tyson crosbie photography

Okay, something a little different. I am going to avoid all the third person talk about the work like it is in a museum stuff. Hopefully you read this blog because I am honest and serious about what I do.

I honestly have been developing this series in places all over the world for about eight years. It is a process that is slow and sometimes surprising with long periods where all is working as it should like evolution. To develop a personal language out of all the formal considerations of color, composition, texture etc and personal considerations of time, context and philosophy it just takes time. It is a work that is about direct observation of beauty, and on that premise is really about hope. And hope is something all transplants need to find in the desert.

When I came to Phoenix and started this series I was really pissed off about being here. I had just been moved out here (wife’s work) from Austin, Texas and felt like I never had a chance to fully developed a series of work out of that city. My rules were set up to work in Austin and the ideas that were available for exploration in that city just weren’t available in Phoenix. Like so many other transplants to this city I had to let go of what my previous experience was and embrace the new opportunities that Phoenix had to offer.

Letting go was not as easy, I didn’t even photograph anything for a couple months. I would drive around and all I saw were the sandstone brick walls and the black trash cans. For a color abstract expressionist this was like hell, and just about as hot. However, I kept looking because I knew there must be something out there, and frankly I needed to find it. I needed a creative outlet to survive the isolation that Phoenix, just by it’s very culture of expansion, had imposed on me. I had to learn how to source material from the city I started by walking my neighborhood and then expanded to other parts of Phoenix… little field trips, explorations that didn’t guarantee any reward but were required.

Check out the series in full at tysoncrosbie.com

Please leave your comments and criticisms below I would love to know how this succeeds and fails. If you love it pass it on, if you hate it tell me why in the comments below.

Thanks.