State of the Arts Category Archive: Photography

When a picture is worth two million plastic bottles

Posted at 1:39 PM on January 26, 2012 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Galleries, Photography

Editor's note: This piece by MPR's Euan Kerr aired yesterday evening on All Things Considered, but I think you really have to see the images for the full effect...

'Plastic Bottles,' by Chris Jordan depicts 2,000,000 plastic bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

St. Paul, Minn. -- When we casually toss around words like millions and billions in conversation, it's difficult to visualize what those numbers actually represent.

It's a challenge which for years has motivated photographer Chris Jordan, who had a frustrating problem. He wanted to find a way of portraying the impact of consumerism in the modern world. For a while he tried taking pictures of huge piles of garbage. They were dramatic, but didn't get the effect he wanted.

"I had this craving to go photograph all of the cell phones that we throw out, or all of the cars that we throw out every day, or all the plastic bottles," Jordan said. "And of course there is nowhere you can go and see everything collected into one place like that, because it never is."

"Plastic Bottles" detail.
Photo: Chris Jordan

Jordan decided photo editing could create such places. He creates large images which represent even larger numbers. But that raised another issue. Speaking from his Seattle studio, Jordan says the numbers involved were so huge, they were incomprehensible. Jordan says when it comes to millions or billions most people can't get their heads around them.

"These numbers are far beyond our comprehension, and if we can't comprehend what we read if we can't comprehend these issues, then it's very difficult to feel anything about them."

Jordan's series called "Running the Numbers" is now on display at Carleton College's Weitz Center for Creativity in Northfield, Minn.

'Gyre,' by Chris Jordan. The image represents 2,400,000 pounds of plastic dumped in the world's oceans ever hour.

Many visitors will recognize the image on the gallery's far wall as the famous 19th century Japanese print of a great wave cresting in the Pacific with Mount Fuji in the background. It's only when Bradley takes everyone close up that it become clear that it isn't a print. It's an image created from photographs of plastic -- lots and lots of tiny pieces.

"Two-point-four million pieces of plastic," says Laurel Bradley,director of the Weitz Center's Pearlman Teaching Museum. "Equal to the estimated number of pounds of plastic pollution entering the world's oceans every hour."

'Gyre' detail, by Chris Jordan

The images on display appear to be examples of different artistic schools: from Jackson Pollock-like splatters and pop art, to nature painting and industrial fantasy art. Yet none of them are as they seem. What appears to be the George Seurat's pointillist masterwork "A Sunday on La Grand Jatte" is actually a depiction of 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used every 30 seconds in the U.S.

Then there's a huge image of what looks like a demented slinky. It turns out to be stacks of one million plastic cups, the number used every six hours on airline flights in the U.S.

"I think there is a gestalt of 'Wow' and 'Oh, my God,'" said Carleton College psychology professor Neil Lutsky. "There is an astonishment at what's depicted and then also an astonishment at how he has done it, how he has composed something with so many things in it."

'Cans Seurat' by Chris Jordan. The image is made up of 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used every 30 seconds in the US.

Lutsky initially proposed bringing Running the Numbers to Northfield. Statistics are important to psychologists, but Lutsky takes it one step further, teaching what he calls quantitative literacy, dealing with numbers in a way that makes them understandable.

Some of his students have worked with local high schools on research projects where the final result is a graphic representation along the lines of a Jordan photograph. They are on display in another gallery at the Weitz Center.

Detail of 'Cans Seurat,' by Chris Jordan

Another person who contends with colossal numbers on a daily basis is MPR economics correspondent Chris Farrell who is along on the tour. He says Jordan's pictures are arresting in their own right but what makes them so powerful is the layering of images, ideas, and then the vital addition of a revealing line of text by each picture. "In one sense this doesn't work for me, unless you have the text that explains what it is I am actually looking at" Farrell said. "And then I go, hey that's kind of cool, that's pretty clever."

"I agree completely," Lutsky said. "I don't think that the experience as a whole would be same if you didn't have that interaction."

And that experience is ultimately unsettling, Bradley said.

"When you are confronted with this expanse of image accumulated out of these details, it has an impact on your body and your soul if you will."

"Plastic Cups," by Chris Jordan, represents the one million plastic cups used every six hours on airline flights in the US.

Jordan says he hopes that moment of realization is the start of an internal conversation for a viewer about what we contribute to the accumulating detritus of a mass consumption society.

"The question of 'Do I matter?' What's the role of one individual any more in this incomprehensibly enormous collective that we all find ourselves part of," Jordan said.

And in what may be a blessing and a curse, Jordan says that incomprehensibly large number means he has enough ideas to keep his series going for a long time.

Detail of "Plastic Cups" by Chris Jordan.

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Bell Museum artwork looking for a few good photos

Posted at 6:34 AM on January 2, 2012 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Museums, Photography

"Brighton Beach, Duluth, MN, December 6, 2010" by Emily Rose (All images courtesy of Bell Museum)

Areca Roe believes everyone has a different view of the midwestern winter, and as artist in residence at the Bell Museum of Natural History at the U of M she's hoping people will share their images for a new artwork.

Over the next three months or so Roe will use photographs submitted by the public to create an installation called "Freeze Frame."
"I'm not sure exactly what's going to come out of it," she said. "It's going to be partly in response to the photos that we get."

Aeolian Pattern #16. Minneapolis, MN, December 12, 2010 by Mark Ryan

Pictures are already flowing into the project's website and those which meet the project's terms and conditions are posted on the project's photostream.

One thing Roe does know is she plans to use items from the museums extensive specimen collections.

"Taxidermied animals, and bones and feathers and things like that," she said. "So I am hoping to incorporate that somehow into the final show."

Roe intends to create something representative of the midwestern winter experience, but deliberately has left things vague so photographers submitting material can make their own interpretations.

"It can be anything from landscapes, to detail shots of snow, or even people interacting with snow and ice," she said.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 2011 by Mark Farrell

Photographers can submit up to one picture a day through March 20th. "So you could submit hundreds of photos, possibly," she says.

Roe will begin work much earlier however with the first phase of the project due to be unveiled on January 21st. The project will expand from there with completion due to be celebrated at an event on April 13th.

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Creating art for the iPad

Posted at 1:44 PM on December 13, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography, Technology

Minneapolis Photographer Joann Verburg is used to having her large photographs - tryptichs of olive trees, portraits of people floating in water - hanging on the walls of such prestigious museums as the Museum of Modern Art and the Walker Art Center.

Now she wants them in your purse or briefcase.

JoAnn Verburg in her Minneapolis studio. She approached the publishers at Location Books with the idea for an iPad app. (MPR Photo/Euan Kerr)

As Euan Kerr reports, Verburg has just released a new collection of images as an iPad application as a new way for people to experience her work.

The iPad lets a viewer do what would be unthinkable in a gallery: to touch the images, to zoom in and look deeper, Verburg said.

"Some places where you see raindrops hanging on the tips of branches or you see a blossom that's absolutely sharp in focus," she said. "There are a lot of places that are out of focus and especially if you enlarge them on your iPad they become abstractions and so there is a lot of variety as there is in life."

There are some intriguing forces at work here. One is about location. Until now, experiencing Verburg's work meant visiting a museum or buying an expensive photography book. "As It Is Again" is a free application, available to anyone with an iPad. You can't get it in book form.

Verburg's publishers are hoping the new application will change the way many people use technology, providing them with opportunities to slow down, instead of speed up.

You can hear the entire story by clicking on the audio link below:

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New book explores physical beauty of musical instruments

Posted at 2:04 PM on November 3, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Photography

The curve of a violin... the luminous glow of an ivory keyboard... such are the subjects of the new book "To Music" which conveys the particular beauty of the musical instruments in the Schubert Club Museum.

Photo from "To Music" by Natasha D'Schommer

The images were taken by Minneapolis-based photographer Natasha D'Schommer, who's previous book Biblio brought her to the attention of the museum. That collection of photographs documented the rare books, manusripts and musical scores in the Scheide Library in Princeton, NJ.

Initially D'Schommer was hired by the Schubert Club Museum to take images that would be used as wall hangings and murals in- and outside the museum. But when confronted with the results of her work, the folks at the Schubert were pained to choose just a few of the images. Thanks to a gift from Judith and Bill Scheide, owners of the Scheide Museum, the Schubert Club and D'Schommer were able to expand her photographs into a book.

Photo from "To Music" by Natasha D'Schommer

A public reception and book signing is scheduled for Sunday, November 13, from 1:00-3:00 PM at The Schubert Club Museum on the second floor of Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul. Copies of the book will be available at the event at a special reduced price (normally $35) and a drawing will be held for a framed D'Schommer print.

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U of M professor shortlisted for London photography prize

Posted at 10:40 AM on September 30, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Museums, Photography

Each year the National Portrait Gallery in London presents the Taylor Wessing
Photographic Portrait Prize, an international photography award for both emerging talent and established professionals.

This year the NPG has announced five finalists for the award, and one of them is right here in the Twin Cities.

Christina and Mark, 14 months, 2011 by Dona Schwatz © Dona Schwartz

Dona Schwartz is an Associate Professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, where she specializes in visual communication.

Her photograph "Christina and Mark, 14 months" is part of a series of photographs called "On the Nest" documenting moments of change in parents' lives. This particular photograph depicts Christina and Mark Bigelow in their son's vacated bedroom and explores the emotions experienced by parents as their children leave home.

Schwartz' photograph was selected from over 6,000 submissions, and will be on display at the National Portrait Gallery from November 10, 2011 until February 12, 2012 along with the other finalists and an array of photographs selected by the judges.

Last year, Schwartz's portrait depicting expectant parents "Andrea and Brad,
16 days" was chosen for the exhibition.

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For the love of skateboarding

Posted at 1:05 PM on June 1, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Museums, Photography

Thomas Rex Kemmer
Gerald Nelson, 420 Main Ave E

Thomas Rex Kemmer got his first skateboard when he was in fifth grade. It was a Variflex Terror, with an image of a wolf face on the bottom. Kemmer says he'll never forget that day, and the sense of adventure it gave him.

I've been skateboarding for about 23 years, and there's is nothing I love more than skating. The way it feels to cruise around on a board can be matched by no other activity on this planet.

The thing I love most about skating is the challenges. Not only the mental and physical challenges, but the social challenges as well. In most cities around the country skateboarding is an illegal activity. I say activity, because skateboarding is not a sport. It's a life style.

Thomas Rex Kemmer
Detail of Luke Hampton, 20 Shot Sequence

Now in his mid-thirties, Kemmer has transferred his love of skateboarding to the camera, capturing fellow skaters in action. Starting tomorrow, a collection of his images, called Local Spots, will be on display at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo.

The challenge and adventure is what drives me to shoot photos of skating today. I still love to skate, but now there's more challenge in capturing that moment in time, or that trick in history. The challenge is trying to give the images the feeling of being there, Jumping down ten stairs, or flying out of a ramp, experiencing that moment of weightlessness. It's also about staying connected to skating. It's not a sport; it's a life choice. It's something I'll do until the body breaks. Then I'll shoot more photos than ever.

Thomas Rex Kemmer
Blain Herman, Eric Hansen, Anthony Nabors, Linden Devine, Luke Hampton, 1131 NP Ave

As part of the exhibition, a ramp jam (skateboarding demonstration) will be held on 7th Street North in front of the Plains Art Museum on July 16, during Fargo's Downtown Street Fair.

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The new faces of America

Posted at 4:21 PM on January 5, 2011 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Photography

All images courtesy Jila Nipkay

Compared to coastal and southern states, Minnesota has a reputation for being "white bread," i.e. dominated by people descended from Scandinavian and European heritage.

While that description is to a degree accurate (88% of Minnesotans identify themselves as "white") it is certainly not the whole story, and in fact the ethnic make-up of Minnesotans is changing rapidly.

Photographer Jila Nipkay wants people to see how beautiful that change is. Her series "Faces of New America" - now on display at Minneapolis Central Library - focuses on Minnesota's immigrant youth, and the rich cultural heritage they bring to the state. She says the inspiration came from a visit to a St. Paul public school three years ago.

This was the first time I walked in a public school with such a high population of immigrant students. Immediately, I felt that I have stumbled into a hidden but extremely beautiful world. The whole school was pulsating with an incredible energy that radiated from the youth, intensified by their cultures and histories as immigrants. I had an urge to talk to these kids and find out about their journey of becoming Americans and translate it in a visual form.

Nipkay visited schools, asking for volunteers for her portrait project. The only requirement was that they be immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants. She did not tell them what to where; she only suggested that the present themselves as they wished the public to see them.

At times, I was surprised by their choices. For example, some wore traditional clothes from their cultures while at school the same kids might wear clothes that made them look tough, hip or simply like their peers. Then I realized they saw the portrait as an opportunity to present a part of themselves that did not have a public presence. For most of the kids, presentation of their cultural identity through clothes and objects was a pripoity over looking "right" for school.

Nipkay says she hopes the exhibit, which will be touring other metro libraries in the coming months, will spark curiosity about the changing faces of American identity, and ideally, help foster a dialogue between recent immigrants and "natives." She says she's working on expanding the exhibition into an installation that can tour colleges.

They are fertile ground for examining how new immigrants impact the American identity. This has already happened through some of my residencies in schools in Twin Cities. I have had exhilarating discussions with my young students about how America is changing; they are simply more in touch than their parents about the new realities of American culture.

"Faces of New America" is on display at Minneapolis Central Library through January 30.

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Plains Art Museum inherits work of native son

Posted at 1:30 PM on November 24, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts around the state, Museums, Photography

Leopold Chamberland, Farmer, Riviere-Quelle, Quebec, 1977
black and white photograph by Fred Benedict Scheel

Earlier this year Plains Art Museum Director Colleen Sheehy was working with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to borrow their collection of Fred B. Scheel's photographs for a show in Fargo-Moorhead. After all, Scheel is a Moorhead native and his family is a pillar in the community, so it was only right for the Plains to show his work.

Then Sheehy got a call informing her that wouldn't be necessary; the Scheel family had discovered a whole new set of photographs in Fred's basement darkroom when they had to evacuate it in the spring flood of 2009, and had decided to give this set of photographs to the Plains.

Sheehy couldn't be more thrilled. The 267 photographs include not only Scheel's fine work, but many of his colleagues - Ansel Adams, Andre Kertesz, Berenice Abbott and Brett Weston, among others.

[Scheel] is a superb photographer who studied with the master's of 20th century photoraphy and learned the highest level of aesthetics and techniques, in some cases directly from them--as with Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, and Andre Kertesz. While he photographed nationally and internationally, he also took a lot of photos of North Dakota, Canada, and Minnesota. So he has created some very beautiful and powerful images of this region.

Plains Art Museum Director Colleen Sheehy stands in a gallery full of photographs recently gifted to the museum.

In Fargo-Moorhead, the name Scheel is synonymous with sporting goods, the family business. The giant Scheel Allsports is the local equivalent of the Mall of America, containing an entire ferris wheel in it. While professional photographers are aware of Scheel's prowess with a camera, Sheey says many Fargo natives have yet to realize that he has been more than a local business leader.

With the Scheel name recognition in this region, the exhibition is bringing in a wide public who are curioius to see the work. The Plains Art Museum did an exhibition of his work in 1989, which is a long time ago now. We only had one of his photographs in our permanent collection before this gift.

Sheehy sees Fred Scheel as someone who was truly devoted to his art, even while he made a living at his sporting business. Born in 1921, Scheel is infirm but still with us, and has lived a full life.

Fred is really an inspiring person. He was an ace pilot and used to do flying stunts over Pelican Lake on the 4th of July to thrill all the kids and families there. He also published a book of poetry, In working through the photographs for this exhibition, I gained a sense of his poetic approach to life and the world. His work reminds me of the beauty of black-and-white film photography and how it can help you to see the world more clearly in a strange way.

Mt. Rundle, Sunrise, Vermilion Lakes, Canada, 1951
black and white photograph by Fred Benedict Scheel

Sheehy says that while Scheel may not be as well known a photographer as his contemporaries, she sees that changing as his work makes its way into museums like the Plains and the MIA.

She says the gift of 267 photographs adds tremendously to the museum's ability to represent an important artist from the region and to tell the story of 20th century photography.

"The Frederick B. Scheel Photography Collection: A New Gift to the Plains" an exhibition displaying 67 of the 267 gifted photographs will be up at the Plains Art Museum through August 12, 2011. In March, the museum will rotate out some images and add others to the mix.

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As the University Project draws to a close, Wing Young Huie looks forward

Posted at 4:30 PM on October 25, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography, Public Art

"Everything that Public Art St Paul and I wanted to do, we did!" Wing Young Huie told me the other day.

But the Minneapolis-based photographer admits the full impact of "The University Avenue Project," his display of hundreds of photographs along University Avenue in St Paul, is still swirling around in his head.

"It's not easy to step back and see it, and think about all the reactions," he said. "So many things have happened, so many interactions, so many comments. You really can't qualify and quantify it."

It's been six months since Huie and his staff of volunteers began placing the pictures along University. The show will wrap up next Sunday, on Halloween, but there will be a number of events between now and then to allow people a last chance to take it in.

While the photographs stretch out along several miles of University Avenue, from the State Capitol in the East to the Minneapolis border in the west, much of Huie's attention in recent weeks has focused on the so-called "Project(ion) Site" near University and Hamline, where there have been screenings five nights a week of the photographs set to the music of local bands.

"We've probably had 6000 people who have been in that site. All different kinds of weather. Sometimes it's just a handful of people. A lot of couples - a great place to take a date, especially younger couples," Huie laughed.

Huie says he has seen many interactions he believes wouldn't have happened without the projection site. He says while he tried not to have expectations about what would happen there, he was concerned about the potential for vandalism, and what he called "other incidences" as people gathered. However none of his fears were realized.

"It's really been a peaceful place," he said. "People from all walks of life come to the space. People from outside the neighborhood. People from inside the neighborhood - people who come on a regular basis."

It's been a place for people to come and talk about the photographs, which are displayed along University with no signage or explanation except at the projection site. Huie heard how some neighbors came to learn about the place where they live, others brought relatives and friends who were scared to come into what they believed was a bad neighborhood.

As well as the screenings the site hosted "Wednesdays with Wing" where people could come and talk about the show and what it made them think about. He also hosted a monthly cabaret which featured live performances again from local artists.

A few weeks back a couple of hundred people turned up at the Wednesday night show including about a hundred students from the nearby Hubbs Center which was where Huie took some of the first photos for the project. Several people who are in photographs in the show turned up that night.

"And I invited people to come up to the microphone just to talk a little about yourself," Huie said. "And there were several students, one who had only been learning English for a couple of months. And she stood up and talked about what it was like for her to be in St Paul and learn English and her hopes for the future. And it was just beautiful."

While things are wrapping up, that doesn't mean Huie is slowing down. There will be a last Wednesday with Wing in a couple of days, a final cabaret starting at 5pm on Saturday night, and then the final night on Sunday.

"We will have closing ceremony on Halloween," Huie said. "I think it will be very simple. We will invite people just to view the projection one last time and maybe share thoughts about the project, how they interacted or were impacted by the project."

The pictures will come down from the windows along the Avenue soon after although some of the larger installations will stay up indefinitely. There will also be an auction in December to raise funds to help cover the costs of the project.

Meanwhile Huie is working on several travelling shows.

One which combines work from several of his exhibits over the years is about to go to China. It will start in Beijing, then go to four other cities.

He is also looking at ways of creating a travelling version of the University Avenue project, or maybe even several different versions which would be available on a sliding scale for different communities. He's even considering a portable projection site with an inflatable screen, hooked up to generators to power the projectors so communities could recreate the slideshow experience.

Huie is also on final negotiations with the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota for a new project photographing the cultures, and subcultures of the U and surrounding neighborhoods. He expects to start work in November, and is looking to keep working with some of the ideas from the University project, including the chalk boards he used to display responses to questions he asked, or sometimes his subjects asked one another.

"One of the things I am interested in is this idea of 'the Other.' Everybody has a different idea of who 'the Other' is," he says.

But that's next month. He still has to finish October, and the University Avenue Project itself.

Overall Wing Young Huie is happy.

"Just to pull it off and get everything up," he said. "For a small non-profit to take on such a big project as this, it was exhilarating."

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University Avenue photos for sale

Posted at 8:32 PM on September 8, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Funding, Photography

One of the photographs in the University Avenue Project, taken by Wing Young Huie.

Since May, a six-mile stretch of University Avenue in Saint Paul has been transformed into an urban gallery. Empty car dealerships, libraries, a CVS pharmacy and Vietnamese restaurants have all lent their windows to the cause, displaying more than 400 black and white or color images of people and scenes from the neighborhood.

The University Avenue Project, created by photographer Wing Young Huie and presented Public Art St. Paul, continues for another two months, featuring evening projections of the photographs set to soundtracks created by local musicians.

Now, it's possible to take a piece of the exhibition home with you. In an attempt to balance the budget of the University Avenue Project before it closes on Halloween, Public Art St. Paul is offering images for sale.

People can peruse photographs this Sunday at the Macalester College Alumni House on Summit Avenue from 11am to 7pm. Wing Young Huie will be on hand to answer questions. It's also possible to order the photos online from the University Avenue Project website.

In addition, the project is taking on a life of its own beyond University Avenue. St. Catherine University will be hosting nightly projections of Huie's images September 9 - 30. Huie says he's thinking about hot to disseminate the University Avenue Project and others like it, possibly as mini-traveling exhibits that are affordable for K-12 schools and libraries, accompanied by educational curricula.

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A closer look at our trash

Posted at 1:59 PM on August 26, 2010 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

John and Virgil, father and son, Crow Wing County Landfill, Brainerd, MN,
Virgil remembers scavenging bananas in the dump as a child

When Gina Dabrowski checks in to a bed and breakfast for a vacation, like many guests she checks out the local scene with the receptionist.

"So, are there any city dumps or transfer stations near here?" she asks.

Dabrowski admits her fascination likely appears odd to the average B&B staffer, and to her fellow vacationers. But Dabrowski has a soft spot when it comes to piles of trash.

As a child my dad took me to the dumps and we would help him scavenge, I remember pulling things out at the age of five, looking for metal he could sell. My dad made extra money for the family that way.

Such scavenging is now illegal, and no matter how much you drop off at the local dump, you can't take anything else out.

Not so in Oaxaca, Mexica, where Dabrowski recently traveled. Dabrowski likes to think of scavengers as "independent contractors" of sorts; the dump serves as a source of business, which they take back into the local economy.

John and Scott, Sentence to Serve Program, Crow Wing County Landfill, Brainerd, MN
On prison release to work during the Household Hazardous Waste monthly drop off

Dabrowski, who has an exhibition up at Normandale Community College featuring some of her photographs of transfer stations and landfills, says she was first drawn back to the dumping grounds after a trip to China, in which she was astonished by the number of people around her, and by the general cleanliness. Where did all the trash go?

While environmental news often bombards us with images of children picking through mountains of hazardous materials in India, Africa and South America, it is rare that Americans get a close-up look at their trash that stays here at home. In our culture, it tends to just go "away." Dabrowski says she's working to change that:

I don't have a political agenda, but just want to bring these landfills and the people who work in them to the public conscious in a way they might not be now.

Many of Dabrowski's photographs involve people coming to the dump, posed alongside the items they've brought. In this way Dabrowski's images give new life to the so-called "trash," connecting it with a personal story, with nostalgia, and the passage of time.

The Family, Robbie, Colton, and Kristen, Crow Wing County Landfill, Brainerd, MN
Robbie wishes they allowed scavenging, now it's against the law

Dabrowski just received a McKnight Fellowship for her work which is allowing her to take her exploration of landfills, well, deeper.

These landscapes are constantly evolving and taking new shapes, "massaged" by these tractors that are pouring on dirt, compacting them, adding even more dirt. What you find in those layers depends on what people are consuming regionally. So in Oaxaca there were a lot of flowers and fruits, and in Brainerd I keep seeing boats - paddle boats, pontoon boats.

For the next year Dabrowski plans to focus her attention on the landfill in Brainerd, as well as a landfill and transfer station in Virginia. She says the dumps are like mini-cities, with their own roadways, sometimes made out of crushed glass that's been dumped there. And while she shoots her pictures, she'll be contemplating the particular artistic challenges she faces with this subject matter.

Do you make trash beautiful in order to draw people in? Or do you expose the deep, deep ugliness of these dumps? How do you convey the dignity of the people who work with our trash everyday? How do you balance all of these ideas?

Refrigerators and Freezers, Crow Wing County Landfill
Appliances waiting to be stripped and shipped to China for recycling

Dabrowski's photo exhibition will up in the Fine Arts Building of Normandale Community College through September 20; there's an opening reception today from 4-6pm.

The show will travel to Central Lakes College in Brainerd in November.

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Images of India at MPC

Posted at 2:22 PM on July 21, 2010 by Marianne Combs (4 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Photography

Photo of a Rajasthani folk singer by Robi Chakraborty

One of the simplest and most powerful attributes of photography is its ability to take us to another place. In a new exhibition of work by Robi Chakraborty at the Mpls Photo Center, that place is India.

Photo by Robi Chakraborty

Chakraborty, a native of India, traveled back in 1998 after an absence of 13 years. He timed his visit to coincide with two major festivals: Holi, the festival of colors, and Kumbh Mela, a pilgrimage to the Ganges river for a ritual bathing. Over 10 million people from across the country gathered for Kumbh Mela in 1998, providing Chakraborty an opportunity to document the country's cultural diversity.

Photo by Robi Chakraborty

While India is a place of constant change and bustling business, Chakraborty exhibition "The Stars of India: Its People and Places" focuses on aspects of Indian culture that have endured centuries: timeless villages and ancient rituals. It's both a celebration of the country's rich heritage and a nostalgic look back at the India Chakraborty remembers from his childhood.

Photo by Robi Chakraborty

"Stars of India: Its People and Places" opens at the Mpls Photo Center this Friday night, with a reception featuring Indian food and music, and a henna artist.

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Blurring the Boundaries Between Blight and Beauty

Posted at 12:13 PM on July 16, 2010 by Luke Taylor (0 Comments)
Filed under: Galleries, Photography

Peter L. Johnson poses in his St. Paul studio with "Father Hennepin Park Earth Day clean up of toxic stream #146" along with the items featured in the photograph.

St. Paul photographer Peter L. Johnson thinks we all have an innate need to connect to beauty. He just seeks it in places a lot of us would rather avoid.

"I intentionally go to polluted sites and witness our mistreatment of the earth," Johnson says. "As I am searching with my camera for beauty amidst the dystopia, I see without judgement or anger and if I'm lucky, a moment enlivens me and I am able to capture part of that in a photograph."

In his artist's statement, Johnson says his transformative approach to trash gives him "a peek at the path toward a more caring relationship with this planet."

His recent study, Specimens, focuses on detritus Johnson finds strewn along the Mississippi River: discarded pipe and Styrofoam become a quizzical face against a marble backdrop; a length of telecommunications cable and a plastic soft-drink bottle become a floral bouquet in a sun-dappled stream; an abandoned rubber ball becomes a view of Earth from space.

Made in China rubber ball in toxic stream entering the Mississippi River # 133

With more than 25 years of traditional and digital darkroom experience, Johnson highlights shapes, colors and forms to enliven each image. He doesn't use software to enhance or alter his photos, nor does he crop his images. "The integrity of the frame when I take the photograph is sacred," Johnson insists.

Right now, Johnson is preparing his work for a summer exhibition at Bloomington Theatre and Art Center. Called Impact, the exhibition opens today and features the work of Johnson and two other environmental artists, Michael Karekan and David Lefkowitz.

To bring people further into the work he does and the larger issues it represents, Johnson will be exhibiting his work in a new way; specifically, next to each photograph that features a found object, he's displaying the actual object on a table or in a museum specimen case.

Johnson has also been building frames from driftwood or discarded wood he finds near his photographed objects. "It's one more way for me to bring somebody to where I am and what I'm doing without actually taking them there," he says.

Karen Schik is an ecologist and project manager at St. Paul-based Friends of the Mississippi River. Newly introduced to Johnson's work, Schik finds it quite fascinating. "I marvel at Mr. Johnson's ability to create beauty out of pollutants," she says. "While he is clearly making a statement, he has a certain non-judgemental approach that I find refreshing. He isn't chastising humanity for our evils, but he's bringing awareness by creating these photos that have a haunting sort of sad beauty."

Wire and jug washed up on the Mississippi River shore # 120

With the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a show like Impact may have added weight, but visitors won't find Johnson preaching about environmentalism; he prefers to let the art speak. "I just don't believe in that dogmatic way of saying what we should do," Johnson says. "We need to see it and really understand it at a different level if we're going to actually change it."

"Impact" runs July 16 to August 27, 2010 at the Bloomington Theatre and Art Center. Johnson is scheduled to do an artist talk on August 12 at 7 p.m. in the BTAC's Inez Greenberg Gallery. See more of Peter L. Johnson's work at peterljohnson.com.

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The complex portraiture of Robert Bergman

Posted at 12:15 PM on June 16, 2010 by Euan Kerr (2 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Minneapolis Institute of Arts photography curator David Little just got struck by curatorial lightning a second time.

"I just want to make clear that we aren't, here at the MIA, showing only photographers who won't have their pictures taken," he laughs.

He's standing beside Robert Bergman whose portraits go on display at the MIA starting on Thursday evening.

The images are simply remarkable. They are individual color portraits of people Bergman met on road trips around the US between 1986 and 1995. As had been said many times before the modern world is so flooded with images it's hard for individual pictures to stand out.

However Robert Bergman's pictures have a magnetic quality which is hard to escape. The 30 portraits show people who appear to have lived a tough life. Some are gaunt, many wear clothes which have seen better days. Yet there is a dignity and power about these people which can be breathtaking.

But don't go looking to Bergman for details about the people in the pictures. All of them are untitled, and other than a brief explanation at the entrance to the show outlining the time period and the rough geographic scope of the project, there is no further information on display at the show.

Nor is there a picture of Bergman himself.

"Why would anyone make my portrait?" Bergman said as he stood in the MIA gallery surrounded by the images he created.. He says he wants there to ne as little interruption as possible of the interaction between people looking at the art, and the art itself. Images of him, and details about who and where his subjects are would only interfere.

This is the same argument made by Marco Breuer, a photographer who showed his work at the MIA in February. His pieces however were abstracts.

Bergman is working on abstracts now, but don't look for any pictures of Bergman anytime soon.

"My job in taking the picture, choosing the picture, and being the artist, is to vanish. My job is to disappear," he says.

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Four photographers, four worlds

Posted at 4:00 PM on June 4, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Galleries, Photography

In Franklin Art Works' main gallery, the bright colors of a glitzy billboard in China face off with almost claustrophobic black and white shots of salt pouring onto a table. The bare minimalist whites and grays of a Canadian blizzard stand in opposition to a blistering hot day in Cairo, Egypt as viewed from its rooftops.

Most exhibitions of artwork have a theme or uniting element that binds them together, even if it's only a word like "landscape" or "poverty." In the case of Franklin Art Works' latest show, which opens tonight, that word is "McKnight." All four photographers in this group show received a grant of $40,000 from the McKnight Foundation back in 2008. And that's pretty much where their similarities end.

"It's like herding kittens in a way," laughs Franklin Art Works director Tim Peterson. "Or, shall we say, a bit of a shotgun marriage, but a wonderful one, because it's about exploration."

Osama Esid
"Market City," 2007

Osama Esid's sepia-toned photographs capture with a nostalgic eye the strange architectural mish-mash of present day Cairo, where freeways bisect neighborhoods littered with ancient ruins. Esid (who has a solo show coming up next week at Gallery 13) uses a 1920s vintage camera to shoot photographs called "sun prints." It's a fitting method for an artist who occupies himself primarily with documenting life in the Middle East. Esid was born and schooled in Damascus and worked in Paris and Madrid before moving to the U.S. He lives and works in Minneapolis, and maintains a studio in Cairo.

Priscilla Briggs
"Opening Soon" (Grand Gateway Mall, Shanghai), 2008

McKnight fellow Priscilla Briggs teaches art and art history at Gustavus Adolphus, but keeps finding herself back in China, documenting the surge in capitalism that's gripping its cities. Tim Peterson says Brigg's work focuses particularly on advertising:

And the advertising is on a massive scale. Here we take it for granted, but there it's startling. It's really about the intersection of western capitalism and eastern communism. Her work feels like an immersive 360° view into a changing culture, and its changing desires.

Briggs' "Fortune" series juxtaposes the legacy of communism and the bright shiny lure of capitalism as represented by the massive shopping malls appearing all over the country.

Justin Newhall
Cold War Era Radar, Fort Churchill, MB, 2008

While Briggs images capture the rich opulence of a country in the midst of a consumer revolution, Justin Newhall occupies himself with the detritus left behind in the desolate Canadian town of Churchill, Manitoba. Newhall was inspired by Glenn Gould's 1967 radio documentary "The Idea of North" to travel the western shore of Hudson Bay for four years. There he wandered through abandoned science stations and dislocated settlements, tracked polar bears and took pictures in which the landscape is barely visible through blinding snow.

David Goldes
smoke ring, 2009

Perhaps the most stark images of all in this exhibition are those of David Goldes. His dark, laboratory set-ups attempt to document the physical actions and reactions that we often take for granted: adding salt to our meal, blowing a smoke ring from a cigarette, or a plastic bag swept up by the air. Goldes' images strip these actions down to their barest form, in what feels - to this viewer - like an almost obsessive desire to understand the nature of things.

While these artists share little more than a camera and a grant, they each afford the viewer a journey into another world. Whether it's the heights of Chinese consumerism, or rooftop views of an ancient city under transformation or the sad relics of an attempt make a life in a harsh northern climate. In the case of Goldes "experiments," he takes us on a journey into the interior of a photographer's mind.

"2008 McKnight Artist Fellowhips for Photographers" opens tonight at Franklin Art Works with a reception from 7 to 9pm. In conjunction with the exhibition Franklin Art Works has organized a series of photography workshops for area high school students, taught by past McKnight fellows.

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A Moment in Time

Posted at 9:41 AM on May 11, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

It's a beautiful depiction of humanity.

On Sunday May 2, at approximately 15:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), thousands of photographers around the world pointed and clicked.

Today, you can see the results of their work on the New York Times website in an interactive project called "Moment in Time" on the NYT photography blog "Lens."

Give yourself some time to explore and delight in the myriad diversity and unifying beauty of the earth, as captured by more than 10,500 pictures.

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The University Avenue Project is coming!

Posted at 5:44 PM on April 22, 2010 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

"They are like giant Legos," laughed Christine Podas-Larson, as a crane swung a huge container into position. As the President of Public Art St Paul she was near the corner of University and Hamline to watch the creation of the central element of the University Avenue Project.

Between May and October windows along a six mile stretch of University will display hundreds of pictures made by Wing Young Huie. However the site at 1433 University will be a literal focal point, with three projection screens, made out of these Lego blocks.

During the run of the Project there will be a two hour display of photographs every night, accompanied by a recorded soundtrack of local musicians. In addition there will be several cabarets during the run.

The crew was working on two towers of three smaller containers at the front of the site, and then placing two larger containers, one atop the other at the back. Projectors in the top container of the small towers will project on screens in the end of each. These will allow people passing by on the Avenue to enjoy the show.

Larger projectors will shoot images on the exterior of the huge containers at the back.

Podas-Larson and Steve Dietz, (above) who designed the installation for Northern Lights, were clearly pleased by how things were taking shape. "It really has taken a whole village," she said, referring to the huge outpouring of help from local businesses, and individuals who have helped bring the project to reality. Over the next few days volunteers will begin installing the pictures along the Avenue.

The Project also just got a major grant from the 3M Foundation which will allow the creation of several large photo murals which will be in place by May 1st, at either end of the Avenue in St Paul, and on the side of the Rondo Library.

"You can see that wall from a mile away," Podas-Larson said.

With the containers in place work can begin on the projection element. You can see a mock up of what the final site will look like here.

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The power of a photograph

Posted at 10:26 AM on April 20, 2010 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Jonathan Klein knows the power of a photograph. As the head of Getty Images, he oversees a collection of approximately 70 millions photos (photos which MPR and other news outlets draw from on a regular basis).

In this short but pointed presentation, Klein takes us through some of the most iconic images from the last century, and how they changed the world.

Note: You may find some of these images disturbing to look at. Most are on the screen for only a few seconds.

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Marco Breuer's photographic process

Posted at 6:00 AM on February 19, 2010 by Euan Kerr (1 Comments)
Filed under: Museums, People, Photography, Technology

Marco Breuer doesn't like to interfere with the way people see his pictures.

For instance, what do you see in the image below?

We'll get back to what it is in a moment, but in the meantime meet Breuer, an academically trained photographer who decided a few years ago he wanted to follow his own path.

"I think that photographers tend to find the longest way to the image," he says. "What I am after is the other end of the spectrum, the shortest way, the most direct, immediate interaction with photographic material."

In other words, Marco Breuer usually doesn't use a camera. He says his work really goes back to the idea of a photogram. He tends to work directly with photographic paper, stressing it, as he calls it with abrasive materials, or even a heat gun to create his images. Sometimes this is done before the paper is processed, sometimes after.

Several of Breuer's images are on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts beginning this weekend. It's simply called "New Pictures:2"
The images are all very different. There is the swirling image above, but there are others with intricate patterns scratched into their surface.

"I want these images to read photographically," he says. He creates images in one way, but due to the way people tend to see photographs, they can appear to be something else.

For instance one piece looks as if it is textured like a rug, until you get close-up and see the lines are the result of pieces of fluff and other material produced by scoring the paper before processing. The image is quite flat.

"What I don't want the images to be is kind of a check list," he says, meaning people should not be able to readily identify certain things in the images. "There always remains a degree of openness in the whole matter."

Breuer takes this almost to extremes. He has had a long standing rule that his own face does not appear with his work. He's a photographer who sees problems in having his own image appear with his work. He chuckles a little when asked about it, but then explains

"From my own experience there are certain artists that I wish I didn't know what they look like. I wish I had never seen a photograph," he says. "I just want to experience the work. And so a while back I made the decision that for myself I would just take my likeness out of the equation. What I have to say is in the work, and there it is."

Breuer's process is ever-evolving however, and this is true of this show.

After the exhibit has been open for about a month, Breuer will return from his home in New York state to redecorate the gallery where his pictures are now on display. He'll paint all the walls, which are currently creamy white, with black paint, creating a giant blackboard. He says he'll use chalk to "join the dots," fill in more information about the images. All of the pictures will be in the same place, but everything else in the show will have changed.

He did give me a small preview of what that might reveal.

He says the image above was created through putting photographic paper in a plywood box, with a lens attached to the front. (He points out that he does sometimes use what is essentially a camera.) He then attached L.E.D.'s to his finger tips. The image was created by the movement of his fingers as he loaded a 12 gauge shotgun. It's a snippet of information which, at least for this viewer, entirely changes the perception of the image.

We'll run more of my interview with Marco Breuer on the air next week.

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The Lure of the Landscape

Posted at 4:27 PM on January 22, 2010 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Sand Dune 19, 2007
Death Valley National Park, California
digital print
36 x 46 inches

It would be easy for an untrained eye to mistake the work of Clyde Butcher for that of Ansel Adams. Indeed, the Sierra Club gave Butcher the "Ansel Adams Conservation Award" for both his excellence in photography and his contributions to the public's awareness of the environment. His work is dedicated to capturing the unsullied pieces of America's natural beauty, especially those found in the swamps near his Floridian home. On his website he writes:

"Wilderness, to me, is a spiritual necessity. When my son was killed by a drunk driver it was to the wilderness that I fled in hopes of regaining my serenity and equilibrium. The mysterious spiritual experience of being close to nature helped restore my soul. It was during that time, I discovered the intimate beauty of the environment. My experience reinforced my sense of dedication to use my art form of photography as an inspiration for others to work together to save nature's places of spiritual sanctuary for future generations."

Butcher did for some time early on in his career shoot in color, selling his photography as wall decor in JC Penny's, Montgomery Wards, and Sears. But now he's quoted as saying "Color is duplication, black and white is interpretation."

Mariposa Grove 171, 2000
Yosemite National Park, California
digital print
40 x 60 inches

Starting next Wednesday Thursday, 50 of Butcher's dramatic landscapes will be on display at the James J Hill Reference Library and St. Paul Public Library. As part of the opening celebration, Butcher will be in town to give a free talk about exhibition, which ranges from images of the Badlands to the beaches of Hawaii.

Shell Key, 2001
Florida Bay
silver gelatin print 7/50
46 x 60 inches

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Mpls Photo Center celebrates the portrait

Posted at 6:29 PM on January 5, 2010 by Marianne Combs (4 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Hugo
Archival Inkjet Print
Joseph Holmes, New York

An exhibition on display all this month at the Mpls Photo Center invites viewers to ponder what exactly makes a compelling portrait. Minneapolis Institute of Arts curator David Little was asked to jury the show. Little says while the portrait is as old as art itself, photography excels at the task.

No other medium offers such a direct sense of human form and psyche. And no other medium gives us the uncanny sense of being there in time and space with the subject depicted. Our vast collective archives of pictures of friends, family, and acquaintances are proof of this resilient power of the photographic image.

Young Kate in Sheep Fank
Archival Inkjet Print
Don Clark, Minnesota

Little says a good portrait must excel at three different levels: form, history and content. A good photographer knows how to use the tools of his or her trade both on location and once they're manipulating the photograph in the studio. This is reflected not just in the quality of the print, but in the framing of the subject. As for history, Little says people who are immersed in photography are familiar with certain images that really define key moments in the evolution of the art form.

What ends up happening is you have this repertoire of portraits which are more or less the history of the image. Is the photographer conscious of that history when they're taking the image, and do they try to distinguish themselves from that history, or do they end up falling into old patterns and cliches?

Finally, Little says, "content" is what really sets a masterful portrait apart. In this entire exhibition there is not a single movie star or major political figure. How does a photographer not just capture a person's face, but also manage to create an image that speaks to people who have no idea who they're looking at?

It's a Matter of Perspective, Mr President
Archival Inkjet Print
Lydia Panas, Pennsylvania

In the above picture by Lydia Panas, we don't know who these boys are, but the picture invites us to compare the two, and to note the differences in their expressions. The one on the left seems closed and guarded - his bangs almost cover his eyes, and he stands in what appears to be almost military attention. The boy on the right however, is relaxed and open - open eyes, open mouth, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. Are they brothers? Friends? How will the difference in their stances shape their futures?

Mother & Daughter Remember 911
Archival Inkjet Print
Tom Olmscheid, Minnesota

In Tom Olmsheid's image (above) the power comes in large part from the color, says Little. Bright red dominates, as does the repeating pattern of the American flag.

It has a little bit of Norman Rockwell in it, but is also has this seriousness about it. There's a kind of beauty and purity in their look. They're very American, too.

Little says you need to be careful to distinguish between an image that is truly a great photograph, and one that takes advantage of our sentimentality. For instance in both Olmsheid's image and the image of the military man below, our sense of patriotism is called to the fore. Is this man returning from combat? If so, does he feel lost in this crowd of civilians? At the same time, he seems to embody the calm in the storm, the strong center in a world that's otherwise out of focus.

Untitled/At Sea At Night
Archival Inkjet Print
Kristoffer Axen, New York

Little admits that sometimes he can't even define what it is about an image that really speaks to him. In the case of the second prize winner (Young Kate in Sheep Fank), he said it simply succeeded at taking him to a completely different place. In "Josephine" (below) it's the amazing composition - the woman's gangly legs and arms, her long fingers and toes.

Josephine
Digital Chromogenic Print
Joseph Johnson, Missouri

Josephine looks almost like a squid, and both her gaze and all the energy is focussed on those toenail clippers. It's a fun picture, and it also gives you a sense of what this gal might be like through a very ordinary and intimate moment. But again you don't need to know her to appreciate the image.

The Mpls Photo Center's portrait exhibition is on display throughout the month of January, with an opening reception on Friday, January 8. Admission is free.

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Landscape photography for our time

Posted at 1:30 PM on December 30, 2009 by Marianne Combs (2 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Nickel Tailings No. 34, Sudbury, Ontario 1996
Photograph by Edward Burtynsky

As a Canadian, photographer Edward Burtynsky doesn't have to go far to see the impact of industrialization on the natural landscape. The oil sands of Alberta and the nickel mines of Ontario have each left devastating scars. But Burtynsky has devoted his career to documenting the impact of our modern lifestyles around the planet, from California to China to Bangladesh.

Oxford Tire Pile #8, Westley, California, USA, 1999
Photograph by Edward Burtynsky

Last night I rented a documentary on Burtynsky's work, titled "Manufactured Landscapes." As you might expect with a photographer, the film is sparse on words and heavy on imagery. It shows just how much of our landscape is being taken over for the extraction of minerals and oil, or for the mass production of everday things like hand irons, or is befouled by the waste our consumption leaves behind: oil slicks, used tires, outdated computers, and scrapped tankers.

Shipbreaking No. 9a, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000
Photograph by Edward Burtynsky

Burtynsky was awarded the 2005 TED (Technology Entertainment Design) Prize, which each year grants three winners $100,000 each, plus a wish (other winners include President Clinton, Bono, Dave Eggers and Karen Armstrong). Burtynsky made three wishes: to build a website that will help kids think about going green... to begin work on an Imax film (still in the development phase)... and to encourage "a massive and productive worldwide conversation about sustainable living." The result of that last wish can be found here.

If you'd like to check out some more beautiful photography aimed at changing the world, check out this TED talk by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and this look at the work of Chris Jordan.

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The Last Polaroid Show

Posted at 11:44 AM on December 8, 2009 by Marianne Combs (3 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

'Floating ladyslippers,' next to the actual ladyslippers, at the Como Conservatory in St. Paul. Art by Mark Roberts and Denise Rouleau

At first, Mark Roberts and Denise Rouleau's images appear to be paintings, not photographs. But their otherworldly images are actually based entirely in reality, using old Polaroid cameras and Polaroid SX-70 film. Rouleau says the film is unique, because once the sheet ejects from the camera, the film dyes behave like wet paint.

Using simple tools, like a wooden stylus or crochet needle, we exaggerate and distort the lines of the Polaroid image. The results, depending on how the film behaves and your creativity, are pictures that can be impressionistic, surreal or abstract. We go a step further by enlarging the Polaroids to 48 inches square which brings out the topographical textures and nuances.

Roberts and Rouleau's most recent body of work focuses on the grounds of the Como Conservatory in St. Paul, and are now on display in the conservatory's Bonzai Gallery.

Floral Abstraction

Mark Roberts has worked in photography for 40 years. As a child he carried Ansel Adams' equipment on photo shoots in the Sierras; ever since he's been hooked. But Roberts says he has a special fondness for taking polaroids: the suspense, the playfulness, even just the sound of the camera as it shoots out its film. He says It allows him to create his own reality.

I've never tired of the process; Even now when an image really works for me I feel like I'm 18 again. When I hear someone say, "Well I can do that in Photoshop, or why not use digital technology?" I think how unfortunate it is that they miss the point, it's all about the "Process". The hands on tactile experience is an experience in itself.

For her part, Rouleau says she loves the instant gratification - you don't have to go back to a studio to manipulate the image - you can work on it at a coffee shop, or on a clipboard out in a park.

Denise Rouleau uses a variety of tools to manipulate a polaroid image while it's still in the "buttery" phase. Photo by Joe Ward.

Unfortunately (thanks at least in part to ponzi schemer Tom Petters) the future of Roberts' and Rouleau's work with Polaroid film looks dim. Rouleau says they were in the midst of shooting at Como for this exhibition when they heard that Polaroid was ceasing production of its SX-70 film, along with others.

We thought, "Well, I guess this is the "Last Polaroid Show" and the name stuck. I think there are many artists out there holding their own "Last Polaroid Show." The equipment is dismantled and the film is no longer available so it is basically extinct. In fact, the 9th of October was the final "Use by" or Expiration date of the last batch of Polaroid film. Now the clock is ticking...

Polaroid camera with some of Rouleau and Roberts' last shots. Photo by Joe Ward.

However a group of ex-Polaroid employees in Europe have created what they call "The Impossible Project" to create their own version of the instant film. Based in the Netherlands, they hope to have a new line of similar films out in mid-2010. Working with TIP, Polaroid has decided to bring back the instant camera.

Whatever the future of their photography, Roberts says the end of the SX-70 film marks the shuttering of an era.

The loss for Photography is immense. Polaroid has played an important part in the history and development of photography. Ansel Adams called the SX-70 system "an absolute miracle." Many significant artists have built their careers on Polaroid.

Unfortunately the loss of Polaroid film has become part of the current trend. I can cite other examples: the demise of Agfa's very fine photographic papers and Kodak's infrared film. Traditional photographers are always having to worry about what they are going to lose next as everyone goes digital.

Manipulated images of Denise Rouleau and Mark Roberts with their Polaroid cameras

Roberts says the upside of the trend towards digital is the creation of organizations like 'The Impossible Project' and other small manufacturers who find a niche market by picking up the abandoned product lines and often times improving them.

The Last Polaroid Show runs through January 19th at the Como Conservatory. A reception for the artists will take place Monday, December 14th.

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Gazing into "The Minnesota Eye"

Posted at 3:00 PM on October 29, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

UV set inks on lacquered cherry veneer MDF, Courtesy of John Marshall

Opening tomorrow night is small little show with a big goal. The College of Visual Arts presents "The Minnesota Eye: Contemporary Photography." The exhibition features the images of 17 different Minnesota professionals, and indeed it's a lovely grouping.

Sometimes it takes putting a bunch of artists in the same room to make us realize just what our community has to offer. There's Alec Soth, Paul Shambroom, JoAnn Verburg, Stuart Klipper, and Tom Arndt, just to name a few. These are now national and international names, who gained their particular visual sensibility through their time here at home.

Ink on paper, Courtesy of Pace/MacGill and G. Gibson Gallery

I stopped by the CVA gallery just as the final piece was being hung. I recognized much of what I saw, and was pleasantly surprised to see some relatively new names whose images I really enjoyed (Carrie Elizabeth Thompson and Cory Prahl in particular).

But as I walked around the room, I felt that something was missing. While each image was lovely, as a whole the exhibition felt very calm - almost too calm.

Archival pigment print, Courtesy of Carrie Elizabeth Thompson

What this exhibition lacks is a real sense of energy and diversity. If someone were to base their impression of contemporary Minnesota photography on this particular show, they would miss out on a ton of exciting and important work. Where's Wing Young Huie? How about Xavier Tavera? How about Angela Strassheim?

Instead what this exhibition presents is a staid, more traditional view of Minnesota photographers. The curator, it should be noted, asked to remain anonymous, but it's not hard to guess who put the show together when you look at who provided the images (six of the photographs were loaned by the same gallery).

Inkjet print mounted to cintra, Courtesy of Weinstein Gallery

One of the major reasons the CVA is mounting this show is to immerse its students in the work of professional artists in the community. That is a great and noble idea (of course this exhibition only runs until November 14, so it's more of a quick dip than a meditative soak).

What might serve the students even better is to mount a second exhibition in a few months, this time with a different curator. Because what I think we would find is that the Minnesota photography scene is so rich, another person with an equally trained eye could pick out his or her favorites, and be able to fill the gallery space all over again. And it would be a totally different show.

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A new home for Twin Cities photographers

Posted at 4:57 PM on October 27, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Mpls Photo Center's main studio space

If you're not into photography, you probably missed a major change that happened last year in the local scene. The Minnesota Center for Photography, longtime home to shutterbugs, closed its doors. And one month later the Mpls Photo Center opened new ones.

Same people under a slightly different name? Not hardly. While the Minnesota Center for Photography was a non-profit that relied on grant support, the Mpls Photo Center is the brainchild of Orin Rutchick, and is a private, for-profit venture. Yet the two organizations' missions are quite similar: to nurture, educate and strengthen the local photography scene.

Rutchick hit upon his idea in 2007, when the five other photographers sharing his lease decided the expenses weren't worth the hassle. Rutchick realized he could either go back to printing out of his home, or he could hold on to the warehouse space in Northeast Minneapolis, and create something much bigger. At the time the Minnesota Center for Photography was still in operation, but its primary function was as a gallery, with studio time and classes relegated to evenings. Rutchick wanted to create a hangout that was available 24/7, where photographers could feel at home, and be with peers.

"What's happened now is digital has created these silos where you capture your image, you go back to your computer, you process your image and you print it on your digital printer. And so there isn't a lot of opportunity for interaction. And that's really one of the reasons for the center too is to at least bring people with a common interest together."

Mpls Photo Center's founder Orin Rutchick

The Mpls Photo Center boasts a large studio, classrooms, a digital print lab, two darkrooms, lockers, a kitchen and a lounge. Membership to the MPC starts at $12 a month, and runs on up to $235 a month, depending on the level of access a photographer wants.

Mpls Photo Center's digital print lab

Rutchick compares the current world of photography to the Wild West. It's a world in which talented wedding photographers are losing clients to Uncle Bill and his Canon Powershot.

I think with the advent of the digital camera in the last three to five years, and the quality of the images that come from it, most anybody can take a reasonably good photograph. Of course there's a difference between "taking" a photograph and "making" a photograph. That's one of the things they lack - the understanding of making a photograph.

Rutchick says too many people are taking hundreds of pictures, and then just deleting the ones they don't like, rather than thinking about the image they have in mind. While many love the ease that digital photography has given them, Rutchick believes film, and the discipline it inspired, served a purpose.

I really feel that people have abandoned film for the wrong reasons. We find that our younger members are interested in it because they've grown up in the digital world, and the idea of a print coming up in a developing tray is fascinating to them.

The whole idea of film is that even if you have a certain time down, and process, every print is different than the last. So each one is unique, whereas with digital files, everyone's the same. While there's a lot of craft in editing a fine digital photograph, you can't really feel that accomplished as you can coming out of the darkroom with an analog print.

That's why Rutchick is so proud of his two darkrooms. He compares their large sinks to family dinner tables, around which stories are swapped and ideas shared.

One of two darkrooms at the MPC

Rutchick says he hopes to use the MPC to bridge the gap between the analog world and the digital one, by encouraging fans of both to mingle. Beyond that he says his goal is to raise the quality and understanding of photography in the region by giving people access to classes, tools, and a place to show their work.

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Happy photo, happy heart

Posted at 5:34 PM on September 29, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

It's an act of affection and intimacy. You're saying good-bye to a loved one or friend, and you give them a peck on the cheek - a simple gesture to let them know you love them.

Barb luvs Bonnie

Photographer Bonnie Fournier took a photograph of herself standing with her sister, and at the last second her sister turned and gave her "a smooch." The photo wasn't great - the camera was heavy, and so the angle was off - but the photo stuck with Fournier, and became a source of joy for her. Thus, "The Smooch! Project" was born.

Claire luvs Jerilyn - All in the Family: Moms luv Kids

Fournier calls The Smooch! Project "a reminder to all of the enduring human capacity to love and care for another." Parents and children, brothers and sisters, best friends, lovers of all ages - they all volunteer to step forward and show their affection for one another. And it's not just limited to humans - many people choose to smooch their pets (or have their pets smooch them) in front of Fournier's camera.

Gabe luvs Tara - Animals & Their Humans

Buddhist by practice, Fournier says her photo essay, now in it's fourth year, is about love, tolerance and gratitude. And it's about sharing that moment when the heart is uplifted.

Yvonne luvs Victoria - All in the Family: Moms luv Kids

Fourier has based all of her work in Minnesota thus far, setting up regular smooch-fests for anyone to attend (you can find out about her upcoming shoots here). But her goal is to collect 10,000 images from around the world. So now Fournier is attempting to get some major backing to take The Smooch! Project global. That backing, she hopes, will come from Ellen Degeneres.

Elena luvs Ellen

Fournier is inviting folks to line up to kiss an image of Degeneres. She'll then compile the images and send them off to the media star in the hopes that Degeneres will find the project worthy of her funding.

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How photography reveals and obscures the truth

Posted at 12:16 PM on September 28, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Taryn Simon likes to photograph things most people never get to see. Things like the piles of food seized at customs, glowing capsules of nuclear waste, or a copy of Playboy Magazine - in braille.

Playboy, Braille Edition
Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
New York, New York

Simon says the biggest obstacle to doing her work is gaining access, something she was denied by - of all places - Disneyland.

Photography threatens fantasy. They [Disneyland] didn't want to let my camera in because it confronts constructed realities, myths and beliefs, and provides what appears to be evidence of a truth. But there are multiple truths attached to every image.

Simon often uses her camera to battle the "untruths" told by other pictures. An entire series of her work consists of portraits of men convicted and sentenced for crimes they didn't commit. In most instances, the men were identified by witnesses in photo albums, often after they'd been passed over in a face-to-face line-up. Often times witnesses later admitted that they'd seen so many faces that they could no longer properly identify who they remembered from the crime scene.

CALVIN WASHINGTON
C&E Motel, Room No. 24, Waco, Texas
Where an informant claimed to have heard Washington confess
Wrongfully accused- Served 13 years of a Life sentence for Murder
2002

Many of these wrongly convicted men ended up serving a decade or more in prison before a DNA test led to their acquittals. Simon photographs her subjects either at the location of their alibi, at the scene of their arrest, or sometimes at the scene of the crime (in some cases a place the subject has never seen).

Looking at Taryn Simon's work, and hearing her talk about the process involved (she spends most of her time writing letters asking for permission to visit places) reminded me of the work of local photographer Paul Shambroom. Shambroom also likes to depict places most people don't ever get to see, but in his case his work has revolved around American military might and national security.

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Graffiti that needs no clean-up

Posted at 1:37 PM on September 2, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Detail of image "sparkling fire circle" by LAPP

It's the perennial fourth of July favorite past-time - to draw pictures or words in the air with your sparkler. Take that idea about a thousand steps forward and you have "light graffiti," the art of creating surreal, sci-fi-esque images in the night using all sorts of lamps, flashlights, glowing wands, and fireworks.
Combine those lights with choreographed movement and long exposure cameras, and the result is similar to seeing a UFO landing.

Detail of image "cold" by LAPP

LAPP (Light Art Performance Photography) is the German group responsible for these photographs. On their website they state the images are each the result of one long exposure, without the use of any computer enhancement.

Detail of image "the guardians" by LAPP

It's interesting how knowing that these images were made by hand, and not using digital manipulation, gives them an extra "cool" factor. Why? Does it really matter either way?

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Understanding our impact, one pixel at a time

Posted at 7:00 AM on August 11, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Chris Jordan's digital images are simultaneously aesthetically pleasing and thematically disturbing. From a distance you detect a pattern, and colors. It's only upon close inspection that you recognize the subject matter.

Jordan was recently profiled on Bill Moyer's Journal. He sees himself as half artist, half activist, always walking a fine line inbetween the two without veering too much to either side. His latest body of work, "Running the Numbers," uses digitally manipulated images to tell the story of our daily consumption. He writes:

Exploring around our country's shipping ports and industrial yards, where the accumulated detritus of our consumption is exposed to view like eroded layers in the Grand Canyon, I find evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress. I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity.

The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits.

As an American consumer myself, I am in no position to finger wag; but I do know that when we reflect on a difficult question in the absence of an answer, our attention can turn inward, and in that space may exist the possibility of some evolution of thought or action. So my hope is that these photographs can serve as portals to a kind of cultural self-inquiry. It may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake.

Jordan doesn't limit himself to consumption, he also takes on more social commentary. In this work, he depicts 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, equal to the number of Americans incarcerated in 2005.

Other images depict the number of people who die from smoking, the number of elective breast surgeries performed monthly, and the number of emergency room visits each year related to misuse or abuse of prescription pain killers.

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Hootenanny: A Community

Posted at 11:43 AM on June 23, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music, Photography

Every Friday night in the basement of Java Jack's a bunch of musicians get together for a "hootenanny." It's been going on for three years now, and photographer Tony Nelson decided to capture the event on film. His profiles of the Mad Ripple Hootenanny musicians (including Billy Bragg, above) are on display at The Gallery @ Fox Tax in Minneapolis (yes, they do your taxes AND hang art on the wall). It's up through July 24th.

If you want to hear what the Java Jack's hootenanny sounds like, take a listen to a piece MPR's Chris Roberts did.

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Documenting life as a Somali-American

Posted at 2:53 PM on June 22, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Museums, Photography

Photographer Abdi Roble has been following Somalis for the last several years. He's tracked them from refugee camps in Kenya to shopping markets in Anaheim to offices of power and influence in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is known as "Little Mogadishu" amongst Somalis, and is home to some of their greatest success stories. Below is a slide show of just a sampling of the photographs now on display at the Weisman Art Museum, with narration by Roble.

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Is your home your castle? Your fortress? A wasteland?

Posted at 9:45 AM on June 13, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Photography

Last night I went to the opening of an exhibition of four McKnight photography fellows at Franklin Art Works in Minneapolis. While all four have very interesting and different things to say with their work, I was particularly drawn to the juxtaposition of the images of two of the photographers, Anthony Marchetti and Tom Wik. Both deal with personal space, although one looks at the walls we put up from the outside, while the other haunts the sad interiors we leave behind.

Palm Beach Shores 2, 2009

Tom Wik explores Floridian estates with an eye for the absurd. He finds houses and hedges that are often out of proportion with one another. The beauty of a brightly colored stucco home comes across as plastic, and poorly executed. These are houses that appear inpenetrable, but make you wonder just what kind of person lives there.

Riviera Beach 3, 2009

5-325 BR, 2009

Anthony Marchetti is what is called a "turn painter." He comes in and gives an apartment a new coat of paint before the next tenant moves in. His photographs capture the "inbetween moment" when the apartment still holds the residue of those who've just left.

7786-2, LR, 2009

You can read more about Marchetti's work, and see more of his photographs in a story by MPR's Chris Roberts.

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Beautiful photography aimed at changing the world

Posted at 8:59 AM on June 5, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Film, Photography

Photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand is both a talented aerial photographer and a devoted environmentalist. At a recent TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference, he joked he'd have to kill a Frenchman once he got home in order to offset the carbon he produced taking the plane. But in truth, Arthus-Bertrand is using his artistic talent to make the greatest impact, by showing what humanity has done to the planet.

His work is an example of how artists use their skills to help people make connections with emotions and ideas. National Geographic's David Griffin talks about the particular power of photography to connect people here.

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