New York-based photographer Tim Davis's images evoke the comic and tragic sensibilities of the real world. At once playful and critical, celebratory and negative, Davis's photographs serve as a socially engaged documentary that is rich in history and purpose without being explicitly didactic. On a five-year fellowship to Rome, Davis captured the everyday imagery of decaying suburban landscapes in “The New Antiquity”, which used a shift in perception to explore the meaning of ancient ruins. Following 9/11, Davis traveled across the U.S. to photograph the theatrical side of political identities, greatly inspired by the work of Walker Evans. In his recent series, “The Upstate New York Olympics”, Davis incorporates his local New York landscape into a video investigation of the seemingly arbitrary nature of competitive sports, complete with his participation as the sole athlete of the events.