ASHLEY DAVID / STOMPING GROUNDS, WALTHAM 2023
with aluminum pinhole lens, direct print onto Harman paper
with aluminum pinhole lens, direct print onto Harman paper
with aluminum pinhole lens, direct print onto Harman paper
About Stomping Grounds, Waltham 2023: These images emerged from the Stomping Grounds pilot project conducted in Waltham, Massachusetts in May of 2023. Pinhole camera photography, storytelling, and community walks throughout the nine wards of Waltham offered collaborative opportunities to explore memory, loss, and transformation and to create a contemporary community portrait that reflects participant experiences and priorities. The project was supported in part by grants from the Waltham Cultural Council and the Mass Cultural Council. Plans are in the works for future Stomping Grounds projects in a spectrum of rural and urban communities.
Artist Statement: I begin my work with the question, “If everything you do every day is considered art, how do you perform your life?” because it redefines daily living as a conscious creative act. It challenges each of us to participate, and through incremental and conscious actions, personal empowerment accrues and transforms the collectivities we comprise. With the Stomping Grounds project, I invite participants to reflect on and share stories about their everyday spaces. These stories collaborate with the extraordinary depth of field and serendipity made possible by pinhole camera photography to leverage medium as metaphor, document, and artifact.