Evie Metz was born and raised in a small town in South Florida, and currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where she recently graduated from MICA with a BFA degree. Her photographs are not staged or planned, but rather the result of reacting to her present surroundings in an effort to preserve moments perhaps otherwise unnoticed. By highlighting and capturing these passing occurrences, their original and perhaps ordinary purpose becomes decontextualized. Interested in rituals of life, from the most personal spaces of her own to the more unfamiliar of strangers and friends, she discovers special meanings of the world around us that exceed her own initial motivation for self-understanding.
Seeking Stephanie
The title is derived from a decision I made before leaving home for college. My birth first name is Stephanie. In anticipation of relocating to an unfamiliar city, I felt motivated and more comfortable behind the mask of a moniker. Upon arriving in Baltimore, I introduced myself as “Evie”. In many ways, there seemed to be an important difference between these names with respect to identity. However, the role of artist and self-has become so intertwined that I no longer feel the differentiation. This merging of identity, personality, and understanding have all come to the surface while shooting these photographs that mark an ending of this four year period of self-discovery. Together these photographs create a diarist poem that channels self-portraiture in many aspects. There is a constant confrontation between dual forces, that of the external against that of the internal, spaces of coolness towards moments of warmth, and animalistic tendencies towards the human.
To view more of Evie Metz’s work please visit their website.