Break Rooms: Photography

Artist Statement

Multitasking and responsibility often blur the structure of work and play. The opportunity to shift the perspective of these entities from activity to state of mind creates balance; leisure renews and motivates, while work challenges and rewards. Platforms and environments that allow for dual participation in both are common and often simple—enabling the capacity for leisure to be practice rather than privilege.

Break Rooms is a survey of leisure in communal workspaces. This photo series examines how personalization of utilitarian space and a sense of community can enable momentary departure from work.

The creation of the images in this series has been eye opening. Each space is uniquely individual, yet by viewing the images as a group, the content of each becomes more relative. Similarities between each of these spaces go beyond just common, utilitarian items. The spaces indicate behavior—such as demonstrating a sense of community and the importance of what ownership means. Eating from the same doughnut box, or looking at the same unwashed dishes in a space where an employees can, perhaps, act more like themselves and less like a professional for whatever amount of time, crafts a person’s daily experience to feel a bit more communal. This type of leisure is disguised by the fact that it is found amidst a workday.