After what I don’t mind saying has been a very tough 2024, my new year will start with a four-month (early January through late April) artist residency at Cité Internationale des Arts, in Paris. Applying back in 2022, I proposed a project that would continue my Woven Portraits series into the realm of photographing portrait busts of significant historical leaders—some of which I have endeavored into with my 2023 commission Unknown (American) for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University. Now, and again with the support of the Sam Fox School, I’ll travel to Paris for this extended stay, to photograph busts of leaders central to the history of France and other European nations. The images I capture there will be used for making Woven Portraits similar to that of Unknown (American) once I return to the United States in May 2025, as well as some related side projects on site in the Paris studio.
For this journey I’ve had to completely rearrange my life. I’ve purchased equipment, in addition to putting some personal concerns on hold, have had to postpone other projects. For example, I have decided to pause my ongoing Winter Solstice Pinhole Photographs series for 2024. Or to be more accurate, I won’t be traveling to a location near the Arctic Circle to shoot pinhole photographs this December. Leaving for Paris for at the very top of January for a four-month stay just doesn’t allow me this. This was a difficult decision to make, as the travel I’ve done every year for the last several Decembers has been so meaningful to me. But I think the hiatus will be worthwhile. I am already forming plans for an epic journey to somewhere I’ve been aiming for for years in 2025. More on that later.
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to the challenge this residency presents. It’s a change of pace for me; much of 2024 has been devoted to making complex and difficult decisions, mourning losses, feeling disheartened. And, to be honest, it comes at a less-than-convenient time for me (I just began renting a workspace in Manhattan—I’ll post about this once it’s set up, I think), but I think there are places we must go to and opportunities we have to take. I look forward to arriving in the Fourth Arrondissement at the start of the new year and extending my line of work there.