Welcome Back, Students!!!

Wow, it's been a minute since I've posted here. I've been on research leave for the past academic year, and had a very productive time. I hope to bring many of the experiences I had over the last year into the classroom to share with you all during the upcoming year.

To start things off, head straight over to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum to view the Jess T. Dugan exhibition, Every Breath We Drew.  I had the pleasure of meeting Jess at a photography event in San Diego last fall called Medium.  And YOU will all have the pleasure of meeting Jess this semester, during two campus visits as well as a scheduled visit to both sections of Photo I.

A bit of info on the exhibition from the CFAM website is below:

Jess T. Dugan, Devotion, 2012, Pigment print, Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas

Jess T. Dugan: Every breath we drew

For nearly a decade, artist Jess T. Dugan has been making photographic portraits that explore issues of gender, sexuality, identity, and community from a highly individual and humanistic point of view. Every breath we drew, Dugan’s most recent project, explores the power of identity, desire, and connection through portraits of herself and others. Working within the framework of queer experience and from her actively constructed sense of masculinity, Dugan’s portraits examine the intersection between private, individual identity and the search for intimate connection with others. She photographs people in their homes, often in their bedrooms, using medium and large format cameras to create a deep, sustained engagement, resulting in intimate and detailed portraits.

Dugan combines formal portraits, images of couples, self-portraits, and photographs of her own romantic relationship to investigate broader themes of identity and connection while also speaking to private, individual experience. The photographs of men and masculine individuals act as a kind of mirror; they depict the type of gentle masculinity Dugan is attracted to, yet also the kind she wants to embody. Similarly, the photographs of relationships speak to a drive to be seen, understood, and desired through the eyes of another person; a reflection of the self as the ultimate intimate connection. Through beautifully intimate and honest portraits, Every breath we drew engages larger questions about how identity is formed, desire is expressed, and intimate connection is sought. This exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated book with an essay by the curator and an interview with the artist conducted by internationally-renowned photographer Dawoud Bey.