With the interplay of light and shadow, my surreal photographic studies of landscapes and figures string together the half-hidden, half-exposed images. In my series entitled “Search for Identity”, the masked body is depicted as if a memory or figment of the imagination. The figures ask the viewer to reinvent themselves in the faceless image. The anonymity of the faceless forms imbues the mysterious characters with a disturbing and surreal presence. 

Interplay of light and shadow in Donna L. Clovis' photographic studies of landscapes and figures twines together the mystery of half-hidden, half-exposed images and the reality of the photographic instant. With light she describes memory and imagination using masked female bodies posing for the camera. The figures ask the viewer to invent themselves through their faceless image. The anonimity of the figure afforded by the masks, imbues her strange characters with something of a discomforting presence. The natural backdrops of these staged scenes adds to the drammatic tension of each photograph. Her works are precise in image but ambigous in meaning, allowing that role for the viewer. Clovis has an extensive background as a photojournalist at ABC Television, WNET and currently as Director of Technology at New York University. She has been a Fellow at Columbia University and Harvard University and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2000. She is currently focusing on her fine art career, producing images that are simultaneously arresting and provocative.