Mark Mahaney’s photographs have a simplicity that belies the depth of his vision. For Mahaney, the meaning of a story cannot be conveyed in an individual image. Instead, he singles out eloquent details, creating elegant, restrained images that add up to more than the sum of their parts.
Much of Mahaney’s work concentrates on places and ways of living that no longer exist. American rural life was once personified by small Midwestern towns such as the one that Mahaney himself grew up in. Places like these have been transformed beyond recognition, but the dreams and aspirations that formed them are still to be found in the traces that remain. The honesty with which he depicts these quiet, unspectacular landscapes is also present in the impartiality with which he treats his portrait subjects. Mahaney’s vision is innately democratic, focused on what is relevant and special about each person he photographs. The individual’s personal environment is an expression of their inner life, and Mahaney prefers to depict his subjects in their own spaces. His approach is measured, even methodical, drawing out the most meaningful elements of a scene and gathering them together to build a narrative. In his photographs, what’s left out of the frame is as important as what’s included.
The order and directness in Mahaney’s images are a reflection of the values by which he lives his own life. And the message of hope and determination that runs through his work embodies something essential not just about Mahaney’s subjects, but about the beliefs and principles that shape his view of the world.
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