Trystan Mackendrick
Trystan Mackendrick (USA) an artist’s statement
My artwork has never held a single trajectory, only the guarantee that my next project will diverge greatly from the last. Over time my images have gone from documentary to narrative to conceptual to emotive and back again. My photographs are an extension of myself, my experiences, and on occasion, the scars they left behind. They are a personal narrative, a way of sharing my inner self with those around me. I like to push boundaries and challenge conceptions, turn the grotesque into the sublime, and highlight the simple beauty of this world when I can find it. But if there has ever been a mission or goal to my work, then it would be one of instillation. Be it a thought or an ideal or an emotional state, it is always my hope that when someone walks away from viewing one of my pieces, that they take something away with them. As one of my college professors once told me “the worst reaction you can have to someone’s work is no reaction at all”.
Trystan Mackendrick is a fine art and commercial photographer, digital printer, novelist and forensic psychologist. His work has been exhibited on both the east and west coast, as well as internationally, and has been published in periodicals such as Collage and The Chronicle. He is also the recipient of numerous awards, particularly for his documentary work. As an artist, he prefers to take a more conceptual approach to his craft, and is more concerned with inducing a reaction, emotion or thought than simple aesthetics. As a photographer, he specializes in black and white photography and studio lighting, and his studio offers a diverse range of services from individually-tailored portfolios and product photography to digital printing and retouching for other artists.
Trystan Mackendrick
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