We are all aware that many photographs shot through the lens frequently end up in quite a different state - having traveled through Photoshop on the way to its final output. Although I cannot devote this newsletter to everyone who has incorporated Photoshop into their process, I do want to feature a few of those artists whose imagery is notably different at completion than what it was at the outset.
Those names which come to mind and whose work will be featured in this issue are Mitchell Hartman, Cara Barer, Seung Hoon Park and Fran Forman.
The Ballplayer
Mitchell Hartman's Fragment series originally began in color
exploring time, movement, and people and the relationships among them.
The Ballplayer
But Mitchell felt the need to remove the color from these works and in Fragments II, he took the original fragmented street scenes back to their roots as black & white images.
In doing so, Mitchell evokes the vision of previous street photographers and takes his Art and the viewer into the 21st Century, by adding a touch of cubism.
Mitchell delves into the scanned vision, where the eye sees just a portion of a scene, and the mind works to put the parts together, thus the fragmentation. However, throughout his images there is always one piece that doesn't get fragmented. This is the focal point, the single focus that draws our eye to the scene.
Like his earlier color work, Fragments, the photos explore time, movement, and people and the relationships among them.
Without connecting the dots, Mitchell doesn't explain his Art, but leaves a trail of breadcrumbs throughout his images for the audience to work with and form their own impressions .
Cara Barer uses one of our most common objects, the book, to create her art form - and recreates them into 3D sculptural objects or two dimensional photographic images. You could say that they are truly recycled materials - taking a new form.
You see below a great example one of my favorite images, New Century, which was the "New Century Dictionary of the English Language" which has been recreated into both a 3D sculptural form and a photograph. One is unique while the photograph is printed in a small limited edition.
And below are also three new book-ish creations for 2013: Lilac, Sunset and Psychedelic
Hurly-Burly
New Century
Lilac
Psychedelic
Sunset
Seung Hoon Park's woven images continue to amaze me and create a state of wonderment when trying to decipher how he does what he does to create the final image. Recently when the work was shown at PhotoLA 2013, there were lively discussions as to the how does he do it?
Even without knowing and with some wild guesses, everyone was enthralled with his work! The following photographs, below, are newly woven works that were shot with a large format camera during his travels to Eastern Europe: Prague and Budapest.
The post production 'weaving' occurs in studio.
These works will be available in the fall.
Dvorak Symphony Hall, Prague
St. Istavan-Bascillica Road, Budapest
Fran Forman is truly a master at altering the state of imagery and although this is a very personal post, it is a great one to show the 'elements' that she used to create her final (or near close to final) image. Of course, the artist was given full permission to recreate and recycle these images. The image to the right is my mom at age 6, 1918.
Little did the artist know at the time she was 'working' with the image to the left, and placing it into the (unknown) family portrait (below) that she was placing my mom into the family that was to become her 'in-laws" 21 years later!
And below, are two other images where Fran Forman has had to recreate parts from the original image in order to create the new photographs. I especially love seeing all of the parts which make up the whole.
Rotating on the cycle of life
Heavenly
Background
Dove
Legs
Arms
About the Susan Spiritus Gallery
The Susan Spiritus Gallery has been a leader in the field of fine art photography for thirty six years handling the work of over fifty artists, including photographic luminaries, popular contemporary artists and emerging talent.
Known for its personalized service, the Southern California based gallery works with individuals, design professionals and corporations to address their specific needs. Whether a first time buyer or a prolific collector, the gallery has something for everyone. Art ranges in price, style and type including platinum, silver, hand-colored and digital.
Custom framing can be arranged. Artwork can be shipped anywhere in the world. For more information, please email susan@susanspiritusgallery.com or call 714.754.1286.
