Kindred Spirits- Gallery Favorites Part 2

Kindred Spirits, photo-eye Gallery’s current exhibition, has been up for a little over a month. Gallery patrons and staff members alike have had the pleasure of spending time with artwork by Keith Carter, David Deming, Pentti Sammallahti, and Maggie Taylor, all of which point to the deep and multifaceted relationships between humans and animals. This week, photo-eye Gallery’s staff members circle back to the "Kindred Spirits Gallery Favorites" series, picking a second work that they find particularly engaging and inspiring from the exhibition.

Anne Kelly Selects Pentti Sammallahti's Przeworsk, Poland, 2005

Pentti Sammallahti – Przeworsk, Poland, 2005, Toned Gelatin-Silver Print, 6.5x6.5" Image, $1,300

Anne Kelly

Gallery Director

anne@photoeye.com

(505) 988-5152 x121

One of the many things I love about photography is the silent dialog it creates between the artist and the viewer. As a medium, photography allows an artist to share their experiences and perspectives by creating a thought-provoking and detailed image, while each viewer can connect to that image through the lens of their own personal experience. This dialog amid artist and viewer is present in a range of genres from photojournalism to personal narrative, and just about everything in between.

The image that I have selected for the second part of our Kindred Spirits Gallery Favorites series is Pentti Sammallahti’s Przeworsk, Poland, 2005. In this image, a horse and cart travel across the low horizon and is contrasted against the stark sky topped with power-lines that are inhabited by birds – some in mid-flight. Przeworsk, Poland, 2005 is quiet, carefully composed, and exquisitely printed. Many of Sammallahti's photographs could be described similarly, but I am drawn to Przeworsk, Poland, 2005 because I have always been fascinated by the way that birds congregate on power lines. It makes me wonder where if they planned to arrive in that particular location or if they are purely just existing in the moment? Birds are both wild and familiar. I find it refreshing to take a brief break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and look up to find rows of birds carefully composed the power lines – like notes on sheet music in the sky.

Knowing what I know of Pentti, he likely sought out this place where the birds gather and waited for the magic to find him. In this case, a horse and cart pass by at just the perfect time. The horse and cart are different than the modern cars that I am accustomed to, yet I connect. There is something simply beautiful about pondering how tiny moments, such as this one, connect all people across the globe, regardless of language or geography.

Alexandra Jo Selects Keith Carter’s Leopard Appaloosa

Keith Carter, Leopard Appaloosa, 2014, Archival Pigment Print, 16 x 20 inches, Edition of 25, $1,600

Alexandra Jo

Gallery Assistant

alexandra@photoeye.com

(505) 988-5152 x116

Keith Carter’s Leopard Appaloosa is all dreamy atmosphere and magic to me. As a small girl I had a particular obsession with Appaloosa horses. Something about their dappled coats and flowing manes, the way their eyes sparkled like deep pools amid the colored flecks of their fur, felt special and idiosyncratic. The way that Carter captures the horse in this particular image in a moment of slight motion, wrapped in ethereal mist and light, is spellbinding. The photograph is a perfect expression of the way that I saw these enchanting creatures as a child: graceful, full of beauty and mystery, genial, and yet maybe not wholly of this world.

The horse in Carter’s photograph seems to be hovering in and out of corporeality. The highly contrasted speckled fur is mirrored by floating orbs in the thick, dark, hazy atmosphere around the edges of the image; a result of Carter’s complex and specific photographic process. This image was originally created as a tintype photograph, which is a process that allows for rich atmospheric texture and a full, deep tonal range. Carter’s mastery of analog photographic techniques combined with his keen ability to see the magic and the surreal in the everyday world comes to life, perfectly balanced, in this photograph.

Lucas Shaffer Selects: David Deming's Hooper II

David L. Deming – Hooper II, 1998 Painted Steel Sculpture 80x26" $10,000

Lucas Shaffer

Special Projects & Client Relations

lucas@photoeye.com

(505) 988-5152 x114

David L. Deming’s sculpture Hooper II is a triumph of expression and transformation. As Alexandra Jo noted in her interview, Deming has the incredible ability to make thick patches of welded steel appear agile and weightless through gesture and technique. Just look at Hooper. Back stretched, legs flailing, and head cocked, they perform a seemingly-impossible single paw front leg stand at the direction of a trainer just outside the sculpture’s tableaux. As the proud owner of a Great Dane who’s been known to execute some Scooby Doo-level improvisational acrobatics, I am impressed at Hooper’s focus and immediately recognize the face of a happy dog. I think Hooper II succeeds with its relatability even in such a whimsical scene. Deming’s skilled rendering of Hooper’s form and facial expression connects me to the relationships I’ve established with the animals that are a part of my family while creating a playful moment packed with charm.

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