Artist Quote: Born in Boston, MA, Jennifer now lives in Washington DC and works as a professor of Spanish linguistics at George Mason University. Her research and her photography share an interest in issues of representation, whether via language, visual images, or the built environment. Her photographs have appeared in numerous galleries and exhibits, including the Kathleen Ewing Gallery and the Target Gallery (Torpedo Factory), as well as several books. Jennifer photographs small toys that she places in real world environments, utilizing perspective (rather than digital manipulation or montage) to make them appear life size. Her images seem to capture both motion and emotion. By making inanimate figures look lifelike, her work explores the flip side of the common notion that the photographic gaze objectifies. However, toys are objects, highlighting that any emotion conveyed in these images is imposed by the photographer and the viewer, rather than the photographic subject itself. The large format triptychs in Triple Play include a miniature tightrope walker balancing high above the Chueca neighborhood in Madrid, tiny sword swallowers performing in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, and diminutive swimmers gliding through the deep end in Adams Morgan. Other images of toys on display include: an encounter/farewell in Quebec City, a cyclist riding through Amsterdam, a couple at Bandelier National Park (NM), farmers toiling at Gravelly Point (VA), penitents taking part in the Holy Week procession in Seville, and airplane passenger flying over Cincinnati. Find out more about Jennifer and her work at jenniferleeman.com