Jane
Stevens

Witness Marks

Witness Marks imagines a visual conversation about human presence and transience that persists regardless of location or time of day.

During the months it took to empty out my childhood home, I gradually became aware that very little would be left to bear witness to the history of the lives that had unfolded throughout seventy years within its walls. My family's presence was ultimately as temporary as the shadows that we had cast during our residency.

Thus inspired, I began photographing shadows and reflections of myself in the places that I inhabit and pass through. Doing so connects me deeply to that specific location and moment in time, and makes permanent a reality that is fleeting.

Such moments of human existence are ultimately ephemeral, leaving no trace, serving only as witness marks of our presence in the world.