Having grown up on the rocky northern shore of Long Island, NY, James Page (formerly MF, they/them) is a photographic collage artist in Portland, OR. Page hand cuts their 35mm landscape photography into distinct rounded shapes that are then interlocked. Through this repetitive, focused process their work demonstrates the slow, cyclical qualities of nature and self-expression, tapping into their internal experience by translating their environment abstractly into color and form.

Using three different tools, a razor blade, scissors, and nail scissors, for three precise cuts, Page transforms their photography into .5”x1” curved pieces that they arrange in 1”x1” interlocking squares. These tools, including a point-and-shoot plastic camera, are a continuation of the materials from their childhood. 

As an artist at the intersections of being queer, agender, neurodivergent, self-taught, and formally trained in mental health, their visual work acts as a visceral language for the subconscious. Despite their precision, their collages embrace humanity through being made by hand, offering a point of connection with the viewer.

Page’s work is an innovation born from marrying the traditional art-making practices of photography and collage. Photography is a medium through which they observe the world around them. Collage is a medium through which they work with that reality, deconstruct it, and reconstruct something that wasn’t possible before. In this way, photographic collage conveys the condition that we are always working with what already exists.