Auditorium by James Rajotte

James Rajotte

Currently residing in: Rochester, NY

Website: http://jamesrajotte.net

Work Statement: Photography, I feel, offers the opportunity to greater explore and express an individual's interest in the visual world. I find that my interest is piqued when I am exploring new places, or meditating on familiar ones.

I began working as a photojournalist during my undergraduate education with internships at newspapers, but found myself constantly trying to appease a demographic that wanted to see their own communities as problem-free. During my graduate studies, I have had the chance to re-evaluate my own ideas about the role of images in society.

My current work contends that our day-to-day visual environments can be deceptively oppressive and subconsciously discouraging. I feel that still photographs offer viewers the unique opportunity to realize that this contention is true.

The photographs from the project School address the oppressive environment of American public education. The images in the series are meant to symbolically convey a sense of hopelessness, rigidity, banality and intimidation.

Bio:
James Rajotte (b. 1980) is a photographer currently living in Rochester, NY. After growing up in rural Pennsylvania, James studied Earth Sciences at Penn State University. He then worked as a photojournalist for several publications during and after his undergraduate education. Currently James is an MFA student at the Visual Studies Workshop.