She floats in darkness, her body entangled in the shadows. The sun pushes its way through the thick forest over head illuminating her face. Light radiates from the two circles either arranged over her eyes or on the surface of the photographic paper. The circles, coins that weigh down the eyes of the deceased in our world and act as payment to cross over to the next. This reference to the bribe of Charon and crossing the river Styx surfaces in a playful childhood fantasy game. Often drawing from the language of vernacular photography Julie Jones weaves memories from her childhood in suburban Ohio with myth, fantasy and elements of horror. Looming dark shadows torment her family members while the tensions that lurk in the broad daylight offer them no relief.

“In the series UMBRA I struggle with this notion of the familiar and banal transforming into a world of fantasy and unease. I work with my family members and personal memories to deconstruct what my home was and reconstruct what it has become: a shadow world where the past and present exist in the same space as the real and imagined.” -Julie Jones

View more of Julie Jone’s work on her website.