Those Left Behind
Justin A. Carney
June 2-3, 2023
Opening Reception: June 2, 6pm-9pm
Free and open to the public
Aurora PhotoCenter at Re:public, 2301 East 10th Street, Indianapolis

On June 2 & 3, Aurora PhotoCenter hosts a special installation of Justin A. Carney’s series Those Left Behind, which explores his family's grief and disconnection after the death of his grandmother. Carney writes of the series, “My work focuses on a struggle with loss, coping with grief, as well as the joys of being alive and the intimate moments spent with family. Those Left Behind not only shows the effects of death but also visualizes a celebration of life. In capturing those intimate moments with family, as ordinary as they may appear, there is a realization of unity, of togetherness that death may change but never fully take away.”

Justin A. Carney uses autobiographical photography to question how death and grief affect familial connections — the bonds that keep a family together and cause them to separate, and how those bonds shape an individual. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Carney was awarded first place in the Single Image category of LensCulture’s 2023 Art Photography Awards. He is a recipient of the Reva Shiner Memorial Award in the 2022 National Society of Arts and Letters Competition and Exhibition and the Best in Show Award in the 2020 Emerging Vision: Biennial Student Show at the Colorado Photographic Art Center. Carney’s work has been exhibited nationally and abroad, including in China and South Korea.

Those Left Behind is the first in a series of short exhibitions hosted by Aurora PhotoCenter to highlight the work of photographers currently working in Indiana.