Artist Statement
I am a conceptual portrait photographer based in Bloomington, Indiana. My body of work explores and blends themes of beauty, mental and emotional health, the human form, and current events. The subjects in my photographs are encouraged to interject their personal expressiveness into the work we create as artisitic collaborations. By capturing a subject’s genuine expression and gesture, I encourage the viewer to look deeper into an image to explore its more complex messages. I regularly revisit photographs I made years before to locate those that take on new meaning when prepared, presented, and viewed through an updated worldview.
My art is created using Nikon digital and film cameras, Adobe and Luminar software, Macintosh computers, and a Canon inkjet printer, a process that allows me to have complete control over the work from capture to output. I am creatively and inspirationally influenced by photographers Edward Weston, Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Phillipe Halsman, Diane Arbus, Irving Penn, and others whose use of expression, gesture, and environment amplify their narratives beyond that of simple portraiture.
—Rodney Margison