Ben Tisdale is a Fine Art Photographer currently working in Tucson, Arizona
Artist Statement
I create image-based works to explore the residual nature of systems. The things that are left out and closed off. I choose to give significance to the ephemera that piles up on sidewalks, painted over graffiti, lots cleared of life that are left to sit unused. Conversations between power and people, people and nature. Why not document this dialogue? Echoes of life cleared, left, and picked up, moved and painted, then painted over. The constant movement, the rules that follow, the signs that say stay out and the barbed wire.
I started out taking photos of trees, mountains, and animals with big eyes. Through the years, I’ve realized I prefer the abrupt, I prefer the human. What’s more human than what we leave behind? Now I wake up to find the next chair left out in the rain. I tend to think about the surroundings, the litter, the trees or alleyways. The world is large, and each object touched and moved for a reason.
I stand in front of an old couch. It’s baby blue with white stripes, washed in the morning glow. The cushions are removed, and its skirt submerged in a puddle reflecting clouds. Countless dinners, long nights, memories created, or none. Maybe there was no room. Maybe a better fit was found. What if it never had a home? Now, a ‘40’ sits where the left cushion used to be. The camera creates documents of things, impermanent, fallible stories that say this existed, I care about it. I sometimes can’t stop myself from taking photos, I can’t help but capture the moment, take it for myself.
Contact
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