Saroyan Humphrey’s latest photo series, Local TV, is a collection of motel room scenes all held together by a common thread: a cheap, glowing screen, its presence usually made all the more striking by the relative darkness surrounding it. The series conjures the peculiarly American desolation of life on the road and faux connectivity: bunkered down in a motel, you’re alone but not alone. There are people just on the other side of the door, human contact a phone call away, friends inside the TV screen. Humphrey’s Local TV series collects all the feelings that can live inside highway motel rooms—calmness, paranoia, isolation, escape—and presents them near-palpable, the glowing screen a supporting character in each photograph’s story.
This deftness of skill is no surprise given Humphrey’s experience as a portrait, documentary, and fine art photographer who started making photos at the tender age of eight. He employs medium format and DSLR cameras for his photos (working with clients ranging from clothing companies to magazines), and is also an art director and award winning designer. Humphrey is based in San Francisco, CA.
