Stories

2013 – Present

Native American stories and legends have traditionally served the role of dealing with the unknown for Native people, specifically to illustrate the power of nature and create a reverence for it. As a Native American myself, recreating these stories with digital photography is my way of dealing with my own mysteries – where I come from and who my people are.

The medium of photography, and my specific method of creating photorealistic, yet supernatural, images is to transform these stories from myths and legends on a page to depictions of actual experience in a photo. Using photography’s power to mirror reality, the stories subscribe to the modern standard of perceptual spiritual belief.

The themes, aesthetics, morals, and stories of each image attempt to give Native American culture a contemporary agency to discuss the taboos of post-colonialism and universal global themes.

Parrish Road Show – 2018

In August 2018, Stories was chosen for the Parrish Road Show, now in its seventh year, which is the Parrish Art Museum’s creative off-site summer series featuring temporary projects by East End artists. Road Show is designed to deeply connect creativity to everyday life by presenting exhibitions and programs in unexpected places across the region—from public parks to historic sites, beaches, and highways.

Contemporary fine art photographer Jeremy Dennis (b. 1990) is a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe in Southampton, on the East End of Long Island. In his work, Dennis explores indigenous identity, assimilation, and tradition from the lens of a millennial. He is a recent recipient of the Creative Bursary Award from Getty Images.

For Parrish Road Show, Dennis will present a selection of photographs entitled Stories: Dreams, Myths, and Experiences from the series Stories—Indigenous Oral Stories, Dreams and Myths, which he began in 2013. Inspired by North American indigenous stories, Dennis stages supernatural images that transform these myths and legends to depictions of actual experience in a photograph. “The themes, aesthetics, morals, and stories of each image attempt to give Native American culture a contemporary agency to discuss the taboos of post-colonialism and universal global themes,” says Dennis.

The exhibition is being hosted by the Arts Center at Duck Creek, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that develops and operates programs in the John Little Barn and on the grounds of Duck Creek Farm for the benefit of the East Hampton community.

This location is particularly significant in that it reflects a complex and partially shrouded history of the East End. The former studio of abstract expressionist John Little, the Barn connects the exhibition to the artistic legacy of the East End; at the same time, it is located near important sites of the Shinnecock people, including the Springy Banks Powwow Grounds, the Soak Hides Dreen, and Freetown.