Jim Kazanjian: Composite Photographs

'untitled_house' (2006)
all images courtesy jim kazanjian

portland artist jim kazanjian's body of work consists of crisply composed digital images
that explore the surrealist side of space and architecture. drawing from literary influences
such as h.p. lovecraft and algernon blackwood, kazanjian's pictorials illustrate a
fantasy-driven world that seemingly celebrates relics and decay. having worked as
a commercial CGI artist for television, fashion, and game production, his method of
creating largely involves recomposing a number of photographs in bits and pieces.

'untitled_implosion' (2008)

portland art critic chas bowie comments, 'kazanjian’s aberrations occupy a state of material
transience: none of the images qualify as photographs, yet each piece is entirely photographic.
built upon the persuasive testimonies of hundreds of anonymous snapshots and photo-documents,
kazanjian’s landscapes are entirely fictitious constructions. the photographs of aberrations serve
as souvenirs of non-existent places and events, even though their genetic codes are comprised
solely of specific, exacting details of evidence.

'untitled_lowtide' (2009)

bowie continues, 'by recomposing photographs (rather than shooting them), kazanjian liberates
himself from the fastidious burdens of representation, although he remains tethered enough to
exploit photography’s knack for maintaining its own honesty despite a track record that repeatedly
suggests otherwise. in kazanjian’s hands, this freedom from naturalistic vision gives way to an
uncanny space that is familiar but foreign—a fantasy both wild and gloomy.'

'untitled_folly' (2010)

'untitled_anomaly' (2008)

'untitled_exterior' (2010)

'untitled_outpost' (2008)

'untitled_fortification' (2008)

'untitled_facade' (2010)

'untitled_structure' (2007)

'untitled_maze' (2008)

'untitled_bubble' (2008)