Jason Vaughn's Biography

Jason Vaughn has a unique photographic style that resonates through the image and into the heart of the viewer. His work centers on subjects who unwittingly reveal their darkest emotions to the camera. In his early career, Vaughn assembled images that addressed the separation of a person’s secret self and public self. He continues to explore these themes, but has also branched out into the physical self and worldlier images. With his hugely successful one-man show in May of 2007, titled Space and the Human Condition, Vaughn attempted to capture the scope of the human condition in a single series. The show demonstrated Vaughn’s roots in street art, graffiti, and photojournalism, while also illustrating his capacity to transcend his influences and forge new artistic ground. In his new work, Vaughn visually documents the slow complacency of Middle America. Suggesting that residents of the Midwest are part of a new Lost Generation, the images show people who resign themselves to predictable lives, and fill their days with idle pastimes. The photographs reveal the deep roots people have put down, the ways that they have inherited and perpetuated long family traditions, and the tragic emptiness when those traditions are abandoned. The end result is a set of visual images that not only give the viewer a sense of place, but also create a feeling of restlessness and a desire to escape.