Conrad Stojak

My current series, “The Albums” are just that, oversized covers of discarded bachata posters, cellphone flyers, stripper postcards— you name it, densely layered to show the excitement and endless activity of a hyper suburb. The albums have no songs but the rhythms pulse through with intense color and language, each one alone a visual mix-tape of Elmhurst, Corona, and Jackson Heights. No one message, no one meaning but the feeling¬— energy. My photography comes from my own expeditions: the drive to investigate a place; to understand the culture; and the journey to find my deep personal reflection. My non-figurative images reveal an extensive fascination with minute, castoff elements of human effect— garbage or other small details— which I make monumental.In photographing the human element it’s all about finding the emotion, fear and enlightenment, both in my own and the subject's.