Samples (2020) is an invitation for the viewer to meditate on the environments they inhabit, both physically and digitally. Physical eye-droppers were placed into the image as an allusion to the color sampling tool popular in various digital design programs.

 

Taken during walks around a neighborhood in Southwest Detroit, the photos reveal the nuances within a specific location that can be found when attention is placed intentionally. A parallel intention can be found when the sampling of colors for digital creations. Just as we can pull colors form an individual pixel, we can find useful information in the quotidian aspects of our everyday life. Both actions are precipitated by a call to utilize something that already exists in the ambient environment.

 

Of course the tool itself is neither good nor bad. The eyedropper - what we pay attention to, the information that surrounds us - can be misleading or misused. It is not enough to simply absorb what happens in our environment. We must not only inspect our surroundings but also pass judgement on the qualities of our environments and in turn make decisions about how we are to behave.