Before naming my new series, dislocated, I considered other ideas. When I submitted several new portraits to LensCulture (a popular online photography site) they asked for a series title. I chose a phrase that was top-of-mind for me: “If you’re not feeling anxious, you’re not paying attention.”
As titles go, I’ll concede that one is not only long, it also runs hot. A photo group colleague quipped that I should just call my new portrait series, “2025.” She had a point.
How hot is too hot? As the Jack White song puts it, with the amplifiers set to 11: “That’s how I’m feeling right now.” A great song, but it could be the title of every art series, ever.
These portraits, shot mainly at night in the San Francisco Bay Area and London, express existential concerns for myself and countless others. The feeling of dislocation expressed in this series may be a fleeting or prolonged experience. Sometimes it’s simply a nagging concern for others near or far away.
In some cases, I’ll present portraits, but in others, such as in this new series, those same people are paired with environmental textures and backgrounds. The dislocated images present a diptych variation that comment on the uncertainty of our times and the opaqueness of truth in portraiture.
One of my new portraits, Staircase, shot with Fay Xiong (@yifayfay_) on a crisp February afternoon near London’s Trafalgar Square, will appear in a group portrait show at Praxis Gallery in Minneapolis. The same image is also featured in Dislocated-1. The “Portrait” exhibition, which runs June 21 - July 12, 2025, was juried by Sandrine Hermand-Grisel, a fine art photographer and founder of All About Photo.
I want to thank the terrific people who collaborated with me on this project in the Bay Area and London. As I run their images on social channels I will share their handles.
Please let me know what you think of the new series and tell me how you’re feeling right now.