Artist Statement

You are not alone. At first look, most people would likely call a lot of my work "street” photography. But I consider it "anti-street.” 

To me it seems that much of what passes for street photography in contemporary times are hurried, random shots of strangers filling up my social media feeds. They can be impersonal, even aggressive…pained expressions of passersby shot from the hip, contorted bodies, women in revealing clothes, homeless persons without defense, or faceless silhouettes in soulless shadows. 

Such photos often say more about the photographer’s personality, their skills as a camera-based predator, and the technical qualities of their equipment. In those shots, the photographer becomes the subject, and the person being photographed seems to be not much more than an object exploited in return for likes or follows from a scrolling public. With my camera I often feel like a hunter, too. But my target is the light, an ephemeral situation, or a story about everyday life. I’m seeking warmth, not attention.

In a 2016 New Yorker piece titled "Loneliness Belongs to the Photographer," Hanya Yanagihara describes the act of bearing gentle and silent witness as a photographer. It’s when the person behind the camera willingly makes oneself anonymous in order to give visibility to an overlooked moment in another person’s life. If such a photograph is created well, the photographer is absent in the viewer’s mind. And the subject becomes what is most important. 

In other words, a lonely moment in one person’s life becomes recognized by the world as valuable all because another person has taken on the burden of loneliness. In such photography, the photographer says, “Don’t think about me. Look instead at how beautiful life is.” I think it’s a difficult and special thing to achieve, but it can be done. To me, a successful photograph is an act of love. 

I retired at the age of 58 from a full-time career as an educator and naturalist so I could take more photos on my own. Up until that point, I had made mostly photos for work…shots of my students, nature photos for class, landscapes. I’ve had numerous photos published professionally, and I’ve had many selected for exhibitions. Several of my works are in private collections. I'm active in a small gallery in my town. But I continue to move toward something more personal and candid. 

Website

www.joelrhymer.com