welcome to jessica rath photography

I began taking photographs on my first trip to India/Asia, some thirty-something years ago. Went by train from Delhi to Madras, and from there via train and ship to Sri Lanka. We rented a car in Colombo and drove wherever our fancy would take us. Inland at first, up into the cool, moist and drippy mountains. The guesthouses had a decidedly colonial patina, and the locals told us proudly that even to this day, the Queen of England would get her tea from a few select plantations near Kandy (of course, people near Darjeeling had similar claims).

It just so happened that we arrived in Kandy the day before the Perahera -- a grand festival that cumulates with a splendid procession in honor of the sacred relic of a tooth of the Buddha. Coming as I did from staid and drab Northwest Germany, the sights and sounds of the Perahera were breathtaking: drummers, musicians, dancers; hundreds of sparkling elephants decked in colored lights; torch bearers, whip crackers, fire breathers; and it goes on all night. Taking pictures was difficult -- I wanted to see it all directly, not through a lens.

Still, when we were back in Munich, we had a number of quite impressive slides, and a glossy magazine was interested enough to make an appointment with us and possibly buy some of the images. My then-boyfriend put the bag with the slides on top of the car, got in, and we drove off. We never saw any of the photographs again.

And that's only one reason why I prefer a digital camera.

Reflections fascinate me. They show an aspect of reality that is easily and often ignored, namely, that it is a construct. Mirrored in a window, the seemingly solid facade of a building for example becomes transparent. Other layers shine through. When I go through the motions of my daily routine I tend to forget that the objective solidity of the outer world has more holes than Swiss cheese... "It's all in me 'ead", as Mr. Tweedie said in 'Chicken Run'...

If you're interested in paintings, visit my friend peter rowntree.

Photographs and paintings can be bought at flat grey wall.

To contact me, please call 505.685.0048 or use this link to send an email.

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