PETER MILLER // Monterey - Leaving Home



Monterey - Leaving Home

I have been focused on the subjects of home, the self and identity when photographing as I believe these are the things I can know the most and can be proven as true. In my life I am pulled towards fear, accepting the unknown with a smile. Similarly in my work with photography; I draw upon and face fear to evaluate truths of my Identity, illuminating a light within me.

These sixteen photographs were created from investigating my birthplace: Monterey California. On July 1st 2016, After 24 years of living and 22 years of being separated from my birthplace, I traveled cross country from my home in Baltimore to Monterey, where I stayed for 3 months, under the Meyer Photography Traveling Fellowship through MICA. My trip was intended to be a spiritual journey to investigate my intuition and the concept of emptiness. I experienced moments that became mythological through reflection where everybody I encountered were archetypes in the mythology. Over the three months I was in Monterey, I was able to experience and practice meditation at the Zen Center, learn Kundalini Yoga from a Sikh teacher and attend Dharma Talks. I photographed whatever seemed significant intuitively in order to record the effects my surroundings had on me in the place I consider inseparable from my identity. Through photography I am continuing to explore concepts of absence, memory and storytelling.

www.peterfmiller.com