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Artist Statement:
Using my father’s camera I started taking pictures of people when I was twelve years old and I have really never stopped. I was compelled enough, or maybe naïve enough to make the decision to attend college at the Massachusetts College of Art to pursue a BFA degree and study photography.
I photograph to capture something of people, - a fleeting moment, a glimpse of human vulnerability on an otherwise masked face. Sometimes, though rarely, a person offers that glimpse willingly – “sure go ahead, take my picture” ….and their face, gesture, stance, posture…might display so much about the journey their life has taken that it spoke like no words could describe. If I am truly lucky that day I am able to capture something of the humanity, and the resulting photograph, if it is a good one, might speak truths about human character and experience.
We are inundated with images, day in and day out. Digital imaging dominates our world. So many of those images are meant to put you in a mood, head you in a particular direction and send you to the mall, or your computer to sell you something. Art – for me, isn’t about selling you something – for me it is about the human condition, our vulnerability and our poser as human beings. As the artist or as a viewer of art, to be involved in that process as either the creator or the viewer is very satisfying. The viewer of a piece of art takes from it what ever is valuable to them regardless of the intent of the artist. For me being a part of that process brings me a sense of contentment and deep feeling of peace.
Artist Biography:
Zoe Perry-Wood, social documentary photographer, has been photographing for more than thirty years. I addition of freelancing, Zoe has worked as a printer for several local photographers, exhibited locally and published in magazines, newspapers, journals and books. Zoe has worked on several documentary projects locally as well as projects that included traveling to Peru, China, and Nicaragua. Zoe co-chairs the Lexington Council for the Arts.
Zoe Perry-Wood has degrees in Social Justice Education and School Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Boston and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Massachusetts college of Art where she studies Photography with artists Nick Nixon, Gus Kayafas and Baldwin Lee. Zoe has also studies under Lee Friedlander, with Magnum Photographer Constantine Manos and most recently with landscape photographer Terry Abrams.
Zoe has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in social justice education, directed a bullying prevention program and worked as a consultant to schools and non-profits including facilitating trainings and workshops on leadership, community building, women’s empowerment and other social justice issues. Currently, Zoe works as a School Psychologist providing consultation and evaluations for several school districts in the Boston area, and serves on the Board of the Massachusetts school Psychologist Association as Vice President. Zoe is also a musician and is a jazz trombone player with the Mood Swings Orchestra, Boston’s only all-women big band. www.Zoe-Photos.com.
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