High and Low
On December 17th, 2011, a childhood friend reported his 20-month-old daughter missing. It was believed that an unknown person had taken her from her room in the middle of the night. The media descended upon my small Maine hometown and the surrounding communities joined forces in an overwhelming search effort. Driving through town it was impossible to ignore the flocks of orange vests searching in the woods everyday. The river was searched and neighborhood ponds were drained. Nothing of this magnitude had ever hit so close to home.
Crossing the line between fine art and documentary photography, I created a visual narrative which embodied the mystery, suspicion, and frustration surrounding the case. My photographs became my attempt to create a peace of mind for myself as my imagination was being dragged into multiple directions. The images explored all these imagined possibilities and my own suspicions that were shrouded in the shared frustration of the entire community.
The Ayla Reynolds case is currently the largest search effort for a missing person in the state of Maine. No arrests have been made and she is now presumed dead.
