“As young boys growing up on the shores of New England, my friends and I would spend many days exploring and sifting through the rocks and shells of the intertidal zone—the area of land that exists between the high and the low tide marks. This is the space of the convergence of air, land, and sea; a place of constant change and uncertainty with aggressive highs and quiet, mellow lows. 

I feel the intertidal zone is analogous to the complexity of masculine identity. I view the world and the men I photograph in a sweet and romantic way. Yet I embrace the heroic idea of masculinity in all its dominance and beer-guzzling glory. I chose to look deeper into the reality of who we truly are as men. We are complicated; we are fragile. 

I am most drawn to the moments that are representative of vulnerability or emasculation; where there is a presence of a rupture or wound, be it physical, emotional, or metaphorical. I pinpoint those moments in our lives. Sometimes it is a fleeting moment between events. Sometimes it is a concrete object. Regardless, I see a world where blood and sweat mix with sunsets and snowdrifts. A world where we can run through the woods like young boys, without fear of consequence, only to fall and scape our knees, and bask in the utter satisfaction of pain.

We still wander into the ambiguity of the intertidal zone.”

Jesse Burke’s photographic installations evoke a deep lushness with images of velvet, black darkness, blankets of pine needles, blood, love, and sadness. He photographs the natural world around him as well as the men who are a part of his life, whether family members or friends, to explore the vulnerability of masculinity. His work has been exhibited as a part of the Art + Commerce Festival of Emerging Photographers in New York and Tokyo and in groups shows in Boston and Ottawa. His work was shown in Seattle as a part of Platform’s “Dark States” exhibit in 2005. Jesse lives in Rhode Island.

Review: Seattle P.I.
Link to artist's CV

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