Architecture is something that often dominates our lives on a monumental scale. In
Paris in particular, our urban experience is often defined by the Haussmannian design ideals
that have made the city so iconic in the present day. For my photography project, I wanted to
focus on the concept of architecture on a much smaller, more intimate scale. By focusing on
smaller architectural details, we begin to break down the idea of grandiose or monumental
architecture and refocus it at the human scale.
Paris in particular, our urban experience is often defined by the Haussmannian design ideals
that have made the city so iconic in the present day. For my photography project, I wanted to
focus on the concept of architecture on a much smaller, more intimate scale. By focusing on
smaller architectural details, we begin to break down the idea of grandiose or monumental
architecture and refocus it at the human scale.
The series mimics how the eye moves: it never takes in the entirety of a building at
once, but instead focuses on smaller details to build an idea of the whole. Through this series I
begin to address the idea of the detail, but leave further interpretation up to the viewer:
oftentimes the scale, the location, or even the subject matter is ambiguous. It asks the viewer
to engage with the piece more deeply in order to guess at what might be depicted.
once, but instead focuses on smaller details to build an idea of the whole. Through this series I
begin to address the idea of the detail, but leave further interpretation up to the viewer:
oftentimes the scale, the location, or even the subject matter is ambiguous. It asks the viewer
to engage with the piece more deeply in order to guess at what might be depicted.
Through this abstraction, the series also begins to ask questions about what defines a
city, and how we define ourselves within it. Paris is a city full of instantly-recognizable icons:
the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Moulin Rouge. This series denies the viewer any recognition
of these landmarks despite being executed in the same city: it asks what it means to be a tourist
or a traveler, and what it is that gives meaning to our travels or our sense of placement in a city
when we no longer have these classic monuments to guide our experience of it. It asks what
resonates in our minds or memory when we have no compass to tell us what we should see or
what buildings we should love.
city, and how we define ourselves within it. Paris is a city full of instantly-recognizable icons:
the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Moulin Rouge. This series denies the viewer any recognition
of these landmarks despite being executed in the same city: it asks what it means to be a tourist
or a traveler, and what it is that gives meaning to our travels or our sense of placement in a city
when we no longer have these classic monuments to guide our experience of it. It asks what
resonates in our minds or memory when we have no compass to tell us what we should see or
what buildings we should love.