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Energetic, funny, great, intuitive, caring, reliable, engaging, sensual, analytical, and creative. Visual artist Janet E. Dandridge.
As a little girl, I thought that I would become a performer one day, a dancer or an actor maybe. I did not expect to become a photographer, but as soon as a camera landed in my little lap, my soul began to breathe easy.
I studied business and Spanish in Alicante, Spain as an undergraduate. While there, I immersed myself in Spanish culture, exploring castles, museums, homes, churches, coliseums, and archeological sites with a point-and-shoot camera. Soon after graduating from St. John's University in New York, I moved to Los Angeles to enter the film and TV industry. It was in the thick of this journey that I finally came full circle, back to the moment when I was a little girl composing my first photo. I knew at that moment that not only did I want to photograph simply because I enjoyed the art and how it affects people, but because I could do this every day creating a livelihood, and a platform to share my vision with the world.
I began to learn as much as possible on the technical side of photography. I took classes, read books, and hit the pavement. I taught literacy and art to children in Watts, CA. And in turn, they taught me the healing and transformative power art has to not only hold a mirror to society's ills, but to offer a platform, a hand-up by which we all must rise and evolve. Since then, I have been invited to produce imagery for everything from art galleries, live art shows and films; all the way to random people I meet who trust me to capture their essence on film or memory card. Photography is my expression, my art, and my way of helping in the improvement of this world we share. I understand this part of who I am on this earth, in this lifetime - to evolve spiritually and mentally while evoking the same strength in others through visual stimulation. I adore photography, art, and life, and what they achieve together. By constantly seeking knowledge, truths, and reevaluating who I am, my mission will be accomplished. I invite you to join me on this journey.
evolution revolution photography
Janet.
Janet E. Dandridge
janet_janetedandridge.com
310.606.1505
Faces is a series of intimate close-up portraits of Black folks in America. The anatomy of the African–American or Black face has been historically a topic of controversy and intrigue throughout the world. America’s history books tell stories of the Black experience in the United States by using imagery of the Black face as both positive and negative. Unfortunately, more often than not, defined by the latter. These faces have persevered through being beaten, ridiculed, tormented, and demonized. But these are also faces that are loved, admired, praised, cosmetically copied, and beautiful. This collection toys with the presumed idea of who this person is in relation to the face we see. By looking deep into someone’s eyes or following the lines on their face or looking at the teardrop at the end of a lash, we are able to get a glimpse of what defines the true Black face in America. I believe that the face is worth a thousand words and capturing the various nuances of the face with all its details – from the eyebrows to the mouth, the cheeks to the eyes – will engage the viewer in the intimacy of those details and give us something to ponder.
Faces is an interactive traveling installation, that will include Black folks from all over the world. Faces prints range from 4x6 to 8ft by 5ft, and a 16-20ft wall collage of 8x10/9x12 prints
This is a photo-tale of how the tons of grocery carts that we see scattered throughout the city of Los Angeles, CA are a reflection of the human connection. While taking photographs of the carts, they started to become people to me – I couldn’t help but give them names and think about how they reminded me of different people I’ve seen. These carts that are used everyday to transport groceries, children, equipment, etc, are taken away from their homes to foreign territory and discarded wherever, in the heat or cold, whenever they are no longer needed or until they need to be used again. So it made me think about the folks who discarded these carts and their connection to what/who they need; it seems that how we treat anyone and anything is a strong indicator of our true character. Although we all use each other, there’s a difference between “use” and “misuse,” and from the looks of these carts, we’re misusing them. Meet those carts, you might just know one.
Life of a Cart images are digital and film “portraits”, ranging in size from 8x10 to 30x40
Wandering the streets of any major city you meet amazing people, see weird things, and have experiences that you will always remember. There are folks happily hanging out on the block (slang for ‘their neighborhood’); two are having an argument in front of the corner store, and others are in their respective homes enjoying their favorite vices after a long day of work. You see a homeless person sleeping on the bus stop bench right under a beer company ad, little kids playing soccer in the street, and you might just see the local comedian on the corner pop-lockin’ and posing. Surrounding all of these interesting people is amazing architecture, diverse landscapes, public transportation, and fast cars. Here is a glance into the lives of those who live, work, and breathe the urban world. Those people are urban explorers, from the hills of Griffith Park, California to snow-covered buildings in Washington, DC.
Urban Explorers are film and digital, single and diptych prints, ranging in size from 8x10 to 48x21
Recycle. Reduce. Reuse
We live in this world and utilize its resources on a daily basis without taking a moment to truly understand the damage we are causing. Natural resources are supposedly running low, and a “plastic island” has been created in the Pacific from all the things that we used and tossed out to sea. Nationwide, there are landfills of toxic waste; and in some places, apartments have actually been built on top of those landfills! California has days when they ask their residents to use less water because the supply is low. Billions of trees are cut down in Japan to provide the world with chopsticks. What in the heck??!! Don’t we need trees to breathe and repair the atmosphere? Recylce. Reduce. Reuse.(RRR) takes a look at our trash after we dispose of it – not knowing exactly where it will go, but just getting it out of our site. We are the only ones that can make a change for the better, so let’s start with not just taking the trash out, but thinking about where it’s going and how we can recycle, reduce, and reuse.
RRR images are 20x30 digital prints.
