Darin Mickey: frozen moments
Darin Mickey has a photographic style that is intriguing. His work focuses on photo realistic images, with subjects being ordinary people and ordinary places, but they turn to look unusual. The people in his photographs look lifeless, although they are indeed well alive. The people and the street scenes in his images appear artificially frozen, immobile, isolated. I am not sure on the visual clues that convey that feeling. Perhaps it is the lighting, the isolation of the elements in the composition, perhaps the fact that the people never look at the camera. What ever it is, I like it a lot.
A couple of series worth to mention are “on land” and the great “Stuff I Gotta Remember Not To Forget“. This last was a photographic recording of Darin’s father at work and at home. It is a unique visual story that shows with incredible candor the everyday life of his father while working as a salesman. It is a remarkable work; even when the images look sort of lifeless, they convey humor and tenderness. The work was published as a book by J&L Books.
