Mind Games
July 6 – 29, 2006
I have photographed my three children and their cousins and friends focusing on the subject of play. I am intrigued by play because the dark and mysterious sides to this make-believe world, as well as the heightened sense of beauty and awe, are fantastic elements that seem to parallel our own subconscious dreams, desires and fears, no matter what age we are. The challenge for me is to photograph my children and others in artistic alchemy allied to childhood imagination, and transform these familiar children to wonderful, fantastic beings that push the frontiers of the imagination of the viewer, but, at the same time, ask that the viewer consider the wonder in everyday life.
Julie Blackmon was born in 1966 in Springfield, Missouri, where she currently lives and works. Studying art at Misssouri State University, she became interested in the photography of Sally Mann and Diane Arbus. Leaving college before finishing her degree, years later Blackmon turned to photography as a mother of three.