Public Project
Connecting the Ordinary
Copyright Caleb Alexander Ferguson 2024
Updated Dec 2012
Topics Photography

What is normal? Definition:  conforming to the standard or the common type; the usual; not abnormal. 

What many call normal or everyday, I call a challenge.  I focus on the everyday.  Beneath the spectacle lies the ordinary, and although often overlooked, there is a true mystery to our ordinary day.  My camera leads me astray.  It challenges me to escape the routine.  My normal life shares a number of commonalities with others; wake up, go to work, come home, repeat.  A simple box loaded with film connects my experience of normality with others.  Simply, there is a three-part relationship created; a connection is formed between the subject, the viewer, and me.  We're all simultaneously experiencing our own normal and the abnormal.  

I carry a camera with me at all times to challenge the concept of normality.  There is a lack of effort to experience what is different.  Abnormal carries a negative connotation.  We seem to be afraid of difference; bounded by the idea that what is different from us is not normal.  What I frame represents my curiosity in who or what is different from me.  Whether I'm angry, lonely, happy, or numb, my emotions guide my eye.  Sometimes I want to know more, sometimes I want to share an interesting story, and sometimes I just want to remember a situation; it's all connected.  Each image represents a bit about me as much as they share a bit about the ordinary.  If I'm hanging my head, I look for those who do the same.  I look for a connection.  

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