On The Cutting Room Floor

At the beginning of a photography student’s journey to become a professional photographer they are told to raise their hand if they have a camera on them. After this they are told to look around at all the other people in the room who are also raising their hands and that unlike other artists who work with paints or clay, nearly everyone has a camera and can wield it as an artistic tool. After this the student goes on to take thousands of photographs refining their eye for spotting photograph's and also their skills at editing them. In the end most of the photographs the student takes will never see the light of day for one reason or another, perhaps the subject was out of focus or the exposure was set to low or high. In any case, the photographs are rejected and are likely doomed to stay that way. This collection seeks to showcase some of these unsung images and to challenge the traditional aesthetics of the medium by depicting in the state that the images were made in and the state they are in after an editing period. It is through these photographs that I seek to demonstrate the level of skill it takes to become a professional photographer. And to challenge the notion of what a photograph can be or become throughout the journey of the cutting room floor.