Stefanie Young, a photography lecturer at WINTEC in her native New Zealand with an MFA from Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, works with stylized black and white compositions. Fleeting images of places and faces are blurred by movements and obstructions. The resulting mysterious aura places her works in an uncertain context, sometimes resembling strange everyday moments, elsewhere taking on the allegorical weight of posed scenes. Through manipulations of light and lines, a unique, leading aesthetic unites her varied subjects.
Despite the ostensible object of her images, Young foregrounds lines, movements and light, guiding us over her prints dynamically so that viewers hone in on details before taking account of the entire composition. By keeping our eyes moving through her works, aesthetics amplify the subjects’ mystery and ambiguity. Partially hidden women’s engaging stares caught in a blur, corners of empty rooms shown out of focus, all work to conceal the subject and engage the imagination. Stephanie Young generates captivating intrigue less through her subjects than through her craft. .
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