Douglas Burgdorff is a photographer, cinematographer, writer, and director known for his experimental and deeply emotional approach to imagery. Among his most evocative projects is the photographic series I Keep on Dying, a visual exploration of the ephemerality of memory and beauty.
In this series, Burgdorff uses a broken lens, which he holds differently for each shot, creating distorted, fractured, and yet incredibly poetic images. The imperfection of the glass becomes a powerful metaphor for the fragility of memories and the fleeting beauty we strive to hold on to. Each shot seems to capture a suspended fragment of time, a memory fading away before it can be fully grasped. It is not just the visual distortion that makes these images captivating but also the sense of movement and transience they evoke.
For Burgdorff, photography is not merely a matter of aesthetics — it is a quest for feeling. Each project is an emotional and sensory investigation, where technique — no matter how precise or deliberate — is always at the service of emotional intent. This philosophy is deeply rooted in his childhood and artistic development.
Growing up across New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire, Douglas Burgdorff developed an almost visceral connection with cinema, a passion that ironically stemmed from a prohibition. His mother, as mentioned in his biography, forbade him from watching movies, even breaking off a romantic relationship because her partner appreciated David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. This restriction fueled Burgdorff’s curiosity, driving him to spend hours secretly watching films at friends’ houses and reading every art or film book he could get his hands on.
His artistic vision is a blend of technical precision and creative instinct. Each project is both a personal challenge and an opportunity to evoke emotions that resonate with those who experience his work. His photographic production is not so different from his cinematic one: in both fields, Burgdorff pursues emotional authenticity, striving not only to show but to make people feel.
