Artist's Statement

C.J. Pressma

Archival Digital Prints - All images 39" longest side

In 1972 I was watching the Fellini film Roma and was captivated by splashes of light involving sparks from a street car at night. That scene with its dark nature and surreal quality motivated me to emulate a specific photographic style. It seems strange to me (almost absurd) that such a momentary scene became a motivation for an entire body of work that is interwoven throughout my artistic career. I call these images Evidence and Inhabitants. They are the evidence of places and people I have never been able to fully remember, but manifest themselves in the photographs I make.

I usually capture these pictures in abandoned places and of Inhabitants who might have or may still be living there. I search for the Evidence of humans where no humans currently reside. I am like an archaeologist sifting through a once inhabited location trying to imagine/portray what these people and places were like.