Exploring, Documenting, Sharing

I’m Grant Cunningham, and I’m an artist who uses a camera to help others see and feel the world differently.

I don’t photograph objects, persons, or scenes; I photograph my reaction to, or feelings about, the object, person, or scene.

Whenever I see something I want to photograph, I ask myself “what is it about this that moves me? What about it interests or excites me? Is there a story to be told?” The answers to those questions guide the picture that I make. Sometimes the answers come nearly instantaneously, while other times I have to think about them.

This usually results in a different point of view, a way of communicating that is both visually interesting and emotionally/intellectually compelling. If the person looking at my pictures has a reaction it tells me I’ve succeeded, that I’ve reached them on some level.

The majority of my work is in black-and-white (B&W) because I enjoy its inherently abstract nature. I grew up around abstract and surrealist art; that’s what my mother painted, and was the subject of the books she had on her shelf. As a result of my upbringing, I don’t think about representing things realistically, but rather as I perceive them.

My earliest influences weren’t photographers, but the painters I saw in my mother’s books: Miro, Chagall, Picasso, and others. I occasionally see bits of their styles pop up in my work, even though it’s not intentional.

Fundamentally, I photograph what interests me. At times that results in an individual, standalone picture, while other times it might evolve into a series or a collection of related pictures. Sometimes it’s only through such expanded perspectives that we can truly start to understand something.

Mostly, though, I just let my pictures speak for themselves. Hopefully they’re not boring.

For my art discussions, tutorials, behind-the-picture stories, and what I’m up to right now, visit my Blog.