Image: “Enamored with the Unknown I” by Sujash Purna
Artist’s Statement: the unknown comes in various shapes and forms. but it also comes, oftentimes, with unwanted baggage. with capitalistic endeavors there’s always a sense of vulnerability that the individual has to cope with, someone who stands up to the complexity of power structures. “enamored with the unknown” captures the moment of recognition of the unfamiliar future that we’re constantly obsessed with, sometimes without appreciating the present or valuing the past that shapes our strength to face the unwanted.
poet Hailey Pedersen, the model in this photography, represents the individual, and the bleak surroundings represent an unknown future that is catching up with her, with us all.
Sujash Purna is a Bangladeshi poet and photographer based in Madison, Wisconsin. A first-year PhD fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is the author of “Epidemic of Nostalgia” (Finishing Line Press). His poetry appears in Reed Magazine, South Carolina Review, Hawai`i Pacific Review, Kansas City Voices, Poetry Salzburg Review, Gutter, Stonecoast Review, and others. His photography can be found on Instagram @poeticnomadic