In Focus: New Photography

Boderra Joe

Time and space are both a realm in my work. They are interwoven like language and landscape. Through these elements, connection inspires with sentimentalities and admirations of where I surround myself with. It is where I feel most vulnerable, seen, and connected. Our eyes travel and admire the essence beauty of landscape and we focus on it. We breathe it in, slowly. I consider these fragments and with fragments, are stories. As a contemporary photographer, I focus solely on color, sharpness, and range. However, through these certain details, it’s all about understanding what the land is communicating. Growing up and continuing to grow on the reservation in the desert, everything around me changes dramatically because of sunlight or moonlight changes the color of the sky, the sand, the mountains, and with these moments of change, are viewpoints to be taken. With my vision and how I bring these images to life is by shooting single-shot images and merging them together to create a panorama piece. I review my images, zoom in and out of them constantly to make sure there are no distractions in the photo. Once the image is to my liking, I begin editing the colors: saturation, brightness, color selection, focus points, and so forth. I recreate my own imagination of how I see these landscapes. These edits take hours or even days. When I come to a point to pause any further edits, I sit with the image for a while and let it breathe. This allows me to breathe as well. Then, I begin my next image.

Derrell Lopez

Through Polaroid photographs and Polaroid mosaics, my work explores the internal struggles with oneself. By using an analog Polaroid camera, I capture my body in an image that has been distorted by physically manipulating the image or with the use of light to show feelings of self-hate, or sharp portraits that capture self-intimacy being present in that moment with my thoughts, body, and emotions. Each Polaroid photograph I take embodies a unique process that no other photographic process can replicate, it allows me to communicate my internal experiences in a much more exciting way. Influenced by Expressionism and the work of Francis Bacon, I continue to share my body, mind, and struggles with the world and give my audience a visual insight into what I lost, what I found, and what I continue to experience today.