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| Tinkertoys -- Julie Blackmon |
17th century painting continues to have an influence on my work. The idea behind this one, though, came from my own life growing up, when I would sneak in during naptime to wake up and play with the baby (one of my younger siblings). It never went over too well . . . with the babies. . . .or my mom.
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| The After-Party -- Julie Blackmon |
This was also inspired by painting, specifically the "celebration of the birth" paintings done by Jan Steen and others. I liked the idea of creating this moment, where everyone had left the party (a drinking party in this case), so it's just the dad, the kids and the dog having their own little after-party. And the little smile I got from the baby was an unexpected bonus during the shoot.
As Blackmon's photographs are inspired by Dutch and Flemish paintings and as Carla van de Puttelaar is a photographer and Dutch art historian, we thought that van de Puttelaar might enjoy Blackmon's work. Here's her response to one of Blackmon's images.
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| High Dive -- Julie Blackmon |
High Dive reminds me of a work by Peter Jacob Horemans and by Philips Wouwerman. There is another quality in the work of Julie Blackmon which is surrealism. This makes the work different, although in that she keeps a connection with Wouwerman. I can easily believe that suddenly someone will dive from the terrace as well, into the fountain below.
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| Winged Migration -- Tom Chambers |
This image was was inspired by artist Andrew Wyeth, particularly in the emotionality of the landscape, as well as the use of color and texture. Like Wyeth I was born and raised in Southeastern Pennsylvania where great value is placed on the natural world. The young girl with the migrating birds dashes across the meadow, in sync with nature. Both represent the seasonal passage of time in which they move and change with the winds and other untamed forces. Winged Migration was created from individual photographs taken in different areas of Virginia and then melded into a photomontage.
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| Baboons in Profile -- Nick Brandt |
It's hard to get close to baboons, and as I don't use a telephoto lens, it means I need to come across some unexpectedly accommodating baboons. Baboons in Profile is in fact the only photo where I have ever been able to get close enough to baboons that I thought the image made the cut. Why these ones allowed me to, I have no idea. But every animal is different, just as every human is.
The shafts of light angling down between the baboons is a complete technical error during shooting on my part. Light got into the camera by mistake and caused this to happen, but in the compositionally correct place and angle. There's nothing quite like the pleasant surprise of a mistake making a photo better.
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| Spheres of Influence -- Jo Whaley |
A still life composed of scattered books under a fig tree, upon which figs have dropped; some perfectly ripe, one overripe and sagging like an old man's testicle. Two of the books are ecclesiastical in nature, tattered and wrinkled but still pronouncing the glories of God. Meanwhile a comparison of skeletons glows from a 19thc Spanish medical book for women, which was found in a dumpster in the Mission District of San Francisco. Salvaged from its fate of destruction, it now offers instruction, of the differences that lie between man and ape and of the daring of Darwin. The Naked Truth. If nudity is too much to bear, take one of the fig leaves from the tree.
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| La Table Servie -- Laurie Tümer |
From the Glowing Evidence series, which began in 1998, La Table Servie is a loose historical re-enactment of one of the first fixed photographs, an 1826 work of the same title by Nicéphore Niépce. Borrowing a fluorescent tracer dye technique used in safety training for farm workers who apply pesticides, this photographic visualization charts the migration of invisible ubiquitous industrial chemicals into the food on our dinner table and into the products we use as practitioners of photography (traditional and digital). The series is a cautionary tale about the cost of these chemicals to our health and environment and the hungry industries that drive their use.
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| 071557 and 092654 from Water Cascade -- David Gibson |
Watching a waterfall is a meditation. The elemental nature of water over rocks defined by light is mesmerizing. Several years ago I began a series of exposures to look at patterns formed in a moment. It was surprising to see the variety in these images. This discovery took me to the studio to look at water and light movements under controlled conditions. "Ephemeral Moments" developed from those studies. The current series is back in the land and full of the surprises of the unexpected.
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| Untitled #13, 2008 -- Ted Kuykendall |
"Authenticity, like artistic talent, is something innate; it can't be acquired intentionally. Authenticity and originality together is such a rare pairing that most of us almost never encounter it. Ted Kuykendall was perhaps the most authentic and original visual artist I have ever known. His work affects the receptive viewer viscerally and unmediated. The effect is powerful, if not always welcome, because Kuykendall produced work that stabs at the emotions while leaving the question of intention unanswered. His images are daring, palpably disturbing and occasionally baffling but never accommodating or predictable. This photographic work is also as unpretentious and unglamorous as was its maker."
Stephen Fleming, Director
Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program
October 7, 2009
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| Code I -- Chaco Terada |
This series is related to the works named "gate." The title "code" is another expression of the "soul of calligraphy."
This title "code" is the code to open a gate to enter a new world or an experience in our lives. This idea came from my own experience when I stood on the land of a foreign country far from Japan for the first time.
Nobody gave me a key to open the door. It took time for me to realize that the key was in me. That was not just a key but a code. Moreover, nobody could help me decode it. I was only one who had ability to break the code.
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| Calligraphy of the Soul V and Calligraphy of the Soul III -- Chaco Terada |
My art works in the past were composed by Japanese calligraphic lines. These brush strokes were produced by the energy in the moment -- when a word inspired by one of my photographs became a feeling in my mind.
My approach is slightly different in the new pieces.
The lines drawn are driven by the energy of emotion. This happens just before the impression from my photographs becomes a word in my mind.
I let my heart and body draw lines as they want without words. Words were the basis of my work in the past. To me, energy has more power and deeper meaning. At this time, I enjoy the unlimited tune my new lines play.
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| Sunburnded GSP#386(Pacific Ocean), 2009 -- Chris McCaw |
The simplicity of the ocean's straight horizon paired with the burned path of the sun is one of my favorite areas to work with. It seems like it would get redundant quickly but when you look at each work, they are all very different. With this piece, I wanted to do an extended burn and break it up between 2 negatives. Playing with the abstraction of this simplified landscape, I purposefully placed just a taste of a cliff on the far right. This little bit of landscape information grounds the piece as a landscape, but looking over the rest of the image it can become complete abstraction. This tension sums up some of the magic of the Sunburn series. The images can at times be completely abstract with no reference to photography. But in reality, these images are photographically based in landscape and made by a collaboration between myself, a simple machine, and the natural world.
If you have any questions you are welcome to contact me by email or at 505-988-5159 x121
---Anne Kelly, Associate Director, photo-eye Gallery