ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Blowout began as an ongoing series of photographs of blown out automobile tires that I found along the highway in Las Vegas, Nevada. This project was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend and colleague. We were speaking about the idea of “life explosions,” and how they can seem so devastating, yet turn out so beautifully and with such happy endings. I was thinking about the phrase life explosion, as I drove down the highway one day, and an exploded, blown out tire, caught my attention. I pulled off the road and loaded it into my car. When I moved from Delaware to Las Vegas in 2016, I brought the tire with me, and photographed it in my studio. I enjoy taking something that is generally considered garbage, and transforming it into something beautiful. Eventually, I started thinking of the blown out tires I photographed as visual metaphors that illustrate the experience we share as human beings. The tires encountered a tumultuous event that left them isolated and rotting on the highway, yet ultimately, they were repurposed to experience a new beginning. As my work evolved, I decided to pair each image with an anonymous story of personal transformation. Transformed is an ongoing body of work that will eventually become a book.

AUTHOR
Leon Syfrit is an award-winning photographer whose work focuses on combining elements of experimental photography with still life, landscape, portraiture, and narrative. Leon also works at restoring and preserving vintage photographs and negatives. His work is included in several permanent collections including The Philadelphia History Museum, The Free Library of Pennsylvania, The University of Maryland Hospital, and Darkroom Gallery in Vermont. Leon holds a BFA in photography from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2016, Leon taught photography at The Delaware College of Art and Design in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

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