Cosmic Vaudeville – Dan Herrera

“When negotiating the fantastic, there is often a pact of consent between a guide and a participant.” - Dan Herrera

fotosavant confesses that Photographer/Printer Dan Herrera makes us feel old.  But usually that feeling is accompanied by something like despair over the dreck that is being drilled into the brains of many students and MFA candidates, resulting in a stultifying sameness that pervades much of so-called “contemporary” photography these days.  With Herrera, however, the feeling stems from witnessing the seemingly boundless energy that flows from mind to the paper in his bold, innovative work.

Dan Herrera, All Rights Reserved 2012

fotosavant was first introduced to his work via the Hand+Eye Biennial 2011, where he took top honors.  In the gallery (click on his name in the column to the right) we see more from the series Vaudeville a body of work which truly deserves the description of “staggering”.  We also get  an unusual degree of insight into the life-cycle of concept to finished print through the detail images provided in the gallery.

We spoke with Dan Herrera in the midst of completing his own MFA program this Spring.

fs:  Most of the works in the Vaudeville series are very densely packed, is this an intent or a surprising result?

dh:  I definitely leave room to add or omit things in the moment of shooting, but for
the most part everything is meticulously thought out before hand. The
compositing techniques I use demand a certain amount of precision, so it’s
easier to put an image together in post-production if I have all my duckies in a
row from the beginning. I take careful notes on camera angles and the lighting
that I use, so I can photograph additional things or re-photograph things later
if need be.

fs:   With an overtly theatrical theme to the series, some viewers may take it for granted that a narrative is being shared.  But is it?  Or is it just enough of a
suggestion to set them off on a path of their own?

dh:  It’s a non-linear narrative of a magical past. It surrounds the idea of a
pan-galactic traveling vaudeville variety show. I’ve developed each image as it’s own story,
and at the same time, I leave small clues for the observant viewer to find and
draw connections between the other images in the series.

However, I intentionally leave the narrative open-ended for the viewer to interpret the
details and add meaning to the story based on their own experiences. When negotiating the fantastic, there is often a pact of consent between a guide and a participant.  My end of the bargain is to create fleeting glimpses into these worlds, and the viewers end is to let imagination and experiences fill it, to become part of the story. I  think that is part of the fun. I like hearing from people and how they translate  my images.

fs:   Without  knowing your financial situation, are you needing to balance income requirements with creative time as you move beyond academia?

dh:  I think that’s a balance a lot of artists have to deal with… and I’m no exception.
However, my studio practice is pretty entrenched in my lifestyle and has been
for a long time. Before I started grad school I was working 40-50 hours a week
as a graphic artist and also teaching 20-30 hours a week as an Adjunct
Professor. Even with that intense schedule, I produced and exhibited one of my
favorite and well received series The Alchemists during that time. I’ve always been able to make time to produce art no matter what is going on in my life. If you are passionate about it, you will find the time. When I started the MFA program I quit my design job but
continued to teach.

Now that I’m done with school I plan to continue teaching, it’s challenging at times
but it’s also equally rewarding. I really like it. I teach graphic design &
photography courses. I can always take a freelance job here and there, or mow
some lawns if need be. I’m really looking for full-time teaching positions. So
if anyone out there knows of an opening and thinks I’d be a good fit for their
school, please get in touch with me.

fs:   Most  of our fotosavant readers will recall your work as the 1st Place winner in the Hand+Eye Biennial 2011.  What prompts you to enter your work in competitions?  What do you hope to get from the transaction?

dh:  I have to like the juror or the venue to enter into a competition. I had been
following Christina Z. Anderson’s work for a few years, and her gum-printing
book has been a great resource. For the Hand + Eye Biennial, I just wanted to be
on her radar.

fs:   Along those lines… How do you choose which competitions are worth your time (and Money) to enter?

dh:  If  the show/competition has an entry fee I look at what it’s offering. It need’s to
have some combination of the right kind of exposure and a juror with notoriety
or influence that will also jive with what I’m doing. If I don’t recognize the
name or if I research their work and I don’t connect with it – I probably won’t
apply, because chances are they won’t like what I’m doing either.

fs:   In  the photos in your gallery you show the steps in the life of a piece from
concept to completion.  Is that typical for you?  How did you develop it and how do you feel it benefits your work?

dh:  Yes, it’s the standard I use now. Each piece sprouts from sketches and short stories that I create. These resources then help me navigate the composition and the atmosphere of each image. The written material is eventually distilled down into titles that act as
a window for the viewer to enter the work.

I’m not sure exactly when I started doing it. I think I’ve always sketched stuff out, even if it’s just to remember an idea. I’ve been working with the theme of tableaux for
nearly a decade, and I think it just manifested as a way to streamline the production of each piece. I like to work this way because it gives me the physical means to invent images from my imagination. If the details of the image weren’t thought out on the front
end, I would tend to waste a lot of time later. My process of pre-visualization
started to get more refined after watching the appendices in the extended
edition of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of The Rings Trilogy. It gave me a different level of appreciation to the involvement that goes into creating content-rich fantastic
imagery.

Documenting the whole process is useful for my own archive, as well as giving an interested viewer a deeper look into all the work that goes into producing each piece. I’m working on a video that chronicles the making of The Wax Tickler image including
the miniature set design, the photo shoot, and the gum printing. It should be
done and up on my website by the end of May, or early June 2012.

fs:   The scenes from this series seem utterly fantastical.  Do you see it as completely detached from the real world or do they intersect at some
point?

dh:  Since the beginning of time humans have  used myths and magic realism for finding truth, and meaning for their lives. The fantasy part is just a vehicle in which to express
my concepts and stories without getting bogged down with the specifics of
day-to-day “reality”. The images are loaded with visual and conceptual metaphors
that genuinely intersect with the real world.

fs:  By Gum Printing standards, the prints in the Vaudeville Series are monumental (30″x40″). Two questions; How? Why?

dh:  I’ll address the “why” first. I had never printed that big before and I had never
seen gum prints that big before. I wanted to push my own skill level with the
process, as well as create something that in the end would command attention
when actually standing in front of it. Since the images are so densely packed I
though that the scale would help the viewer engage with the imagery for
longer.

Also, I definitely feel that there is a distinctly different psychological response when looking at a digital photograph in comparison to a painting. With the prints in the Vaudeville series, I’m striving to blur this response and add a sensation of mystery. The scale of the pieces helps lend itself to this.

The “how” took a lot of work and planning to get right, and It’s a little hard to explain without it reading like a manual. Even after I double shrunk and re-sized the paper before printing, trying to register a 30”x40” print on the 2nd and 3rd color run is a pain in
the ass. I ended up buying a used 36”x46” vacuum easel from a used silkscreen equipment depot. It was only a couple hundred bucks and was one of the best investments I’ve made. It keeps my negatives super tight against the paper and the prints are razor
sharp.

Since I knew I’d be working on this series for over a year, I figured relying on the sun to print would add more work for myself. I couldn’t image getting the exposure right, and
then having to re-calibrate a few months later. So I built a lid with a bank of
UVB fluorescent tube lights to fit over the vacuum press. The lid is sitting on
gas piston hinges so opening and closing it is a breeze. I could get a sweet tan
if I crawled in there.

fs:   Is Gum your chosen medium for photographic printing or only one of several you employ?

dh:  The last series I worked on in 2009, were images that I created using a “home-made”
camera. The camera was constructed out of a modified Hassleblad body/lens, and
an ordinary flatbed scanner. It’s completely different than what I’m doing now
with gum. It was called Están de una Herencia Extraña, it’s on my website and worth taking a look. For that series, I experimented with Van Dyke printing, but ultimately just printed them on canvas from an inkjet printer.

But I like all kinds of processes. I feel like with my work it’s important that the
process somehow relate to the content. The Vaudeville series takes place at the
turn of the 19th century. If you look at the history of photography, Robert Demachy was making these super romantic pictorial images around the same timeframe that I am referencing using gum. So that’s why I chose to use gum for the series. It’s a crucial step
that viscerally transforms the photographic object to a specific time, and intuitively connects the photo process to the time period of the images narrative for the viewer.

Aside from that, gum printing is super seductive. In part, due to the serendipitous results, and no two prints are alike. A patient artist is rewarded with a truly unique
photographic object.  The process is a rhythm of building up the emulsion and reducing it back down.  Mistakes can turn precious and unrepeatable.  The only limitation to the
final print is the artist’s investment.

fs:   What is next for you professionally?

dh:  I have about 8 more sketches from the Vaudeville series that I would like to
see materialize. I think once I have 15 images or so I’ll compile some of the
writing and make an artist book from the series. I have a few other ideas for
bodies of work that are completely different than what I’m doing now, and that
will begin once I’m finished with Vaudeville.

Other than that, I’m looking for more teaching gigs, exhibition opportunities, and
just hustling to get my work out there. I have my application in for a couple
different artist residencies so hopefully that will work out. I just got word
that a few of my Vaudeville images will be in the next issue of Diffusion
Magazine
. I also recently started sharing a studio space in NYC, so I’ve been spending more time on the east coast networking and hoping to secure a couple shows there soon.

fs:   Can readers look anywhere to see your work in person in the upcoming
months?

dh:  Absolutely! I have a two-person show coming up in Sacramento, CA. at The Viewpoint Gallery in August 2012. I also have a solo show on the horizon in Durham, NC. at the
Through This Lens Gallery, but the details haven’t been worked out yet, I will
be sure to let you and your readers know once I do.

Our thanks to Dan Herrera for taking the time to share his work and process with us.  You may learn more about Dan and his work at;

www.danherrerastudio.com

 

 

 

Posted in Alternative Process, Artists, General Photography, Hand+Eye, Historical Process | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Upcoming Artists features on fotosavant (Plus a Great Class Alert)

Prepare yourselves for blasts of color and creativity in equal measure as fotosavant turns the spotlight on Robin McCloskey and Dan Herrera in the upcoming weeks.

In other news, fotosavant alum S. Gayle Stevens will be teaching a course on  Wet Plate Holga Printing at The Center for Fine Art Photography this June.  More info at;

www.c4fap.org/workshops/2012WetPlate/

It is bound to be a game-changing experience for attendees. (Gayle is a tremendous talent and a joy to meet in the bargain…)

Posted in Alternative Process, Artists, General Photography, Historical Process, Uncategorized, Workshops/Classes | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Disturbing New Trend, Follow-up

“Is a culture of fear in the artist/gallerist relationship so prevalent?”

The item last week on the trend of some galleries forcing artists to submit through the expensive (for the artist) and cumbersome (for all involved) venue of the Photo Review has garnered some interesting responses.

One writer (a rather pedantic fellow…) dismisses it as a rumor, only to turn around and say “This has been happening for years.”  While declining to name names.

Another e-mailer claims that they have “never heard of such a thing”.

Yet to us here at fotosavant the most interesting aspects of all the replies are these:

  • No one will allow their names to be used.
  • Several artists specifically refrain from going on the record (even with an offer of anonymity) because of the fear of “blacklisting” or other reprisals from the gallerist and/or curating communities.
  • The only galleries identified specifically with this practice to date, are in New York City.

Is a culture of fear in the artist/gallerist relationship so prevalent?

Or are we dealing with a convenient excuses that artists tell themselves (and each other) to rationalize a lack of response to their work?

I suspect both play a role in different situations.  But it is a sad commentary on the state of affairs between the principal figures in the transaction of bringing art out of the studio and into the community.

Posted in Artists, Curators, Galleries, General Photography, Museums | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Disturbing New Trend?

It has reached the ears of fotosavant that some gallerists are telling artists (via websites) that they won’t look at new submissions, except at portfolio review events.

Before I go into full-tilt investigative reporter mode, I’d like to hear from anyone who may have observed this practice first-hand.  I can maintain your anonymity, but you do need to give me enough information to independantly verify the claim.

If true this trend could essentially the limit artist pool to photographers with the financial resources to attend one or more reviews ($800 – over $3,000) per review with no guarantee of connecting with the gallery in question.

This would be a huge shift in how the Business of Art is done.  It would also mean a huge cost shift unto the backs of artists.

It would also be interesting to see what the leaders of some of the review events have to say about this potential change…   (anyone…?)

If you have any knowledge or experience of this phenomenon, please write the Editor at info@fotosavant.com.  Requests for confidentiality will be respected, but you must provide me with a valid e-mail address where I may reach you.

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Opening Today

PHOTOWORKS.
2012 Exhibit Season.
Image by Sheila Galagan

Image by Sheila Galagan
Alternative
Visions
An
Alternative Process Photography Exhibition

Like us on Facebook

Opening
Reception & Gallery Talk

Sunday,
April 22, 5:00 – 7:30 PM

Gallery Talk @ 6:00 PM

Exhibition

Join Photoworks as we celebrate the alchemy,

the
unpredictability and the beauty

of
a very different kind of photography.

 

Types
of photographs in the exhibit include:

Photogravure,
Platinum-Palladium, Lith Printing, Temperaprint,

Gum
Bichromate over Cyanotype, Bromoil, Van Dyke Brown,

Modern
Tintypes, and Ambrotypes.

 

 

Exhibition
Artists

Scott
Barnes

Andrew
Currie

Sheila
Galagan

Barbara
Maloney

Janet
Matthews

Richard
Pippin

George
Smyth

Grace
Taylor

Exhibition
Dates

April
13 – May 7, 2012

 

 

Photoworks
Gallery

Hours:
Saturdays 1-4 PM and Sundays 1-8 PM

or
by appointment 301.634.2274

Photoworks
Photography School and Gallery
7300
MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD 20812
Information

Contact
Barbara Maloney
or
visit www.glenechophotoworks.org

Image by Richard Pippin

Image
by Richard Pippin

Photoworks
Photography School and Gallery –  7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD
20812
Posted in Alternative Process, Artists, Events, Galleries, General Photography, Historical Process, Museums, Shows | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not dead… just resting

Hey Everybody:

vox jubilante, 2011 All Rights Reserved - Elusive Image Studio

I apologize for the spotty posting of late.  I have not lost interest and hope the same is true of all of you.  I am trying to be a good boy for my Dr. and limit my activities for awhile.

But when I am back at the keyboard, hold on!  We will be off on a whirlwind tour of Scandinavia, France, and Australia for a start.  Also more Artist Profiles and commentary on the Business of Art.

In the meantime if you’d like to have your handcrafted work appear on these pages, or would like to recommend an artist, drop us a line.

In the meantime keep creating!

Enjoy the Spring (Northern Hemisphere) and a glorious Autumn (Southern Hemisphere)

Kevin Logghe, Editorfotosavant

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Susan de Witt – Interview

Portland (Oregon) area visitors will have the good fortune to be able to see 32 examples of photographer Susan de Witt’s Lith work starting today at the i witness gallery at the Northwest Center for Photography.  Readers may recall that Ms. de Witt received Mexican Memories by Susan de Witt - All Rights Reservedthe Second Place nod from our jurors in fotosavant’s Hand+Eye Biennial last year.  In fact, that image “Mexican Memories” (shown here) is also featured in her “Fabrication” show.

Susan graciously took some time from a busy week preparing for the show’s opening to discuss “Fabrication”.  In fact we caught her just before she began taping a segment for Oregon Public Television.

fs:  There is a good deal of anticipation in advance of your upcoming show.  Could you give us a little preview as to what we’ll see in “Fabrication” opening this weekend at the i witness gallery in Portland?

sd:  I will be showing 32 images taken from  different bodies of my work, providing a diverse view of what lith printers can achieve.  While all of my imagery is film based and printed in the wet darkroom, I am showing digital inkjet versions for this exhibition.  I expect I’ll get some flak for doing that from the local art community, but I made the decision to do so based upon my desire to have a uniform format.  Since I print my original work on so many different paper brands, I felt there was a lack of cohesion in both size and tonality, so by printing them all on the same size Hahnemuhle FineArt inkjet paper, it solved the size differences part of that equation.  I’m very happy with the outcome.

 fs:  Could you briefly describe the Lith Process for those who may not yet have encountered it?

sd:  Lith printing is a technique of overexposing a black & white, infrared, or color negative onto a suitable black and white paper, and then only partially developing it in a very dilute Lith developer.  This can produce prints with special properties and characteristics in terms of tonal distribution and response to toners.  The choice of papers, developers, chemistry temperature, number of prints run through the developer, etc., can all produce hugely varying results.  This is what makes Lith printing somewhat unpredictable and fun.  I never cease to be surprised by some results.   Tim Rudman’s books are very detailed and full of information about the Lith process, and I highly recommend getting them and devouring the information he gives out. With the new digital age, there are fewer and fewer papers left on the market that will ‘lith’ and many of the chemistry choices have also been taken off the market.  Hopefully, with renewed interest in processes such as Lith printing, some of the paper and chemical companies will keep us going.

fs: You have a very distinctive visual style.  Did you start out with an individual vision or did it evolve?

sd:  One day I saw Christopher Burkett’s amazing color landscapes in a gallery. I was blown away by their beauty, and I said to myself ” I MUST learn how to do that!”   I found out shortly thereafter that the Photo Center in Seattle had a color processing machine, so I went in to sign up and they said that I’d need to start by taking B&W 1.  And so it began.  I soon got over my desire to do color work, since I immediately loved doing B&W.  For 4 years, I took many courses offered at the Photo Center.  However, I never really found my niche, and I remember one day in my home darkroom, feeling quite bored with things and I decided that day to ratchet things up a bit.  I went a bit manic that day, applying paints on my prints, masking things off, using multiple negatives, paper negatives, you name it – and my first print was such a huge distance from anything I had been doing before that I just got excited for the first time in a long time. I still have that print, and I love it, but I guess it’s pretty dreadful in many ways.  But it reminds me of that tipping point whereby I changed my way of thinking.  That was the beginning of my “Some Assembly Required” portfolio.  That work was chosen as a finalist in PhotoLucida’s Critical Mass 2009.  Making many of the images in that portfolio were quite challenging, and slowly I moved away from them to center my mind on my “Mirage” portfolio. Initially, the Paper Hat series got me excited, and I wanted to come away with more ethereal work from my models.  My Seattle models have all been influential in the outcome of each photo shoot, as they bring along suitcases of vintage clothing and interesting props.  We just let things flow where they might during each shoot – we have fun together.  While I have definite ideas of what to try and get from each shoot, I shoot very loosely and fast, in a very unstructured way.  I guess you could say I just wing it, in many ways.  Sometimes it works.

fs:  How did this particular show come to be, in terms of getting your work seen and accepted?

sd:  After moving to Portland last summer, I needed to locate a darkroom that would allow me the same capabilities I had become used to in my former home near Seattle.   I heard that there was darkroom space at the Northwest Center for Photography here in Portland, and went over there and met with Sharon Lavier O’Keefe, who owns both the Center and the i witness gallery.  Unfortunately, her darkroom space hadn’t been completed at that point, but as we talked about her gallery space, she encouraged me to submit my portfolio for review by their committee.   After a couple of meetings with them, I was offered a solo show, and so it was a wonderful welcome for me to the Portland photographic community.  I am meeting more and more photographers here now, and find that Portland is full of so many talented photographers, many of whom work in hand processes.

fs:  Very few of your images resemble reality as we would observe it with our eyes.  Where does the vision originate?

sd:  My shooting technique is enhanced by the Lith process.  I shoot many of my models through different types of diffusion materials.  The results become exaggerated through the Lith Process developing grain and softness.   The images take on an otherworldly appearance.

fs:  For some reason, most photographers imagine that handmade processes (such as Lith) are reserved for the elite few who can afford elaborate darkroom set-ups and hard-to-find chemistry.  For their benefit could you speak to your set-up and the chemistry required?

sd:  I use a number of different papers for different effects, some of which may not be available any longer.  I get good results with the new Oriental VC-FB II Warmtone paper;  Fomatone MG Classic, version 131 or 132; Slavich Unibrom (a Russian paper cold-toned paper); Forte Polywarmtone (if you are lucky enough to still have some); and Kentmere Fineprint VC Warmtone.   For developers, I like Nacco Naccolith (often hard to find); Fotospeed LD 20; Rollei; and Moersch Easy Lith.  My usual  starting point for chemistry is to mix the developing bath at 100 ml. A + 100 ml. B + 2400 ml. warm H2O.  Sometimes, if I’m being impatient, I’ll mix A and B using 150 ml. of each, which helps bring up your image faster, at a loss sometimes in coloration.  I also usually start my exposure of the paper at 45 seconds.  After you run through the initial print, you can either add time or detract time to suit your visual needs.  If you want a more contrasty print, you give less exposure.  For a less contrasty print, you add time.

Please note that this is MY technique, and there are other ways to get started on your print.  I found this works well for me.

fs:  To shift gears a bit, there must be something in the air in Portland (Oregon) that seems to be feeding handcrafted photography.  How do you account for it?

sd:  I’m not sure what it is about Portland.  The people are always out, energized, riding their bikes, hiking, rain or shine, enjoying this great city.  The photography scene is very diverse, but the number of handcrafted photography advocates seem to be more abundant than elsewhere.  Having said that, I recently took a workshop here and I was the only person using an analog camera.

fs:  You have had the opportunity over the last decade, to study with some of the most prominent “names” of the day (Mary Ellen Mark, Christopher James, Tim Rudman, just to name a few…).  What are some of the hallmarks of an intructor that makes it worth your time and money to study with them?

sd:  For me to want to take a workshop with anyone, I need to really like their work.  Destination is also a possible factor, if it’s somewhere I’d like to travel to.   I enjoy a good workshop, where you meet other interesting photographers and see a wide variety of peoples’ personal visions.

fs:  To wrap up, here is a question I ask almost everyone in one form or another…Why?  Why the investment of years of your life and a certain amount of frustration to produce this particular type of work?

sd:  I don’t see the years of investment in time and energy as a negative thing when it comes to art.  After discovering my love for photography, it changed my life in a very positive way – giving me a new purpose and allowing my capabilities to evolve to where they are today.  Having started out as a total neophyte, I’ve changed so radically, photographically, over the 12 years I’ve been doing this, that I wonder where I’ll be artistically in another dozen years.  I look forward to finding out.

“Fabrication” The Photography of Susan de Witt opens tonight with a reception from 6 – 9 PM.  There will be an Artist’s talk at 6 PM on April 6.  All events will take place at the i witness gallery in The Northwest Center for Photography.  For more information, please call 503-384-2783, or visit www.nwcenterforphotography.com

Posted in Alternative Process, Artists, Events, Galleries, Historical Process, Shows | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unique Retreat Opportunity

Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ and Platinum stalwart Tillman Crane are teaming up to offer a weekend retreat at PVCC April 13 – 15

Usually when we go to a “photographer’s retreat” there is a leader and a strong line between instructor and student.  Not to mention a hefty fee…

As an alternative, we are happy to point  fotosavant readers to an upcoming photographer’s retreat with a twist.  It is an unstructured, affordable opportunity to rub shoulders creatively with your fellow photographers and expand your circle of professional acquaintances.

Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ and Platinum stalwart Tillman Crane are teaming up to offer a weekend retreat at PVCC April 13 – 15.  While there are no scheduled lectures or group activities, attendees will be provided ample opportunities to share their work, shoot new work and network with a group of photographers with broad-ranging interests.  At the price of $150.00, workshop/retreat veterans will know a bargain when they see it.

As photographers, it is easy to get lost inside our own heads and consciously (or subconsciously) avoid presenting work that is not yet “quite there” for fear of judgement.  This is the type of community-building. non-judgemental environment that can spur true creativity and provide motivation to finish those projects that may have simmered a bit too long.

There are only 30 places available and we suspect they will be snapped up fast!

More information is available at;

www.petersvalley.org

973-948-5200, or from Tillman Crane;

tillman@tillmancrane.com

207-230-0199

Posted in Events, General Photography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Review – Tom Persinger at Tilt

Two years ago Pittsburgh photographer Tom Persinger was invited to create a series of photographs to accompany a live performance of Robert Schumann’s song cycle “Dichterliebe” (translated into English – A Poet’s Love).  He responded to the open-ended challenge with the 20 photographs currently on view at Phoenix’s Tilt Gallery.  Since their appearance at that ”one night only” event photography lovers have had to content themselves with digital slides on Persinger’s website or a few selected images at Verve Gallery in Santa Fe.  Now the public has the chance to view the photographs at their leisure while the music which inspired them plays in the background.

"In the beautiful month of May" All Rights Reserved - Tom Persinger

The show seems a perfect fit into Tilt Gallery’s history of exploring those areas where artistic media overlap.  According to Gallery co-owner Melanie Craven, “When Tom approached us with this portfolio there was instant interest.”  It is easy to understand why as “A Poet’s Love” is essentially a visual re-interpretation of a musical piece that was itself a re-interpretation of a work of literature.

“A Poet’s Love” is far from a documentary or even a literal interpretation of Dichterliebe and it is in this regard that it most nearly captures the spirit of Schumann.  Schumann based his highly romantic song cycle on 20 (16 in the original version and in most recordings) selections from a volume of 65 poems by the (decidedly unromantic) poet Heinrich Heine.  He selected and omitted poems, even adjusting the lyrics to fit his own artistic interpretation.  In the same manner, while based on another work, Persinger’s “A Poet’s Love” is it’s own creature, both interpreting and commenting on the Schumann version.

There are many who feel that photography as art must stand on its own, independent of context and narrative.  From that point of view, this portfolio may seem uneven at times, hitting with a big visual punch at places (“Lean your cheek on my cheek” and “If the little flowers” shown below)

"If the little flowers..." All Rights Reserved -Tom Persinger

while other images are almost photographic wallpaper.  However they were clearly not created to be viewed in isolation, any more than any single bar of music is meant to be heard (or critiqued) in isolation.  “A Poet’s Love” is more than the sum of its parts.  Like the music, understated passages reinforce the more dramatic ones to create a lyrical whole.

That having been said if you approach this series of photographs absent the context of the period and content of Dichterliebe you leave half the meal on the plate.  Only if you approach the series as the artist intended it to be viewed can its full value be appreciated.  Persinger invites the viewer to leave the harsh perspectives and cynicism of modern-day love and art to (at least momentarily) embrace the romanticism and aesthetic of a prior era.  He effectively uses handcrafted process native to the time of the composer, circa 1842, (in the form of Salt prints) and vintage framing conventions to pull us yet further along the path of Schumann.

Installation Image (11/18/10) "Dichterliebe" All Rights Reserved - Tom Persinger

The artistic marriage of Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” and Persinger’s “A Poet’s Love” demands and deserves to be appreciated on a number of levels and as a whole.  Just as the artists intended.

“Dichterliebe” by Tom Persinger at Tilt Gallery, February 3-25, 2012

Opening Reception, Friday February 3, 6-9 PM

for more information:

http://www.tiltgallery.com/exhibitions/

 

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Call for Entries – Photographer’s Formulary

What is free to enter?

Has one of the best prizes of any competition?

Has a deadline of April 2, 2012?

2011 Winner - "Stir" by Michele Cole

It’s the Photographer’s Formulary 4th Annual Handcrafted Photography Competition!  April might seem like a long ways off (especially for our readers up North…) but if you win this photography competition you will need to start making plans to take advantage of the 1st Place Award of a free workshop at the Photographer’s Formulary in the beautiful Swan Valley of Montana.  The winner will have her/his choice of workshops being offered by some of the best minds in Handcrafted Photography.

Judging is done from actual prints with the winner exhibited for a year at the Formulary next to the work of past instructors.  The winning image will also be featured on the website and in the Newsletter.

For more information and entry forms, please visit the Formulary online at:

http://stores.photoformulary.com/images/store_version1/news.pdf

 

 

 

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