The Struggle To Right Oneself, which takes its name from Martin Heidegger's description of human existence as a "process of perpetual falling," has similar aims, highlighting the precariousness of human existence, and wringing maximum violence out of images that only hint at the coming catastrophe.

Rooted as it is in the work of a German existentialist, perhaps it's no surprise that Skarbakka's at his most interesting when the menace that lurks in the corners of his photographs is cerebral and chilling rather than visceral and concussive. "Reflected" shows Skarbakka in mid-bicycle kick, but unlike the ill-fated climbs and rising floodwaters of his other photographs, it's not immediately apparent how he arrived in this predicament. The trio of his own silhouette in a shadow, then in a mirror's reflection, then in a reflection of his own in "Blue Tree" adds to the confusion and sense of impending doom. Similar in tone is the black-and-white triptych of "Grass," which shows Skarbakka hovering five feet above a nondescript field, desperately tossing and turning in an attempt to kick-start gravity.

Blue Tree



Reflected



Grass

¶ 12:59 PM