Make-believe · Statement
When I was young I played with toys in the woods. By taking these photographs I'm trying to re-create the sense I had then of intense make-believe. This does not necessarily mean fun, but rather an attempt to evoke the potent feelings a child has when they're absorbed in their own made-up world. I once heard the director Guillermo del Toro describe the emotions a child feels acting out their fantasy world as similar in intensity to an adult who is extremely religious, almost to the point that the real world becomes irrelevant. When I was a boy playing in the woods, I remember my feelings of wonder and fear being almost overwhelming.
With the photographs I made between 2004 and 2006, I didn't attempted to capture the natural world so much as create my own by subtly manipulating it in front of the camera. Usually the manipulation occurs by placing a familiar object within the landscape and exploring how it might or might not fit in, and the emotions it might evoke. The objects in these photographs should be recognizable as the cheap toys and food that little boys love to play with and eat. They're also there to make the viewer question what they're seeing, as well as what can and can't be included within a scenic landscape.