skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Multiple
Exposure Gallery (MEG) is featuring the work of its newest members --
Soomin Ham, Tim Hyde and Fred Zafran -- through March 24th. The show's
images reflect the three photographers’ very different ways of seeing
and interpreting the world around us.
In the show, Soomin offers a selection of intensely personal, yet still universal, images from three series: Unseen, Dreamscape, and Sound of Butterfly. She shares some thoughts on her work below:
Your work in this show has a very personal origin. Would you tell us about it?
I lost my mother three years ago and it was sudden and unpredicted. In
my grief, I began collecting the scattered memories that I shared with
her. It was painful to see them in the family footage, but I began to
feel gratitude for her love, her passions, her dreams, and the many
things that she shared with me. I wanted to bring them to life through
my photographic series, Unseen, Dreamscape and Sound of Butterfly.
Please tell us more about the series and your creative process. Over the years, I developed an idea of combining images using old photographs and movies made by my father in the 1970s. Unseen
is created from old negatives from my childhood that were never
printed. It is a photographic collage made of 20 digital enlargements
of over- or under-exposed first-frame negatives, cropped and printed.
Based on the relative time frame and visual appeal, the selected images
are torn by hand, and randomly arranged to form a quilt-like pattern.
Dreamscape
is a series of photographic landscapes created from family portraits
that are combined with still images from a family movie. The projected
movie was photographed and layered with ephemeral images to transform
the work into an abstract image.
Sound of Butterfly is
a portrait of still lifes composed with soft, blurry, and close up
images. I see it as a poetic metaphor of my mother’s journey through
life. Butterflies were favorites of hers, and for me, they are a symbol
of rebirth.
What influences inspire your work?
My background in classical music and my Eastern culture have inspired
my work. The common elements and correlation between music and visual
arts fascinate me and they have helped expand my artistic vision. Both
reward simplicity and balance and their influence helps add meaning to
my compositions.
Your work in this show is intensely personal, yet universal at the same time. How do you account for this?
I believe the work itself should be able to tell the story behind the
image. I hope the viewers can find and relate to similar moments in
their own lives and experiences when they observe these works.
Multiple
Exposure Gallery (MEG) is featuring the work of its newest members -- Soomin Ham, Tim Hyde and
Fred Zafran -- through March 24th. The show's images reflect the three photographers' very different ways of seeing and interpreting the
world around us.
In the show, Fred Zafran offers a new selection of images from his series, Light of an Ink Dark Moon. Below, Fred shares some thoughts about his work and his fascinating portfolio of street photography.
 |
| (c) Fred Zafran |
The title of your show is “Light of an Ink Dark Moon.” This is intriguing. Tell us a little more. In “Light of an Ink Dark Moon,” I share a new portfolio of work captured in the “venerable tradition of street photography.” The images are an inquiry into the contemporary urban landscape… a response to the uncertainty and wariness of the city if you will. Beyond the depicted image however, this work is about the shadow and illumination that give emotional dimension to the image. Darkness is the color of ink… and the canvas upon which light reveals and imparts meaning.
Share with us your approach to image making, and the major influences on your work. I have found a strong resonance with the black and white images of Ray Metzker, Josef Sudek and Fan Ho, and the color photography of Sam Abell and Alex Webb – all reflective and multilayered in emotional content and depth. I owe much to Sam Abell with whom I studied recently. He helped me understand the importance of “finding the setting first” and then remaining open to the (anticipated) story that follows. It is clear that the principal barrier to image making is our readiness to receive… to see and to be moved by the world around us.
 |
| (c) Fred Zafran |
The quality of your prints has gained notice and attention. What is your way of working? As photographers, the print is the full realization of our artistic intent. All of my images are captured digitally with careful consideration given to light, shadow, darkness and color as key structural elements. I work to quietly “illuminate” the subject without closing down the shadows or losing detail in the brightest elements of the image. Very little post processing is required. The resulting image is printed using pigment inks on the very highest quality fine art archival paper.
You are the Multiple Exposures Gallery newest member. After a year’s time, what are your thoughts? Impressed… and very grateful for the opportunity to be part of this group. MEG is a well-known exhibition venue, one of the oldest photography cooperatives in the
 |
| (c) Fred Zafran |
region, and includes some of the DC metro area’s most respected photographers and educators. I am honored to part of this organization, and to be associated with so many dedicated and talented individuals. A wonderful group of people!
Multiple Exposure Gallery (MEG)'s newest members -- Soomin Ham, Tim Hyde and Fred Zafran -- launched their new joint show this week. The images included showcase their different ways of seeing and interpreting the world around us.
In his part of the exhibit, Tim Hyde offers a new selection of images from his series, Country. While the images concentrate on rural Nebraska, the series as a whole documents a way of life that is passing across America's rural terrain. The small towns and farms are not really disappearing, but they are going through fundamental changes. Mexican restaurants and convenience stores are replacing the cafes, large industrial farms are replacing the family farm, and schools are consolidating. Rural America isn't disappearing, but it is becoming less quiet and more saturated.
Below Tim shares some thoughts on the series and his process for capturing what's before him:
 |
| (c) Tim Hyde |
Why did you choose Nebraska as a subject?
Over the past few years I have traveled around the South, Midwest, and Great Plains. Logistically, I try to visit America's small towns and rural areas small chunks at a time. I go to an area, rent a car, and drive around according to a rough plan, staying away from freeways, for three or four days at a time. You would be surprised how much ground you can cover in four days of driving—even when you stop at every small town along the way. In the past three years I have made four trips to the Great Plains, an area of special interest.
What is your interest in rural areas?
American's have always had a romantic view or small towns and rural areas, the "myth of the garden." It is the seedbed—in spirit, at least—of much of what we view as quintessentially American. Now all of that is changing. Farming has become a large-scale economic enterprise, and less a family affair. Small towns are changing dramatically, dying in some cases, consolidating, and certainly becoming more ethnically diverse. I have an interest in capturing a way of life that is passing as well as the new rural America that is emerging.
On another level, I've always had an interest in the interplay between nature and humans, the "battle" between mankind and Mother Nature. I operate on the premise that nature will win. Still, I'm fascinated by those places where humans live on the edge, places where nature is big and man's works are small: such places as Iceland, northern Canada, and deserts. The Great Plains is such a place, especially in winter.
 |
| (c) Tim Hyde |
Do you interact with the local people when you shoot?
Not
intentionally, as a rule. Unless I have a specific question or need to
solve a particular mystery, I do not talk to the local folks; I let the
visuals explain themselves. I also attempt to avoid shooting people in
my work because it can make the subject more melodramatic than I
intend. Of course, people do come up to you often and ask what you are
doing. Interestingly, these are unfailingly friendly inquiries in the West and Midwest, but sometimes hostile and suspicious in the South.
Honestly, this is perhaps the most dramatic regional variation I have
found when shooting in small towns and rural areas around the country.
What
equipment do you take with you on the road?
I use a 60 megapixel Hasselblad on a tripod,
and occasionally a 35mm SLR handheld. I am unconstrained in rural
areas, so can take the far shot with a shorter lens, putting a farm in
perspective. I am more confined in small towns and along Main Street—parked cars are my biggest hazard. If I had all the time in the
world, I would only shoot small town Main Streets on Sunday mornings
when they are empty. I tend to use my Hassey and a 28mm or 35mm, again
locked down on a tripod.
Where to next?
I am headed to Cape Breton and Nova Scotia for a week of shooting next month, then, in the spring, I want to make a trip to Alaska to shoot the tsunami debris as it makes its way onshore from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.
* * *
MEG's New Member Show
is on exhibit at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA through March 24th. An opening reception will be held Sunday, February 17th from 2pm-4pm at MEG.
Whether you prefer soft strumming or hard-core rock, Clifford Wheeler's latest work at Multiple Exposures Gallery (MEG) is captivating. His images of guitars from one of the largest private collections in the world reveal the sinuous lines and graphic details of instruments that brought us some of our favorite music over the decades.
Below, Clifford shares some thoughts on the inspiration for his show -- Axes Bold As Love -- The Luthier's Art. Please join us for an opening reception on Sunday, January 13th at 2pm at MEG. The show runs through February 10th.
There's just some aspect of the human mind that lends itself to the concept of “collecting." I suspect the first objects to be collected might have been either pebbles or shells. Since these early days of collecting, our tastes have become more sophisticated, more refined. We can now take credit, as a species, for collecting “Beanie Babies," political memorabilia, autographs, match books, Bobble Heads, paperweights, and, of course, rare American Guitars. I happen to know one of these guitar collectors, and as it turns out, his is one of the most respected collections of “Vintage American Guitars” in the whole of the entire world. And did I mention, they are totally cool.
You don't even have to be a musician to appreciate how completely beautiful they are. And then...there's the sound. These days, any time a tune plays itself in your head, there's a good chance that one of these instruments most likely helped create it.
Once in a conversation with Gilvis, whose guitars these are, he made the statement that “Ed Sullivan killed guitar manufacturing in America”! I asked, “You mean the TV guy Ed Sullivan? What's up with that?" He said, “From the moment he introduced the Beatles on American television, the demand for electric guitars increased exponentially.” The subsequent mass-production of these instruments led to their rapid decline. The expression "pre-CBS" refers to guitars made before CBS acquired Fender Guitars, but maybe the “Golden Era” might be better defined simply as pre-Beatles.
Last month, Studio 360www.studio360.org
issued a challenge: married photographers Jerry Uelsmann and Maggie Taylor provided ten
images for artists to remix into an original composition. They received
more
than 600 entries, ranging from the poetic to the eerie to the just plain
far-out. Uelsmann and Taylor selected the winners and gave MEG member Louise Noakes an honorable mention for this image. Louise shares some thoughts on the challenge below:
1. What was required for the challenge? At the end of an interview of Maggie and Jerry by Kurt Anderson on WNYC Studio 360 they gave the listeners a challenge: use some or all of 10 photographs they posted of objects such as a crow, a butterfly, old photographs of people and several landscapes and turn them into an original work. Maggie encouraged participants to include their own images too.
2. Did you start with a vision and manipulate the elements to achieve it or did you start by playing with the elements and go where they took you? I rarely start with a preconceived idea and when I do, it usually doesn't work. In this case, I began with one of my own landscapes and then added some of their images in a playful manner. I actually entered a few images into the challenge and some were definitely more my work then theirs. The image that garnered the honorable mention was inspired by Maggie Taylor and that may be why it received the honorable mention -- Kurt Anderson said a lot of the work chosen by Maggie and Jerry looked like theirs.
3. You've said you admire Jerry and Maggie. Can you give a couple of specifics about their work that you find interesting? Starting back in the early 70's, I was fascinated by Jerry Uelsmann. I went to a school that was producing more street photographers; Robert Frank, Gary Winogrand were some of our idols. I did that, but had this other side to me that really liked to try new things and manipulate my images. I love the way their images come from where ever their imaginations will take them. I hate being confined to any photographic rules. Maggie goes into the digital realm of photography and I like the way she make these wonderful montages, scanning a live fish or using found object from flea markets. Having made the transition from film to digital, the possibilities are endless. I am excited to see where it will go.
Posts
