Spent the morning making this print from my current project at a new lab in SF for the upcoming group show at Satin Satan gallery in Chicago. More on Satin Satan and the show in a forthcoming post, cuz there are all sorts of great photogs in the show, including Jennifer Juniper Stratford, etc...
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So what's this work all mean? I dunno. Lots of great interpretations can be found in the responses on this blog, and I'm open to all of them. My wife ( CS ) was looking thru the prints last night:
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CS: You know, these images you are making, they aren't really about Eli. They are kind of about something else. Like you are trying to neutralize him in the shots. We never see his face, he's hidden and cryptic.
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TA: Yeah, I know what you mean. He's always seeming spacey and isolated, not really as mischievous and amped up as he is in the day to day. I think he's more like an actor in these things, and we're using what he's like to direct the shots.
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CS: Hmmm. I like the ghost print.
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CS: Hmmm. I like the ghost print.
TA: Cool, me too. I have one for us, we can hang it in our bedroom if you'd like.
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CS: Ugh. No, not our bedroom. Just too emotionally dark or something.
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TA: I hear ya.
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So, I dunno, but that all seems accurate. Right now I can't really explain how exciting it is to show this work, share it, just to see if people are getting it. And if they are getting it, its great to find out just what are they getting from it, because I don't really know myself.
11 comments:
a new lab in san francisco? i thought they're all shutting down. which one is it?
congratulations on the show.
It's great to see the work all spread out on the in-progress blog page. seeing the images all together, i was also struck by how your son is masked or obscured in nearly every image.
I still think you shouldn't worry so much about "solving" this work yet--it's a really strong beginning,and it compels many strangers to check your blog daily.
do you know lynn kirby? she is a bay area artist (teaches at CCA), who did similar work with scans when her son was younger--she played with the scanner more, and was doing something different, but i always think of her when i look at these. (i couldn't find any of that stuff on line).
Hi Jennifer-
Thanks again for chiming in. Lemme check out Lynn Kirby's work...new to me for sure.
What are you up to? Are you a photographer? Working on anything you want to share with this blog-audience?
Oh, the lab:4152521300, Dickerman Prints. Online at http://www.robyncolor.com.
Great set up for doing the Crystal Archive prints yourself.
yes, a photographer (NY based), with a hopelessly out-of-date website, and an irregularly up-dated bloggish thing of stuff shot mostly with a digital point-and-shoot. I'm in a show at the DVC university gallery if you find yourself in the Far-East bay with free time (great group of artists including desiree holman and ehren tool and curated by jessamyn lovell).
...thanks for asking.
Diablo Valley College? Wow, how'd you get in that show? Desiree Holman's work is weird and wonderfull and I've never seen anything like it really. That should be a great show to check out. Got the dates?
i think you'll like ehren's work too--it's pretty awesome and there is usually something you can take home!
i got into the show the same way everyone else does--Jessamyn is a friend from grad school (cca).
really powerful work.
personal and emotional.
mysterious and beautiful.
it stirs up all sorts of questions in my head...
and makes me want to see more.
thanks for sharing it.
_brent
thanks so much for reaching out and saying nice things, bplarson.
glad you want to see more, i want to make more like that as well. easier said than done.
"You can divide photographers into two categories, those who photograph their interior, and those who believe that they are photographing/documenting the exterior whilst photographing their interior."
Broquier
As for the comments on the hidden facial features of your son, in a way-- I think it adds a bit more to the quirkiness and mystery of the project. The things kids do don't always make a whole lot of sense. And throw a bit of autism/autism spectrum disorder into the mix and you've REALLY got a lot of puzzling behavior to solve/photograph.
I work with autistic kids, and I love all of these shots. They capture the essence of what it is like to be locked inside one's own world. Compared to "normal" kids, you WILL find that in general, the kids on the autism spectrum move and act in unpredictable ways (garbage can on the head for instance!)and have a less animated, less emotional aire about them in photographs. You are more often likely to NOT capture a photo of one of these kids looking directly at the camera and smiling. It's like they are looking through the camera, or past the photographer. They, in essence, "see beyond seeing" (title of my own blog, and also a line from a Zora Neale Hurston book, "Their Eyes Were Watching God"). But I find that these kids somehow have that ability. They see the little things that most of us miss. The things we don't think twice about and the things most of the world passes by without stopping for a second look. Your photographs of your son stop the viewer in his/her tracks and force them to see life through your sons eyes, if that makes sense. As a photographer, I think that's one of the greatest talents you can develop; that ability to see life and the world around you from that place beyond what is right in front of you. The world through the eyes of your son. Follow behind him for a day. On his level. Watch his every move, from the way he goes about his daily routine, to the things that capture his attention, make him laugh, make him cry, make him stop and stare a bit longer than others would care to. Find the beautiful in the mundane and you will find it's not so mundane after all. Best of luck! I look forward to seeing more shots!
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