Vanishing Point by Sebastian Collett

Issue 58

My recent project explores memory, desire and disappearance in the experiences of coming of age and growing old. On the occasion of my 20th high school reunion, I returned to my small hometown in Ohio, where I remained for some time. Immersed in the landscape of my youth, I found myself scouting for people who could serve as “stand-ins” for characters from my past, or for those archetypal figures that haunt our collective memory. I was especially drawn to the young and the elderly.

Standing at the threshold of middle age, I wanted to look back and forward at the same time. I found I could use photography as a means to travel through time, allowing an integration of past, present and future selves. As I photographed people, I watched for moments of transition, when the subject seemed on the verge of becoming or vanishing. In my work, I sought to describe these liminal states, and to evoke the elusive quest to situate the self in time.

Sebastian Collett lives and works in Asheville, NC, USA.
To view more of Sebastian's work, please visit his website.

You can purchase a photograph by Sebastian Collett from the Fraction Editions.