Second Award Dana Liebermann

Lapse Into Reflex I © Dana Liebermann Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Second Award $3,000 Age 20

Lapse Into Reflex I, medium formate C-print (9 1/2" x 9 5/8") "In the space of these photographs I am able to control my illness, and as I now believe because my illness only lives in memory, as does any psychological rumination. Because the fear, pain and loss accompanied by any disability is no different from that which all people must at one point pass through, it is important to me that this work and its future offspring surpass the limits of my cancer." Dana Liebermann, who is in remission from Hodgkin's disease, began photography classes at the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1996. This photograph is part of a series of five photographs that are a direct reference and testament to her cancer. The photographs are meant to function in two ways. First, they are meant to reference medical photographs. This is achieved by using a metallic surface as a backdrop and a shallow depth of field so that the body takes on an object-like quality. Second, they are meant to be seductive, as reflected in the pastel palette and cinematic execution. Liebermann conveys, "The duality that is here created between medicine, which is associated with the absolute and unalterable truth, and image, which is associated with the subjective and the always relative, is meant to create ambiguity." Dana will be a sophomore this fall at New York University, Steinhardt School of Education, in the Department of Art. She is pursuing a bachelor's degree in studio art.