Thomas Carroll

Artist Statement

I am an experimental photographer. The aesthetics of my work are influenced by filmmaking at SUNY Binghamton, NY. I studied avant-garde cinema under Ken Jacobs, Larry Gottheim, Peter Kubelka, Nicolas Ray, Jonas Mekas, Hollis Frampton, Stan Brakhage and other visiting filmmakers and artists. They taught the Art of Seeing. I developed an appreciation for the flow of shapes in space and time.

The kinetic energy I see from the play of light and shadow interacting with surfaces attracts my imagination with the possibilities of photography and film. I often photograph subjects with the intent to collect and overlay the images in my camera at a later time. The fusion of images reveals something that I could not have seen before. My process is intuitive and grounded in the art of seeing. Through the lens I try to visualize the energy...the light, the motion, the hidden essence of the subject. My mind's eye and imagination play a part in the experimental process. I collect a variety of images that can either be fused into a new reality that transcend the original photographs or be a unique stand-alone photo.

The joy of overlaying photographs is to reveal the unseen and allow the discovery of a deeper meaning, a sensuality or relationship that did not exist before. My objective is to show something special about a moment, the ghosts of our time, our past or perhaps our future. I use photography to open my imagination to elements of mystery, magic, truth, allegory and beauty. My style and content are somewhat existential, whimsical and abstract. I respond to my photographic subjects with an openness and playfulness to explore the moment. I use the features of the camera and Adobe Lightroom to stretch the boundaries of photography beyond the visible norm.

I began by double exposing 35mm film in 1979. I would rewind the film in the camera and shoot again. It was often hit or miss. In 2015 I started using a Nikon digital camera with an overlay feature. This and other digital variables expand the experimental possibilities of photography. I use Adobe Lightroom to attain the clarity, structure and color that I want for the final image.

I am influenced by many artist, styles and schools of art. I am especially inspired by Man Ray's vision of experimental photography as well as the artistic freedom he derived from his friendship with Marcel DuChamp and his association with the artists of Dada, Surrealism and to some extent Abstract Expressionism. Other important influences are Fernand Leger, Antoni Gaudi, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Marc Chagall, Louise Bourgeois; choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, as well as film directors including Federico Fellini, Georges Melies, Eric von Stroheim, Busby Berkeley, Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali and many others..