Contributor Shawn Records takes us on a photographic quest with his latests book Hero, exploring the classic narrative structure used again and again in literature and film.
Is it just the stories we tell ourselves that really matter? This question is at the heart of Hero by Shawn Records. Faced with the cloud of doubts that comes along with turning forty, Records honoured the milestone by re-writing his own life, over-riding randomness by carefully sequencing a deadpan epic out of disparate photographic odds and ends that had accumulated over time. Rising and falling in narrative arcs that flirt with the comic as much as the heroic, Hero transcends the day-to-day with empathy and wit.
Shawn Records on the book;
‘Initially undertaken in honour of my fortieth birthday (an acknowledged existential landmark of sorts), Hero is an epic collection of 80+ photographs that have been carefully sequenced to follow the Hero’s Journey, the classic narrative structure used again and again in literature and film. Consider it both a celebration of the inherent ambiguity of photography as well as a tongue-in-cheek attempt to find connections in, and add meaning to, my own life. Even if only in hindsight.’
Shawn Records holds a BA from Boise State University and an MFA from Syracuse University. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Light Work, and the Portland Art Museum, among others, and has been shown in numerous venues, including two solo exhibitions at Blue Sky Gallery as well as group exhibitions at Format 2019, MoCP, INOVA, Newspace, Photo Center Northwest, and Houston Center for Photography.
Based in Portland, Oregon, Records juggles teaching photography, along with making his personal and assignment work. Editorial clients have included The New York Times Magazine, Vice, LeMonde’s M, Monocle,Travel & Leisure, Dwell, and many others. When he’s not teaching or doing photography, he’s probably walking his dog, watching news bloopers, or perfecting his jump shot in the driveway.
Buy the book here
More of Shawn Record work here
