Hey, Hot Shot! Entries: Willamain Somma
Untitled 03 by Summer ‘07 contender Willamain Somma
The lovely Marina had promised one last contender post for this round, but since she is a busy and active woman, has not had a chance to post her final feature. So if I may, I will post on her behalf.
Yesterday, my cab driver dropped me off four blocks away from the Port Authority Bus Terminal with all of my fat pieces of luggage in the rain, and this photograph, which comes from Willamain Somma, calls to mind my feeling of absolute incredulousness of him driving away.
Somma’s series is about isolation, and her submission of photos was taken while at the UCross Foundation for the Arts in Clearmont, Wyoming this past March.
There I was in the middle of nowhere with not much aside from cattle, horses, deer and endless rolling hills. I was desperate to make some interesting pictures during my artist residency but was feeling terribly stuck in my creative process. Aside from a few other artists who were busy working on their paintings and scripts and dances there was just the endless rolling hills and highways. And then there was me. So for the first time since I picked up a camera in high school, I started photographing myself.
In describing this particular body of work, I appreciate Somma’s unapologetic stance on the use of herself as a subject in her photographs.
In the past I have always photographed other people knowing that every portrait was ultimately a reflection of myself. These pictures no longer disguise that fact. They are about me in the landscape, me in the world, and me in my creative process. They are about being stuck, trying to escape, existential angst, the whole narcissistic nine yards. I hope others like them but they please me and I’ve found that ultimately, that’s enough.
Somma is from from the North Shore of Massachusetts and is a graduate of the Bard-ICP MFA Photography Program. She now lives in New York City where she works and teaches. Her past projects include a documentary project on crack addicts in the Lower East Side.
The winners for the Summer Edition of Hey, Hot Shot! will be announced on the website tomorrow at noon. Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter. Good luck!
