Photography by Susanna Corson-Finnerty
About the Artist
Susanna Corson-Finnerty is a freelance photographer based in the Philadelphia area. She graduated cum laude from McGill University in Montréal, Quebec with a BA in English Literature. She has no traditional training in photography, only a passion that pushes her to constantly create and evolve. Her work has been shown in the Philadelphia area and surrounding suburbs, as well as featured on various websites. Her love of photography began as she traveled the world and wanted to capture some of the beauty she witnessed. Thus far she has visited 15 countries and aspires to see many more.
Artist Statement
A photograph is the language I use to share my emotions.
I believe that when one views a piece of art, it calls forth feelings that depend entirely on the viewer, the space, and the time a piece is being viewed. I don't think that any two people look at a piece of art in the same way. However, I do think art can be a way to emotionally overlap, to call forth similar feelings in dissimilar people – to connect us all.
My photography aims to connect on an emotional level. Freeman Patterson in Photography and the Art of Seeing states: "Seeing, in the finest and broadest sense, means using your senses, your intellect, and your emotions. It means encountering your subject matter with your whole being. It means looking beyond the labels of things and discovering the remarkable world around you….The art of seeing is the art of photography." This statement fully articulates my experience of photography – before I fell in love with my camera I didn't truly see my environment, I wasn't truly present. Now infinite horizons have opened themselves before me, and with my photographs I aspire to share some of my witness to beauty with others.
I believe in the purity of images. I never alter light sources or stage people or props in my photographs. I also don't use any sort of photo editing software once an image is captured. I could draw a comparison between heavily altered images and someone who has received extensive plastic surgery – the end effect might be beautiful, but it's artificial. I find natural beauty infinitely more meaningful, and I seek meaning in bearing witness to life's processes. For me, the beauty of photography is in capturing these things candidly. I believe that beauty exists without any artifice everywhere we look, and looking through my lens helps me to see it.
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