Kari Wehrs

Shot

Project Launch Grant Honorable Mention
Juror: Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography

The artist writes, “From scenes of gun violence that make the national news to my 61-year-old mother suddenly deciding to carry, incidents of gun use haunt me with curiosity and fear. Having no personal attachment to guns, I am grappling with present-day societal reverberations and implications of the gun in American culture.

To create this series, I set up my darkroom tent and tintype gear at known target shooting locations in the Arizona desert. I met gun-enthusiast strangers and asked them to participate in my project. I created their tintype portraits, and when complete, I gave them the option to use the image as a target. Some took part — leaving bullet holes in the plate. “Shot” refers simultaneously to my use of the camera and the participant’s use of the gun.”

Watch Kari's presentation here.