Dylan De'Arman

Full Circle

I find working with the medium of photography to be easy because of its accessibility. Wherever I go, I carry a camera of some kind with me. It could be my phone, a GoPro, DSLR, SLR, or even Large Format. Yet, at the same time, the medium of photography as an “art” is quite difficult. I can capture numerous images that may be metaphorical, narrative, allegorical, abstracted, documentative or just for friends and family that end up holding virtual storage space in card files, folders, Instagram, and/or personal website. They wait for their opportunity to shine and be appreciated. Thus, I am led to the question, how do I make these images “art” and present them to the world? And, depending on the photographic content and intent, which camera apparatus should I choose? This is the expansive world of photography.

Fundamentally, my work / art is about layers and the layering of identity that spread beyond the surface of the photograph. This translates into my ideas about the self that are not easily categorizable according to social nomenclature. In my work, layers of life and layers of the photographic process are combined. Since the rise in technological development, digital imaging has made editing and distributing images swift and easy. However, I want/ like to complicate things physically and am drawn to the analogue process of film and dark room. The slower analogue process has lured me in because of the multiple steps involved, which complicate the editing process. Additionally, I am drawn to the analogue process because it uses elements of the earth to create the photographic phenomenon.

Like the multitude of photographic apparatuses’ that I choose between, my process and photographic philosophy encourages dialogue between the subject and the photographer. The beauty of landscape photography cannot define nature. The beauty of a portraiture cannot define identity. Rather, the intersections of landscape, portraiture, and the artist are in dialogue in this work. I am a photographer / artist who tries to connect with the natural world / environment, and the subjects and / or images that I am drawn to reflect this impulse.

dylandearman.com

@random.dman

dylandman12540@gmail.com