Shannon Taggart is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BFA in Applied Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her work has appeared in publications such as Blind Spot, TIME and Newsweek. Her photographs have been shown at Photoworks in Brighton, England, The Photographic Resource Center in Boston, Redux Pictures in New York and the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles. Her work has been recognized by the Inge Morath Foundation, American Photography and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace, among others.

I asked these spirit figures if I was seeing them or if I was seeing what was in my own brain. They answered “both.” - Eileen Garrett, twentieth century medium

Spiritualism is a loosely organized religion based primarily on the belief to communicate with spirits of the dead. I first became aware of Spiritualism as a teenager after my cousin received a reading in Lily Dale, NY. The medium revealed a strange secret about my grandfather’s death that proved to be true. Since then I have been deeply curious about how someone could possibly know such a thing.

The photographs presented here are part of a five year project on modern Spiritualism. My intention is to document this religion’s practices and to illustrate what it means to be a Spiritualist. The pictures are also meant as a meditation on mortality and the precarious line between life and death. They are an attempt to examine how the individual experiences the spiritual uniquely. Finally, they are an effort to manifest the unseen, to pose the question - “What if?”

FJORD: How do you feel the Internet has affected the way you work? Have you changed the style of work you do or the way you present your work based on the way the Internet has changed how photography functions?

Shannon: The internet has not changed my style but has changed my process. The ability to publish new work and immediately receive feedback from varying sources is amazing. It is like holding an open critique. Having access to such a dialogue is invaluable for every stage of a project. I also use my site as a tool to sequence and edit. Putting my photographs together for the web is an important step for me, it’s illuminating.

F: How do you gain inspiration for your work? Where do you look for ideas?

S: It is very different now than when I first started photographing. It used to be that my inspiration was totally dependent on finding certain happenings to photograph. I have always been drawn to photograph ritual and/or any type of visceral experience. I would do research and spend a lot of time gaining access to very specific situations. Currently, I am inspired by the idea of having the shoot itself be the catalyst, allowing the act of photographing itself to be the ritual.

F: What are your favorite websites?

S: Right at this moment - http://www.agencevu.com. So much incredible work! I could spend days there..

F: Where do you see your work going in the next year and in the future in general?

Visit Shannon Taggart’s website here