hajime, “These days I feel like a snail without a shell.” The dialogue asserts emotional instability, which is a feeling or state of mind I aim to project on to the people populating the pictures. The title implies my role an unnamed and unrevealed character in the work. It is also in the present tense (“these days”) and refers to an “I,” which I interpret to refer to myself (the photographer) as a character. The character is vulnerable and is in search of a place or feeling of safety. This photographer-as-character, then, moves through the world without a shell while remaining in search of one.
My aim is to draw the viewer into a sustained longing for connection within individual photographs and the people who occupy them. I am in pursuit of pictures where people appear emotionally isolated despite physical proximity. For some inexplicable reason, the people in my pictures still have a desire to reach out and connect to others.
-P.M.
