Noir City
An ongoing inspiration for me has been Film Noir, a genre of American film from the 1940s and 50s, usually set in the urban jungle and featuring desperate people in dire situations. Film Noirs took full advantage of their city locations and a low-key black and white style to create a mood of anxiety, mystery, and anticipation.
My photographs feature characteristically Noir settings, with stark light, dramatic shadows, skewed framing, and characters whose faces may be partially obscured. These photographs combine a street photography approach with a more controlled method, in which I bring characters into a scene to create a Film Noir-like experience. My interest in cinematic form extends to the type of images created for this series, including establishing, close-up, reaction, and cutaway shots. Thus, these images can be sequenced to suggest any number of dark narratives.
Over time, I integrated this work into several different formats, including installation and performance. I also incorporated the images into the narrative film, The Pressman Negatives.
