Photographic Artist Mark Bartkiw is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the project‘Grief Encounters. To see Mark ’s body of work, click on any image.

The impulse to create tableaux and fictional characters has its roots in childhood play. My youthful preoccupation with inventing fantastical worlds has evolved into an adult creative process that is a way to exorcise anxieties and tribulations. By using cinematic references and photographic conventions I invite a viewer to experience aspects of my inner world in a way that creates a parallel universe.

The analogue macro-photographic approach is crucial aspect of the construction of the images. The camera captures miniaturized spaces, in real light, using physical optics. The unreal is positioned against the real, a visual conflict that heightens the unique surrealism of the world within the photograph. Scale is fluid, morphing from tiny to gigantic, both within the scene and on the wall.

The dark worlds implied in Grief Encounters are pregnant with tension, unheard dialogues and missed intentions. The pictures are stills from a Noir Novella that eludes our full comprehension. We project our own insecurities over the image and veiled conflict within to give ourselves the illusion of closure, a comforting resolution.