Brian Barger

I am strongly influenced by history, literature, folklore, philosophy, and religion. I enjoy traveling the world doing "visual research", looking for images that have a picturesque or narrative quality that suggests something otherworldly, mysterious, or of another time. When I first began photographing, I had dreams of becoming a magazine photojournalist such as those of National Geographic. However, I soon discovered that aesthetically I preferred the mystical look of alternative process and experimental photography to the technical perfection of the magazine images. I still admire the adventurousness of the photojournalist, but prefer the aesthetics of the Pictorialists or the Romantic painters.
Travel is very important to my work. I find a great inspiration in experiencing new cultures, and believe it to be extremely important to be confronted with unfamiliar locations, people, and ideas. The varied and epic history of the western world is visually manifested throughout Europe, and I draw much of the inspiration for my work from my travels there. It is extensive travel throughout Europe that has provided me with a rich collection of experiences from which to construct my images.