Emily Monforte

Near Convergence

Near Convergence depicts a series of strangers the artist meticulously scouted. Each portrait in the series is partially constructed, ranging from control of clothing choice all the way to the subject’s facial expression and bodily positioning. The artist has molded each subject into the character she envisioned them to be when she initially found them, not necessarily as the person they are, or self-identify as. Viewers may feel distant from the humanity of each person due to the partial artifice of each life captured here. You may nearly know the people photographed, but a degree of separation lies between you and them, forcibly inserted by the artist, making it impossible to know them completely. Yet the goal of these portraits is not for you to know who they are, rather it is about the pleasure of composing a fantasy of the life the artist believes her subject to live.

Photographer

Emily Monforte

Emily Monforte is a queer photographer born and raised in Kensington, California. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2018 with a dual degree in Photography and Sociology. The humans she captures in her works often function more as sculptural objects, molded intentionally to enhance and become apart of the landscape of her images. While her photographs of actual objects are oppositely captured with a singly focused, intimate human tenderness.

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