Thomas Dozol’s new pictures hold richly-colored, composited portraits of creatives. These works suggest a meditation on time conveyed through the singular. There is a visual meandering; a plurality of seeing. The work takes on impressionistic qualities, as various moments are captured for a specific duration. There is sensitivity and trust between Dozol and his subjects. We are allowed multiple access points as the photograph’s details ebb and flow. The viewer is endlessly caught in a moment; yet shifting to the next. We observe a range of jump cuts, dwelling in the liminal spaces between. These images capture how the artist and his subject share space together.
Each work compresses time; containing a chronological sequence of twelve exposures, expressed by a roll of film. This dynamic with the analog is explicated further as the square format of the Hasselblad is maintained throughout the process. Images come together in the digital before output. The dye sublimated printing process evolved out of the needs of these photographs. Color is deeper and reveals more saturation; the shine produced accentuates the movement and opticality caught within.
Dozol’s subjects are persons of his periphery; close friends and acquaintances that build up the artist's social world. He generally spends around an hour with each sitter, conversing through words and movements of the body. Interaction is collaborative; the sitter often leads, as Dozol responds accordingly. The individual captures pose the casualness of a snapshot as the artist negotiates this exchange. The inherent looseness allows for a visual breakdown to occur when the exposures are compiled together. We find something akin to the moving-image conveyed through one photograph. As such, the subject emerges and dissipates as the space of the work becomes hazy and less defined.
There is a quiet distrust in the camera here as the power dynamics of photographer and sitter unravel. The amalgamation of exposures allows the subject's gaze to be deflected, toying with the command between the observer and the observed. Although we are left with an individual image, the multiplicity within skews the authority of the singular. The works suggest that they are less about trusting what we see; rather opening a space to experience what we observe. They are fleeting, yet fixed. The photographs feel like a memory; or the experience of remembering a memory. Dozol’s work captures sociality; a dynamic intimacy that posits a shared experience for which the viewer can reflect and relate.