Alexis Mattila- Artist Post

In class, we talked about what we care about. I know what I care about, but I often grow frustrated with myself when trying to express that through photography. This artist, with his pictures and his words, really helped me realize that this kind of expression isn't as impossible as I was making it seem.

Steven Beckly is a photographer who lives and works in Toronto. His pictures have this profound subtlety about them; quiet looking images that convey such dynamic underlying emotion. Many of his photos also have an essence of whimsicality, which not only makes them more aesthetically pleasing, but I think that quality makes his work seem friendlier, easier to connect with. Heavily influenced by his background in Psychology, Beckly explores the complexities of human identity, intimacy, relationships and sexuality. His website provided an artist statement, and upon reading it for the first time, I became incredibly inspired. It was such a cathartic moment for me, like a sign telling me that it is possible to do what I want to do; that even though I have yet to feel successful, success is not an impossibility.

“He is interested in reconstructing personal and intimate realities and replaying emotional conditions to transform ordinary moments into universal sentiments. Seemingly fictionalized characters are placed in fragmented and open-ended narratives, creating space for imagined structure, context, and meaning. By exploring the connections between the individual, the collective, and their environments, he continually aspires to portray emotional intricacies that comprise and reveal layers of human experience.” Source: http://www.stevenbeckly.com/

I don’t ever think I’ve read something that better defines what I hope to eventually do as a photographer. It’s admirable. I hope to one day be able to successfully, confidently explore human emotion in that way, to make sense of things that cannot be answered in the same way for everyone. It's a very satisfying character study for me, to observe how something can have as many meanings as there are people to perceive it.

I like to propose and ponder about why people act the way they do; to analyze human emotion and see what I can gain from it. I don’t care to make a statement about my opinions or to force others to look at things from my perspective. I don't see myself being that kind of artist. I'm an observer, not an activist. I learn the most about myself through learning things about others. I think that in achieving a greater understanding of something so heavy and prominent in my life, I feel more grounded. That sense of stability is comforting to me. The world doesn’t seem so overwhelmingly extensive that way.