Ray Ewing is a photographer and artist from the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Ray received a BFA in photography from Maine College of Art in Portland in 2012. He is currently completing an MFA in studio art at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Ray has worked as a photojournalist, commercial photographer, educator and an exhibiting artist.
I find joy in looking at the absurd spaces and structures of the tourism and entertainment industries. A feeling of comfort and sentimentality for the kitsch value of these spaces is mixed in with a certain sense of nausea created by their inaccuracy and excess. The emotional connection they hold for me lies in the fact that their tone, or feeling, reminds me of my resort-island home.
I am on a constant search for these spaces like a collector of specimens, but the camera is often just an excuse to spend time there. My selection of spaces to document has been guided by an aura of profitable ridiculousness and, although my selections have been made by this negative impulse, I photograph from a positive place once I am there. This conflict in my process has mirrored my personal relationship to my subjects.
As a photojournalist, Ray has received multiple awards for his work with the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette, including the Publick Occurences Award in 2013. As an artist, Ray has been a part of multiple group exhibitions as well as a solo show entitled Visual Stimulus.
To view more of Ray’s work please visit his website.