Hello all… just a quick post here to let you know that I have a new portfolio of images up on my website titled Remnants.
Thank you in advance for taking a look and I welcome your comments!
Archive for May, 2009
May
15
2009
Continued Coexistence
Getting back to Coexistence, I thought I would present you with some new images. I began this portfolio stating that I hoped to “show how our obsession to control, inhabit, and possess Nature never really works and eventually a new relationship between the natural and manmade is born, sometimes beautiful, sometimes chaotic, but always interesting.”
Since starting with image #1 shown in a previous entry, I have taken more pictures, some of which I feel fit into the predefined parameters and some which don’t. I’m not sure, at this point whether or not that initial statement even applies. I feel like it may be already heading in a different direction.
When I worked as an architect, there was a continual back and forth between what I wanted my designs to be and what they demanded to be. I tried and tried to control them only to repeatedly realize that in the end, they were their own entities. When the project would get stuck, I would try to interject something new into it and it would move again only to come back to center. I think that developing a photographic portfolio is the same kind of process. I can state from the beginning that it will be this but in the end, if the images are hanging on the wall, will I even want to tell people what it is or does that become irrelevant, inappropriate or even infringe on the viewing experience? I think it’s good to start with an idea or approach and lead the process, but you must be able to recognize clearly when it doesn’t want to be what you hope it is. I am struggling right now wondering if this is really about what happens when we try to possess Nature, or if it’s simply a series of urban tree portraits or something completely different, something I can’t even define right now.
I am presenting these images knowing they’re not a cohesive collection. But I’m trying to organize what my eyes are seeing to try and understand where I should head. For those of you following this project, I would ask for answers to the following questions (and I know these can be difficult ones to answer). What do you like — can you find 1 or more pairs that work together? If so, why? What don’t you like and why? What would you suggest? Any ideas for moving forward? Are you having a similar struggle?
I do see a few different pairings, and I’d like, if you are willing to participate, to compare in a future post what you’re seeing to what I am.
I went to the Corcoran Gallery of Art about 2 years ago to watch the documentary on Sally Mann and to hear her speak about her work. In the film, there is one scene where she’s in her car driving and talking about how the hardest part (I assume she meant in being an artist) are the in betweens — the periods between projects where doubt can creep in…
Coexistence #2
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Coexistence #4
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Coexistence #6
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Coexistence #8
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Coexistence #10
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Coexistence #12
May
06
2009
Time & Place with Raymond Meeks
After attending PhotoLucida, I took a 1 day workshop at Newspace Center for Photography with Raymond Meeks titled Time | Place. The workshop was the day after PhotoLucida ended. I was exhausted from the 4 days of portfolio reviews and while driving to Newspace, I was wondering if I shouldn’t be taking the day off from creative thought. I know, though, from experience, that in every workshop, whether a week or a day, I always walk away with something of importance. This experience was not different.
The plan for the day was to spend a few hours talking, getting to know one another and what our individual goals are. Then, we would head off to a site about 20 minutes outside of Portland and watch Raymond make a photograph (see picture below) and then come back and have a quick session in the darkroom developing the 8×10 negative and making a contact print.
It was interesting to go around the room and hear what everyone was hoping to learn and their different approaches to photography. I believe there were 7 students and I was surprised to learn of everyone’s differing backgrounds. There was a commercial photographer, a few who had just gotten back into photography from a long hiatus, one who is a successful fine artist, and two of us had just finished the PhotoLucida experience. We talked a lot about the importance of leaving some questions unanswered in images. We talked about how each of us has been influenced by other photographers. He told a story about contacting Sally Mann and asking her if she thought he was infringing on her style. I appreciated that very much. George Tice has been a big influence on me. I took a workshop with him in Maine a few years ago and beyond learning how a fine print should look, I learned something I didn’t expect. I realized that it was ok to be an urban landscape photographer working on the east coast — that I didn’t need to be in New Mexico photographing the landscapes that many others before me had already shot. This was a very important realization. I bring this up because I don’t recall the description for the workshop saying something like, “Also, you will learn that you don’t have to be a world traveler to develop your vision as a fine artist! You’ll realize you can photograph in your own back yard!” There are things I have learned in every class/workshop that were unexpected. After that workshop I went to work in Charleston, West Virginia on a portfolio I ultimately named The Other Charleston. I’m not sure I would have committed to that project if I hadn’t seen the beauty in George Tice’s work in Paterson, NJ.
I wrote in another post about the artist book that I prepared for PhotoLucida of my series Displaced. I was really interesting in taking this workshop because of Raymond’s success in publishing. I’m not sure what I wanted to hear from him exactly, but I guess I just hoped to gain any knowledge or insight into the publishing process. He shared with us a new book about to be released by Nazraeli Press as well as some handmade books that he had made with the help of his son as designer. I found this part of the day the most interesting. In particular, he showed us one small book with maybe 12 images of his son mowing the lawn… back and forth, row by row. It was a very intimate short book and one I admired very much. I knew then, immediately, what I would take away from the workshop.
During PhotoLucida, Jim Casper of LensCulture presented a midday lecture on a couple of photographers using innovative methods for image creation and presentation. There were some very grand and elaborate processes being shown. One photographer, Myoung Ho Lee, was framing trees with white backdrops in their natural environments. Some of the white canvases span 60 x 45 feet and he uses a crew and cranes to set them up. I remember watching this lecture wondering if Mr. Casper was trying to show us that this is good work, or if it’s the process that is the actual art. I wonder a lot when I visit galleries whether it is value is in the actual piece of art or the process in which it was created. I left that lecture feeling a little overwhelmed and anxious about the difficulty in competing for attention with so many other photographers and wondering, “Do I need to come up with such an expensive and elaborate method for capturing my subjects?”
With that lecture fresh on my mind, seeing Meeks’ little book about his son mowing the lawn made me realize this: I am not a photographer who will orchestrate cranes and a crew to take a picture. I like the solitude of photographing, I like the feeling of connecting with some other being on earth, I like the intimacy of my work. I realized that there are times when I don’t need to take such a broad approach to producing. I can do small little projects, with 10 images or so and narrate a short story instead of a novel. It was a realization that felt just as important as the one I had with Tice and I know that it will stay with me for a long time.
I was very inspired by that little Meeks book. So much so that I’m starting a new portfolio this weekend. More later…
May
02
2009
PhotoLucida and Progress
I spent 4 days almost a week ago at PhotoLucida, a portfolio review and networking event held every other year here in Portland, Oregon. This was the first time I had attended a portfolio review. To me, it was beneficial. Not because I was hoping for gallery shows, but because I got a ton of feedback on my work, both positive and negative. I had decided probably by the morning of day 2 that I was going to need to probably discard the extremely positive and extremely negative comments. Art is so subjective, that I figured if I could walk away with a consensus, those would be the comments that I would really try to digest and see what I could use.
I thought I would share some of the feedback with you. It is so rare to be able to get this level of commentary on your work, I figured it might be useful for you to be able to read what some of them were on the work posted on my web site, www.laurenhenkin.com. One mistake I made early on in the reviews that I was able to change as I went along, was the amount of “back story” I gave on my work. I was presenting the two portfolios, Displaced: Part I and Displaced: Part II as well as a new portfolio that hasn’t been posted yet. When the reviews started, I was giving way too much information on what I was seeing in the work, what I thought it meant and so on. I realized very quickly that I wasn’t giving the reviewer any room to take what they wanted from it and to come to the conclusions I wanted them to come to, but on their own. As soon as day 1 was over, I immediately just went right into the image presentation and stopped with all the commentary. I got much better feedback starting at that moment and in the end, they got what I was trying to show them anyway… I didn’t need the words. In fact, they seemed to be much more pleased, as viewers, to be able to come to the conclusion I wanted them to come to without my giving it away up front. Like a puzzle, they were able to solve it on their own and were appreciative for that experience. It got me thinking a lot about how much or how little we should give our viewers in terms of the story we’re trying to tell. I really go back and forth a lot about whether to name my pictures. There are practical issues related to this issue… like if someone’s viewing an image online and they want to buy it, they might have a problem letting you know which one (think “uh, that one, the tree, the tall tree”). But, I think labeling an image is already imposing your story on the picture that the viewer might not need or want. It’s a question that I struggle with a lot.
I would say the most frequent comment was on editing. About half of the reviewers took out 5 images from the 20 for each portfolio I showed. I need to be more vigorous in my editing, as do most of us. I looked at so many portfolios my eyes actually hurt at the end of the event. I would say that about 75% of the portfolios I looked at needed a stronger edit. The message I think is that if you’ve got images that you have any doubts about, take them out. See what you’re left with. Sometimes I don’t do this because I might only be left with 5 images for a body of work I thought was done and I don’t want to end up with that conclusion. But the truth is, that if you’re at a point where you’re pitching your work to big name galleries, every image counts… and they’ll probably only remember the bad ones, so be selective. I will definitely be a harsher critic for my own work than I have been.
Another lesson I learned from the event (and I didn’t know this going in) is that it’s a good idea to bring a “back up” portfolio. I had working proofs for a new body of work I have titled Leave Behinds. The work was in color (compared to black and white for the other prints) and it really gave the reviewers an opportunity to see a variety of images from me. Some reviewers who didn’t respond to the black and white immediately became reinterested in me once they saw the color work. I hadn’t planned that, but it was definitely valuable to have that work on hand so I could alter what I would show certain reviewers.
The other piece that I had to show was an artist book of my two Displaced series. I love the design and making of books so I wanted some feedback on whether that I might be able to sell as a limited edition artist book. It was a HUGE plus to have that with me. Not only did I get fabulous feedback and ideas on moving forward with that project, but it enabled me to show my work to a much larger audience. During the Portfolio Walk, the public photographer’s showcase event held on Thursday night that was open to the city, I was simultaneously able to show large prints to one group of people, while another 5 or so took the book dummy and flipped through that. I will probably move forward with the production of the limited edition. The questions right now are: how many should be in the limited edition; do I produce 1 book for Part I and one for Part II or do I combine them; should I include 1 or 2 loose prints; and do I have maybe 10 tipped in prints or print the full portfolio. Are you all interested in my progress with this project? If so, I will post the progression of how this moves forward.
I hope these lessons will be helpful to you all who are thinking about or going to a portfolio review event. Right now, I am trying to process all the commentary and send out cds and information to the people who requested it.
New work will be posted on my web site soon and I will be posting more on Coexistence as well. Stay tuned!
© Lauren Henkin.