Go Deep Into the Woods

Jennifer Ray’s project ​“Go Deep into the Woods” is one that I have admired for a long time. This work examines the remnants of sexual encounters that men have in public parks. One of the most effective things for me about these images is how effectively they convey a mood.

The colors in these images are rich and supple. There are deep greens that are simultaneously dark and alluring. The lushness of the greenery draws us to go deeper into the forest and is punctuated by sumptuous reds. The way that Ray focuses on details is very interesting to me. I feel as if she is teaching us as viewers to read the coded language of the landscape that the men who navigate it must employ. When something cannot be overtly stated, a language of symbols and codes develops to communicate quietly. As we go through her images, our eyes become trained to see the erotic in the trampled grass. We sense the suggestiveness of smokey puffs of mushroom spores being released from the ground.

- Mia

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