Carly Accardi

Carly Accardi

Photography

Your Guess is as Good as Mine uses both complexity and minimalism to explore various idioms through the art of photography. The Webster Dictionary defines idiom as “an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own.” Through the use of wordplay, idioms can be thought provoking while also lending themselves to creative interpretation. Idioms are fascinating; they put up a front or false personality while allowing the viewer to search for the truth. They may have different interpretations or multiple meanings, which requires further examination and analysis. This challenging relationship between the literal and figurative meanings is something that I acknowledged and contemplated while photographing the series. Author and philosopher, Albert Camus, speaks out on human nature stating, “Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is”. In many ways, I see these images as metaphors to human nature, showing both a fictitious exterior along with a concealed inner truth.
I believe one can search for truths through art. An unaltered photograph is a documentative art process. It is not an imitation but a captured moment in time. This itself is a truth. Some of the photographs in the series are left unaltered in order to speak to this form of truth. The remainder of the photographs are altered in a digital space, yet still convey truth because the base of each photograph is still an untouched image. This bottom layer captures part of each idiom’s existence. To assist capturing the remainder of the idiom’s reality, several photographs are layered onto the base image that alter the one documented moment in time. Much like in relation to human existence, layers of several moments in time make up our subsistence. I believe that finding a deeper truth is often times displayed more effectively using surrealism or symbolism rather than simply replicating what we perceive. With this notion in mind, art is the ideal means of expression in truth.

Your Guess is as Good as Mine combines surrealistic portrait and still life photography, some altered and some untouched, to create an interactive, visual experience for the viewer. The relationship between image and viewer, in my mind, is something of a game or a challenge. So instead of leaving the gallery in a somber state, the lighthearted nature of the series allows the viewers to leave simply in a thought provoking one, an experience you can take with you.
So I say to the viewer, here is your challenge. Play along and try to figure out each idiom. Your guess is as good as mine.

2016

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