Beth Parin’s photographic constructions pose a riddle to viewers by bringing multiple incongruous images together. The black and white photographs appear unaltered at first glance, but her manipulations of perspective, space, time and continuity quickly become evident. The subtlety of her alterations invites our desire to explain the transformations that have taken place. That same subtlety, meanwhile, trumps any stable reduction of the works to one specific understanding, instead inviting playful engagement. Most of Parin’s works manipulate our instinct to dissect photographs into separate planes. Shadows that belong to one area overlap into others, regions that suggest depth turn out to be images within the image, and figures in the foreground bear no apparent relation to their surroundings. Through these tensions Parin confronts viewers with their expectations and assumptions regarding photography, calling these into question and demanding their reassessment.

Eventually, we adjust to the rearrangements in Parin’s work, making engagement and immersion in them more productive. Suddenly, the partially concealed human figures occupying the foreground in many of her photographs – some of whom appear repeatedly in the same image as they explore Parin’s constructions – become our surrogates within the work. Through these stand-ins for the viewer, Parin shows us how to enjoy her photographs, moving through their layers, picking them apart, and putting them back together in any number of arrangements.

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