Fine Art nominee

The Road Trip Revisited is a search for belonging amidst the changing scenery. Road with no end. Trip with no destination. Looking back into the past, at photos taken on trips carefully filed away in neat folders, I cast my fleeting shadow onto these places, and from there I take with me a part of the land.

Forces draw me in opposite directions - they tell me I should be here or there, they pressure me into returning to places I used to call home. These forces create an absence, a feeling of disidentification that makes me feel uneasy about staying in one place for too long. My inclination for the nostalgic goes hand in hand with my desire to be on the move.

Melissa Chen (b. 1988)

Merging my emotional and sociological perspectives, I utilize images to discover hybrid aspects of my identity. I tell stories in moving scenery, as a result of my semi-nomadic life. I communicate my restlessness, my happiness, I try to call back memories. With the idea of displacement in mind, I delve into my own psyche to explore definitions of “home.”

EXHIBITIONS
2017 Gamón (solo show). San Juan de Letrán. Ubrique, Spain
2017 We Are Back. Revela-T Photography Festival. Barcelona, Spain
2017 The Artist’s Body. Studio Duo. New York, USA
2016 Hacia dónde mirar. EFTI Gallery. Madrid, Spain
2016 Fotoproyectos 13. Espacio Unonueve. Madrid. Spain

PRIZES
2017 PhotoEspaña International Photography Festival, finalist in portfolio reviews

2017 Plural ’17 Portfolio Review, selected finalist


2017 Mondo Galeria International Photography Prize, 2nd place



PUBLICATIONS

2017 Gamón. Hamster Magazine

2017 The Road Trip Revisited. LAB 448 Magazine

2016 Gamón. Exc! Magazine