HALEY MORRIS-CAFIERO: Wait Watchers

Flanders / Marilyn:  Palm Springs, CA

© Haley Morris-Cafiero

 

 Titan: New York, NY

 © Haley Morris-Cafiero

Gelato

 © Haley Morris-Cafiero

Cops: New York, NY  

© Haley Morris-Cafiero

Vitoria:  Barcelona, Spain 
© Haley Morris-Cafiero

I met Haley Morris-Cafiero and viewed her series "Wait Watchers" less than a year ago at Chicago's 2013 FilterPhoto Festival. Since that time, her work has exploded onto the photography scene. It was chosen by curator Kyohei Abe (Director and Chief Curator at the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography) for his exhibition "Juxtapose" at the Darkroom Gallery; chosen by curator Susan Burnstine for her show "The Visual Narrative" at the Minneapolis Photo Center; chosen for the Houston Center for Photography's 32nd Annual Exhibition juried by Malcolm Daniel; and soon to be seen on The Photoville FENCE in both New York and Atlanta.

Haley is based in Memphis. She received her MFA in Art from the University of Arizona and her BFA in Ceramics and BA in Photography from University of North Florida. She is currently an Associate Professor and Head of the Photography Department at Memphis College of Art. She uses film and digital rangefinders to capture her images. The unaltered images are printed using digital process.

The Series: WAIT WATCHERS

"I have always had a hard time controlling my weight. My....exterior has determined my place in society and I have often felt left out and awkward. I photograph myself in socially engaged spaces to examine how my body fits into society."

"For my series, Wait Watchers, I set up a camera in a heavy-traffic, public area and take hundreds of photographs as I perform mundane, everyday tasks as people pass by me. I then examine the images to see if any of the passersby had a critical or questioning element in their face or in their body language. I consider my photographs a social experiment and I travel the world in an attempt to photograph the reactions of a diverse pool of passersby."

 

"I seek out places that are beautifully lit, allow for an interesting composition and, if possible, set up a scene that references ideal feminine beauty and societal expectations. I put the camera on a tripod, bench or with an assistant, in full view of the by-passing gazer, set the focus and exposure and take hundreds of photographs."

"The images capture the gazer in a Cartier-Bresson, microsecond moment where the shutter, the scene, my actions and their body language align and are presented to the viewer. While I do not know what they are thinking, the gazer appears to be visually troubled that I am in front of them."

HALEY MORRIS-CAFIERO

FACES: The Darkroom Gallery

JUROR'S CHOICE:  Innocence

 Photograph by John F. Martin

FOUR HONORABLE MENTIONS

 Maleficent

Photograph by Lori Pond

045-Philadelphia

 Photograph by Sheri Lynn Behr

Portraits of Silence, Northern Sri Lanka

 Photograph by Ashok Sinha

David Bram

 Photograph by Nate Mosseau

THE PREMISE FOR SUBMISSIONS

"Each portrait reveals something of the sitter, the photographer and also of us as viewers. No one image can muster a whole and complete being, no matter how much we believe this could be so. This is the part of the photograph we create in our imagination, we fill in each crack and hole with a sort of personalized reasoning. And all these unknowns in the midst of true transparency."

"Eye contact is made or retracted, body language boastful, reticent or indecipherable. Facial expressions can be hard at work or numbly slack. While subjects have a power over these photographic outcomes, it is the choice of the photographer to coax or mute said expressions for their artistic offering." –  Damaris Drummond, Darkroom Gallery

THE JUROR'S FINAL SELECTION

"As a record number of entries were received for FACES, making the final selection for this exhibit was difficult. There were many impressive images and I found it painful to have to leave any behind. Among the many well-composed portraits, I chose images based not only on technical skills, but also on an indefinable element surrounding the expression or emotion projected. I favored images that evoked an air of mystery or clarity; a moment of joy; a secret not shared or a place we may never visit - a point in time captured in the past suggesting unknown possibilities in the future."– Juror, Elizabeth Avedon

FACES EXHIBITION

Dec 12 – Jan 5, 2014

 Faces Artist's Reception
Sunday, January 5, 2014 at 3:00pm
Darkroom Gallery, Essex Junction, Vermont

View All 60 Choices Here

Juror: Elizabeth Avedon