new beginnings

A Collection of Photographs by Carissa Riccardi

I created this blog sometime back in September '09 as a way to document my journey through building a body of work. As time passed and I hadn't written a single word, daily I would think about what my opening post would say. Weeks turned into months and the series was completed, the show was hung and the reception was had yet still not a word was written. It was in the back of my mind the whole time, just jump. So here is. It is the end to my most recent collection but just the beginning to the next, and from here I have only the open road to follow.

Just some notes: this collection was shot using a vintage Brownie Hawkeye camera. I found this camera in our garage when we were cleaning out old family heirlooms. It belonged to Joel's great Aunt Mollie, who herself loved photography. When Joel's mom saw how excited I was about the great find she handed ownership of the camera over to me.

With a fixed aperture and shutter speed there needed to be some experimenting with my new toy. So I hit the web in searched anything I find out about this camera. I found a number of blogs about others experiments and found a technique that I feel in love with. I discovered that with a little lens manipulation this camera could be turned into a tool that I could used to produce dreamy, surreal images.

With my paint brush and my pallet I searched for a story. I agonized all summer long about it until one night I had a dream that I could recall in great detail. When I awoke I wrote down everything I could about what I had just witnessed. My vision unfolded into a series of photographs that I displayed for public view on the 2nd of January 2010.

I had my insecurities, being that this was the first time anyone had seen the work completed and it being my first solo exhibit, but the copious amounts of positive feedback I received has only encouraged me to continue on. Realizing that everyone's vision is unique and that mine is not exempt I go forth with confidence and motivation to keep creating.

With endings and new beginnings there is always a struggle, and with struggle comes new found knowledge.