Paul Whittaker Slides Resume Artist's Statement Photography Statement For information, contact: Paul Whittaker 825 Main St. Evanston, IL 60202 Phone: 847-492-8548 graphitti@earthlink.net	PHOTOGRAPHER'S STATEMENT I look for sights we're not used to seeing photographed - to show our world the way it really looks, not the way we think it should. Urban life is dominated by man's struggle to create a comfortable, antiseptic environment and nature's struggle to reclaim its own. I photograph signs, storefronts, abandoned lots, demolition sites and other vistas of this daily, ongoing drama. Like them or not, they form an important aspect of our visual experience and their aesthetic qualities are worth examining. Whether we call it "beautiful" or "ugly," it is our creation and our choice. Storefronts reveal not only merchandise but complicated human drama. When I first started photographing stores, I noticed that my camera would catch light reflected off the window as well as the merchandise inside. Instead of trying to eliminate this, I started to use it consciously to create a multilayered, "collage" effect, with the inside of the store, the storefront and the reflection superimposed on one another. Signs are everywhere - predominantly negative and prohibitionistic and absurdly banal yet sometimes beautiful when taken out of context. "No Parking." "No Trespassing." "No Left Turn." "Exit Only." "Do Not Enter." "Dog Nuisances Prohibited." As they age, they project a different feeling - like other man-made objects, they slowly decay back into the environment from which they came. I find beauty in this process. I look for humor and social commentary by presenting signs in different combinations. I try to edit the clutter of images that flood our vision and find combinations that provoke new thoughts and suggest new meanings.