brandon haynes is a graphic designer from atlanta, ga. as a mississippi born native, he was deeply influenced by other southern-born photographers such as william eggleston, who told the stories behind each picture. brandon began shooting photography five years ago. initially intrigued by high contrast and saturated colors, brandon began to experiment with different photographic outputs and the effects they had on the film/image's story — which is prevalent throughout his work. "the images in this collection were the hardest to explain but the easiest for me to produce because the process was purely empathic rather than cerebral. i took photographs of clouds (mostly storm clouds) and photocopied them to reveal their pure form — these grainy, organic swirls of air and energy surrounded by highly contrasted blacks. to me this spoke of the frustration and confusion all of us experience in our relationships with the people around us. i continued that treatment with cloudy, semitransparent parchment printouts, in which i overlaid them on existing photographs. ink stains spoke as emotion. more important than the aesthetics of each piece was the story i wanted to communicate with them as a whole. picture titles, along with some text, help me in showing a progression from the first fight, through to the anger, confusion & sadness in between, to the resolution. all pieces were then shot over a light table to heighten the contrast and blur certain details, much like an argument to a friendship. but eventually the patches of clouds break up and whatever gloom or sun that makes it through is a welcome change in this weathered pattern. back to you, willard." (february 2004)