Thomas MacMullin

I photograph entire environments, including overlooked details and fleeting moments. I feel connected with my surroundings when I understand how a place's components interact with one another. I seek minute aspects of a space to access its atmosphere, a process that helps me connect with a location and uncover its admirable qualities.

The photographs do not merely document, but rather recreate a particular place; the two-dimensional assemblage prompts the viewer to envision the three-dimensional landscape. I capture various angles of a location and, through collages and sets, cohesively tie together the fragmented features. Images focused on a single aspect with a shallow depth of field emphasize the importance of all the parts of a place, even the small ones. The expansive compositions accentuate how the segments come together to form a space while dynamic lines juxtapose the stillness in each photo.

In solitude, I can focus my attention on the environment around me. To recreate my encounter with a place, I omit figures in my work, establishing an intimate relationship between the viewer and the images. I interlace sprawling vistas and seemingly insignificant minutiae of nature. The mundane moments, often unnoticed, are the building blocks of grandiose landscapes. I seek the small elements that together form sublime views. In the vastness of nature, it is surprising to learn how much gravity the details hold. I highlight how ambiance emanates from the interaction of the features in a larger setting.

My fleeting experiences, which would typically dissolve from memory, are now eternalized in the reliquary of a photograph. Although the viewer did not disassemble the scene, the composition requires the viewer's active engagement to reassemble it. Thus, the viewer joins me in appreciation of space.