Sylvia Paret Photo

“Beauty is the thing we are all searching for. Whatever beauty is, I feel it, and as long as I can I shall try to put it down so others can see what I have seen.”  — Eyvind Earle




Inspired by my love of artists, this project examines the human capacity for connection. The challenge: photographically evoking a bit of the subjects' artistic essence after mere minutes of making their, and their work's, acquaintance. The required expeditiousness yielded unflinching instant collaborations and unusual vulnerability, as well as more than one instance of hesitant trust — or of extraordinary complicity and joy.

Artists (Also) Look Like This

Environmental Portraits of Artists
Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Carlos Silva Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Angela Derosette Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Rex Kare Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Beth Sperandio Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Vinnie Massaro Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Carlos Silva Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Trevor Corp Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Vinnie Massaro Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Beth Sperandio Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Angela Derosette Sylvia Paret Photo Artists Series Rex Kare

Carlos Silva, Woodworker

Angela Derosette, Painter & (Former) Fashion Designer

Rex Kare, Sculptor & Painter

Beth Sperandio, Painter

Vinnie Massaro, Assemblage Artist

Carlos Silva, Woodworker

Trevor Corp, Woodworker

Vinnie Massaro, Assemblage Artist

Beth Sperandio, Painter

Angela Derosette, Painter & (Former) Fashion Designer

Rex Kare, Sculptor & Painter

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Dance may be synonymous with motion, but its eloquence, for me, is to be found in its stillness. The single frame reveals the poetry in the unlikely: pauses, transitions, joints, even bones. Shot during rehearsals without the enhancements of costume and lighting design, the dance is stripped to the essentials, laying bare the resounding resonance of a body set into motion but caught still — and how it echoes in the silence.

Shadows in The Dark

Dancers from the Houston Met Dance Company
Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company Sylvia Paret Photo Dancers Series Houston Metropolitan Dance Company

Extensor Digitorum – “Close your eyes. Fall in love. Stay there.”

Flexor Digitorum Superficialis – “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you truly love.”

Flexor Digitorum Longus – “The quieter you become the more you are able to hear.”

Flexor Hallucis Longus – “Life is a balance between holding on and letting go.”

Fibularis Longus – “Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”

Medial Plantar Fascia – “Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open.”

Flexor Carpi Radialis – “You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.”

Lumbricalis Manus – “Ignore those that make you fearful and sad.”

Abductor Digiti Minimi Manus – “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”

Adductor Pollicis – “If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.” (quotes from Rumi poems)

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Emerging from the dark like faraway memories, these images are a fantasy of place — magical, brightly colored and candy-sweet — that takes a cue from children’s storytime to playfully hide the cautionary tale within the fairy tale.

Once Upon A Time...

Playgrounds in The Night
Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Blue Dome_I Spy With My Little Eyes Not A Soul In Sight Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Musical Slides_Only Their Songs Spoke The Truth Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Basket Wheels_The Aliens Beamed Them Up Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Eel Caves_Beastliness Overturned Gentility Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Red Jacket_Flesh-Eating Bacteria Gobbled Them Up Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Obstacle Ropes_They Got Trapped In The Red Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Globe Mosaic_The Colored Ones Were Silenced Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Viral Dots_The Plagues Made A Comeback Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Dino Town_Primitive Attitudes Ran Amock Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Slidin Gator_Crocodile Said No To Crossing The River But They Tried Anyway Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Rockin Horse_Hi-Yo Red Rode Empty-Saddled Into Ghost Town Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Staring Contest-Diptych_Waging War To The Death No One Won Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Cubist Truck_They Found Train Wrecks Mesmerizing Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Yellow Steppin_Their Way Up The Climb Was Toxic Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Three Slides_The More Colorful They Were The More Invisible They Became Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Golden Arches_Mystery Meat Did Them All In Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Kids Only_They Grew Bigger But Not Up Sylvia Paret Photo Places(San Francisco) Series Sunbeam Pride_Whats Left For Proof They Once Were

Blue Dome - I Spy With My Little Eyes Not A Soul In Sight

Musical Slides - Only Their Songs Spoke The Truth

Basket Wheels - The Aliens Beamed Them Up

Eel Caves - Beastliness Overturned Gentility

Red Jacket - Flesh-Eating Bacteria Gobbled Them Up

Obstacle Ropes - They Got Trapped In The Red

Globe Mosaic - The Colored Ones Were Silenced

Viral Dots - The Plagues Made A Comeback

Dino Town - Primitive Attitudes Ran Amock

Slidin' Gator - Crocodile Said 'No' To Crossing The River, But They Tried Anyway

Rockin' Horse - Hi-Yo Red Rode Empty-Saddled Into Ghost Town

Staring Contest (Diptych) - Waging War To The Death, No One Won

Cubist Truck - They Found Train Wrecks Mesmerizing

Yellow Steppin' - Their Way Up The Climb Was Toxic

Three Slides - The More Colorful They Were, The More Invisible They Became

Golden Arches - Mystery Meat Did Them All In

Kids Only - They Grew Bigger But Not Up

Sunbeam Pride - What's Left For Proof They Once Were

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Look. Up above. They’re there and therefrom they beckon, waving you over for an intimate interlude, promising their tales: stories from behind walls designed to keep them hush; from behind windows that crop a tantalizing phrase from the whole. You need only hear between the lines. So listen. Listen up.

Listen Up

Drying-Line Sheets of Venice, Italy
Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series Joyful One Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series Pure One Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series Happy Kid Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series Enthusiastic One Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series Huffy One Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series Tall Tales One Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series The Mafiosi Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Venice) Series Musical One

Joyful One

Pure One

Happy Kid

Enthusiastic One

Huffy Old Gal

Tall Tales Dude

The Mafiosi

Musical One

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Coming Soon

This project is still in the works. Check back for updates.
Sylvia Paret Photo Places(Things) Series

ABOUT

Sylvia Paret, a San Francisco-based artist, studied photography at the Corcoran School of Art, the International Center for Photography, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she was offered a merit scholarship and from where she holds an associate degree. She also holds a Johns Hopkins University honors B.A. in natural sciences and French language and literature, and undertook doctoral studies in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania as a National Science Foundation scholar. The underlying theme in all of her work is connection, as well as the lack thereof, and a recurring method — partly deriving from Dadaist and Surrealist influences, along with her Catalan heritage — irreverent playfulness. Her take on those movements is far more lighthearted, though still tongue-in-cheek:
winking at the viewer, hoping for complicity. To purchase gallery prints, please send your request to info@sylviaparetphoto.com. To hear all about shows, publications and new work, click here to join our mailing list. Follow us on Facebook & Instagram.