remember in 2019 when i only shot in my bathroom?
One of the myriad cornerstones of my artistic practice is revisiting past work. Some ideas, some images get lodged in my brain and simply refuse to leave. I’m always deciphering how I can rebuild and recontextualize old work in the present moment. What persists? What can be left behind?
Recently, I had this image in my mind from 2019 or so—made when I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to make as a photographer. At the time, I was almost exclusively making photos within my house, most often in the dirty, landlord special bathroom in my shitty college apartment. I had so much fun setting up lighting and playing in that small, dingy space. (Those of you dear readers who were in class with me at the time will remember such gems as “bathroom selfie” and “Is this what you wanted?” Lucky you.)
I recently toyed around with revisiting this old work on a rainy day. Typically, when I want to shoot I’ll do what I call “low energy street photography”—i.e.: going on a long walk and imaging still subjects on the street. But, alas, with the rain outside I was going nowhere (mostly out of a desire to stay warm). So, I decided to pull a throwback Morgan moment and shoot in my bathroom.
I’m always amazed by how much of me seems to stay the same. The same lotion on the counter, the same towels, the same tripod. The girl in the first images feels like a different person, but is she really so different from who I am now? There’s also something different, though. One of those slightly imperceptible shifts that you can only see when looking at an artist’s work in the macro. What a joy to have such a rich history.