Photography Exhibition The Gallery at Penn College: John Singletary – Through Lines/Fault Lines

John Singletary’s exhibition at the Gallery at Penn College features two bodies of work, Traces and Anahata.

Traces

The imagery and vignettes in this ongoing multimedia work use video, digital and stop motion animation, historical footage, and audio to depict the extraordinary light and darkness in the human condition and life events such as the genesis of our existence, and the purpose we serve to each other and ourselves.

The familiar and unpredictable illustrate the cycles of life across cultural barriers. Surveying the myriad and disjointed experiences that make up a life, Traces explores the way we construct our internal narratives and create meaning from experience. The audio component consists of a series of anonymously conducted interviews with a range of participants. The perspectives chosen reveal the universality and individuality of values, the intersectionality of symbolism across cultures, our lineages, and the perpetual cycles of life.

Anahata

Anahata is a photography-based multimedia project, presented as an immersive installation on OLED electronic canvases, as well as traditional print photographs. These images are the result of an intimate collaboration between performers, choreographers, costume designers, makeup artists and technicians in which I acted as photographer and director. Choreographed movement was captured with an open-spectrum camera in a purpose-built, UV light studio where dancers performed in handcrafted costumes. The pictures are not the product of digital editing, but rather a novel photographic process that produces images true to moments in time.

Sanskrit for “unhurt” or “unbroken,” the word Anahata corresponds to the energy of the heart, the “unstruck sound” and harmonic resonance with the celestial realm. Dream-like imagery steeped in archetypal symbolism, mythology and mysticism directs a narrative that transports the viewer to an ancient, eternal place. Abstract but familiar, this place exists within every one of us. It is the provenance of dreams, devotion, prayer, dance, music and silence. This cocoon-like web connects us through our stories, journeys, compassion and grace. Anahata explores human relationships and their connection to the divine. Whether experienced as a sanctuary or celebration of diversity in relationships, the images in Anahata attempt to connect to a universal and ageless divinity. When modern society is becoming precariously polarized and divided by sanctimonious tribal ideologies, I hope that my work can bridge some of the divides in our innate connection.

About John Singletary

John Singletary is a photographer and multimedia artist based in Philadelphia, PA. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from The University of the Arts. His work has been collected by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Center for Fine Art Photography as well as other institutional and private collections. He has exhibited at the Pennsylvania State Museum, LG Tripp Gallery, The James Oliver Gallery, The Sol Mednick Gallery and The Delaware Contemporary Museum. His work has been reviewed and/or featured in Lenscratch Magazine, the Od Review, Movers and Makers (WHYY) and the Philadelphia Inquirer, and of course, our newspaper. Singletary is also a contributing writer for The Photo Review Journal.