About Patricia McClung

Patricia McClung's photographs are multi-dimensional and her prize-winning picture, "Waiting for the Train" is composed of nearly 100 layers, she said.

In a certain sense, her photos reflect the years spent in university libraries in collection development; her pictures are collections of scenes combined and layered.

"We see lots of things. They catch your eye. I tried to pull (many elements) into one image," she said.

Click on photo for larger image.

McClung typically stands in one spot and takes 50 to 100 photos. She thinks of a way to capture the scene using bits and pieces of images, she said. She is fascinated by floor patterns and light reflections.

She doesn't do portraits, but her photographs are really about people, she said. She is drawn to people in public places and on the move, and what brings people together in a particular moment.

Married with two children away at school, McClung has been pursuing a career as a photographer for the last three years. Much of her work is influenced by artists Robert Rauschenberg and David Hockney, who combine different elements into one image. McClung felt such a connection to Hockney's work, she once began hyperventilating, she said.

"It inspired me to bring my own sensibility to the work. ... I found I could apply (his cut-up photo technique) to digital," she said.