STATEMENT

Artist Statement

Image description

ARTIST STATEMENT

By participating in a true collaboration, we are able to offer a deeper insight into the human condition – a personal snapshot, if you will, of the subjects’ daily lives.

These are strong and independent people who, through their first-hand and unheard accounts, share their hopes, dreams and innermost thoughts with us and, in turn, the world. And despite the tragic costs that are frequently endured from being denied even the simplest forms of human rights, these true stories provide an extraordinary look inside their undeniable spirit and a willingness to survive. The result of this experience can raise cultural sensitivity through awareness and education.

This remarkable insight is further achieved through photography, which merges strict technical form with a poetic vision to produce a socio-documentary realism in both documentary and portrait images. Thiocarbamide and selenium toned photographs and more recently digital, that are highly charged and strong in their visual impact.

The result of this partnership is a cultural educational experience that is very rarely encountered by others, and which we believe – through books, exhibitions, documentary films, lecture series and a variety of educational materials – is key to raising awareness and a better understanding of these unique and often excluded civilizations.

© Wesley Billingslea 2020. All rights reserved.