Portland-based photographer Delaney Allen hates shooting people, so he chose to capture dreamy natural landscapes described as a way to investigate self-exploration. Whether it be pictures of multi-colored quiet ponds, painted hills, pink clouds, dark caves, shadowy deserts, violent seas, frozen jungles, and misty mountains, Allen’s pictures seem to be a travelogue in which he documents a travel both on earth and inside himself. « A lot of what I do is very personal. When putting together a series I try to incorporate myself into it. » He explained in an interview with Lightra about his introspective work. « That has to do with my fascination of self-portraiture. »

Located between Texas and Oregon, most of the time, American photographer finds himself on the road. « I’m constantly traveling, seeking out isolation, confusion, and beauty. Most of my work is completed while sitting alone in my studio, even my portraits have moved toward self-portraiture, » he said. « There had always been a fascination with the road and the unknown around the next bend but I had yet to ever look at it through the lens. It really changed the way I was working and led me down a new path. Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time alone on the road trying to find these hidden moments out in the middle of nowhere. » 

Based on mood and emotions, his series of pictures take their roots in nature. « I find nature to be a big influence – the changing weather, seasons, sunsets, how light shifts throughout the day. With that, nature aids my work in the sense of a story that I ultimately want to tell. » Although Allen’s lens looks out into the world, it ultimately turns inward towards himself. In his series entitled »Painting A Portrait”, Delaney Allen mixes self-portraits with pictures of places from his journeys. With this series, the artist sees it as a journey inward. «The dialogue between the places and myself only comes from the ideas of loneliness and singularity. »

Words and text also play an important part in his work. Sounding like diaries documenting the pictures, words tend to recapture what Allen have been feeling. «Whether words are intimate, or possibly a little funny, they can help this idea of loneliness and allow the viewer to really see what I was feeling beyond what I was capturing through the viewfinder. »

Exhibited and published nationally and internationally, Delaney Allen currently splits his time between his native Texas and Oregon. Discover more of his work on his website.

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