Artist Statement
Before I became a photographer, I was a writer. My medium of choice has always been silence. As a child, the words I stumbled and stuttered over always felt adrift in the garbled rush of conversation. I discovered my voice in writing. The clarity of black type on white paper eclipsed the clumsiness of my speech. Writing allowed me to share with others the abundance of ideas, thoughts, and feelings populating my inner world. As I grew older, I found that I didn’t always have the right words, written or otherwise, to fully express myself. Photographs expanded my silent vocabulary.
Writing and photography document passing thoughts and fleeting moments. Putting a pen to paper and clicking the shutter on a camera are actions that transform the intangible into something physical, something real. I photograph like a writer. I consider the frame with the same deliberation I use to measure the shape and weight of every word I type. Photography has its own syntax and symbology. It offers the ability to construct metaphors with visual credence. I’m drawn to the communicative power of imagery.
I believe that photography can be a powerful form of environmental advocacy. My research and creative work center on the Great Plains and its rural environments. Many of my photographs depict landscapes that exist as both home and habitat. Through the framework of black and white film photography and traditional darkroom printing processes, I investigate the complex connections between place, identity, history, memory, and ecology.
In other bodies of work, I have used the power of photography to explore my personal struggles with mental and physical health. My projects Get Well Soon andI Feel Like Trash experiment with the construction of abstract scenes and still-life compositions to confront the invisibility of illness. These subjects are often difficult to talk about openly. My work fills the space between words. It gives a voice to what remains unspoken.
Grace Worden, 2024