Like Dust Settling in a Dim-Lit Room (Or Starless Forest) constructs a liminal world that explores the intersection of reality, dream, and memory. Through photography, this body of work functions as a mirror, a reflection of my inner psyche and an investigation of identity, relationships, the domestic, and the natural world.

This process, with its focus on the self, is rooted in an attempt to heal. The exploration of ordinary locations, places devoid of people and often characterized by the presence of flora, have functioned as a refuge in my personal life. By frequenting these places, I began to see them as sets, utilizing them to construct my visions. I imbue them with fragments of the people, places, and memories that inhabit my subconscious.

I fail to find stability in the societal constructs of home and family; so I seek to create it in the natural world. Through the dislocation of these places and the infusion of nature into the domestic, this work constructs a fleeting world that lives in ambiguity. This space is familiar yet still foreign; it is a constructed world that visualizes my deepest desires and greatest fears.

Jake Benzinger is a photographer, book artist, writer, and educator based in Providence, RI. He received his BFA in photography from Lesley University, College of Art and Design, and is currently an MFA candidate at Rhode Island School of Design. His work reflects upon how text and image ask for and negotiate with faith, belief, and perception, investigating themes of empathy, myth, phenomenology, and death.

His work has been shown nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions at institutions including the Griffin Museum of Photography, Haute Photographie Rotterdam, Center for Fine Art Photography, Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Candela Books + Gallery, and more. Like Dust Settling in a Dim-Lit Room (Or Starless Forest), his debut monograph, was shortlisted for the 2023 Lucie Photobook Prize and has since sold out of its second edition. His publications are held in collections at the National Gallery of Art, the School of Visual Arts, SMFA at Tufts, and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Jake is a photography and book arts workshop instructor and the founder/director of wych elm, an independent imprint creating small-run photo books, zines, and fine art ephemera.