Image: Mitchell Bright
24 September – 22 October 2021 in Ilam Campus Gallery.
“Driven by the idea of the exotic and a desire to explore the places I had stared at countless times through the lenses of some of my biggest influences, I travelled across the United States, from East to West.
Whilst the images I made are of places I had never physically visited before, they felt very familiar. I was not able to see the landscape as it was, rather as a series of pictures asking to be retaken.
Trying to capture what this place meant to me felt like walking a tightrope.
My visual style and interests are idiosyncratic, but undoubtedly the way I see and think about photography has been heavily influenced by the photographers I have studied – mostly American greats who inspired a sense of possibility and passion within the medium.
In that sense, during my time in the U.S. I regularly had to resist the urge to make obvious images like I had seen before. I was very aware of how difficult it can be to make work in America as a foreigner that is wholly original.
Ibid : In the same place is an exhibition within which I have tried to reconcile this influence in order to more clearly see myself within it.” – Mitchell Bright
Mitchell Bright is a Christchurch based artist who graduated from the Ilam School of Fine Arts in 2017 with a Masters degree in Photography. Bright’s practice delves into areas of fine art and documentary photography.
