A Brief Look: The Photography of Holly Burnham

Photographer Holly Burnham deals in beauty and fashion. Lipstick and eyeliner. A dress. A cardigan. Advertising to a segment of the population that I am not a part of, yet I know who she is.

On a website or in a magazine you see photographs geared to sell you items, and in those same terms you are geared to ignore them. For me, Burnham’s work has gotten through all of that and I’ve become a fan of her work.

For Burnham, advertising beauty and fashion is a career distinction, not an epic truth. There’s science fiction in her work. Cinematic fantasy. A David Lynchian bloodline with that sort of raw storytelling that sits fat with characters who speak in foreign and dissonant tones. I may be looking for stories in her images, or she could be laying down the breadcrumbs, but either way — they exist.

Burnham’s images have a faint dampness to them, new and fresh. Under her direction the frame is dusted clean and well focused. You know what Burnham wants you to see because she guides your eye, easily and without effort.