Curious alienation and the exploration of boredom within individual narratives set the overarching theme of my work. Using singular perspective and personal invention to depict my surroundings and thoughts, the authenticity of the image comes into question. "Experiments in Spaceland", is a fictional narrative documenting the journey of myself, as a single person space crew, as I complete my mission of rotating around the Earth for reasons unknown. With the primary medium of photography, and found images, I see each individual image as being a unique narrative only giving the viewer a small part of a larger story. Each image is shown as being the climax of the designated story.
My art right now is exploring the ideas of alternative realities and the life they have in a photograph. J. A. Wheeler asks, "May the universe in some strange sense be 'brought into being' by the participation of those who participate?" and this thought forms the very core of my work. The reality of "Experiments in Spaceland" is that I'm creating the scenario inside a studio, but because the photograph is bringing the plot into consciousness it begins to have a life inside the medium. I'm starting to wonder if I build a whole universe using photographs, does this alternative reality exist only in the layers of a .tif file? My hope for the future of my work is to start making more 'dynamic' self-portraits, have more surroundings shots of the spaceship, have still lives of things on board, and exterior shots of outer space which I create myself.
-Jessica Camp