Jim Kushman
Artist Statement:
“The image ‘Portland 2020’ is a photo montage created from my street photography in Portland Oregon between the years 2016 and 2020; roughly the period when the Black Lives Matter movement began and was most active. Agency is what drives social change. BLM was both an awakening and a call for action, but change also brings resistance from those who are invested in the status quo. Social change can be transformational for some and feared by others. Agency is the start of change but the path to real and lasting social change is a long and difficult one.”
Artist Bio:
“I have been photographing people, places, and nature for many years as a self-taught photographic artist. Travel to foreign places stimulates my curiosity and is the starting point for much of my current work. Yet I also find inspiration in photographing familiar places I would ordinarily pass by in the rush of life. Either way, my intention is to create an image that is visually fresh and often metaphorical. Photography is a unique experience of seeing an ‘instant out of time’ that no one else sees in exactly the same way.”