The 23rd Street Studio is an unique and storied institution in San Francisco, dedicated to drawing and painting the human form.

I was interested in creating a series of portraits of fellow aficionados and artists that frequent this idiosyncratic place. Influenced by the German photographer August Sander, I believed that it would be interesting to follow in his path and attempt to create a series that focuses on members of this uncommon community.

I chose to isolate the sitters on a dark grey metallic background and place them in a tight relationship to the camera, hoping that in this vacuum, the nuances of the sitter’s personality would fill the space. I sought to amplify the visual traces of the commonality of purpose as well – artists‘ smocks, blackened fingers and hands, the inadvertent smudge.