Ann Ploeger: PORTRAITS 2004 – 2015

First Friday Reception: Friday November 6^th, 6-8pm

Home. I began making this series when I shunned the notion of home, so fucking bourgeoisie. These environments we create to pretend we are safe? Settling down was the antithesis of freedom. And yet all these people in my life were doing it. 

Through photography I attempted to figure it out, to dive into this private sphere and turn it on its head.  I peered into domestic environments and created my own mad mix as a way for me to come to terms with the concept of home. Questions were answered in form and color, and people looking at me looking at you. By playing with the chaos of the domestic within my frame these accidental, unspoken narratives were born.

10 years later I continue to be the spontaneous director of these dynamic still scenes. Revisiting this work a decade later was an obvious choice to look backward and forward at these weird and wonderful ecologies of home life. From film to digital, from age 30 to 40, here I am, continually observing private worlds with their undercurrents of tension that inspire me endlessly. With my camera I am present in my search for truth and beauty, surrendering to home.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Ann Ploeger’s work explores contemporary ideas of domesticity. With a background in film studies, her artwork has a unique sense of time, place and narrative. Large format prints of Ploeger’s work have been exhibited at Froelick Gallery, Marylhurst Art Gym, Pushdot Studio and Blue Sky Gallery. In 2007 William, James & Company published a monograph of Ann’s work titled Portraits. She has been commissioned throughout the West Coast for various private and non-profit projects. Her work may be found at annploeger.com