Smithsonian National Potrait Gallery

Artist Statement:
Photography is a means for me to enter and experience the world. I become interested in a certain place or a person, and I work to engage with what unfolds in front of the camera. What I hope to show is a constellation of things surrounding us that come together in an interesting way. Light, color, gesture, and the subtlest delineations of skin and cloth are all elements that affect the emotional experience of a portrait. Some days it is enough to just look through the camera’s ground glass to produce a condition of wonderment. Photography’s greatest gift to me has been the way it allows me to observe a moment of time with clarity and attention.

Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C,
Smithsonian National Potrait Gallery

Title:Laura
Artist:Dave Woody
Date: 2007
Medium:Digital print, 2007
81.3 x 63.5 cm (32 x 25 in.)

Aesthetic Object
The portrait Laura by Dave Wood, seems to be an example of an aesthetic object, or dealing with the nature of beauty, art,taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. The soft light evokes a sense of peace and at ease. The soft skin and cloth color present a sense of sofness to the viewer. The portrait's color protrays beauty of the individual. Laura's simple facial gesture gives the viewer an appreciation for the individual's simplicity. The subject (Laura) seems like the modest type, or very low maintenance. The idea of modesty and simplicity takes the viewer to a common level of simpleness, even to the largest's of egoos. She represents a simplicity of life, and how simple life CAN be!