Darren Lee Miller: How Do You Want to Be Seen? and Ivette Spradlin: From a Distance

Rosewood Gallery presents Darren Lee Miller: How do you Want to be Seen? and Ivette Spradlin: From a Distance. The two photographers’ work represents ways of engaging with another person—the photographer—regardless of restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

Miller connects with their subjects through online dating apps and social media. Each portrait is paired with a quote from the subject responding to “How Do You Want to be Seen?” In Juanki on the Stairs, the subject Juanki states: “My cis-gendered appearance affords privilege that leaves me feeling conflicted. On the one hand, I don’t deserve any more consideration than anyone else. On the other hand, if I’m feeling unsafe or threatened, I’ll fall back on my apparent normativity to protect myself from harm.” This image, like many in this series, reflects on the gay community and body identity.

Ivette Spradlin practiced social distancing while documenting her subjects, creating a series of portraits inspired by images from the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. In From a Distance, she discovered willing subjects from Instagram and social media, many of which were fellow artists and their families who agreed to be documented during this historic time. Though many of the faces are partially obscured with masks, the subjects posed in their locales, such as porches, yards, and alleyways, each location playing a role in the portraits demonstrating the subjects’ eagerness to escape their mandated COVID-19 environment.