Portals

Tom Hricko’s most recent set of photos was taken around the time he returned to the US for a long period, partly due to the outbreak of the pandemic. When he was walking in the unspoiled natural areas near New Haven, the city where he was born, he noticed times when light appeared as if it were coming from an entirely different dimension that was not clearly of real life or the death world. He began to photograph them and continued to process them afterward, adjusting both color and tone to summon that dimension even more. His “portals” draw the viewer in, inviting them into the realm of the unknown as they called him. The thick patches of twigs intertwine like a curtain separating us from the other side. Something there to discover, but also to be feared of. They are inviting us, tempting us, but do we really want to go there?