Bruce West

Bruce West is a photographer residing in Springfield, Missouri. He exhibits his work widely throughout the United States and Europe. Recent exhibitions include “The True Gospel Preached Here”, Fogelman Gallery, University of Memphis in 2015, “Days of War”, Musee de la Photographie a Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium in 2014, “Gesturing into Consciousness”, Zoller Gallery, The Pennsylvania State University in 2013, “The God Factor Project” (a multi-media exhibition addressing issues of religion and spirituality throughout the world) in Braga, Portugal in 2012. West has received numerous awards for his photographic work including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Ford Foundation for the Arts, and the Polaroid Corporation. His photographs are included in numerous public and corporate collections such as The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, The Houston Museum of Fine Arts, The Library of Congress, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum Ludwig, and the Paine Webber Corporation. Recent publications include two photographic essays in Southern Cultures magazine and “For From About James T. Whitehead, Poems, Stories, Photographs, and Recollections”, Moon City Press. In 2014, the University Press of Mississippi published”The True Gospel Preached Here”, featuring 70 of West’s color photographs documenting the spiritual and creative works of Reverend H. D. and Margaret Dennis in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

 

Streets and Gardens: London and Belfast

My photographs come from recent visits to Great Britain. I photographed throughout the the cities of London and Belfast, exploring the sociological and psychological complexities of contemporary urban life and culture.

Photographing quickly and casually allowed me to examine how individuals comport themselves in diverse social settings and encouraged surprising formal innovations in picture-making.

As I roamed the streets, gardens, and other public spaces, I became aware of the spiritual potentials of approaching and photographing the other, the stranger on the street. The special charged moment of exposure can become an ecstatic movement, an instantaneous recognition, and embrace of the other.

To view more of Bruce’s work please visit his website.