Untitled Photo from New York Beach Series, 2016-present, digital archival print of 35mm film, print ratio 4:6, each printed at 6” x 9”, framed in  maple

Frank De León Jones opens the pages of a vacation photo album of an uncertain place, time, or photographer. Gauzy focus and extremes of light/exposure create an ambiguity echoed in the subjects at play on a beach. Posed or candid? Love or voyeurism? The viewer gets no easy answers as to whether the “voice” behind these photos is inside or outside the subjects’ awareness. Jones created these series of photographs using in camera effects and a 35mm film camera that was in the process itself of disintegrating, creating these seemingly ephemeral images.

Frank De León Jones is an American multimedia artist, independent curator, and art director of Afro-Panamanian and Italian descent based in Los Angeles, CA. While living in New York City for two decades, Frank co-founded Dark Matters Art Collective, curated art shows for the Open Source Gallery in Brooklyn, directed music videos, and designed album covers for numerous bands. His work has been exhibited at Wave Hill in the Bronx, Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, Curious Matter in Jersey City, and The Institute Library in New Haven, CT. Frank holds a BFA in sculpture from The Pratt Institute.

@fdeleonjones