Karran Sahadeo b . Guyana 1986 ; works in Georgetown
Untitled ( blue ), 2014 Archival pigment print on canvas Courtesy of the artist
Karran Sahadeo has lived outside Guyana ’ s borders for the majority of his life . His family left the country when he was four years old and he would spend the next 25 years between homeland and the Bahamas , United States , United Kingdom , and Canada . These acts of constant transition , of leaving and returning , inform his photography practice .
The simplicity of the imagery in Sahadeo ’ s photograph belie its disruption . In the self-portraiture work Untitled ( blue ), the artist is photographed in his bedroom , illuminated by the glow of multiple digital screens : a tablet rests on his lap , a phone lies under his hand , a laptop is on the dresser . The wealth of technology visible in the frame is juxtaposed by visual codes of an impoverished nation that continues to grapple with a struggling infrastructure — the artist is enclosed under a mosquito netting and photographed in a city blackout . In exploring the reliance on devices to stay connected , Sahadeo comments on what he sees as the “ disconnection between Guyana and myself .” Within the quiet stillness of the moment , there is a sense of transition . The subject of Untitled ( blue ) is physically present in Guyana and engaged in digital spaces outside its borders .