Blair Academy Photography
January 2020: bought a $150 prom dress. March 2020: prom canceled. The first time I saw my dress was Thanksgiving break of 2019. It fit perfectly, but I didn't want to buy it early. During winter break I walked by that store and saw my dress, almost like a sign. The dress stayed in my closet in New Jersey while I kept track of canceled events from my room in LA. I was inspired by the classic phrase "All Dressed Up, And Nowhere To Go." I wanted to exemplify my loss and frustration: I used unworn dresses to create art that conveyed my peers and my emotions. I started in the photo studio; transitioned into combining other personal art with my photography, leading to a chapter devoted to confusion and overthinking; next, my work showed boredom and personal loss, at home on my old playground and shoveling snow in a prom dress; and the most impactful to me, an image from my aunt and uncle's wedding, which had been postponed due to the pandemic. I had been so angry that prom was canceled, but expressing my emotions through art and seeing my aunt and uncle's wedding taught me to value family and love over shallow or material desires, which is why I chose them to be the first image.
Selected Works
