Itch series, 2021
by Skye Tao
In Itch, I combine utopic images of cityscapes and skyscapes with industrial, urban interiors to create a space of imagination and fantasy. Through this series, I attempt to produce the world of the unconscious and desire by juxtaposing the beauty of the natural world with the concrete structures through which it is glimpsed.
The work evokes a sense of subconscious desire: perhaps of an escape, perhaps of a space of freedom. Marrying various documentary-style images in this way creates an uncanny dissonance – images that, independently, would read as true to life become surreal when presented in this imaginary combination. By creating this tension between the real and the unreal, Itch points to the potential of photography to hold both truth and fiction at once.
