INTERVIEW
January 12, 2025
DAYDREAM IN MEMORIES OF YOUTH
Photography by Stephanie Duprie Routh
Interview by Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico
We have the unique opportunity to share an evocatively profound new publication by photographer Stephanie Duprie Routh. Stephanie is an Austin-based artist and photographer, who explores womanhood, memory, and identity through her authentic and expressive visual storytelling. Her latest work, “Daydream in Memories of Youth”, serves as a layered visual diary that examines sensuality, through retrospection while examining the complexities of aging. Stephanie’s photographs do more than capture moments, they create textured narratives that reveal dualities between past and present, exterior and interior, beauty and aging.
Collaborating with poet Dalya Sachs and olfactory artist Lula Curioca, Stephanie brings her viewers into a multisensory dialogue that enriches her exploration of womanhood’s many facets. Dalya Sachs’s “Grammar of Possibility” series complements the images with double-entendre poetry, adding another layer of meaning, while Lula Curioca’s custom fragrance for the project deepens the immersive experience, highlighting scent as a subtle yet powerful reminder of sensuality and memory.
Educated in Environmental Design at Texas A&M University and Photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Stephanie’s journey from architecture and public service to the art world is reflected in her precise, singular approach to photography. Stephanie’s work has been widely recognized, appearing in permanent collections and exhibitions across the globe, and is sought after for its distinctive, introspective quality. She avoids digital manipulations like double exposure, relying solely on her camera to capture scenes with authenticity. Her preference for a darker palette lends a quiet intensity to her work.
Through “Daydream in Memories of Youth”, Stephanie Duprie Routh invites viewers to contemplate beauty, resilience, and nostalgia, offering a nuanced portrait of the self that bridges youthful allure with the wisdom of age. Her artistry continues to earn her accolades and inspire audiences, positioning her as a compelling voice in contemporary conceptual photography.
“What I need to think about or examine in my own life subconsciously emerges in my work. After about four years of image-making, I started to see the questions of sensuality and aging. I began the editing process to achieve a tight, cohesive portfolio specific to these ideas. Six years later Daydreams started its public journey in the world via an exhibit and the book.”
IN CONVERSATION WITH STEPHANIE DUPRIE ROUTH
THE PICTORIAL LIST: In “Daydream in Memories of Youth,” you delve into themes of sensuality, memory, and identity. Could you share how this idea emerged and what drove you to explore it visually?
STEPHANIE DUPRIE ROUTH: In 2018, my personal life was unusually complicated. I was navigating death and mortality, both in the literal and metaphorical senses. This prompted me to take stock in who I was, both currently and in the past, whether there were regrets, and who I wanted to be from then on. Fast forward to December 2018 in Miami: I was in a taxi at midnight looking out of the window and saw a woman walking the opposite way through construction scaffolding. I quickly snapped 2-3 frames. When I downloaded the images, I thought ‘she looks like a ghost of my past’ — someone I used to easily be but also someone I still identified with and wanted to be in my future. That was the first image of the project although I didn’t know it then. I photograph without specific ideas in mind and then look at the images I’ve made over time to see what my camera is seeing. What I need to think about or examine in my own life subconsciously emerges in my work. After about four years of image-making, I started to see the questions of sensuality and aging. I began the editing process to achieve a tight, cohesive portfolio specific to these ideas. Six years later Daydreams started its public journey in the world via an exhibit and the book.
TPL: Your work often portrays a layered view of womanhood and self-reflection. What aspects of womanhood do you find most compelling to represent, and how do you approach expressing these ideas through photography?
STEPHANIE: Being a woman embodies many emotional, physical, and psychological characteristics. The aspects I find most important to discuss are those connecting the mind and body. In Daydreams, the specific topics are sensuality and sexual empowerment. The expression of these attributes are often culturally deflated or suppressed. Creating this work is my attempt to remove surrounding taboos.
To express these ideas in photography, I create imagery that invites the viewer to desire, remember, or long for intimate moments. I want to initiate a dialogue that broadens the definition of what is socially and publicly acceptable.
TPL: You mentioned a desire to convey "the duplicity of beauty and age." How do you feel this tension influences or enriches the viewer's experience of sensuality in your work?
STEPHANIE: As I get older, I notice how much society, particularly in the U.S., values beauty and equates it with youth. Sensuality tends to be overlooked more often than not. Many people who connect with my work are at a stage in life where they are seen as wise rather than beautiful or sensual, regardless of how they look externally or feel internally. Our sensual nature doesn’t disappear—it stays with us through memory or personality. The images in this work focus on the beauty of youth to purposefully ask the viewers to reflect on their own sensuality.
TPL: You uniquely capture all your imagery with a single click, without relying on double exposure, Photoshop, or AI. What challenges or benefits does this technique present, and how does it align with your artistic philosophy?
STEPHANIE: Most assume I use software interventions, so I have recently started telling people how I make the images. The way I photograph is born out of personal preference. I do not like to sit at a computer for hours on end; I would rather be in the world photographing so one-click, in-camera is my way of staying outside. This technique creates images that encourage the viewer to slow down and spend more time with the work. It helps them ask questions or be perplexed by what they see. Some of my images are complex and can be confusing. This is an artistic thumbprint because I can be the same: complex and confusing.
TPL: With a preference for a darker palette, how do you feel this color choice enhances the emotional or thematic undertones of your work, especially in projects exploring intimacy and nostalgia?
STEPHANIE: When considering intimate moments, I think of introspection or of quiet, dark, dimly lit spaces. “Under the cover of night” or “a kiss stolen in the dark” are societal phrases that refer to vulnerability or clandestine moments. I associate the past with darkness, and I think society does too. When we talk about “the light at the end of the tunnel” we are moving forward out of the darkness towards a new concept. When we talk about leaving things behind, we say it ‘fades into the past’. These linguistic references are translated into a darker palette that helps transport the viewer into more intimate places, reinforcing the underlying theme of women as sensual beings.
TPL: You have chosen to publish your book with different colored covers, please explain the importance of the change and the meaning of the colors you have chosen.
STEPHANIE: The covers of the book are specific references to a place. I wanted to have a distinction between the four locations where the exhibit will be shown: Austin, Texas (Sep 2024-Oct 2024), New York (April 2025-May 2025), Mexico City and California (both in 2025).
When I began the project, the pink/green combination of Austin kept appearing in my life. I believe the universe will give you signs you can choose to accept or ignore. Austin is in a surge of growth and although it has been around for 185 years, it feels like it is being re-born into a different kind of city. The pink cover is a double entendre: birth and flesh. The interior green Pantone wash references the vibrant outdoor spirit of Austin.
The green also represents the breadbasket of the U.S. and one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world: California. Dalya Sachs, who splits her time between California and Texas, has a vineyard and gardens which are lush and verdant. A green cover for California seemed fitting. I wanted to have a connection between the books, so the Austin (pink) and California (green) covers share the same colors between the two.
For Mexico, I posed a few color options and through conversation with Lula Curioca, based in Mexico City, I decided the maroon cover represents the country in a more provocative way than the red of their flag. The Pantone wash inside is maroon, which is shared by the New York City cover, which is black. New York has long been referenced as ‘Gotham city’, a nod to the gothic, dark and gritty. Ironically, Washington Irving coined New York as Gotham City in his publication Salmagundi, which is where the Daydreams work will be exhibited in New York! The Mexico and New York covers share maroon and black as their joiners.
Even after all this thought, people buy books based on what they like and not what I think!
I hope my vulnerability opens the door for others to grasp what they want or feel without being shamed into thinking sensuality is something to oppress.
TPL: You collaborated with Dalya Sachs, who contributed poetry, and Lula Curioca, who crafted a unique scent. What inspired you to bring in these specific sensory and literary elements, and how do they enhance the themes of your project?
STEPHANIE: Women are sophisticated creatures. Mimicking their multifaceted nature, I felt this project would be better received if people could use more than one element to ingest the work. I am a visual person. Having words opens the project to others who absorb through hearing. (There is a video element in the exhibit where the poems are read in conjunction with the imagery.) Psychological projects such as this one need words to expand the work and help direct viewers towards the inherent themes.
Including a scent was serendipity. I found Lula in an internet rabbit hole I was diving into and realized she had already collaborated with artists. Smell is one of the most powerful triggers for nostalgia and the Daydreams project leans heavily in that direction. I wanted the exhibit to take viewers to an intimate, remembered place and a scent can move people’s minds quickly.
TPL: In "The Grammar of Possibility," Dalya uses grammar to create double meanings and enrich your images. How did this approach add layers to your visual storytelling, and did it influence your perception of your own work?
STEPHANIE: When I began working with Dalya, we spent days uninterrupted going through each image, talking about what I felt the image was about and what I wanted to convey. Then I walked away with no direction to Dalya about what to write. I did not read the finished work until every poem was complete. Because of the process chosen, her words didn’t influence how I made the imagery or the edit of the work. However, I do think she crawled into my headspace and made verbal what I am trying to convey visually.
TPL: With scent being such a powerful, intangible sense, how did Lula’s olfactory creation impact the way you and your viewers experience "Daydream in Memories of Youth"?
TPL: You describe sensuality as multi-faceted and timeless in your work. How has your own experience with sensuality and self-perception evolved, and how does that influence what you want viewers to feel?
STEPHANIE: Daydreams is one of several projects I am working on that fall under the ‘women-sensuality’ umbrella. As I explore these intersections, the more I recognize I use my camera to address my own sensuality and identity. These psychological projects are my personal therapy. This has and continues to empower me. I have more confidence to publicly own who I am and what I want. I hope my vulnerability opens the door for others to grasp what they want or feel without being shamed into thinking sensuality is something to oppress.
TPL: You have mentioned the power of nostalgia in your work. How do you balance capturing the past and presenting it alongside contemporary narratives in a way that feels relatable to a modern audience?
STEPHANIE: Looking back is a way to simultaneously remember and go forward. The nostalgia in my projects is merely a springboard. I use the past as guideposts to commemorate and/or direct the viewer towards an idea. It is the viewer who (subconsciously) moves the image into their present-day life. In this way, the viewer remembers, relates to something personal, and then desires to keep (or forget) it in the present moment or make it happen again in the future.
Time is fluid. The boundaries between past, present, and future are not fixed but interconnected, allowing for a more flexible understanding of moments and memories. Rather than creating a balance that feels relatable, I tried to create a nebulous space that allows everyone to move freely through their own time continuum. By not offering a clearly defined or universally relatable experience, I sought a space that feels abstract and versatile. Each person is encouraged to interpret and navigate the work uniquely, based on their personal sense of time and experiences. It prioritizes individual reflection and freedom over shared structure.
TPL: “Daydream in Memories of Youth” has been recognized internationally. How do you envision your work’s legacy, especially with its emphasis on preserving the beauty of authenticity, memory, and age?
STEPHANIE: The Daydreams project explores a topic that is timeless. Beauty, memories, and aging have been considered long before I created this work, and they will be studied indefinitely. I am hopeful that future discussions of my work reflect its authenticity and its attempt to bring sensuality while aging into conversation without judgment. At some point, the entire Daydreams project will become a memory and will age just as I do. What will be left is a beautiful book alongside those memories. No matter my age today — I will always be younger than my future self. As such, the portfolio becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of the project itself: a daydream in memories of youth.
In “Daydream in Memories of Youth”, Stephanie Duprie Routh crafts a narrative that blends sensuality, memory, and self-reflection, bridging past and present. Her collaboration with Dalya Sachs and Lula Curioca enriches the experience, adding poetic and sensory layers that invite viewers to connect more deeply. Through this work, Stephanie redefines beauty and femininity, showing that desire, memory, and identity are profound and enduring aspects of our humanity.
Her commitment to capturing authentic moments reflects a respect for life’s complexities, allowing viewers to see themselves within these layered portrayals. “Daydream in Memories of Youth” invites us to embrace the intersection of past allure and present grace, showing that beauty and identity only deepen over time.
On behalf of our entire team, thank you Stephanie, for taking the time to answer our questions so thoughtfully and openly. Your insights into “Daydream in Memories of Youth” have given our readers a deeper understanding of the inspiration, intentions, and intricate layers within this remarkable body of work. Your dedication to capturing the nuances of the human experience is truly inspiring, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to share your journey and perspective with our audience. Thank you again for your generosity and for inviting us into your creative world.
