Patricia Galagan

Patricia Galagan

Objects of Desire

April 2 - 27, 2014

For her series Objects of Desire, artist Patricia Galagan asked the people she photographed to pose with something of great significance to them. Galagan embarked upon this project in Havana, Cuba, where she noted that possessions, at least for the individuals pictured here, were scarce. In many cases, these black-and-white portraits feature another person or an animal in lieu of an inanimate object, emphasizing personal relationships and the connection to one's past rather than a desire to consume. The sumptuous tonal range of each print also draws attention to the beauty of everyday life even in spite of a lack of possessions.

 As Galagan writes about the series, "Many of the objects that people cherish today in Havana are from a past way of life. Their survival gives them a poignant importance to their owners and for an observer, makes them metaphors for endurance. In America, many people define themselves by their possessions. In Cuba, the opposite is true: people define themselves in ways that only rarely include objects of desire."  

Patricia Galagan is a photographer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French Literature as well as a Master's degree in English from George Mason University. Although photography interested her at an early age, Galagan recently returned to working full-time in the medium after a career as a writer and an editor. She has exhibited her work at A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, Texas; PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont; the Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show in 2011 and 2012; and InSight: Women's Photography Exhibit in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2012. Objects of Desire is the 2013 Critical Mass Solo Exhibition Award presented in collaboration with Photolucida.