Surendra Lawoti (Somerville, MA), District Chief Peter St. Clair (Appointed October 31, 1977), Somerville Fire Department, from the series "Fire," C-print, 2005, 40 x 32 inches, Courtesy of the artist
Surendra Lawoti (Somerville, MA), James F Powers (Appointed October 30, 1977), Somerville Fire Department, from the series "Fire," C-print, 2005, 40 x 32 inches, Courtesy of the artist
Surendra Lawoti (Somerville, MA), Captain Mike Heck (Appointed October 31, 1977), Somerville Fire Department, from the series "Fire," C-print, 2005, 40 x 32 inches, Courtesy of the artist
Surendra Lawoti (Somerville, MA), Firefighter William J Powers (Appointed October 30, 1969), Somerville Fire Department, from the series "Fire," C-print, 2005, 40 x 32 inches, Courtesy of the artist
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Surendra Lawoti’s project, “Fire,” presents firefighters from the five fire stations in his adopted hometown of Somerville, MA. Lawoti approaches each person with a close-up, straightforward effect and style. Currently, he is expanding this project by photographing the firefighters of the neighboring city of Cambridge, MA.
A native of Nepal, Lawoti came to the US in 1994. He received his BA in photography from Columbia College Chicago and his MFA in photography from Massachusetts College of Art in spring 2005. Featured in a number of solo and group exhibitions, Lawoti has received grants from Artadia (2002) and Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs (2001 and 2002). His work is included in the LaSalle Bank Collection, Ruttenberg Collection, and the Citibank Corporate Collection. Lawoti has taught for the Marwen Foundation, which offers after-school programs to underprivileged Chicago-area high school students. In addition, he has taught at Massachusetts College of Art’s high school summer program as well as the Cambridge School of Weston’s summer art program. Currently, he is an adjunct professor of Photography at Montserrat College of Art ( Beverly, MA) and also works for Color Services, Inc ( Needham, MA). He was recently accepted into the Boston Drawing Project at the Bernard Toale Gallery (Boston, MA).
ARTIST STATEMENT: Fire
I find “walks of life” fascinating. I often wonder about different kinds of people who I do not normally encounter in my daily life. I see a homeless person, and wonder what his or her favorite song is. I wonder about politicians and what drives them. I wonder about a prostitute and what led him or her to be one in the first place. I wonder about a musician playing a beautiful song in the subway train station. These are some of the thoughts and questions that lead me to photograph firefighters. Fighting fires seemed like such an odd vocation. Why would someone want to fight fires? Fire could kill.
The physiological and psychological need and desire to run into a burning building is beyond comprehension to me, but necessary to others. My series “Fire” is motivated by this inquiry. I am interested in the firefighters’ experiences confronting the wrath and unpredictability of the fire, as well as the uncertainties, the fear, the close calls, and losses. By getting close with my camera, I want to look into their eyes, feel their skin, pores and hairs. In their faces, I want to reveal the effects of time—the residues of wear and tear. With “Fire,” I want to look beyond the iconic and mythical symbol of firefighter. At the heart of it, all I want to do is look into the eye.
As an artist, I am constantly intrigued and challenged into creating a photographic language that embodies the very humanistic recognition and one that pushes my own boundaries. In this world of constant flux, this is my way of saying I am alive.
