Events & Programs

As a child, I began photographing in an attempt to stop time. While the photograph is a document that we associate with the past, the act of photographing requires an intense focus on the present. Questions and ideas of temporality have always been with me, and also inform my writing life. The act of writing, too, requires us to pay heightened attention to the present moment as it unfolds. I long forever to be in the semi-trance of awareness, open to new ideas when writing, and ready with the camera to respond to the spontaneous moments of daily life.

The first year in Paris I walked the city, constantly lost, scribbled in a notebook, made some pictures, and I had the feeling that the city conspired around me, as if the very stone was formed from condensed mist. I walked and fell through layers of history. The city disappeared after I passed. Then I came across Walter Benjamin’s Flâneur and it confirmed everything I was feeling. The poems and photographs in the series The City Writes Itself come from that site.

The decisive moment is a time when all of the elements of composition converge in a photograph to describe a suspended event. Photographer and poet Jennifer Huxta will present work that explores the context of the decisive moment in visual and literary imagery. Featuring photographs, poems, collages and journals that span projects completed in France, Italy, Eastern Europe and Uganda, the exhibition will also highlight the process of making a photo series.

About Jennifer Huxta

Based in Paris since 2000, Jennifer has worked as a photographer, teacher, and translator for journalists on assignment in France. Learn more about Jennifer Huxta by visiting her website.