On This Day
Over the course of my lifetime, mass-shootings have filled the news and have increasingly become a fear in so many peoples’ lives, including myself. On This Day is comprised of photographs which bear witness to the locations where these acts of violence occurred since the date of my birth, December 3, 1993. Within these photographs, I juxtapose both objective and surreal elements to examine a space that no longer show the visible signs of the senseless murders that occurred, but whose auras are forever darkened. Soon thereafter (years or even months later), the imprinted signs of distress on the environment are seemingly absent, with bloodstains cleaned, broken glass replaced, and crime scene tape taken down. The physical traces of an event ever happening are often erased, leaving only the latent memory. The world moves on, but those who were affected still hold onto their pain, just as the trauma itself is absorbed by the site.
With the use of strict criteria, I narrow down the number of locations that I photograph, exerting control over an event that was uncontrollable to the victims at the time. Through an unbiased lens, I form my initial composition at the various sites that I visit across the nation. Working with the space and available light as it is upon my first encounter, I take an objective view, while bringing in an added physical element that reflects the number of people who endured bodily harm. My photographs call to mind those affected in short moments of terror, even though the world at large has likely forgotten them.
Despite suffering from the collective exposure of fear generated by mass-shootings, I do not want to become numb to these horrific and seemingly endless killings. Society at large may not remember the majority of events, but I want to remember and raise awareness to an ongoing crisis that affects us all.