Presented by Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art

Mallorie Ostrowitz Illusion or Reality Show Artist Statement In my years as a photography teacher, when sharing the history of photography with my students, I become particularly drawn to the work of Eugene Atget. On my first trip to Paris in 2007, I produced a series of images entitled “Homage to Atget” in which I photographed much of Atget’s subject matter in a style similar to his. My interest in this style continues; it is an ongoing project, work in this show has been shot throughout Europe on several additional trips. In each European city or town, I find myself once again being drawn in by the same subject matter that Atget focused on. In particular, the shop windows draw me in as we traveled from Paris to many of the towns of Provence, southern France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Traveling from one town to the next, I focused on the contents of the shop windows and the reflected images on the glass. What I started to see was a merging of what was real and what was reflection. An ambiguity resulted from this merger creating images that challenges the viewer, much in the same way that Atget created a drama between the objects in the windows and their surroundings, be it buildings, landscape or people. By chance, for only a passing moment in time, a story is created; how the mannequins interact with reflected buildings, or passing cars. The imagined scenario created by the mingling of people with the objects on display give the images a surreal, sometimes amusing, sometimes disturbing quality. In each of these images, there is a human presence that in some way plays a part in the story being told. Atget saw the presence of reflection as creating new images; blending the illusion with the real, dissolving the difference between the two. He interpreted use of reflection as an activity where different aspects of nature become intertwined. I have tried to illicit some of the same emotional responses as did Atget through my choice of subjects similar to his; choosing window displays of decorative arts, fashion and foods. My main goal in capturing these images is to blend reality and fantasy which first creates the emotional response of disorientation, then challenges the viewer to sort out the content into what are the real objects and what is the reflection, and from that interpretation create their own narrative of the scene. When teaching the history of photography, I become particularly drawn to the work of Eugene Atget. My interest in this style continues; it is an ongoing project. Traveling from one town to the next, I focused on the contents of the shop windows and the reflected images on the glass. Although the images appear to be double exposures, they are not. What I capture with the camera is a merging of what is real and what is reflection. I am drawn to the interplay of the mannequins or objects on display with the passers by. This merging creates ambiguity, and by chance, for only a passing moment in time, a story is created. The imagined scenario created by the mingling of people with the objects on display give the images a surreal, sometimes amusing, sometimes disturbing quality. Atget saw the presence of reflection as creating new images; blending the illusion with the real, dissolving the difference between the two. He interpreted use of reflection as an activity where different aspects of nature become intertwined. I am after the same the emotional response of disorientation which then challenges the viewer to sort out what is really taking place in the scene. My focus in capturing these images is to blend reality and fantasy which first creates the emotional response of disorientation, then challenges the viewer to sort out the content into what are the real objects and what is the reflection, and from that interpretation create their own narrative of the scene.