SHAINA SURI is a designer and
photographer based in New Delhi & New York.

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HERE AND/OR THERE


Thesis | 2022-2023


Part One: Photo Series
Part Two: Interactive Installation
Part Three: Reflective Documentation


Directing attention to the way we experience the ubiquitous medium of photography, this project examines our relationship with the images we create. Our photographs provide an affordance to temporarily travel through spaces and time. This begs the question:

Is it possible to be in two places at once?






PART ONE

PHOTO SERIES


Shot using the Canon AE-1 with 35mm Ilford HP5 film;
in Goa & New York


Shot in two different cities, on one roll of film, this experimental series translates visual layers of time created and stored in the mind, into the mechanics of a film camera. In the form of double exposures, it represents our ability to retain memories from multiple locations. The underlying idea captured within these photographs led to the realization of the next part of this project, the Interactive Installation.











PART TWO

INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION 


Modeled with Adobe Dimension & Photoshop
Designed for Central Park, New York


There is no sole definition of home for a person living in New York, as countless people move to this city from every part of the world. When we leave our identities behind for a new start, we try forming bridges through objects of personal significance. We accumulate archives of our memories in our camera rolls. These camera rolls provide a perception of proximity and comfort in the ability to see and carry spaces beyond our vicinity.

Through this installation linked to a web/mobile interaction, the viewer frames an image as a juxtaposition of its current environment. The guided user experience presents fragments of a familiar scene that comes together as the viewer walks through the space, shifting their perspective. It visually embraces liminality, allowing us to straddle between the worlds we consider to be Here and/or There.









PART THREE

REFLECTIVE DOCUMENTATION


Designed & Edited using Adobe InDesign & Lightroom
Box made on the Universal VLS 4.60 Laser Cutter
Cover made using the Risograph printer
Self-produced publication


This publication is a reflective documentation of a year-long journey of research, experimentation, design, and photography as it relates and contributes to our personal experiences of perception. With original writing, essays, design processes, and photographs by Shaina Suri.



This project was created as a part of the BFA Communication Design Thesis Class of 2023 at Parsons School of Design. Under the guidance of interdisciplinary artist and designer, Andrew Herzog.

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