Heather Rhymes

My photographs are about noticing the unnoticed; they attempt to elevate the mundane. I want to show others the details or moments I see in the world while maintaining a certain distance by a level of abstractness in representation. I have chosen a minimalist approach to framing to reduce distraction.

Images of “cut wood” are only able to be seen because of their cut state; the machinery has created textured surfaces that would normally not exist. Parts of destruction, from a certain perspective, can be very beautiful.

The “microbiology” series of test tube photographs is an exercise in simplification. In the spirit of microbiology, I have magnified separate sections of one photograph. From this one photograph, an almost limitless number of compositions could be created. How much is too much?

My photographs are realized from a string of eliminations; at each step, I choose from a myriad of possibilities—from framing the image in the camera, deleting on-camera, editing on the computer, and printing—and each decision is determined by a “just right feeling” approach that I trust because of my training.