Liz Kuball Photography | Blog: Muzi Quawson and some other stuff

I’m really drawn to photographers who straddle the line between documentary and fine art. One photographer whose work I’ve been interested in recently is Muzi Quawson, who had a solo show at Yossi Milo earlier this year. When I started looking for more information on Quawson, I came upon a page at the site of the Royal College of Art, from which she earned her MFA. This is the bit that got me:

Quawson “kind of knew vaguely” what she wanted to pursue in her own practice—she knew she wanted to document U.S. communities that live on the fringes of American society, and she knew that she was fascinated by the cinematic scope of a landscape that, through the work of some of the country’s most influential directors, such as Martin Scorsese, made her feel like she was “revisiting a place I’ve been to before”—but she was having trouble turning her ideas and influences into a single, clear vision.

I love hearing about people who “kind of knew vaguely” what they wanted to do and eventually figured it out. I’m still in that vague stage, but I’m getting closer.

Meanwhile, here’s some of Quawson’s work for you to enjoy. (You can also hear an audio interview and watch a video interview with her; these were created in conjunction with the Tate Triennial 2006: New British Art exhibition at the Tate Britain, of which Quawson was a part.)