"(Almost) Every Santa That I Saw in December” is a body of work consisting of 75 images shot during the month of December 2023. All images were shot with a manual 35-millimeter camera, black and white film, and available light. In most cases, only a single exposure was taken of each Santa (hence the “Almost” of the title—negatives of a few sighted Santas didn’t result in a usable print). Locations included Worcester, MA, Hartford, CT and Philadelphia, PA, in supermarkets, drug stores, thrift stores, shop windows and front yards. All were places that I went to in the course of my normal daily life.
I was inspired to apply the approach of such artists as August Sander, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Ed Ruscha (particularly his photo books) to this popular character in order to find out what this collection could allow us to see and feel. Through the repetition of process and form, it is possible to reveal some of the underlying complexities of our cultural world—and reflect something about ourselves. Clearly this collection of Santas reflects all sorts of cultural bias (very few of them were not White, despite the tremendous cultural diversity of many of the locations in which I saw them). The style of dress, accoutrements, and expression of this figure, and the materials and techniques used to represent him, varied widely. But also, the more we see of this bearded, mostly White, man, the stranger he begins to seem--even a little sad, creepy or menacing. Please keep in mind that I did not go looking for any of these figures. They surrounded me (and most likely you) in the month of December.
