Momento Temporis: A Moment in Time

The concept of this idea began prior to my BFA thesis in 2009. In fact, I believe it began the moment that I picked up a camera. No matter what I may say a project is about, or why I photograph certain people, places or things; the underlying, base mission is always the same: To capture a moment in time. A moment in history. A moment that existed within my plain of existence on Earth.

"You take pictures to stop time: to commit moments to eternity."

Now, accompanied by my co-creator, partner and husband, MustacheMachine, the both of us strive to document the Earth as we know and see it today. In a raw format. A format that is not easily edited nor do we edit: positive film.

I have been told that the photographer William Eggleston once said, “I am at war with the obvious,” a sentiment that we share, made evident by the subject matter of our photographs as well as our preference to the camera and film that we use. My encounters with ordinary people will forever remain in my memory, along with a million other memories that I do not wish to forget either; this is why we photograph the subjects that we do. The encounters that we have with our subjects may have no impact upon them whatsoever, but they have impacted us because if not, then why would we have shot the photograph? The people and places that we photograph are a part of the planet’s history as well as ours – simply because we coexist. Our photographs create a story – a story about these certain people, places or things.

To document, as defined by Encarta World English Dictionary, “is to make record of something by writing, filming or photographing it”. This is exactly what we have done with our world. Just as some of the great documentary photographers Ben Shahn, Eugene Richards, Dorthea Lange, Lewis Hine and W. Eugene Smith did, we am documenting the human condition as it is today. This is not to say that our photographs are of the same style or for the same purpose as the aforementioned artists; but there is a common element that our work shares with these photographers: the goal to capture the often-overlooked aspects of everyday life. Not regarded as especially unique or aesthetically pleasing, these brief encounters with people or places occur and then are immediately over. William Eggleston undertook similar projects using photographs of the everyday structures around us. Much of his work leaves one to wonder if the residents of the areas he photographed overlooked them for their monotony. Like Eggleston and many others, we want to record history by using a camera. We believe in comparison to illustration and painting, a camera can capture history in a completely different and unique way than those two artistic mediums.

We want to show our audiences the beauty of the familiar; everyday moments of their lives that are so easily passed over, and yet shouldn’t be at all.

- BlackBetty