Simon McCool is currently a studio assistant to James Nakagawa in Bloomington, Indiana. Simon is known for his poetic photographs of family and the home environment. Throughout much of his work, these subjects embody the complex relationship between value, fragility, and ephemerality.
Simon’s work has been acknowledged by Photo District News, The Hand Magazine, Houston Center for Photography, Manifest Gallery, Grunwald Gallery, as well as other galleries and publications. He received his BFA from Indiana University.
Question Dreams Change Memories
Question Dreams Change Memories explores the transition into adulthood, which, whether gradual or abrupt, is irreversible. The secure, suburban environment that hedged my childhood vision of the American Dream has now revealed its limitations. Now, when I return to my childhood home, I observe a metamorphosis of memories into myths. I am more attuned to fear in my parents’ voices, and bear witness to their increasingly fragile bodies.
I hope to discover how ephemerality enlightens or undermines my experience of the people and places I love. Many images from this series find the battle between ephemerality and significance at an impasse. The lake where I fished as a child in the summer and played on the ice in the winter has receded, and now lies dirty and stagnant. Yet, a glimmer remains; a gateway to a former self who has always lived in dreams.
To view more of Simon’s work please visit his website.