The Human Condition

A Self Portrait



As animals on this planet, humans separate themselves from other animals. Humans have intelligence, and because of this, they place themselves above other animals. However humans are still animals, and as animals we have basic needs, wants, desires, dreams, struggles, emotions, etc. So, if we are all basically the same, then why are we so afraid to let others see us for who we really are?



This series of images was created based on this concept and what I call, "the human condition." These images explore emotions, challenges, and other common things that humans go through and often try to hide, deny, ignore, forget, or just not think about.



In order to understand this better, I felt the need to explore and express my own human condition. These images are a deep, truthful study of myself and my feelings. So, while the series began because of what I call the human condition, it also became a self portrait study with the goal being to show what is on the inside more-so than what is on the outside.



On the surface of the images the subject looks strong, but looking past the subject to the background we discover what is on the inside. The black space represents the space in my mind, the images and text represent thoughts, ideas and images that run through my mind. The nude figure was used as a means to formal resolution but also meant as a metaphor because creating a series like this made me feel extremely exposed, so the nude figure helps to express that feeling.



Ultimately the series is about different thoughts, ideas, disorders, challenges, and fears that I have, but would normally never show to the world. While the things other people hide from the world may be different than mine, the point is that we often hide these things from others when in fact others are probably going through similar things and are equally as uncomfortable showing them.



This series of images was created for fine art using digital techniques to collage multiple photos together in order to create new images that are resolved both formally and narratively.



