Manya Naranzogt: Fugue Fever
“I have a relatively high body temperature. My body was made to survive the cold, to internalize and support as much heat in my core as possible—so living in the valley was like putting a husky in Texas. Summer always meant sticky, un-sleepable nights. Summer also meant the freedom to do dumb things, to sneak around dark neighborhoods with friends and laugh at three in the morning. This year’s summer was tainted, it felt like a bend in reality.”
—Manya Naranzogt
“This photo will forever encapsulate the era of coronavirus in the U.S., how the people struggled to appear as business as usual in the face of unprecedented changes to our societies structures, even after governments became misguided and panicked.”
Summer of 2020 (2020)
Nausea (2019)
“I took this on the 4th of July. We stood on the roof of an elementary school and I took long exposures of the different fireworks. At the time the subjects in this photo meant little more to me than a pretty celebration. Now I look and think of the history of use of fireworks by the FBI as psychological warfare in poor and black neighborhoods, how the history of the 4th of July marks a long celebration of stolen nations and genocide of Native Americans. America’s great settler colonial trademark is to flatten their own history, to hide bloodshed and evil behind sparkly distractions.”
Mr. Cruz (2019)
Watershed (2018)
“This is the first summer I’ve had where I didn’t go out. I couldn’t of course. Getting older feels scary, I don’t know how to be responsible but I have to do it.”
Itch (2018)
Sticky Sheets (2019)
Sticky Tables (2019)
“Last call. Have we accomplished much? We hopped from bar to bar and yet enjoyed the cheapest beers better. With age we become less desperate.”
Ghost (2019)
“My dear Gracie, closing out the summer for me. We always look back shyly at our adventures in the hottest months feeling wistful and grateful for a chance to sleep longer. See you next summer.”
Manya Naranzogt is an interdisciplinary artist that focuses on photography, painting, and sculpture centered on themes of nostalgia and security. As a child, they learned everything about photography from their father who shoots landscape photography in the Mongolian wilderness.