Evan Jenkins

“There we were,

sitting precariously on a rooftop overlooking the stars of summer.

You, me, … the deer

 The fucking deer.

Standing below the worn-out streetlight

that turned off and on with the passing of time

as though it could feel the wary heartbeat inside of my head,

following the rhythm of our conversation with

its amber glow beneath the waning moonlight.

The weeks we spent were borrowed

from old schedules,

old habits,

and old friends.

Until the moment we were standing on the sand,

out of time.“

—Excerpt from ‘The Stars of Summer’, Evan Jenkins

Artist Statement     

       The Stars of Summer is a portrait series telling the story of a boy who thought he was in love and the grief that comes after realizing he was in love with the idea of falling in love. The work is a similar theme as “I’m too sad to tell you” by Bas Jan Ader, portraying the ironic loneliness one can feel when they are in love. The first portrait shows the character in the beginning, empty but durable, while the last contrasts by showing the character after all hope is lost.

            In the work, color and bodily expression are some of the main elements that play key roles. The light pink matches the skin tone and conveys a sense of love or tenderness, while the darker black and gray contrast it with the sense of loneliness and absence of love.

The primarily dark images look at the character and his struggle with letting the emotions in while the lighter colored scenes portray the struggle that happens after the feelings come forth, the light and dark elements are fused in the in the dual-persona image, as though it is memory of the past.

The shape of the actors’ bodies also plays a role in getting the, almost self-inflicted, grief across to the viewer, as well as the position of the hands in some of the images that help portray that every moment is a struggle.

Most of the photos were shot on location at my home for 3 months in Florence, Italy or out in the city itself, however I chose to do two shots in studio in order to control the lighting and emphasize the actor’s facial or bodily expression.

Created in collaboration with Palazzo Strozzi.

Models: Julian Bregstone, Alex Recker