My work revolves around material culture and the ways in which objects function between their production and disintegration. Things are at the center of my practice as a photographer, I investigate the everyday ways in which objects are important: social status, identity, social performance and the narrativization of life experiences. Just as we collect things, things collect significance, memory and meaning. We live amidst objects, they are the site of mental and emotional energy and investment. My practice is an effort to both discover and invent the meanings and significance of objects. Through a range of photographic projects, I address the meaning of material culture on both personal and societal levels. The aesthetics of commercial and fashion photography are an influence on my work, though usually subverted into a critical examination of the industries of which they are a part. My investigations are into the implications of owning and accumulating, the narrative potential of objects and the instillation of meaning into objects.
Sarah Podles is a photographer based in the Bay Area. Widely regarded for her uncanny ability to procure image after image, even critics of her practice unilaterally concur, "She definitely takes photos". Her work has been exhibited locally and abroad, and is collected by such prestigious institutions as 958 Center for the Arts, the Wang Society for Art and Public Life, Inc., and The Misra Foundation for Deaf Babies and Photograms.
