“Taylor’s work is thought provoking, evocative and responds to history, culture and location with powerful resonances”
Review of portfolio of video, photography and writing whilst living in Tucson, Arizona in 2011:
‘During his three-month stay in Tucson, Arizona, Phil Taylor focused his intentions and his camera on the region’s environment, people, culture, and politics. From the arid Southwest landscape to the folk traditions of indigenous peoples, his images interpret a range of subjects that include desolate expanses and urban sprawl as well as issues surrounding the Second Amendment right to bear arms and Arizona’s close proximity to Mexico. Taylor is a visitor, yet he senses what might make a good picture as if he has been photographing here for years, infusing both the mundane and the magical with an almost dreamlike quality that draws the viewer in. His understanding and use of light is a pivotal tool he exploits and experiments with to both expose details and transform seemingly arbitrary scenes with otherworldly presence. Chance and randomness seem to be everywhere, yet the whole is unified by Taylor’s vision and presentation of the work. Carefully considered selection, sequencing, and pairings of images create new visual contrasts and connections as narrative fragments are suggested, interrupted, and never fully realized, but deftly felt and experienced.’
Cass Fey Curator of Education, Centre for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona, USA