Lucas Foglia, 2010
Amanda after a Birthday Party, Jackson Wyoming, 2010
Created by Lucas Foglia in 2010. The artwork is a pigment print on Archival Epson Premium Semimatte paper and displayed at 86.4 x 111.8 cm.
What story do you think photographer Lucas Foglia wanted to tell with the image, Amanda after a Birthday Party? The title of course contains a hint: a woman named Amanda is dousing herself with a garden hose, apparently after a birthday party has taken place. Her clothes and hair are already soaked, suggesting she has stood like this for some time. Her closed eyes and facial expression appear to express a sense of contentment. Would the water be a welcome cooling shower on a hot day? Take your time to again look closely at this portrait of Amanda, paying particular attention to the background, which seems to reinforce the mood of serenity. In his series Frontcountry, of which this photograph is a part, Foglia in fact portrays the harsh reality of ranchers’ lives in the western United States: long working days, and a permanent struggle with drought and ever-encroaching mining industries. The portrait of Amanda captures the romantic notion that outsiders often have when thinking about life on a farm surrounded by nature.
© Lucas Foglia, courtesy of the Foam Collection