Reality is a consistent construct. My work questions the consistency of our reality and invites the viewer to change how they perceive the world around them. I walk throughout the city capturing how atmospheric phenomena dance with light, shadow, and reflection. Through my lens, I capture fleeting moments that transform the ordinary, weaving visual narratives that challenge the boundaries of our perception.
Influenced by William Turner's paintings and Saul Leiter's photographs, my work obscures its subject: I start by finding translucent elements such as store windows, plastics, glass; anything that can obscure a subject. I then compose an image that integrates the translucent elements into the world creating mirages that provide a space through which to see things differently. In these impressions, I portray a sense of altered reality that disrupts the perception of day-to-day life—a sense of Hypnagogia, that liminal space where waking life and dreams intertwine. My photographs become windows into a world where truth is as malleable as the shifting shadows and reflections which are cast upon the pavement.
–John Cushman
