JJ, thanks for taking the time to sit down and do this. Could you introduce yourself for us?
My name is JJ Berg and I reside in Covington, Kentucky, at the Ohio and Licking Rivers confluence. My work primarily focuses on the sentiment of life’s transitions, the relationship of thought and landscape, and the complexities of home.
Tall as the Grass is Blue is a beautiful title. What invoked the decision to give it this title?
My practice of actively looking at and dissecting the parameters I call home led me to think of how memory is connected to familiar/unfamiliar places. Though Tall as the Grass is Blue is very much a document of Northern Kentucky, I wanted to attempt to record an unresolved pursuit of finding where memory and distance intersect. While out in the act of making images, I began to think about how far our thoughts physically travel with us and how the landscapes we are witness to influence our recall. Through the physical and measurable boundaries of a state, I noticed a sense of pride in the bluegrass state of Kentucky, a sense of belonging, and standing tall.
Are there particular pictures within the work that you feel are representative of the inward looking and reflective tone of Tall as the Grass?
There is one image in particular that is representative of inward-looking and the connection to the land. This image was made in Petersburg, KY. The rope hanging from the branch into the water visually represents the impossible act of untethering our bodies and minds from the landscapes we inhabit.
Eggleston was asked, after the release of “The Democratic Forest”, if there was such a thing as the “southern photographer” anymore. What effect, if any, has your work been influenced by the south? Do you consider yourself a “southern photographer”?
I have a lot of love for the Midwestern drawl; I find a lot of comfort in this lush landscape and all of its seasons. I do not necessarily consider myself a Southern photographer, Kentucky is a rather new space for me. I’ve spent most of my life in Ohio, the rigid divide of the river has defined the boundaries I operate in. Kentucky has been in close proximity my entire life and catching glimpses of it when I was younger always made me curious. The newness of heading south has invoked feelings, the kind that is reflective of my past. In turn, I will continue attempting to document a feeling of memory and the new shape that is formed from being witness to the actual. No matter where I may be, the landscape will inform the past.
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