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“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.”

 

Inspired by the works of Steve McCurry and J. M. Barrie’s classic tale, “Leaving Neverland” is a display of my photographic work deriving from my years in high school. The overall piece is a metaphor for human development.

Starting with Tending the Tender, the beginning images show children confined by adult figures.  Later on youth realize this and the reality of growing up, only to break off in order to go to Neverland.  The photos pick up after a child’s arrival back to reality, thereby leaving Neverland.

Youngsters then age until we end with Wendy: Leaving Neverland, which shows that despite our growth we are still youthful inside - longing for something better.

My process in this work began with the influence of Steve McCurry, who does portraiture for National Geographic. His use of color interested me and made me desire the same aesthetic in my work.  However, when I took textured or particularly emotional photographs I often made them black and white to enhance the look.

Interestingly, I came to this compilation randomly.  I took the photographs, then reached into the vast memory stick to see what might emerge.  I began to see the mosaic story of "Leaving Neverland" in the pile of digital images.  I found it fulfilling to elevate my work from isolated images to a story representing a universal experience.

- August 2014

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