Looking at Picayo’s new body of work makes one can wonder about the limits between photography and painting. His somber still lives echo the paintings of the Dutch masters of the 17th century like Jam de Heem and Jan Steen; but Picayo infuses these traditional compositions with flowers, glasses, silverware and remains of sumptuous meals not only the sharpness, but also the freshness and elegance of his photography.

Set against a black background all compositions convey the transience and fragility of life. All many of darkness, flowers, fruits and dead birds conjure the ambiguous atmosphere where life and death intermingle.

PATRICIA MCDONOUGH - 2000

In Micheal McLaughlin’s recent work, which glories in the unique beauty and timelessness of place, a sense of uncanny bemusement lurks. On the road for six or more months a year shooting, McLaughlin confronts the kind of detachment brought on by frequent travel with a series of pictures that suggests the idea that eden exists wherever one happens to be. Taken in locations as far away as India and England, and as close to home as Cleveland and Atlantic City, these images expose the extraordinary character and resonance of the places they document.

STEWART FEREBEE - 2000

VICTORIA GOLDMAN - CONEXXTION