As artists, we expend a lot of our emotional energy and other resources into building our resumes, seeking relationships with peers and influentials, and working on series and portfolios.
EventualIy, I found that I needed some time to listen to my heart.
For the last two years my husband and I have been traveling extensively. We spent a year based in Mexico where I tried to unravel the knots in my stomach that previous years' work had left me in.
My goal was simple: to document from the heart. To have no agenda other than an unabashed love for the mediumphotography. From Mexico we traveled to many countries including England, and Ecuador. Thus came the series Garden of Delights. I wouldn't define it as street photography exactly, but more like the Spanish word capricho (whimsical, caprichous). These are the moments of joy that I see when people are enthralled with the world around them.
In a roundabout way, I'm back in Colorado again with friends and family. Creatively, I'm a sum of the parts of myself, less attached to the outcomes and more in tune with my spirit. And a good deal more content.
Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Maureen received her BFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1976 and has worked as a portrait and commercial/stock photographer, filmmaker, videographer, documentary, and fine art photographer, including editorial, directorial positions with Technicolor Gov't. Svcs, San Diego and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.
Maureen had a unique upbringing, moving from country to country with her family, bouncing back and forth between the US and places such as Morocco, France, Iran, and Germany. These experiences have undoubtedly helped shape her vision.
While working with a non-profit micro-enterprise/women's empowerment organization in the Nairobi slum of Kibera (Kenya) over a period of 3 years, came the acclaimed social documentary series
'Kibera: a Slice of Heaven' Kibera prints available at
Hamburg Kennedy Photographs, NY.
Stock images available on
Picfair.com.
Maureen's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally (Berlin Biennale, Paris Photo, Desert Art Palace, China) and is in collections in Beijing, the Asia Society Museum in New York and MIT's Islamic Architecture Library.
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
Garden of Delights © Maureen Ruddy Burkhart
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