Fine Art Photography School of Fine Art
Claire Duquesne
Child of the Pacific Northwest, raised here and there.
As a French Mexican, born in 1990’s Portland, Oregon, Claire’s photographic practice has always been grounded in her upbringing across multiple cultures. Her first photograph was taken at age 6 under the weight of her father’s Nikon on a camping trip to the Redwood forest. You can just see her parents’ hands making it into the frame.
Claire is first and foremost a photographer; a collector of moments. Inspired by early 20th century photographers such as Robert Doisneau and Vivian Maier, she sees moments best through film photographs. Taking note of Rinko Kawauchi’s careful narration of her life, she captures the senses that make up her own. Cinema and music have played an instrumental role in her upbringing and in how she expresses herself. When asked what time period she would travel back to, her first answer has always been 1968 when Bob Dylan went electric and Patti Smith was on the brink of her first album. Music, sound and imagery is a language through which she intuits and communicates. She uses it to explore people, how they are defined by the spaces they live in physically, culturally and historically as well as the way they express themselves through the material world.
Works
This Is An Island
Claire Duquesne has spent much of her life travelling and living in different places. She visited Scotland some 13 years ago and fell in love with the traditional music, welcoming community and familiar green spaces. She spent years saving up and eventually emigrated to Aberdeenshire, then Skye. She is now based in Glasgow.
In Scotland it is estimated that the furthest point from the sea is a mere 40 miles. It is tempting to think of island life as being on tropical hot white beaches or remote isles, but so often we forget that Britain and Ireland are islands. Spanning over 10 years, This Is An Island is a culmination of photographic work that reflects on what it means to live on an island shaped by weather, land and sea.
