Jan 21, 2003 – May 30, 2003
Photographs from Viet Nam
Serene Ford Northington
My relationship to photography began as a child when I looked at my parents’ wedding album. To the child I was, the pictures were moments I could never touch, encased were people I would never know. In the photos, they were not my parents, rather two people in love in a faraway place. I had a sense of yearning attached to those photographs. The story behind the pictures was always something exciting and romantic. Only through my imagination could the moments be part of me. Photographs were always something I could catapult myself into.
Today, as I relate to photography, I continue to approach my work with the same fluidity that is quiet and inquisitive in that I am trying to understand moments that are only tangible and permanent because they are captured on film. On another level, I am trying to tell my story. I want to reveal myself through my travels and experiences. My pictures reflect moments where I have been vulnerable, bold, loving, and distant. I am fascinated by what is in a picture and even what is outside the frame.
Self-awareness is essential to my process. When I photograph, I operate on an instinctive level which often reveals my personality and describes a significant instant in time. As a photographer, I strive to relate to my environment and subjects in a manner that is true to my vision and the essence of the moment.