Chris Castillo presents Bill Durgin

Bill Durgin is a photographer who uses the abstracted body to redefine genre boundaries. Is he a still life photographer? Is he a portrait photographer? Is it documentation of performance? Durgin’s work is a combination of of the above categories.

According to his artist’s statement for his nudes and still life works, he riffs on classical painting genres. He pays attention to relate the scale of the body equal to the scale of his juxtapositions (plants, wig hair, animals…) Dancers, models, and the artist himself pose as the subjects.

His nude work is unexpected. Bodies become objects, distorted, contorted, and universal. The spaces that surround the bodies are ambiguous, isolating, and haunting. They allude to the white cube gallery, but could allude to sinister or controversial spaces, like prison systems or psychiatric institutions…

He details his technical process. He shoots on 4x5 film, scans it, and minimally retouches the C41 prints. The photos are true to life’s real surrealism.

For more information visit http://billdurgin.com/