Gallery Visit

During the Blue Sky Gallery visit, I was particularly drawn to Maria José D'Amico's exhibit, Bien de Familia. My favorite image was #12, depicting an empty room with glass doors and a stone fireplace. The lighting through the doors is particularly striking, as it is the central focus of the photo and is framed by the doorway. Di'Amico's artist statement claims her exhibit "is a haunting and bittersweet tribute to the people who once inhabited the various spaces." This is evident through her use of lighting, emphasizing the emptiness of the space through the reflection on the bare floor. The darkened walls give the image a spooky feel, leading the viewer to question what used to occupy that space. I connected with this photo the most because it looks most like the kind of place I would live, rather than some of the older, lavish rooms shown in her other images. I'm inspired by the simplicity of D'Amico's photograph, which is very different from my style. I love her use of lighting, which adds a lot of drama to her digital photos and makes them more dynamic. This is something I struggle with when working digitally, so I now know to focus on lighting to add interest to my photos.