Barbara Tierney

Artist Statement

I am a native Virginian so my work, generally, centers on the coast and all who live here. However, I grew up in Venezuela and still travel extensively.

I looked for inspiration from my grandmother, Zella, and my father, Robert. Zella used a Brownie camera, telling stories with wry, whimsical artistry. She took hundreds of images of family by capturing each story on film, she explains to me exactly who she was. My father, inspired by his mother, used film, video and Polaroid, leaving a visual legacy to tell his story.

My images reflect the legacy of my grandmother and father. I focus on storytelling through photography just like they did. I seek to tell a story with each image; a story that records memory of time and place. I strive to tell something about people in my photographs; I do not just record landscapes; I explain my passage through place and time. The story I wish to tell is about the people and places I treasure the most.