Maggie Andrews

Artist Statement

One of my biggest influences as an emerging photographer has been looking at my family’s old photo albums. There is something so precious about being able to hold onto the past through photographs and being able to transport back to a different time when looking through these albums. I am desperate to hold onto the memories, moments and people in my life at this time, and the only way I am truly able to do that is through the lens of my camera. For this project entitled “I Will Not Lose This Moment Searching For Another”, I am creating photographs that explore the special relationships, places and objects in my life during this transformative time, my senior year of college. My practice consists of working with a large format 4x5 view camera and black and white film. I use this specific format for its slow moving detail and its ability to allow me to make direct eye contact with my subjects while I am creating images of them.

The major theme that I am exploring in this work is sentimentality, what makes something sentimental to me? What new meanings will these images create for themselves in 50 years? These are the questions that I have been grappling with through photography as I continue to build this project. Sentimentality is often described as a negative trait through thinly veiled sexist connotations, but with this project I am working to reclaim this word in a positive light. I will create a time capsule of my life and relationships at this time for myself and my future family to look back on, to put the viewer into my shoes now, as a photography student just about to step foot into the rest of my life. I plan to make these photographs into a photobook that resembles that of a traditional family photo album, similar to the ones I would find stacked on the shelves in my grandmother’s house.