Morgan Sullivan 1996-Present

History I have always enjoyed photography, but as a child I thought it was simple. Around the age of 13 I started looking at different techniques and styles, but until I started it myself at 15 I didn’t understand much at all. I started with photography as a Sophomore in my High School class. I attend school at School One, and have only taken one photography class.

Artist’s Statement I like to photography people and places. I like to mix them. I find the idea of combining a face and an area really appealing. Over time I think my photography has gotten more complicated. There are no more simple prints and most of them have texture and contrast. I use a 35mm Nikon 6006 camera. I don’t use many techniques while I’m shooting but I use much more in the darkroom.

I am influenced by other artists, my peers, and all the things around me: nature, culture, paintings, people, and places. Things I like and the things I don’t. Photography, to me, is another form of art and another outlet for my emotions, just like painting or drawing. Photography is telling a story and showing feelings through one picture, or many. Photography is art, and acts the same as all other mediums of art.

Marlene Freimanis is my favorite artist. She is incredibly talented and a positive person regardless of the pain she’s been through. She’s dealt with 7 spinal surgeries due to a botched scoliosis correction operation. She works in all mediums and styles, and the detail in her art is incredible. The one on the top in one of the many paintings she worked on inspired by the pain in her spine. She worked on these while recovering from her surgeries. It represents the scarring left by her disorder and the physical and emotional pain it caused. She is my greatest inspiration.

This is a photo of two girls I know, Amber and Lucy, sandwiched together. One of the negatives is moved so that half of another negative is coming into the photo.

This is a portrait of my friend, Camilla. It was taken when she wasn’t looking. Someone told me it was sometimes better to photograph when the subject isn’t suspecting it. It captures the person in a more natural state.

This photo of Colleen was taken while she was eating yogurt without a spoon, a habit of hers due to the fact she’s too lazy to find one. Her face was sandwiched with the collage on my bedroom wall, a constant project in my life.

My cat has been warming up to me lately. She used to be pretty afraid of me, but she’s actually allowed me to photograph her. She’s sandwiched with a photo of the trees on Blackstone Boulevard.

Though it looks nothing like it, this photo was inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s painting, The Hideaway. The painting is of a tree with the silhouette of a woman in it. He originally painted a woman in the hole of the tree, but later removed her because he felt she took away from the tree’s beauty. She wasn’t meant to be there. I wanted this photo to feel similar.

I think bubbles are really interesting. I had to use two enlargers to make this print. It required a lot of dodging and burning.

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