Menace [?]
When danger flares, what do you do?
Since humans first experienced the fight or flight reflex, the subconscious brain has told us what, when, and whom to fear. This remains so. When faced with peril, our bodies respond with intensified adrenaline and racing heart beats. Survival depends on our instantaneous emotional response instructing us to run or stay, a millisecond before our rational self can decide.
While our brains have not changed, what we fear has. It is rarely a carnivorous beast that triggers our instinct to run. It is pictures of burning skyscrapers, reports of schoolchildren crouching behind desks to hide from bullets, or a gathering of teens in hoodies that make us tremble: Our 21st Century litany of what to fear.
But are these threats real? Lori Pond’s Menace [?] challenges us to question what we “know.” Menace [?] confronts us with frightening, darkened, wild animals that trigger the ancient instinct, while our rational mind knows we are in a safe, civilized space, viewing images.
We look longer, closer, and realize the threat was never there: these are taxidermied animals, their images captured in bright sunlit shops, manipulated later by the artist to ferocity. They frighten, but are impotent.
Menace [?] asks us to consider if our modern fears are justified, or if our contemporary bogeymen are figments of our imagination, mere empty threats manipulated by an unseen hand.
When danger flares, what do you do?
Since humans first experienced the fight or flight reflex, the subconscious brain has told us what, when, and whom to fear. This remains so. When faced with peril, our bodies respond with intensified adrenaline and racing heart beats. Survival depends on our instantaneous emotional response instructing us to run or stay, a millisecond before our rational self can decide.
While our brains have not changed, what we fear has. It is rarely a carnivorous beast that triggers our instinct to run. It is pictures of burning skyscrapers, reports of schoolchildren crouching behind desks to hide from bullets, or a gathering of teens in hoodies that make us tremble: Our 21st Century litany of what to fear.
But are these threats real? Lori Pond’s Menace [?] challenges us to question what we “know.” Menace [?] confronts us with frightening, darkened, wild animals that trigger the ancient instinct, while our rational mind knows we are in a safe, civilized space, viewing images.
We look longer, closer, and realize the threat was never there: these are taxidermied animals, their images captured in bright sunlit shops, manipulated later by the artist to ferocity. They frighten, but are impotent.
Menace [?] asks us to consider if our modern fears are justified, or if our contemporary bogeymen are figments of our imagination, mere empty threats manipulated by an unseen hand.
I grew up in the shadow of Mickey Mouse’s ears in Anaheim, California. I shared a love of
music performance and photography from a very young age with my father, who encouraged and
inspired me in both areas. I studied Flute Performance and Spanish at Indiana University,
graduating Magna cum Laude. I continued on to USC, where I got a Master of Arts degree in
Broadcast Journalism.
For the past 25 years, I have worked as a graphic designer/operator for mostly live television events and productions. My work has appeared on award shows, such as the Grammys, Emmys, and Academy Awards; reality shows, (Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance) talk shows and industrial productions. Currently, my work can be seen on Conan O’Brien’s talk show.
My interest in photography has never abated, but has taken on many forms. In the 80s, my hero was Garry Winogrand, so I mainly shot street/documentary images. I later took my interest to making macro studies of the natural world in a series called “The Intimate Universe.” My many travels throughout the world have produced a large, vivid body of work.
My work in the past 5 or so years has deviated quite a lot. I went through a divorce after 20 years of marriage, and chronicled my emotions with self-portraits in my series, “Divorce.” Last year, I learned the wet plate collodion process and I have been making tintype portraits in a series called “Strange Paradise.” My newest body of work, “Menace,” looks at our instinctual “fight or flight” response by photographing taxidermied animals.
My award-winning photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally. My work resides in the permanent collections of the Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, CO, the Center for the Arts in Los Angeles, CA, and at the Morgan Stanley headquarters in New York. I’m also widely published online, in magazines and I have made two books, “Lori Pond-- Self” and “Arboreal.”
For the past 25 years, I have worked as a graphic designer/operator for mostly live television events and productions. My work has appeared on award shows, such as the Grammys, Emmys, and Academy Awards; reality shows, (Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance) talk shows and industrial productions. Currently, my work can be seen on Conan O’Brien’s talk show.
My interest in photography has never abated, but has taken on many forms. In the 80s, my hero was Garry Winogrand, so I mainly shot street/documentary images. I later took my interest to making macro studies of the natural world in a series called “The Intimate Universe.” My many travels throughout the world have produced a large, vivid body of work.
My work in the past 5 or so years has deviated quite a lot. I went through a divorce after 20 years of marriage, and chronicled my emotions with self-portraits in my series, “Divorce.” Last year, I learned the wet plate collodion process and I have been making tintype portraits in a series called “Strange Paradise.” My newest body of work, “Menace,” looks at our instinctual “fight or flight” response by photographing taxidermied animals.
My award-winning photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally. My work resides in the permanent collections of the Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, CO, the Center for the Arts in Los Angeles, CA, and at the Morgan Stanley headquarters in New York. I’m also widely published online, in magazines and I have made two books, “Lori Pond-- Self” and “Arboreal.”
Artist Statement:
“My photographs attempt to codify my dreams. They integrate and blur the lines between waking and dreaming, life and death."
To contact Lori Pond directly:
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