Penelope Umbrico
Who is she?
Penelope Umbrico is an American artist known for her unique approach to digital photography and how she engages with the internet and technology. Her work often explores the relationship between image culture, technology, and the ways in which we experience and share moments in the digital age.
Umbrico’s art is centered around the idea of found images she often collects and repurposes photographs that are already circulating on the internet, particularly those found on platforms like Flickr and Instagram. One of her most well-known projects is Sunsets, where she collects thousands of sunset images uploaded by other users, then reconfigures them into new works of art. The project highlights the idea of mass-produced, ubiquitous images in the digital era and explores how personal moments (like a sunset) can become part of a larger, often impersonal, digital archive.
Her work often touches on themes like image overload, the democratization of photography, and how technology affects our perception of the world. Penelope Umbrico’s work invites viewers to reflect on the way we interact with images, technology, and nature in an age where everything is constantly shared and archived online.
She’s exhibited internationally and is known for her thought-provoking pieces that challenge traditional notions of authorship, originality, and what it means to create in the digital age.
What’s the Project About?
So, Penelope Umbrico isn’t just out there taking photos of sunsets herself. Instead, she goes through social media sites like Flickr and Instagram, collecting thousands of sunset photos from random people all over the world. It’s like she’s curating a collection of these everyday, personal moments, and then she rearranges them into something totally new. It’s not just about the individual sunsets anymore, but about this big collection of photos that anyone could have taken, and yet when they’re put together, they tell a whole different story.
What makes it interesting is that the sunset itself isn’t just a personal experience anymore. It’s part of a huge, shared digital archive. Everyone has their own version of a sunset, but when you see them all together, they lose some of that personal feel. Umbrico’s project makes you think about how we post these moments online and what happens to them once they’re out in the digital world.
Why I think It’s So Cool
What I love about Umbrico’s Sunsets project is that it’s not just about showing pretty pictures. She’s not really criticizing the photos themselves, but she’s making us think about them differently. When you see so many sunset photos all together, it makes you realize how oversaturated the internet is with this kind of content. Each photo might seem like it captures something unique and beautiful, but once they’re all mixed together, they almost lose some of their magic. And that’s kind of the point like how do we make sense of all these shared experiences online?
Umbrico’s also playing with the idea of what it means to share something digitally. Normally, when you upload a photo, it’s kind of a way to say, “Hey, I was here, and this moment was meaningful to me.” But when you’re looking at these sunset photos on a platform with millions of other people doing the same thing, it changes the experience. Umbrico’s project kind of makes you think about that, and how our obsession with sharing images has an effect on what they mean to us.
The Art of Technology
Another cool thing about Sunsets is how Umbrico mixes art with technology. She doesn’t just throw up these photos as-is. She uses digital tools to manipulate them and make something new, almost like she’s highlighting the way technology affects how we interact with art. The result is this huge, colorful collage of sunsets that almost looks like a digital painting. The sunsets still look beautiful, but they feel a little more fragmented and disjointed when you see them all together.
And I think that’s a metaphor for the digital world in general. We use technology to capture and share moments, but the more we do it, the more we lose that personal connection. These sunset photos, while stunning on their own, kind of lose their magic in a sea of other photos. It’s almost like you have to ask, “Do we even see the sunset anymore when we look at it through a screen?”
Why Does It Matter?
Honestly, in today’s world, we’re flooded with images daily especially on social media. Sunset photos are everywhere, and everyone’s sharing them. But Sunsets is important because it makes you stop and think: What does it mean when we share everything? What happens when we turn the most personal moments into something public? And how does that change how we experience the world around us?
Umbrico’s project doesn’t give us a straight answer. It just makes you reflect on the way we consume and share images today. And I think that’s what makes it so powerful. It’s a reminder that even something as simple as a sunset can have a much deeper meaning when you look at it in the context of the digital age.
My Final Thoughts
Overall, Penelope Umbrico’s Sunsets project isn’t just about sunsets, or even just about photography. It’s about how we live in a digital world where our personal moments get shared and reshaped in ways we don’t always realize. Umbrico’s art makes you think about how technology shapes the way we see things and how we connect with each other through images. So next time you snap a sunset pic, maybe think about where it’s going and how it fits into that huge digital landscape. It might just make you appreciate the moment a little more.
Moodboard of her exhibition
