Anne Berry
Recently Anna Skillman described my work as having both a “dream-like southerness” and a “romantic” quality. The first of these two facets comes from my southern upbringing. The south is a culture based on narrative and a place haunted by the ghosts of a fallen society. I have always been told stories, and I am greatly influenced by literature, especially southern literature. I also tend to seek abandoned places and ruins.
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I think my images often reflect an element of loss or nostalgia. In addition to the southern element, three romantic values are central to my vision: worship of nature, reliance on imagination rather than reason, and the idea of a realm that transcends the physical. Today people wander through urban environments disconnected from nature, dreams, and myth. Animals, because they exist both literally and in the universally understood world of metaphor and dream, form a bridge between the visible material realm and an essential reality that is not easily seen or understood. I’ve always been drawn to animals. I seek to establish a connection with the animals that I photograph and to create images which pay tribute to nature, speak to the imagination, and capture a bit of magic. I want the viewer to sense the transcendent world that unveils itself through the beauty and mystery of the natural world. I look for the inner, spiritual aspect of the animal; in the words of Franz Marc, “We are searching for things in nature that are hidden behind the veil of appearance.”
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