I discovered photography in the late 1970’s while dumping water in and out of buckets so my father could learn to play with shutter speeds on his new Canon AE-1. But it was the darkroom in middle school that triggered my love for making photographs. I found peace there as an adolescent, and that continued throughout my high school and college years where I focused on documentary photography and portraiture. Eventually I combined my love for the visual arts with my love of teaching and have spent 25 years teaching students how creating art can change their perspectives on the world, and change their lives.

As a 7-12th grade visual arts teacher, mother to a teenager, and city dweller, I find myself seeking quiet, calm, balance, and order wherever I can. My current daily photography practice is based around observation and compositional “perfection”. I rarely go out specifically to shoot choosing to find that order and balance in the world I inhabit daily.

SERIES

“Another Place” & “Unnatural Symmetry”

in 2022 I found myself altering these simple photographs to create new surreal landscapes in my “Another Place” series. I create places that combine landscapes and cityscapes into layered, abstract spaces that evoke alternate realities. Each image is a reaction to the place (emotional and physical) I am in while creating the piece, and include themes of connection, calm, loss, discomfort, beauty in the unknown, chaos, and hope.

The “Unnatural Symmetry” images started out as an experiment in 2022, but soon became something almost addictive as I began seeing everything mirrored and flipped, focusing on color, connections, design, and patterns.

Drawing/Collage

I began to focus on drawing during 2020 while in quarantine. I started by creating meditative, personal pieces stemming from subconscious drawings and doodles I have been creating on paper scraps and notebooks since I was 11. Some express chaos, some calm, and some a combination of both. In 2022 I began combining my interest in collage and found images with my drawings and doodles from meetings, airplane rides, and other less exciting places where I am forced to sit still (something I do not do well). These pieces often force together my sense of humor and my inability to shake the stress of every day life. I feel that each one tells its own story.

WANT ONE?

If you are interested in purchasing a print, or a drawing, find me on instagram @danielletroysart or email me at danielletroyphoto@gmail.com.

Due to the smaller size of the older iPhone photos, the in app edits, and a depressing mishap with iCloud and an external hard drive, some images may not be printable and live here forever for your interweb viewing pleasure.

All images are property of Danielle Troy and cannot be duplicated or printed out without her permission.