DIALOGUE: TWO ARTISTS SAY IT WITH SHADOWS

A DAILY EXCHANGE OF PHOTOS DURING THE PANDEMIC HAS GROWN INTO A VITAL MODE OF COMMUNICATION

Photo by Mimi Young, courtesy of the artist

For many years, the New York-based photographer Bill Westmoreland, who serves as brutjournal’s visual director, has known the fashion stylist and artist Mimi Young. They have worked together on numerous photo sessions for magazines, fashion companies, and other clients.

Toward the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic period, when cities around the world went into lockdown mode, Bill and Mimi began exchanging photographs they had shot at their homes. For both of these visual artists, this routine photo-sharing became a meaningful ritual. Now that the pandemic is subsiding, they have continued the practice. Here, they recall how their photo-communication project evolved — and why they chose shadows as their subject matter.

Photo by Bill Westmoreland, courtesy of the artist

brutjournal: When did you start your daily exchange of photos of shadows?

Bill Westmoreland: We started exchanging photos on April 7, 2020...

Mimi Young: ...by text message, using our mobile phones.