I’d stare at the ceiling, walls, and floor
Anything but what was in front of me
I refuse to talk
I won’t say yes
Because yes is an admission to something being wrong
An admission to there being something
“We need to talk about”
Words that need to crawl off of my tongue
And stitch themselves together for something to change
But I don’t know what letters to use to make sense of this
I believe that the first step to truly understanding anything is by facing it. You can’t expect to make sense of something you ignore. When I avoided how I was feeling, I felt terrible. But, now, I am working towards addressing my feelings, head on. We often think that by ignoring something it’ll just go away, but I think it’ll always be there. I find the process of making handmade collages to be therapeutic, and a time when I reflect on my own emotions. I want people to consider how they’re feeling and what may be contributing to that or how to get through it. I want to make our emotions visible through photographic visuals and a poetry component written from some of the amazing subjects.
Artist Bios
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Olivia Grace Elmore
Olivia Grace Elmore is an 18-year-old multimedia artist and photographer. They grew up in Pennsylvania and moved to East Harlem when they were 12. During that time, they began to explore their identity. This was a struggle for them, but through this struggle with coming to terms with themselves, they found photography. Through photography, they explore their own emotions and the emotions of those around them to put into images what people struggle to put into words. They find peace in doing handmade collaged portraits to dig deeper into our minds and our emotions, to find true understanding of one’s self.
Organizations
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Photoville
Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.
In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.
By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation.
Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.
For more information about Photoville visit, www.photoville.com
Getting To and Through
Featuring: Olivia Grace Elmore
Locations
View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
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The views and opinions expressed in this exhibit are those of the exhibition artists and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Photoville or any other participants and partners of the Photoville Festival.
